New Moon Celebration

The New Moon Celebration was an annual festival held between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes during the antebellum period before the War. It was a commemoration held to reunite the two polar Water Tribes. Considering Avatar Kuruk's allegory while talking to Aang in the Spirit World, the celebrations were seemingly scheduled to correspond with a new moon. The only reference to the festivities is from Kuruk's youth, from some unspecified time before 312 BSC.

Due to the loss of communication between the sister tribes, there has been no known meeting since the beginning of the War. It is unknown if the celebrations were reinstated after the conflict's end.

Purpose


The New Moon Celebration was a time when the Northern and Southern Water Tribes could unite. Family and friends separated by miles and miles of land and sea, literally on opposite sides of the globe, were able to see each other and reunite during these festivals. Judging from the single festival presented, there was a certain air of formality and spirituality present during these festivities. Many tribesmen dressed up for the occasion, and it is likely that the festival lasted for a relatively long duration of time.

The festivals were, essentially, a social function. Tribe members from opposite sides of the world would meet here for the first time. This promoted inter-tribal and dynamic relations, interchanging gene pools and providing for a fluid cultural exchange. The meeting of the Tribal Chiefs also allowed several discussions of matters and traditions to take place.

The absence of the New Moon Celebrations could possibly be linked to the fact that the northern and southern factions are not only physically but also socially and culturally distant, latter two due to the War.