It’s fall! As we finally head into some cooler weather and students settle down into their semester routine, you can use this time to think about some ways in which autumn might make its way into your fantasy worlds and stories. Of course, there are the traditional harvest festivals that you can adapt for your own use – but what other ways might you incorporate this season into your world? Here are some possibilities…

Color Festivals

If a society you have created reveres art and color, autumn could be a season of great celebration! Perhaps there could be contests to create the best pieces of art using fallen leaves, or to find red ears of corn, or to purge one’s house of anything dull and drab in favor of bright reds and golds.

Music Festivals

The autumn winds, rustling of the leaves, and thunderstorms of the season would make a lovely inspiration for musical pieces. Perhaps the musicians of your tribes need to compete to attract the rain spirits or to keep away dangerous creatures that awaken in the fall. Perhaps there is a yearly festival – a gathering of tribes – to compete for status and wealth and enjoy the bounty of the season where winning depends on the quality of the music one can produce.

Weather Festivals

The first thunderstorm of the fall would be a time for celebration in a land marked by dry and rainy seasons. Perhaps they would hold a ceremony where rain is collected and a cup of rain-water is drunk by the chief to symbolize the renewal of the people each year. Perhaps the first leaves that fall each year would be collected and burned as a sign of cleansing and finishing of an old season. Perhaps a people would wait to begin hunting certain animals until the first leaves change color, or only begin wearing certain clothes, singing certain songs, or eating certain foods after the first frost of the year.

What other autumnal celebrations or rituals might occur in a fantasy world? What would make sense given your culture’s geography, history, and belief system? Leave a comment below!