Fêtes worse than death? — Village festivals in fiction

1

Before the Feast

by Saša Stanišić

334 members

11 reviews

3.8

3 Members: thorold, Dilara86, spiphany
Explanations: thorold: The night before the festival in a Brandenburg village

2

A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

22,285 members

205 reviews

4

3 Members: thorold, Dilara86, ManWithAnAgenda

3

Over Sea, Under Stone

by Susan Cooper

7,372 members

160 reviews

3.8

2 Members: DisassemblyOfReason, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: The Lammas carnival.

4

Lords and Ladies

by Terry Pratchett

10,709 members

140 reviews

4

2 Members: Dilara86, ManWithAnAgenda

5

Enchanted Glass

by Diana Wynne Jones

990 members

55 reviews

3.9

2 Members: merrystar, ManWithAnAgenda

6

Greenwitch

by Susan Cooper

5,611 members

81 reviews

3.9

2 Members: DisassemblyOfReason, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: The making of the Greenwitch.

7

Harvest Home

by Thomas Tryon

1,330 members

40 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

8

Festival at Farbridge

by J. B. Priestley

66 members

1 review

3.8

Member: thorold

9

The Virgin in the Garden

by A. S. Byatt

1,857 members

33 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: thorold
Explanations: thorold: A Yorkshire community putting on a play in the gardens of a stately home

10

The Lottery [short story]

by Shirley Jackson

1,422 members

54 reviews

4

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

11

One Part Woman

by Perumal Murugan

245 members

5 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: Dilara86

12

Harvest

by Jim Crace

1,169 members

77 reviews

3.9

Member: spiphany

13

Smith of Wootton Major: Extended Edition

by J. R. R. Tolkien

214 members

2 reviews

3.9

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: In which a village holds a feast, a very special cake is baked, and one child gets a key to faery. The first chapter of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" would also fit this list.

14

Passing Strange

by Catherine Aird

190 members

7 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: Nobody can find the District Nurse at the Horticultural Society's annual Flower Show in the village of Almstone...at least, not until the tents are struck at the end of the show....

15

Grenzgang: Roman

by Stephan Thome

80 members

4 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Every seven years the residents gather to walk the boundaries of a Hessian village.

16

The Liquid Land

by Raphaela Edelbauer

74 members

5 reviews

3.8

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: An oddly difficult-to-find Austrian village prepares for a major event.

17

Class Trip II

by Bebe Faas Rice

13 members

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

18

Blandings Castle

by P. G. Wodehouse

1,302 members

24 reviews

4.1

Member: thorold
Explanations: thorold: Nominated for "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend", one of the most nearly perfect Wodehouse short stories.

19

The Body Politic

by Catherine Aird

124 members

3.8

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: The story opens during the annual summer garden party at Mellamby. (Excuse me, technically during the Member's end-of-the-summer-session speech to the local Conservative Association.)

20

The Secret of Father Brown

by G. K. Chesterton

523 members

8 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: The bazaar of Lady Mounteagle in "The Red Moon of Meru".

21

August Folly

by Angela Thirkell

417 members

26 reviews

3.9

Member: thorold
Explanations: thorold: Most Thirkell novels have some sort of big event three-quarters of the way through: this one centres around amateur theatricals

22

Barbie in Television

by Marianne Duest

9 members

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

23

The Mirror Crack'd

by Agatha Christie

4,406 members

86 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: Gossington Hall is being lent for a big fete in aid of the St. John Ambulance Corps.

24

Dead Man's Folly

by Agatha Christie

3,709 members

65 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: thorold

25

Queen of the Flowers

by Kerry Greenwood

588 members

23 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: St. Kilda's first Flower Festival.

26

Citizen of the Galaxy

by Robert A. Heinlein

3,355 members

73 reviews

3.9

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: Remember her name at Gathering.

27

A Stranger Came Ashore

by Mollie Hunter

311 members

4 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: Up Helly Aa, the New Year's festival at the end of the story.

28

The Outskirter's Secret

by Rosemary Kirstein

344 members

18 reviews

4.1

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: The Outskirters hold Rendezvous every twenty years. This time, a steerswoman is present and asking (and answering) questions...

29

Dragonsinger

by Anne McCaffrey

6,828 members

71 reviews

4.1

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: The Gather at Fort Hold.

30

Network Effect

by Martha Wells

3,862 members

220 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: I don't like planets but she lured me there by explaining that it was for an Art Festival/Conference/Religious Observation that would include "a lot of" live performances. After checking to find out the definition of "a lot of" was eighty-seven plus, I agreed to go.

31

From a High Tower

by Mercedes Lackey

406 members

15 reviews

3.8

Member: DisassemblyOfReason
Explanations: DisassemblyOfReason: Giselle makes the rounds of various Maifest and Oktoberfest shooting competitions to support herself.

32