Star Trek is renowned for having a wealth of lore about the smallest details of its universe, particularly when it comes to the people and cultures that populate it. Holidays, celebrations, and festivals are integral parts of these cultures, and their presence in the Star Trek franchise has never been neglected.
Every single Star Trek series features characters who celebrate holidays specific to their people, religion or history; they come in the form of Klingons, Bajorans, Ferengi, Vulcans, Humans, and more. The United Federation of Planets even has its own dates of significance, which are recognized by every member of the Federation, and their associated civilizations. Not only do these holidays deepen the history of Star Trek, they also ensure that there’s always an excuse to let the good times roll – no matter where you are in the galaxy.
Since the incarnation of Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series, generations of screenwriters have seen the narrative value of giving the alien aspects of their stories an anchor in the familiar. Foreign worlds are given real depth when they seem to possess a history as rich as Earth’s, with different languages, other deities, protected belief systems, and social castes. These worlds allow the audience to imagine limitless variety in the places being explored, and ensure that the emotional investment of the characters on-screen has real stakes. Holidays are as fundamental to a culture as the ethos that formed it, and this is embraced wholeheartedly by the peoples of Star Trek.
In each series that represents some festival or celebration, the event is almost always tied to a character with a personal issue to overcome. In Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episode 3, “Day of Honor”, the hot-tempered B’Elanna Torres is forced to confront her difficulty in finding a sense of honor by exploring an old Klingon ceremony. Eating the heart of a sanctified targ and drinking mot’loch from the Grail of Kahless isn’t B’Elanna’s idea of being honorable, but saving Tom Paris from the void of space does the job. Connecting to one’s personal heritage is a significant part of most ‘alien’ characters’ journeys, as shown with Worf, who has trouble getting his human-raised son interested in his Klingon ancestry. They celebrate the Kot’baval festival in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 21, “Firstborn”, but the story becomes more about Worf and his son than adherence to ancient rituals.
Similar to the Klingons, the Vulcans of the series are often subject to undergoing personal odysseys that are kicked off by a mention of their cultural history. In Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 16, “Meld”, Neelix teases Tuvok about his lack of interest in Kal-Rekk, “a day of atonement, solitude, and silence”, and Rumarie, a Vulcan bacchanal that has become obscure. Tuvok has problems maintaining his Vulcan composure in the episode, a struggle that’s enhanced by this reminder of the two sides to his culture: cold logic and wild emotion.
The long history of Vulcan is almost matched by Bajor, a planet with a deep history whose people undergo a great deal over numerous series. The Bajoran people have explicitly religious ceremonies, augmented by spiritual beliefs that sustain characters such as Kira Nerys throughout her stint on the space station. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 10, “Fascination” shows her introducing The Gratitude Festival of Bajor, which is a time of renewal and rebirth. It’s a sacred time that is unintentionally corrupted by Lwaxana Troi’s libido, but really, worse things have happened to the Bajorans.
The holidays mentioned are notable for being vehicles for the development of characters such as B’Elanna, Worf, Tuvok and Kira Nerys, but other holidays exist simply to enrich the wider universe. Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets has its own celebration of First Contact Day, the day when Zefram Cochrane shook the hand of the first Vulcan to step foot on Earth (officially). It’s celebrated in Star Trek: Voyager season 7, episode 22, “Homestead”, wherein the entire Voyager crew eats Cochrane’s favorite food, plays his favorite music, and forces their only Vulcan to say ‘live long and prosper’. There is the yearly and beloved Captain Picard Day, as shown in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 12, “The Pegasus”, which is devoted to describing the best features of Captain Picard.
Also enjoyed is Thanksgiving, an Earth holiday celebrated on the Enterprise that has at least once been interrupted by an unstable guest, as seen in Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 7, “Charlie X”. The crew of Voyager, however, have the ultimate party with Prixin, an annual Talaxian ritual that focuses on being thankful for family, especially during times of hardship. In Star Trek: Voyager, season 4, episode 11, “Mortal Coil”, the entire crew supports a depressed Neelix by reminding him and each other that “We do not stand alone. We are in the arms of family.” There is no better example of the benefit of sharing seasonal festivities.
There are many reasons to admire the extensive lore amassed by so many Star Trek properties, but analyzing certain fictional holidays make them more meaningful. Holidays give uptight characters a chance to unwind, provide context for cultural quirks, and allow friends of varied backgrounds to celebrate one another. They provide the kind of downtime that makes characters appreciate their differences. They also permit audiences the opportunity to observe the infinite diversity of the real Earth’s cultures and perhaps encourage them to celebrate those too.
Within the franchise’s universe, cultural celebrations will always have a function. They enhance the characters and their environment by adding history, deepening cultural identities, and providing a reason for the characters to interact with new ways of thinking and being – which is what exploring Star Trek’s goal of exploring strange new worlds has always been about.