Harvest festival

A harvest festival is an annual celebration and that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. Harvest festivals typically feature feasting, both family and public, with foods that are drawn from crops that come to maturity around the time of the festival. Ample food and freedom from the necessity to work in the fields are two central features of harvest festivals: eating, merriment, contests, music and romance are common features of harvest festivals around the world.

In North America, Canada and the US each have their own Thanksgiving celebrations in October and November.

In Britain, thanks have been given for successful harvests since pagan times. Harvest festival is traditionally held on the Sunday near or of the Harvest Moon. This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox (22 or 23 September). The celebrations on this day usually include singing hymns, praying, and decorating churches with baskets of fruit and food in the festival known as Harvest Festival, Harvest Home, Harvest Thanksgiving or Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving.

Harvest Festival (Parks and Recreation)

"Harvest Festival" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation, and the 37th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 17, 2011. In the episode, Leslie and her co-workers hold Pawnee's harvest festival, the success of which will determine the future of the parks department. The festival faces several obstacles, including a supposed Native American curse, a missing miniature horse and a scandal-hungry media. Meanwhile, Ann tries to cope with her recent break-up, and April confesses her love to Andy, then becomes angry when he does not reciprocate.

Written by Daniel J. Goor and directed by Dean Holland, the episode marked the culmination of a seven-episode story arc about the harvest festival that began with the third season premiere, "Go Big or Go Home". Unlike the first six episodes of the season, it was not written and produced immediately following the second season, which had been done to accommodate actress Amy Poehler's pregnancy. The episode also does not feature Rob Lowe as he was originally only expected to be a guest star when the episode was conceived; however, he does return for subsequent episodes as a regular cast member.