Tea-ball parade
fiddledragon told me excitedly that she had seen a tee-ball parade across the street, but I heard "tea ball parade" and was momentarily confused, until I thought of this charming fictional tradition:
At the appropriate season, the townspeople gather in the square outside the herbalist's shop. Each person has a large tea ball on a string on a stick (like a fishing pole). People select herbs and flowers that symbolically represent a wish or prayer that they have (and that are non-toxic to aquatic life) and put the herbs in their tea balls. Then everyone marches together down to the river (this is the parade part), gathers at the shore, and steeps their tea balls in the current for an appropriate length of time. The wishes are believed to be carried down the river to the sea and out into the universe, where they may be fulfilled.
At the appropriate season, the townspeople gather in the square outside the herbalist's shop. Each person has a large tea ball on a string on a stick (like a fishing pole). People select herbs and flowers that symbolically represent a wish or prayer that they have (and that are non-toxic to aquatic life) and put the herbs in their tea balls. Then everyone marches together down to the river (this is the parade part), gathers at the shore, and steeps their tea balls in the current for an appropriate length of time. The wishes are believed to be carried down the river to the sea and out into the universe, where they may be fulfilled.