The festivals and traditions of the various races of One Piece are definitely an interesting topic, one we haven't had the pleasure of discussing before. But, as the Wano Country saga draws to a close, we decided to tell you a little about one of One Piece's most famous festivals, the Wano Country Fire Festival. This article will reveal what the Fire Festival is and why it's so important to the people of Wano Country.

The Fire Festival is a special annual festivity held in the capital of Wano Country, the Flower Capital. It is an event held to mourn and honor all the deceased of Wano Country, which is why it holds a very symbolic value for the people of Wano. However, after Oden's death, Kaido and the Shogun decided to turn the Festival into a celebration of the Beast Pirates' "liberation" of the people of Wano from the tyrannical and evil rule of the Kozuki family, which was a horrible lie and a slap in the face to Wano's traditions. After their fall, the festival returned to normal.

The rest of this article will focus on the Wano Country Fire Festival. You'll discover everything there is to know about this specific event, why it was so important to the people of Wano Country, and the plot of the series' grand saga. We'll present the details you need to know and combine them into a single, wholesome story that you can use as a reference in its own right. Of course, the article will also be full of spoilers, so we wanted to warn you beforehand so you can be careful when approaching it.

The Fire Festival is an extremely important annual event in Wano

The Wano Country Fire Festival is an annual event to commemorate the dead, during which a large bonfire is lit so that it can also be seen in the sky. On this occasion, Kurozumi Orochi's retinue, consisting of ten thousand men, arrived in Onigashima to feast with his allies.

A grand banquet was held at the festival, attended by 20,000 of Kaido's subordinates. It was believed that the people of Wano Country viewed Kaido as a myoo, a venerable King of Enlightenment who protected the nation and expressed gratitude for saving their homeland from the Kozuki family's desire to open the borders.

In reality, they were taking advantage of Orochi's day off, hoping that the Nine Red Scabbards would free them from their tyranny. It was the only day of the year they were allowed to drink alcohol.

Now, suppose you look at this generalized description of what the Fire Festival is. In that case, you might conclude that the Fire Festival is something the villains who took over Wano Country established and that it's simply a celebration to further their goals. It would actually make sense from that perspective, as the Fire Festival has remained a part of Wano's traditions even though Kaido and Orochi crushed all visible signs of opposition. So why was it retained?

Well, that's an easy question, because we can confirm that he was kept in Wano to control the population of Wano Country and allow them at least some illusion of freedom. This was actually a very clever and cunning decision, as it left the people of Wano with the impression that not much had changed under Kaido's rule, which wasn't true, in fact, as the difference between the Kozuki family's rule and the joint rule of Orochi and Kaido was tremendous.

So, how did this change the Fire Festival in the first place? We've established that it's now a celebration of Wano's "liberation"—that is, a completely fake celebration that people usually get excited about because Orochi isn't present. But what about back then?

Well, as we can confirm, in the past, the Fire Festival was a real celebration that the people of Wano Country used to mourn and honor their deceased. This makes sense, as such festivals are traditionally present in Japan (and One Piece is a Japanese work), but Oda, naturally, gave it something special and made it a true celebration that fits perfectly with the world of One Piece.

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As mentioned, the Fire Festival was held to honor the dead in the Flower Capital, the capital of Wano Country. It was a true festival of light and a true tradition that made Wano Country a very special place at this time of year.

Namely, the people of Wano believed that the bigger the celebration, that is, the more they celebrated and the better the atmosphere, the better, because the emotions shown during the Festival could easily reach the deceased if the celebration was so grand. This is why Sky Ships are commonly present during the Festival, as it is a sign of splendor, as well as large bonfires, whose fires are very high, because the people of Wano believe that high flames could reach the sky, and thus the deceased. those, showing them how much they are appreciated on earth.

At the end of the festival, the people of Wano would light lanterns and place their wishes inside them. The lanterns would then be released into the sky, with the people of Wano hoping that they would reach their dearly departed in the heavens and grant their wishes.