Beer-can Festivus pole banned by Florida city is now on display in state capitol
A perennial protester of Christmas displays, atheist Chaz Stevens made headlines last year with his successful effort to display a Festivus Pole made of beer cans next to a Florida city’s firehouse.
This year, he appears to have been stymied by a new municipal rule in Deerfield Beach, banning all privately funded holiday displays on publicly owned property. But Stevens has found another outlet. Following news that a Chicago-based law firm was helping private groups get a nativity scene mounted at the Florida state capitol, the political blogger drove 450 miles from the Fort Lauderdale area to Tallahassee. His beer-can Festivus pole is now displayed in the rotunda there, according to the Associated Press and the Tallahassee Democrat.
Festivus pole in Deerfield Beach, Fla., in December 2012. File photo courtesy of Chaz Stevens.
A post on The Pulp blog of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times provides additional details.
Popularized by the Seinfeld television show, the Festivus (for the rest of us) holiday encourages the airing of grievances and physical contests among family and friends.
“What’s the point? There is no point. It’s ridiculous. This is the most ridiculous thing I could come up with,” Stevens said of his Festivus pole. “This is about the separation of church and state.”
