Chadwick argues that the antiquity of the tale's theme – feasting – is probably the most anciently attested of all Celtic stories.
In "ABAT-JOUR," at the Park Avenue Armory, the artists Rita Ackermann and Agathe Snow cook up a Gypsy-theme feast in which the guests themselves become fodder for their artwork.
Easter's just one of four of IKEA's annual festivals; it has one for each season, including a similar smorgasbord for the longest day of the year in the middle of the summer, a crayfish barbecue in the fall, and of course, a Christmas-themed feast in the winter.
A typical Christmas entry, from 2004, reads: "Harold read from his favorite 'Gilgamesh' as the theme was feasting".
Bloomingdale's in New York and Selfridges in London also accepted an invitation to the tea party, creating Wonderland-themed visual feasts for their windows.
The wacky window display (and the Hershey's chocolate booth) are part of the store's holiday "Feast" theme, the latest in a series of promotions led by the chief executive Peter Williams, who took over in February from Vittorio Radice.
The theme would be "Feasting the Enemy," with each guest bringing a dish native to her ancestral foe.
It seemed to follow that adversity drove Martians to interplanetary belligerence, a theme science fiction feasted on, notably in H. G. Wells's "The War of the Worlds".
'Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts' (through Wednesday) Viewing just a few quilts, with their intricacies of color, pattern and theme, can be a feast for the eyes.
Around the outskirts, pavilions are devoted to concept themes tracing human history, feast and famine, foods of the future.
