Gourdsgiving: the New Holiday of Fredericton High School

A new holiday trend has spread like wildfire among the students of Fredericton High School. The name of the said holiday is Gourdsgiving. This trend has been the talk of the school, and so, many people have been asking: "What is it?", and: "Where did it come from?".

Photo of Jordan Cross proudly showing his recent additions to the gourd.

Gourdsgiving is centred around a gourd passing from student to student. Each person must keep it for 17-24 hours before giving it to the next. This holiday begins on October first and lasts the entire month. At the end of Gourdsgiving, on November first, there is a feast where everyone who had the honour of being given the gourd gets to eat a piece of it (no matter how mouldy it may be).

This idea which began with just a few students joking around has now expanded, leading to many Fredericton High school students involving and investing themselves in the gourd's whereabouts. We interviewed a student who is heavily involved in this lovely holiday. He said: "The culture surrounding Gourdsgiving is very positive and inviting. I feel this is bringing the community at our school together". Gourdsgiving does not discriminate. Every clique knows about it, and every single one has the chance to get involved.

In another interview, we talked with the student who helped create Gourdsgiving by buying this year's gourd—Dax Thebeau. We asked questions the general population of Fredericton High School has been dying to know.

What inspired you to start Gourdsgiving?

"It began a while ago when I owed my friend a gourd, so I bought him a gourd, but then he gave it to someone else. From then on, it became the giving gourd; it was made a tradition that every year someone buys the gourd, and then you give it to friends and family".

What is the point of Gourdsgiving? Is there an end goal?

"The purpose is bringing people together through this gourd, and the end goal is to see how many people we can give the gourd to in the month".

What started as a joke among friends has led to a sort of cultural phenomenon here in Fredericton High School, with a high percentage of people celebrating this new holiday and many people hoping to turn this into a new tradition to be celebrated for years to come. We wish you luck and hope that one day, you may be the very one to receive the highly praised gourd.