How to Celebrate Hobbit Day

Plan a Long-Expected Party with fellow hobbit fans! This refers to the Chapter One of The Fellowship of the Ring. In the book, this party involves Bilbo Baggins' birthday, his departure and Gandalf farewelling Frodo Baggins. In your case, it is just a great excuse to have a party. Some of the things to set the scene might include:

• Decorating with a pile of packages (to represent the wagon that is laden with packages in the story), as well as piles of presents
• Fireworks (or at least sparklers) - it's not likely you can recreate one in the image of a dragon but at least consider having a flag or a poster with a dragon on it
• Lanterns for lighting would be reminiscent of the book
• Have dancing, music, songs and games.

Decide where to hold the party. If you have a large tree in your backyard or in a nearby park, consider making it the "party tree". An outdoor hobbit party is probably more in keeping with the tradition of big hobbit events than trying to cram everyone indoors but obviously this will depend on where you live and the weather. The benefit of being outdoors is the juvenile hobbits can run around without feeling cooped up and all crumbs can be eaten by the creatures of the earth without the need to vacuum up!

• If you decide to hold the party in a house, put up pictures or decorations with a hobbit theme. There are plenty of images that you can print out from online images to use in your private home environment and you can embellish these with computer photo programs if needed.

Make sure that your festivities include a good amount of food – either a large meal or various snack foods. Hobbits were known for their many well-stocked pantries, as was made known on the first page of The Hobbit. Food that might be perfect for a hobbit celebration includes (unsurprisingly, much of it seems like traditional English fare):

• Mushrooms (these are favorite hobbit food and Farmer Maggot used to grow them and Frodo got caught trying to steal some)
• Wine (Bilbo and Frodo both inherited vineyards); beer is also popular with hobbits
• Hot soup
• Cold meats, mince pies, pork pies, rabbit, fish and chips, rashers of bacon
• Blackberry tarts and other blackberry foods (including uncooked blackberries)
• Freshly baked bread and lots of butter
• Pickles are often mentioned
• Ripe cheese
• Food made from vegetables such as corn, turnips, carrots, potatoes and onions
• Food made with apples, such as apple tart (with raspberry jam)
• Honey (foods made with honey such as honey cakes would be nice)
• Scones (known as "biscuits" in North America), fruit pies, and cakes, including seed cakes
• Pinwheel sandwiches (just because these are small and cute and the hobbits may have approved provided they weren't too fussy)
• Tea and coffee.
  • Keep seasonings and sauces to a minimum; apparently hobbits didn't bother with them that much.

Choose a passage or more about hobbits from one of Tolkien's books to read aloud together. This is important for both fans and non-initiates alike. The fans will know the passages and the non-initiate will be introduced to the way of hobbits through listening. Ask someone with an excellent, projecting voice who enjoys reading in public to read out the passages so it's enjoyable for everyone.

Play games. Hobbits loved games, so a party celebrating hobbits needs to have plenty of these going! You could start by putting a hobbit name on each guest's back and making people figure out who they are just by asking questions of other guests (no peeking). Other games to consider include (and each of these can be made suitable for any age with an imagination):

• Backyard party games like quoits, horseshoe tossing, beanbag throwing, sack-jumping, egg and spoon race, three-legged race, coconut shy, etc.
• Indoor games like musical chairs, pass-the-parcel, the chocolate game, pin-the-tail on the donkey, statues, Chinese whispers, etc.
• Play rhyming games and making up haiku, poems, limericks, etc.
• Play games that involve riddles, charades, sayings or proverbs.

Have a special cake. As well as all the other scrumptious food,don't forget that Hobbit Day is also a birthday party for Bilbo and Frodo. Make or purchase a special birthday cake with two candles (one for each hobbit). For fun, you might toast the Bagginses and make little speeches in their honor.

Give away lovely things to everyone who comes to the party. Small but creative gifts (such as toys, jewelry, trinkets, small musical instruments, puzzles, etc.) should be given to the guests. This represents one of the peaceful pursuits of hobbits (gift-giving) and is the spirit of sharing and creating community, both valued by hobbits.

• See How to make a birthday goodie bag for adults, How to put together a goodie bag, How to sew a cloth gift bag and How to make gift bags for more ideas.