Seven-Year-Old Boy Invents Wolf Holiday and People Are Already Onboard

The holidays are fast approaching, but this year people aren’t just excited to celebrate Thanksgiving, Hannukkah, Kwanza, Christmas, and the New Year. This year, though, a considerable number of people online are particularly looking forward to celebrating Wolfenoot.

Wolfenoot is a brand-new holiday created by a 7-year old boy in New Zealand. According to his mother, author Jax Goss, Wolfenoot is “when the Spirit of the Wolf brings and hides small gifts around the house for everyone.” As for where the idea for the new holiday came from, Goss says, with a laugh: “I asked him this. He said, ‘It came from my brain’. So that’s helpful.” She does add that he loves animals of all kinds and has been exposed to conservation ideas thanks to her work at New Zealand’s Hamilton Zoo.

According to her son, the holiday is celebrated by eating roast meat, because that is what wolves eat (although vegetarians can celebrate, too) and by baking a cake decorated to look like a full moon. The holiday is celebrated on November 23rd to mark “the anniversary of ‘The Great Wolf’s Death’. ”

According to Goss’s Facebook post about the holiday, the Spirit of the Wolf is particularly kind to “people who have, have had, or are kind to dogs”. Those people “get better gifts than anyone else” as a reward for their love of animals.

Since Goss introduced WolfeNoot, people around the world have jumped onboard with the new holiday, spreading the story of Wolfenoot with the hashtag #WolfeNoot on Twitter and Instagram. “About 24 hours after I posted it, I realized how much it was getting shared,” Goss says.

Soon after, Goss purchased the website wolfenoot.com and set up a Twitter feed where potential celebrants can learn more about the holiday, including an FAQ about how to pronounce Wolfenoot (it rhymes with suit) and sharing photos of pups getting in the spirit of things. Perhaps a roasted meat recipe exchange will be next?

As for Goss’s son, according to his mom, he is “pretty thrilled people want to do his thing” and she has been sharing with him some of the art and posts people are contributing online. “In that typical kid way, he thinks it’s sort of obvious people want to do it, because dogs are awesome,” Goss says. “I told him that some people had started using it to fundraise for dog shelters and wolf sanctuaries, and that made him super happy.”