The festival of Saturnalia continues today…unless you lived between the time of Augustus and Tiberius’ tenures in the principate.
Our dear friend and colleague Q. Poppaeus Sabinus has clarified the changes in duration of the Saturnalia for the members of the Ekklesía Antínoou recently.
The extension of the Saturnalia to seven days was not only an Imperial reality, it was in full swing by the time of Cicero, if not before. During the principate of Octavian/Augustus, he lessened it to three days (17, 18, 19), so it would have been over by now if we lived under him. Gaius (better known as Caligula, “little boots”) and Claudius both had it extended to five days. It seems that in later times, people still celebrated it for as long as they would have liked, and it was fairly unregulated. I’d assume things were probably that way under Hadrian, then. Perhaps in the mid-third century, it went all the way to the 25th, merging to some extent with the festival of Sol Invictus…and then, why not extend it even a few more days, until the Kalends of January with the festival of Ianus? Why not indeed?
However, there is no particular deity who had a specific festival on this date. So, if we’re dealing with the five- or seven-day Saturnalia, this would still be “Saturnalia,” but apart from that, nothing in particular.
No matter. I’m sure I’ll think of something else to write later today! 
Felix Saturnalia iterum!
[...] one may recall from my series of posts in late December on the Saturnalia, there are a variety of Roman holidays that take place on a monthly basis that are in honor of [...]
By: Roman Holidays in February « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on February 12, 2011
at 10:32 pm
[...] Today is the fourth day of Saturnalia–and, strangely enough, it’s the one day that doesn’t really have any other major significance within Roman practice, nor does it have any Ekklesía Antínoou Sancti associated with it, nor any Neos Alexandria holy-days (other than the continuation of Heliogenna). It’s the mid-point of the seven-day celebration, so perhaps we’re due a bit of a break on this day…Or, perhaps not. Here’s my post on it from last year, in any case. [...]
By: Felix Saturnalia IV! and other holidays… « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on December 20, 2011
at 4:28 pm