Festival Day (Westland)

Festival Day (Westlandic: Fest Däg) is the Westlandic national day. Celebrate on the 12 February annually, it commemorates the founding the Westlandic Republic as a socialist state and the ousting of the monarchy in 1923. The day is marked by large scale festivities, including various local festivals and parties, ending with a free concert and fireworks display in Sommertunn in the evening. The day also heavily commemorates Marwig Þorsson, who is attributed, among others, to founding Westlandic socialism and was the main contributor to the 1923 Constitution. Often, the festivities are visited by international dignitaries.

History
Festival Day was first celebrate on a large scale in 1933, marking a decade since the foundation of Westland as a republic. It celebrated the founders of modern Westland, aswell as looking to the future. It was marked by various street parties and other festivities. These events were repeated the next year, and continuously until the Second World War, when they were not celebrated on the same scale until 1946. The 1946 Festival Day was said to be one of the largest in history, due to end of World War II and the hardships many Westlandic people had faced during the war.

The origins of the free concert date back to the 1985 Festival Day, when a concert, free for all to attend, was held outside in 12 February Place in Sommertunn, in front of the National Council Building. Initially a small concert featuring contemporary Westlandic musicians, it became a large scale event in the following years featuring major Westlandic and International music stars.