Great Summer Festival

The Great Summer Festival is one of the major festivals in the ritual year, being surpassed in ritual importance only by the Great Spring Festival. It is also known as Year's Peak, or the Bloom Festival.

Timing and Events
The Summer Festival starts on the first day of the fifth month, and lasts for five days.

One of the major events is the chariot race on the first day, which is a chariot race as well as an archery contest demanding great skill.

On the third of fifth is the Crowning Festival, where young noblemen who have come of age - either 15 or 16 - are officially given adult status.

The analogous ceremony for noblewomen, the Lock-cutting Ceremony, is on the fourth of fifth.

Significance
One major significance of the festival for the nobles is that it signifies the opening of the social season, which lasts from the Great Summer Festival until the Frost and Lantern Festival in the eleventh month. During this period, unmarried noble women are allowed to leave their residences and go on soujourns with men, albeit with chaperones and the approvals of their respective parents.