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It’s Sundance season again, which means we’ll be learning about some of 2025’s most exciting indie films, both from established directors and young up-and-comers. This is an exciting time for film buffs and casual moviegoers alike, with fun movies, serious films, and everything in between debuting on the big screen in Park City, Utah.

But how did an indie film festival in Utah ski country become America’s answer to Cannes? It came from a lot of hard work — the festival was on for several years before it became the hitmaker it is today — and a giant boost from Robert Redford. As the event grew more popular, it caused a surge of interest in independent cinema that helped launch the careers of big names like the Coen Brothers, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Thomas Anderson, David O. Russell, Ava DuVernay, Lee Daniels, Kevin Smith, and many others.

Which major film franchise wouldn’t exist without Sundance? How does the festival screen so many never-before-seen films? Do you really have to go to Park City to watch? These five facts about Sundance will set the scene for another year of indie favorites.

The Festival Wasn’t Originally Called Sundance

What we now know as Sundance Film Festival got started way back in 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival, but it wouldn’t pick up its current moniker until more than a decade later. “Sundance” came from Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute, which the actor established in 1981 to support independent filmmakers. He named his nonprofit after his character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The two organizations joined forces when the Sundance Institute took over festival operations in 1985, expanding the event to 10 days. However, the name “Sundance Film Festival” wouldn’t come around until 1991 — it hung onto the name “US Film Festival” for a bit first, then became “United States Film Festival” before its current name stuck.

Another fun fact: The festival started in Utah’s capital, Salt Lake City, before moving to Park City in 1981.

“Sex, Lies, and Videotape” Was the Festival’s First Big Crossover Hit

The festival launched plenty of films you may have heard of before 1989, from Stranger than Paradise to The Brave Little Toaster, but Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape was an unprecedented success. The film went on to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival that year, and launched the wave of 1990s indie hits, including indie divisions at major studios. Beloved cult classic Heathers also debuted at Sundance, then still known as the United States Film Festival, that year, so things were really on a roll at this point.

Soderbergh is just one of many directors that operate in the mainstream now that got their start at Sundance during this 1980s and 1990s indie craze. The Coen Brothers’ debut Blood Simple came along in 1985, Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs screened in 1992, and both Paul Thomas Anderson’s Cigarettes & Coffee and the short version of Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket were shown at Sundance in 1993, and those are just a few examples.

Most Full-Length Films Are International Premieres

Working the festival circuit is common, but if your film is going to compete at Sundance, you need to premiere it at Sundance. American films that have been shown publicly are ineligible, and international films can’t have been shown outside their country of origin — e.g., a Japanese film that has only ever been screened in Japan is still eligible. Short films are an exception, along with films in the invitation-only, noncompetitive “Spotlight” category.

From Sundance, films will often move on to other festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival, which has similar rules — but since it’s in France, competing at Sundance doesn’t disqualify American films from submitting, as long as they haven’t been shown outside of America. The Toronto International Film Festival, another internationally recognized festival, just gives preference to premieres.

“Get Out” Is the Biggest Box-Office Success to Debut at Sundance (So Far)

Many Sundance premieres have gone on to be wildly successful — some with big names attached, some without. Director Jordan Peele was already a well-known comedic actor when Get Out premiered at the 2017 festival, but the film was both his directorial debut and outside the genre he was primarily known for. It ended up being released by Universal a month after the premiere, and grossed a whopping $176 million domestically. Its budget was just $4.5 million, which is pretty small as film budgets go — especially ones that have major studio distribution. It ended up being the 15th-highest-grossing film in America for the entire year, and it had both Star Wars: The Last Jedi and a few Marvel flicks to compete with.

Other big monetary successes spawned from Sundance include horror hits The Blair Witch Project ($140.5 million) and Saw ($55.2 million), Little Miss Sunshine ($59.8 million), Four Weddings and a Funeral ($52.7 million), and Napoleon Dynamite ($44.5 million — all numbers are domestic).

You Can Attend the Festival Online

Can’t make it out to Park City, Utah? Hate crowds? Love watching fine cinema in your pajamas? The wonders of modern technology mean that you can experience many of the festival’s offerings at home — and while it’s not cheap, it’s a fraction of the cost of going in person, even without airfare and lodging. The pandemic prompted Sundance to present the festival virtually for the first time in 2021, and it appears that even with in-person screenings back on, the online options are here to stay.

Sundance offers four virtual packages, from the $25 Explorer Pass for short films and indie episodic content to the $300 Festival Online Pass, which comes with 10 tickets, early access to film selections, and some on-demand content. Once the festival starts, single film tickets are $20. Not everything is cleared for online screenings, but it sure is a lot easier than getting on a plane.

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A colorful celebration that’s steeped in folklore and history, Lunar New Year is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in the world. Featuring vibrant red decorations, mesmerizing lion dances, and more, the festival is a celebration of wealth, longevity, and good fortune. From lucky red envelopes to sumptuous feasts, these six facts below will help illuminate the deep-rooted customs, symbolism, and superstitions that have surrounded the occasion for centuries.

It’s Also Called the Spring Festival

Because it occurs in late January or February, near the end of winter, the Lunar New Year as celebrated in China is frequently called the Spring Festival. The event marks the start of spring in the Chinese lunar calendar and is a time for people to bid farewell to the cold and welcome the new growth and beginnings that the season traditionally brings. It’s common for people to clean their houses before the first day of the celebration (similar to spring cleaning rituals in the West), to do away with the old and make way for the new.

It’s Not Just Chinese!

Many Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year in different ways, from Tết Nguyên Đán in Vietnam to Seollal in Korea. But Chinese New Year itself is also celebrated in places that are home to significant Chinese populations, including Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Many non-Asian countries host major Lunar New Year festivals as well, including Australia, Canada, Mauritius, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Outside of Asia, San Francisco, Sydney, and London have some of the biggest Lunar New Year celebrations.

Evil Beasts Are Kept at Bay

In ancient Chinese mythology, Nian, a monster who lives under the sea or inside of the mountains, was said to eat people in the night, and it especially had a taste for children. According to legend, an old man decided to light red firecrackers to scare the beast away from villages. The old man turned out to be a deity, Yanhuang, who was there to rescue the villagers from the Nian. Because the Nian didn’t return, it was believed that the color red and the explosion of the firecrackers scared the monster away. Red firecrackers, lanterns, and drums are still part of the celebration today, and considered an auspicious measure taken to ensure a lucky, safe new year. (Nian, incidentally, also means “year” in Chinese.)

Revelers Are Expected to Eat Lots of Dumplings and Noodles

The celebration of the Lunar New Year focuses on togetherness, as friends and family trade hopes and wishes for the future. Some of the foods that are traditionally eaten during the festivals have symbolic meanings, such as noodles to bring longevity, sticky rice balls in syrup to represent familial closeness, and a whole steamed fish as a symbol of prosperity and abundance. Dumplings — which are said to look like little money pouches — are a favorite treat of the festival and thought to bring wealth to the eater.

It’s All About the Moon

The Lunar New Year honors the start of the year according to the lunar calendar, which is based around the moon’s phases. (In contrast, many Western countries use the solar-year-based Gregorian calendar and celebrate the solar new year.) Because each lunation (lunar cycle) takes 29.5 days, the months in a lunar calendar will alternate between 29 and 30 days. As such, a lunar year is 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 34 seconds long — which is between 11 and 12 days shorter than the 365-day solar year. The Lunar New Year always begins on the day that the new moon appears, which is between January 21 and February 20 every year.

Children Receive Money in Lucky Red Envelopes

Chinese culture includes a belief that coins will protect their owner from evil spirits, as will the color red. As a result, parents give their children (and often other adults) red envelopes containing money, to ensure prosperity in the new year. Coins are usually given to small kids, while older children can be given both coins and bills — although the bills must be crisp and new, to symbolize a fresh start to the new year. Because six and eight are lucky numbers in China, children often receive money in denominations of six or eight.

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Three … two … one … Happy New Year! Every December 31, the planet prepares to put up a fresh calendar and roll into a new year. And for more than 100 years, a key component of New Year’s Eve traditions has been watching the “ball drop” in New York City’s Times Square. Every year, around a million often-chilly revelers gather at a triangle of land at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway, and 42nd Street to watch an illuminated orb announce the dawn of a new year — with an estimated audience of 1 billion watching from the comfort of home. Here are six fun facts about the ball drop and how it came to be.

Early Ball Drops Were for Timekeeping

In 1761, John Harrison invented the marine chronometer, which revolutionized navigation for ships at sea by allowing navigators to determine longitude. But this advance required timepieces aboard ships to be set accurately. To help with this, British Royal Navy officer Robert Wauchope invented one of the earliest time balls, in Greenwich, England, in 1829. Viewable by telescope from the British coastline, it allowed navigators to observe the ball drop at 1 p.m. each day and then set their instruments with accuracy.

NYE Was Celebrated in Old New York, Too

Before there was Times Square, New Yorkers gathered on Wall Street to hear the bells at Trinity Church ring out the old year and ring in the new. In Colonial times, “calling” on friends and neighbors was the fashionable thing to do, but by 1801 Trinity paid bell-ringers to mark the occasion, and by the middle of the 19th century, festivities around Trinity Church were common.

There Were Once Fireworks in Times Square

In December 1904, New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs celebrated the opening of the paper’s new headquarters, the Times Building, with a fireworks-filled NYE party. The resultant sparks and ash alarmed city officials, who instituted a ban on pyrotechnics three years later. The Times transitioned to an illuminated ball, initially lit by 216 electric lamps. Except for a “dimout” break during World War II in 1942 and 1943, the party has carried on.

There Have Been Seven Different Balls

The ball that welcomed 1908 in Times Square was the first of seven. The latest debuted in 2007 to mark the 100th anniversary of the event. The building is now known as One Times Square, and the ball, which sparkles throughout the year, weighs almost 6 tons and includes 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles, illuminated by 32,256 LEDs.

Television Expanded the Audience

The first televised ball drop was in 1956, on CBS. “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” debuted in 1972, and today a number of TV networks host live celebrity-filled New Year’s Eve specials from Times Square. Viewers around the world can watch the event online at TimesSquareNYC.org starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

There Are Many Other Odd Drops

The ball drop in Times Square may be the biggest, but it’s far from the oddest. Other locations have joined the party with lighthearted and quirky events. Mobile, Alabama, drops a Moon Pie, including a noon drop so kids can participate. Atlanta unleashes an 800-pound fiberglass and foam peach at midnight, while Key West doubles down on the quirk by dropping a drag queen (from a ruby slipper, of course) and a conch shell from Hemingway’s favorite bar, Sloppy Joe’s.

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When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Day, celebrations unfold across the globe. And when the new year reaches the eastern shore of the United States, a unique tradition plays out across the country, because Americans like to drop things.

The most famous example, the Times Square ball drop in New York City, is also the oldest. The original 700-pound ball was made from iron and wood and dressed up with 25-watt light bulbs. Since its debut in 1907, it’s gotten some serious upgrades: It’s now nearly 6 tons and covered with 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles. And these days, it has more than a few imitators across the U.S., as American cities ring in the new year by dropping a variety of other strange items, from candy to human beings.

Giant Ceramic Flea (Eastover, North Carolina)

While honoring a giant flea on New Year’s Eve would be a strange choice for nearly any other town, the parasitic insect is intimately entwined with the small town of Eastover, North Carolina. In the early 1800s, the sandy area became so infested with fleas, they named the township Flea Hill, and there is still a road in the town by the name. By the mid-1800s, the town had gotten its flea problems under control, but the name hung around until it was officially changed to “Eastover” in the 1920s. Once the town was fully incorporated in 2007, its residents looked for some way to honor its history, and devised the annual Flea Drop in 2010. People come from all over the southern U.S. to see this strange display, and as the clock approaches midnight, a 30-pound ceramic flea counts down to the new year — five, four, flea, two, one.

Peeps (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)

Pennsylvania is the undisputed champion of dropping strange stuff on New Year’s Eve, including a rather unseasonal appearance of the Peep. Usually rearing their multihued, marshmallowy heads around Easter time, Peeps are the famous creation of the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based candy maker Just Born. First dropped in 2008, the 400-pound Peep chick greets the new year in front of the Pennsylvania town’s towering SteelStacks, which were the headquarters of Bethlehem Steel for nearly a century. Today, they serve as a cultural center as well as a staging ground for one of the more memorable NYE celebrations in the country.

A Giant Apple (Manhattan, Kansas)

Viewers across the country tune in to watch the ball drop in the Big Apple, but what about the “Little Apple”? Manhattan, Kansas — located just west of Topeka — stays true to its name as it drops a giant apple high above a bar in the neighborhood of Aggieville. The tradition began in 2003, though it took a two-year respite during the COVID-19 pandemic. The event has drawn crowds 10,000 strong in years past, which isn’t bad for a Manhattan with only about 55,000 people.

A Bunch of Grapes (Temecula, California)

Lying in the heart of Temecula Valley south of Los Angeles, the city of Temecula is known for its wineries, so what better way to bring in the new year (and hope for a good harvest) than to drop a 12-foot-tall illuminated bunch of grapes above the town’s civic center? Being a staple crop for the dozens of local vintners, the mascot is an obvious choice and also a flamboyant one — and the tradition is so nice, they drop the grapes twice. The first occurs at 9 p.m. to welcome the new year along with the East Coast, and then the grapes are dropped again to celebrate the West Coast’s entry three hours later.

A Giant Onion (St. George’s, Bermuda)

Dropping things to ring in the new year is a largely American tradition (for some reason), but not exclusively so. One major exception occurs in St. George’s in Bermuda, which was founded as an English settlement in 1612 and is still a British overseas territory. Back in the 1800s, Bermuda was world-renowned for their onions of all varieties, whether red, yellow, white, or purple, and traded their produce heavily with the eastern U.S. While visiting Bermuda in 1877, Mark Twain even wrote, “The onion is the pride and joy of Bermuda. It is her jewel, her gem of gems.” Honoring this long-standing heritage, Bermudians (born-and-bred islanders are still called “Onions”) drop a giant onion bedazzled with bright crystal lights to welcome the new year to their small island in the Atlantic.

6-Foot-Tall Metal Pinecone (Flagstaff, Arizona)

The Weatherford Hotel is a fixture of Flagstaff, and for the establishment’s centennial (as well as the turn of the millennium) in 2000, management wanted to do something special. Looking to New York’s NYE celebration, planners also took inspiration from the local flora, as the city is nestled in Coconino National Forest, home of the world’s largest stand of ponderosa pine. Weatherford hotel co-owner Pamela “Sam” Green fashioned a giant pine cone using styrofoam, a trash can, and lots and lots of local ponderosa pine cones, and the hotel dropped this makeshift creation for the first time to welcome the new millennium. Unsatisfied with the pine cone’s trashy origins, Green eventually upgraded to a 6-foot-tall, metal pine cone created by a local artisan. When the giant pine cone isn’t wowing holiday revelers at the end of the year, it’s stored at Green’s home like an impressive lawn ornament.

Bologna (Lebanon, Pennsylvania)

For more than 25 years, the town of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, has dropped a giant package of bologna for New Year’s Eve. Lebanon is renowned for its bologna, first pioneered by the Pennsylvania Dutch, so the town’s meat-based tradition makes sense. Although it started at the end of 1997, the idea for a bologna drop was bandied about on local radio stations and newspapers for years. Local bologna maker Kutztown Bologna made a 100-pound, six-foot-long piece of meat for the inaugural celebration, and bologna has been a fixture of Lebanon’s New Year’s celebrations ever since.

Opossum (Tallapoosa, Georgia)

Dropping a possum sounds like a pretty unusual celebration. However, not one but two towns drop the venerable Didelphis virginiana (Virginia opossum) on New Year’s Eve. (Both “possum” and “opossum” are correct terms for the only marsupial found north of Mexico.) In Tallapoosa, Georgia, the Possum Drop involves live music, food vendors, and fireworks, but the taxidermied possum named Spencer is the real star of the show. The 7,000 or so attendees can get a picture with Spencer before he’s hoisted atop the Cain Law Office Building at 11:30 p.m. for his slow descent only a half-hour later. Brasstown, North Carolina, used to also drop a possum but instead used a live one. After much controversy, including legal action from PETA, the town suspended the tradition in 2020.

Potato (Boise, Idaho)

Since 2012, Boise, the capital of Idaho, has stayed true to its state’s starch-filled history by dropping a giant illuminated potato made of resin as the final seconds of the year tick away. The potato, of course, is the official state vegetable of Idaho, and its russet masterpieces are shipped around the world. This is thanks in large part to the state’s volcanic soil, as well as the Snake River, which provides the water and silt that makes Idaho a potato-producing powerhouse. Boise, which is near the Snake River, honors this agricultural heritage with a New Year’s Eve celebration filled with food, music, and 40,000 attendees breathlessly waiting for a crane to drop a massive potato — all in front of the state’s capitol building.

Giant Acorn (Raleigh, North Carolina)

The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, is known as “The City of Oaks” for the many majestic oak trees that line its streets. That might be part of why the town drops a 10-foot-tall, 1,250-pound copper and steel acorn for New Year’s Eve. This gargantuan acorn was originally created in 1992 to celebrate the city’s bicentennial and eventually became the starring attraction of First Night Raleigh, the name of the town’s New Year’s celebration. The acorn spends most of the year as an outdoor installation at the Duke Performing Arts Center, but in early December, it’s carted off to a local artist’s studio for a thorough polishing before its big, year-ending performance.

Sardine and Maple Leaf (Eastport, Maine)

Eastport, Maine, is (as its name suggests) the easternmost city in the contiguous United States, which makes its New Year’s kind of a big deal. Eastport is also the least populous city in Maine, with little more than 1,200 residents, but it puts on a celebration to remember. The town drops two different items — both a wooden sardine and a giant plywood maple leaf. For generations, citizens of Eastport and nearby Lubec worked in sardine factories, and though not many of those factories exist today, the town honors its past by including the famous fish in its celebrations. It’s customary to kiss the fish before the drop, for good luck. With neighboring Canada only a short ferry ride away, Eastport’s New Year’s drop also includes an illuminated maple leaf in honor of its Canadian neighbors.

Humans (Multiple Locations)

Most New Year’s drops involve food, animals, or some other piece of local history, but sometimes actual humans get in on the fun. In Key West, for example, a drag queen named Sushi is dropped in a red stiletto. In Las Vegas, the Strat Hotel held a contest in 2020 to allow one person (wearing an illuminated jumpsuit) to skydive from some 855 feet above the Las Vegas strip to welcome the new year.
One of the strangest examples of a human drop was in 2010, when Nicole Polizzi, aka Snooki from the reality TV show Jersey Shore, was set to drop in essentially a human-sized hamster ball at MTV’s studios in Times Square. When New York officials put the kibosh on that plan, MTV moved the event to Seaside, New Jersey, which was the setting for the show’s first season.

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When it comes to end-of-year holidays, you probably think of the big three: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Christmas is highly visible, and the menorah is common, but the importance of Kwanzaa, including its history, customs, and symbolism, isn’t nearly as well known. These six interesting facts explore the holiday’s Black Power-inspired founding and its ancient influences from across several groups throughout Africa. So let’s light the kinara and find out why Kwanzaa is a holiday unlike any other.

Kwanzaa Was Created in the 1960s

Christmas and Hanukkah celebrate moments that occurred more than two millennia ago, but Kwanzaa is a much more modern invention. In August 1965, the Watts Riots broke out in Los Angeles and left 34 people dead and $40 million in property damage. Horrified by the devastation, a Black activist and scholar named Maulana Karenga decided to create a holiday that celebrated African culture in an effort to unite the community. Karenga pulled influences from “first fruits” festivals across Africa, including Ashanti, Zulu, and Swazi harvest celebrations, and on December 26, 1966, the first Kwanzaa commemorations were held in Los Angeles among Karenga’s family and friends.

It’s a Cultural Celebration, Not a Religious One

Kwanzaa always begins on December 26 and ends on January 1. Although the holiday immediately follows Christmas, Kwanzaa is a nonreligious celebration, the aim of which is only to highlight African culture and communities — and not to replace religious traditions. In fact, many people who celebrate Kwanzaa also celebrate the Christmas holiday on December 25. In many homes, the kinara — the seven-candle candelabra used in Kwanzaa celebrations — stands right next to an ornament-laden Christmas tree.

Both “Kwanza” and “Kwanzaa” Are Correct Spellings

The word “Kwanzaa” is derived from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” which means “first fruits” — a reference to African harvest festivals. Eventually, the word “kwanza” gained an extra “a” in the English translation, reportedly so that there would be one letter for each child at an early Kwanzaa celebration. Today, both “Kwanza” and “Kwanzaa” are considered correct spellings.

The Seven Principles Are Central to the Celebration…

The Nguzo Saba, or seven principles, are seven themes of reflection for each day of Kwanzaa. These principles are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith). Each of the principles is said to be reflected in one candle on the kinara.

… And So Are the Seven Symbols

In addition to the seven principles, there are also seven important symbols at the heart of Kwanzaa. Mazao (crops) are a symbol of productive labor. The mkeka is a mat that represents the foundation and traditions of African history. The kinara and the mishumaa saba (aka the seven candles) represent the seven principles, as described. The kikombe cha umoja, or unity cup, is what brings the African community together. The muhindi (corn) represents children and the future, and finally, the Zawadi are gifts given as a sign of commitment. Unlike many other holidays, Kwanzaa gifts are encouraged to be educational or homemade. On December 31, families also have a feast called karamu and often dress in traditional African clothing, including dashikis and kaftans.

Millions of People Celebrate Kwanzaa Every Year

Although Kwanzaa is a celebration of African traditions, the holiday is open to anyone who wants to honor these diverse and vibrant cultures. The holiday gained significant traction during the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and though its influence has waned in recent decades, millions of people in the U.S. (around 4% of the population) and around the world gather around the kinara and celebrate a culture that’s as long-lasting as the history of humanity itself.

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Deck the halls and roast some chestnuts, because ’tis the season for merriment and mistletoe. Although December 25 is a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (whose birthday might actually be in the spring), to many children, Christmas means one thing: a visit from Santa Claus. And right now, surrogate Santas are everywhere — posing for photos, ringing bells for charity, and bar-hopping through downtowns. Here are seven fantastic facts about the jolly old elf himself.

He Has Saintly Origins

Santa Claus (or Father Christmas in the U.K.) has his origins in the fourth-century Turkish bishop who, once canonized, became St. Nicholas. The patron saint of children and sailors, Nicholas was venerated for his generosity and kindness and became the patron saint of children, sailors, and unmarried girls, as well as of Greece and Russia. The sailors, in particular, spread stories of him throughout Europe, and thousands of churches bear his name.

The Dutch Saved (and Spread) Protestant Santa Claus

After the Reformation, the prominence of St. Nicholas receded in Protestant countries — except for Holland. The Dutch continued to revere their Sinterklaas and brought the tradition of Santa Claus with them when they began colonizing New Amsterdam (we now call it New York) in the 17th century. Although the dour Puritans waged war on all Christmas merriment, actually banning it in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659, other Americans embraced Santa Claus, and eventually the holiday took hold in the New World.

Santa Claus Started on a Donkey

Before he had reindeer, St. Nicholas was said to deliver gifts via donkey. One of the most famous legends told of him dropping gold coins through a window to provide dowries for three poor sisters. On the evening before his feast day (December 6), children in northern Europe leave their shoes out — sometimes filled with a carrot or twist of hay for the donkey — in hopes of waking to find them filled with small gifts.

A Poem Made Modern Santa Claus

Depictions of Santa varied, but that all changed on December 23, 1823, when a newspaper in Troy, New York, published an anonymous poem titled “A Visit From St. Nicholas.” We know that poem as “The Night Before Christmas,” and the author’s description of a red-suited, white-bearded, big-bellied “jolly old elf” still informs our visions of Santa. The poem also introduced his first eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen (although the last two are often listed as “Dunder and Blixem” in the original poem — Dutch for “thunder and lightning” and a popular expression among Dutch Americans of the day). Fan favorite Rudolph, meanwhile, didn’t make an appearance until 1939.

But “The Night Before Christmas” May Have Been Plagiarized

After the poem was published, its origins remained anonymous for decades before New York scholar Clement C. Moore claimed authorship in 1844, including it in a collection of his poems. But descendants of Poughkeepsie poet and farmer Henry Livingston Jr. — and a growing number of academics — contend that linguistic analysis confirms Livingston was the true author of the beloved holiday saga.

Santa Has an Evil Twin

Well, an evil Austrian counterpart, anyway. While St. Nicholas is busy passing out presents to good boys and girls, kids on the naughty list should keep an eye out for Krampus. This half-man, half-goat doesn’t only bring coal and switches to the naughty — particularly bratty kids might be kidnapped or even taken straight to hell.

Santa Gets a Lot of Mail

The big man has millions of fans, and they want to keep in touch. You can visit Santa at a department store near you (the first was in Philadelphia, in 1841), or catch him atop his sleigh at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A lot of children prefer to put their lists in writing: French children send perhaps the most per capita, addressing more than a million envelopes a year to Père Noël. Canadian kids can write to Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada, and elves help out with American mail sent to Santa Claus, Indiana. Children can also send letters and wish lists to Santa via the USPS Operation Santa program by addressing them to 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888.

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Elves take many forms. For starters, there’s the diminutive, pointy-eared elf that often appears in fairy tales. In fantasy literature like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and many role-playing games, elves are human-sized, willowy, and wise. In Northern European folklore, they’re clever, supernatural tricksters.

Each December, however, the hardworking, friendly elves under the employ of Santa Claus reign supreme. When Yuletide rolls around, it’s only natural to have elves on the brain. But do you know how those mischievous sprites became Christmas helpers? Or why should you be cautious around a dancing elf? Get in the holiday spirit with these six interesting facts about elves.

Early Elves Were Mischief Makers

The concept of elves got its start in Northern Europe, from early Norse mythology to the Germanic folklore of the Middle Ages. Elf myths varied by region, and were often told in conjunction with fairy folklore. While some elves were benevolent, more often than not they were volatile troublemakers.

Illnesses, both human and animal, were often pinned on elves, as were bad dreams — supposedly, elves caused them by sitting on the sleeper. (The German word for nightmare, alpdrücken, translates literally to “elf pressure.”) They were even rumored to steal babies. While helpful elves sometimes worked their way into the mythology, early elves were certainly a far cry from the cheery toy manufacturers that came to dominate modern wintertime folklore.

Dancing Figured Prominently in Elf Mythology

In Scandinavian mythology, elves are typically portrayed as powerful, supernatural beings, and they often used music and dancing as a way to enchant and ensnare humans — like in the story of The Elf-Woman and Sir Olaf. In the tale, a knight stumbles into the elf world the day before his wedding and encounters elf maidens dancing. He’s asked to join the dance but refuses. As a result, he dies, although the ending differs in the story’s many variations. Another ballad, called “Elvehoj,” has a happier ending: Elf maidens attempt to draw him into dances that would permanently bind him to the elf world, but they’re ultimately unsuccessful.

Still another legend tells of the Elf-king’s tune: When a fiddler plays the song, it compels everyone in earshot, including inanimate objects, to dance. The fiddler can’t stop playing once the song has begun, unless he or she can play backwards, or someone cuts the fiddle’s strings. These dance themes continue in later Scandinavian texts, such as Hans Christian Andersen’s 1845 tale The Elf Mound, which describes elf maidens performing dances to impress party guests.

Christmas Elves First Emerged in the 19th Century

It wasn’t until the 1800s that elves began to be associated with Christmas. One of the earliest references was Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (more commonly known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” from its first line), which described Santa himself as a “jolly old elf.” In 1856, Little Women author Louisa May Alcott wrote a short story called “Christmas Elves” — but that story was never published, so it didn’t popularize the concept.

Nonetheless, the concept of Santa’s elves had certainly entered the cultural lexicon by the 1870s, when other works started mentioning elves. A December 1873 issue of Godey’s Lady Book — a highly influential women’s magazine that also helped popularize the Christmas tree as a tradition in America — led with an image of Santa’s workshop, complete with his elf helpers.

J.R.R. Tolkien Preferred the Middle English Word “Elven” Instead of “Elfin”

When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his famous Lord of the Rings series, “elven” was considered an obsolete Middle English word. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), it was originally a noun that meant “female elf,” or simply “elf.” When Tolkien wrote the series, “elfish” or “elfin,” which had its first print appearance in 1590, were the terms used to describe “having to do with elves.”

Tolkien, also well known for his expertise in language and folklore, deliberately used “elven” and “elvish” instead, which became somewhat of a headache when it came time to proofread The Fellowship of the Ring. “The impertinent compositors have taken it upon themselves to correct, as they suppose, my spelling and grammar,” Tolkien wrote to his son in August 1953, “altering throughout ‘dwarves’ to ‘dwarfs’; ‘elvish’ to ‘elfish’… and worst of all, ‘elven’ — to ‘elfin.’”

To this day, neither Merriam-Webster nor Dictionary.com recognizes “elven” as a word, although Merriam-Webster recognizes “elvish.” The OED says that “elvish” specifically refers to elves as they’re described in Tolkien’s books, though the word has also become popular in other elf-related fantasy circles.

The Elf on a Shelf Tradition Started With a Self-Published Book

The Elf on a Shelf is a Christmas season ritual in which a parent hides a “Scout Elf” doll each morning for kids to find. The idea is that the elf watches the family, reports back to Santa at night if the kids have been naughty or nice, and then sets up in a different spot in the home for the next day.

This now-ubiquitous Christmas tradition dates to 2005, when a mother and her twin daughters pitched the idea for a book based on their own family ritual. After they were rejected by publishers, the trio took out credit cards and dipped into retirement funds to self-publish the book The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition, which came with an elf for the reader’s own shelf. It was a runaway success, and over the next 15 years, more than 14.5 million Scout Elves were sold as the practice became a regular part of Christmas for families all over the world. The design of what’s now known as a “Scout Elf” is much older than the tradition itself. It bears a striking resemblance to the “knee-hugger” elves of the 1950s and 1960s; perhaps one of these was the family’s original elf.

One Elf in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Lacks a Notable Feature

There’s much that sets Hermy the Misfit Elf apart from the rest of his North Pole co-workers in the 1964 animated TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The most obvious and central to the plot is that he wants to be a dentist rather than manufacture toys. He also appears to be the only junior employee with a visible hairstyle — a stylish, swoopy blond mop.

But another feature sets Hermy apart that you may not have noticed: He does not have the pointy ears typically associated with elves. The other assembly workers, and even the gruff, goateed factory supervisor, all have pointy ears. Once you notice they are missing, it’s hard to unsee it, especially since his actual ears are quite small and rounded.