Danival's Winter Festival is Furcadia's annual winter celebration. The first Winter Festival was held on December 16, 2002. In 2005, the Winter Festival would move to the Festival Grounds.

Festival Grounds

The player spawns in the center crossroads. To the right is Guide Penguin Carl, who will give you directions.

Southeast from the center is the Stage, where events are held. Further east from the Stage is a spot where you can make Snowfurres; a seating area around the World's Largest Candycane; and finally, Ned the penguin, who wants premium bedding for his animals. You can borrow hay from him for the Ostrixes.

Southwest from the center is Danival's Ice Palace, the Dream Contest Entries area, and the portal to the Ski Resort. Southeast from the Dream Contest Entries is the Winter Arena minigame.

North of the center is Kayak the bear, who has a quest I couldn't finish because I think it expects multiple people. Northeast from there, you can skate across the frozen ocean, participate in a sled race, or sit at the Storyteller's Circle.

At the northeastern point of the map is the Castle. If you have hay, you can go for an Ostrix ride.

East of the Castle is the Penguin Cave, which you can only enter after finishing a trading quest.

History

Above is a recreation of the first Winter Festival held in Meovanni, using the patches freely available in the Patch Archive. Screenshots from Spawn of Randomism were used as reference.

Timeline

2002

The first Winter Festival was held in Meovanni Village on December 16th, coinciding with Furcadia's 6th birthday. Alongside the festival, all main maps had winter-themed graphics. The end date was not published, but it lasted for at least a week.

The contest categories were Dreams, Art, and Writing. The festival's webpage also featured a collection of personal celebration stories.

For the first day, 'Dragon Day' was held, where all players could freely use the normally-paid dragon avatar.

Not unlike Wolf Howl, hosting the festival in Meovanni once again placed a load on the server, and changing the graphics across the game took a load on people's computers. Regardless, some players began to ponder the possibilities of Furcadia having seasons.

2003

Danival's Winter Festival was held once again on December 16th until the end of the year.

2004

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 16th until the end of the year.

The contest categories were Dreams, Writing, and Skins. This year was the debut of the Masters category, which existed to give newer users a fighting chance; it was mandatory for previous-year contest winners and volunteer staff members. This was also the first client skin contest, made to stress-test the new skin and font editors.

2005

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 16th until the end of the year. A Mythical Creatures Day was also held on the 16th, where players could be any of the paid avatars.

This was the first year that the Winter Festival was held on the Festival Grounds instead of Meovanni. The new Festival Grounds map featured sleigh rides, snowball fights, a quest, and at least one new localspecies.

The contest categories were Dreams, Writing, and E-cards.

2006

Danival's Winter Festival was not held in 2006 as it was Furcadia's 10th anniversary! The Festival Grounds map went up, but no contests were held and the main maps did not get snow.

2007

Danival's Winter Festival was held at its regular time of December 16th to the new year.

The ability to become a penguin in the Festival Grounds was removed for this year only.

The contest categories were Dreams, Captions, Avatar Costumes, and Tutorials.

2008

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 16th until the end of the year.

The Ostrix sleigh ride was added to the rooftop.

The contest categories were Dreams, Caroling, E-Cards, and a participation category.

2009

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 16th until the end of the year. The contest categories were Dreams, Poetry, Art, and Coloring.

2010

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 16th until the end of the year. The contest categories were Dreams, Writing, Art, and Coloring.

2011

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 16th until the end of the year. The contest categories were Dreams, Art, Coloring, and a fictional recipe writing category.

2012

Danival's Winter Festival was held at an indeterminate date. The contest categories were Dreams, Poetry, Art, and Participation.

2013

Danival's Winter Festival was held at an indeterminate date. The contest categories were Dreams, Music, Art, and Participation.

2014

Danival's Winter Festival was held at an indeterminate date. The contest categories were Dreams, Music, Art, and Participation.

The participation contest this year was one of the first to prioritize posting on social media, assuredly in an attempt to boost their Kickstarter campaign. This was met with mixed reception, as Furcadia players are typically on Furcadia because they don't use social media.

2015

Danival's Winter Festival was held at an indeterminate date. The contest categories were Dreams, Art, Writing, and Participation. This was the last Winter Fest to receive a forum thread.

2016

Danival's Winter Festival was held at an indeterminate date. The contest categories were Dreams and Art.

2017

Danival's Winter Festival was held at an indeterminate date. The contest categories were Dreams, E-Cards, and Participation.

2018

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 15th to an indeterminate date. The categories were Art and Video.

2019-2022

No data.

2023

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 7th to an indeterminate date.

2024

Danival's Winter Festival ran from November 15th to an indeterminate date.

2025

Danival's Winter Festival ran from December 15th to an indeterminate date.