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* All these holidays as of 1998
Ramadan, ninth month of the Islamic year, the holy month of fasting ordained by the Koran for all adult Muslims (see Islam). According to the Koran, the fast of Ramadan has been instituted so that believers "may cultivate piety"; this particular month was designated because it was the month during which Muhammad received the first of the Koran's revelations.
The fast during Ramadan begins each day at dawn, when the "white thread becomes distinct from the black thread," and ends immediately at sunset. During the fast Muslims are forbidden to eat, drink, or smoke. Before retirement each night, special congregational prayers are offered in which long passages of the Koran are recited. The night between the 26th and 27th days of Ramadan, on which the first revelation occurred, is called the Night of Determination, during which, according to the Koran, God determines the course of the world for the following year. The day after the end of Ramadan is called the Fast-Breaking and is celebrated with special prayers and festivities.
Contributed By:
Fazlur Rahman
Christmas, in the Christian church, annual festival, held on December 25, to celebrate the Nativity, or birth of Christ. The origin of the festival is unknown. Scholars believe that it is derived in part from rites held by pre-Christian Germanic and Celtic peoples to celebrate the winter solstice. Christmas festivals, generally observed by Christians since the 4th century, incorporate pagan customs, such as the use of holly, mistletoe, Yule logs, and wassail bowls. The Christmas tree, an evergreen trimmed with lights and other decorations, is derived from the so-called paradise tree, symbolizing Eden, of German mystery plays. The use of a Christmas tree began early in the 17th century, in Strasbourg, France, spreading from there through Germany and then into northern Europe. In 1841 Albert, prince consort of Queen Victoria, introduced the Christmas tree custom to Great Britain; from there it accompanied immigrants to the United States. Meanwhile, Dutch settlers had brought to the New World the custom of celebrating St. Nicholas' Day on December 6, and especially St. Nicholas' Eve, when gifts were given to children, of whom the saint was patron. British settlers took over the tradition as part of their Christmas eve celebration. The English name of the legendary jolly, red-garbed man who delivers presents to good children at Christmas, Santa Claus, is derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas, a modification of Sint Nikolaas.
Passover, important Jewish festival commemorating the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and their safe flight across the Red Sea (see Judaism: Festivals). This flight, described in the Book of Exodus, was led by Moses.
The name of the festival (pesach, Hebrew for "passing over" or "protection") is derived from the instructions given to Moses by God (see Exodus 12:3-17). In order to encourage the Egyptians to allow the Hebrews to leave Egypt, God intends to "smite all the first-born … both man and beast" in the land. To protect themselves, the Hebrews are told to mark their dwellings with lamb's blood so that God can identify and thus pass over them.
The celebration of the holiday begins after sundown on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, about the time of the vernal equinox. In accordance with rabbinic law (see Halakah; Rabbi), Jews living outside the limits of ancient Palestine (see Diaspora) celebrate the holiday for eight days and partake of a ceremonial meal, known as the Seder, on the first two nights. The Seder consists of prescribed foods, each of which symbolizes some aspect of the ordeal undergone by the Hebrews during their enslavement in Egypt. For example, horseradish signifies the bitterness of the experience, and a mixture of chopped nuts and apples in wine symbolizes the building mortar used by the Hebrews in their forced labor. During the Seder the narrative of the exodus is recounted and prayers of thanksgiving are offered up to God for his loving protection. The readings, songs, and prayers of the Seder are contained in the Haggada, copies of which are available for all at the table. Jews living within the limits of ancient Palestine celebrate Passover for seven days, conducting a Seder only on the first night.
Throughout the holiday the Orthodox Jew must abstain from eating leavened bread, substituting unleavened bread, usually in the form of matzo. These matzoth recall the unleavened bread eaten by the Hebrews during their flight because they had no time to prepare raised bread. Orthodox Jewish tradition prescribes that, during Passover, meals be prepared and served using sets of utensils and dishes reserved strictly for that festival. See Also Easter.
Contributed By:
Saul Lieberman
Kwanzaa, (matunda ya kwanza, Swahili for "first fruits"), an African American
holiday observed by African communities throughout the world that celebrates family, community, and culture. It is a seven-day holiday that begins December 26 and continues through January 1. Kwanzaa has its roots in the ancient African first-fruit harvest celebrations from which it takes its name. However, its modern history begins in 1966 when it was developed by African American scholar and activist Maulana Karenga.Kwanzaa is organized around five fundamental activities common to other African first-fruit celebrations: (1) the ingathering of family, friends, and community; (2) reverence for the creator and creation (including thanksgiving and recommitment to respect the environment and heal the world); (3) commemoration of the past (honoring ancestors, learning lessons and emulating achievements of African history); (4) recommitment to the highest cultural ideals of the African community (for example, truth, justice, respect for people and nature, care for the vulnerable, and respect for elders); and (5) celebration of the "Good of Life" (for example, life, struggle, achievement, family, community, and culture).
Kwanzaa is celebrated through rituals, dialogue, narratives, poetry, dancing, singing, drumming and other music, and feasting. A central practice is the lighting of the mishumaa (seven candles) of Kwanzaa. A candle is lit each day for each of the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles). These principles are umoja (unity); kujichagulia (self-determination); ujima (collective work and responsibility); ujamaa (cooperative economics); nia (purpose); kuumba (creativity); and imani (faith). Kwanzaa ends with a day of assessment on which celebrants raise and answer questions of cultural and moral grounding and consider their worthiness in family, community, and culture.
Contributed By:
Maulana Karenga
Thanksgiving Day, legal holiday in the U.S., first celebrated in early colonial times in New England. The actual origin, however, is probably the harvest festivals that are traditional in many parts of the world (see
Festivals and Feasts). After the first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists in 1621, Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Native Americans. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest. During the American Revolution a yearly day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom, and by the middle of the 19th century many other states had done the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving, and since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, generally designating the fourth Thursday of November as a holiday.
Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in Canada, celebrated, since 1957, on the second Monday in October. Observance of the day began in 1879.
Midsummer Eve, also Saint John's Eve, June 23, night before the festival of the nativity of John the Baptist. Throughout
Europe peasants often celebrated this night by lighting fires in streets and marketplaces. Although the fires were often blessed by priests, the celebration was generally conducted by the laity. Midsummer eve celebrations were a continuance of the Teutonic pagan festivals and fertility rites associated with agriculture at the time of the summer solstice.Hanukkah
or Chanukah (Hebrew for "dedication"), annual festival of the Jews celebrated on eight successive days. It begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar, corresponding, approximately, to December in the Gregorian calendar. Also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the temple had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine.In 168 BC, on a date corresponding approximately to December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, the temple was dedicated to the worship of Zeus Olympius by order of Antiochus. An altar to Zeus was set up on the high altar. When Judas Maccabee recaptured Jerusalem three years later, he had the temple purged and a new altar put up in place of the desecrated one. The temple was then rededicated to God with festivities that lasted eight days (see 1
Maccabees chapters three and four). According to talmudic tradition, only one cruse of pure olive oil, sealed by the high priest and necessary for the rededicatory ritual, could be found, but that small quantity burned miraculously for eight days. A principal feature of the present-day celebration, commemorating this miracle, is the lighting of candles, one the first night, two the second, and so on until a special eight-branched candelabrum is completely filled. The principal source for the story of Hanukkah is the Talmud.Contributed By:
Saul Lieberman
May Day, name popularly given to the first day of May, which for centuries has been celebrated among the Latin and
Germanic peoples. May Day festivals probably stem from the rites practiced in honor of Flora, the Roman goddess of spring. May Day is currently celebrated as a festival for children marking the reappearance of flowers during the spring. It is traditionally greeted with joyous dancing around a garlanded pole, called a maypole, from which hang streamers held by the dancers. May Day is also celebrated in many European countries as a labor holiday, comparable to Labor Day in the United States. It was especially significant in the Soviet Union and other Communist countries. Observance of the holiday by some workers in Europe and the U.S. probably dates from the celebration of May Day by the first congress (1889) of the Second International, an assembly of socialist and labor parties.Eisteddfod (Welsh, "a sitting of learned men"), national music and literary festival held each summer in
Wales to promote Welsh language, literature, music, and customs. The week-long ceremony is a revival of the ancient Welsh custom of assembling bards, or minstrels, for competition among themselves, for the regulation of poetry and music, and for the licensing of duly qualified candidates to the position of recognized bards. The Gorsedd, or assembly, now occurs on the second day (Tuesday) of the festival to confer degrees of four grades on the modern equivalent of the Welsh bards. The history of Eisteddfod antedates the Christian era.Mardi Gras (French, "fat Tuesday"), pre-Lenten festival celebrated in Roman Catholic countries and communities. In a strict sense, Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, is celebrated by the French as the last of the three days of Shrovetide and is a time of preparation immediately before Ash Wednesday and the start of the fast of
Lent. It is thus the last opportunity for merrymaking and indulgence in food and drink. In practice, Mardi Gras is generally celebrated for a full week before Lent. It is marked by spectacular parades featuring floats, pageants, elaborate costumes, masked balls, and dancing in the streets.Mardi Gras originated as one of the series of carnival days held in all Roman Catholic countries between Twelfth Night, or Epiphany, and Ash Wednesday; these carnivals had their origin in pre-Christian spring fertility rites. The most famous modern Mardi Gras festivities are those held in New Orleans, Louisiana; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Nice, France; and Cologne, Germany.
New Year's Day, first day of the year, January 1 in the Gregorian
calendar. In the Middle Ages most European countries used the Julian calendar and observed New Year's Day on March 25, called Annunciation Day and celebrated as the occasion on which it was revealed to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God. With the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, Roman Catholic countries began to celebrate New Year's Day on January 1. Scotland accepted the Gregorian calendar in 1600; Germany, Denmark, and Sweden about 1700; and England in 1752. Traditionally the day has been observed as a religious feast, but in modern times the arrival of the New Year has also become an occasion for spirited celebration and the making of personal resolutions. The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, and is prescribed by the Old Testament as a holy Sabbath. It is celebrated (generally in September) on the first and second days of Tishri. The Chinese celebrate New Year's Day sometime between January 10 and February 19 of the Gregorian calendar. It is their most important holiday.New Year's Day, first day of the year, January 1 in the Gregorian
calendar. In the Middle Ages most European countries used the Julian calendar and observed New Year's Day on March 25, called Annunciation Day and celebrated as the occasion on which it was revealed to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God. With the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, Roman Catholic countries began to celebrate New Year's Day on January 1. Scotland accepted the Gregorian calendar in 1600; Germany, Denmark, and Sweden about 1700; and England in 1752. Traditionally the day has been observed as a religious feast, but in modern times the arrival of the New Year has also become an occasion for spirited celebration and the making of personal resolutions. The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, and is prescribed by the Old Testament as a holy Sabbath. It is celebrated (generally in September) on the first and second days of Tishri. The Chinese celebrate New Year's Day sometime between January 10 and February 19 of the Gregorian calendar. It is their most important holiday.Festivals and Feasts, in secular society, communal celebrations involving carefully planned programs, outpourings of respect, rejoicing, or high revelry, established by custom or sponsored by various cultural groups or organizations. Such secular celebrations differ from religious festivals and feasts in that the focus is not on the significance of the rituals of holy days of a particular faith but on the public honoring of outstanding persons, the commemoration of important historical or cultural events, or the re-creation of cherished folkways. In some parts of the world, however, particularly in Latin America and southern Europe, traditional secular festivities follow attendance at religious service.
Origin
The origin of communal celebration is a matter of conjecture. Folklorists believe that the first festivals arose because of the anxieties of early peoples who did not understand the forces of nature and wished to placate them. General agreement exists that the most ancient festivals and feasts were associated with planting and harvest times or with honoring the dead. These have continued as secular festivals, with some religious overtones, into modern times.
The beginnings of many secular celebrations are linked to historic happenings. Noteworthy examples include the discoveries of Christopher Columbus and other early navigators and the creation of new, independent nations from former colonies. A particular event may spontaneously generate a national festival, celebrated only that one time, as in the case of the coast-to-coast jubilation over the January 20, 1981, release of the American hostages after 444 days of captivity in Iran. The nationwide manifestation of relief and joy was a festival of freedom.
Functions
Secular festivals and feasts have many uses and values beyond the public enjoyment of a celebration. In prehistoric societies, festivals provided an opportunity for the elders to pass on folk knowledge and the meaning of tribal lore to younger generations. Festivals celebrating the founding of a nation or the date of withdrawal of foreign invaders from its borders bind its citizens in a unity that transcends personal concerns. Modern festivals and feasts centering on the customs of national or ethnic groups enrich understanding of their heritage. Contemporary festivals related to regional developments, such as westward expansion on the North American continent, aid the local economy by attracting visitors to a pageant of historic authenticity that also fulfills an informal educational function.
Types of Festivals and Feasts
An infinite variety of harvest festivals exists in every hemisphere. Harvest and thanksgiving festivals are an inheritance from the ages when agriculture was the primary livelihood. Among the most attractive are the harvest-home festivals of England where parish churches are decorated with flowers, fruits, and vegetables in the fall, and harvest suppers climax a happy event. A popular type of harvest festival in the United States is that featuring a special crop, such as the National Cherry Festival in July in Michigan. Exhibitions of flowers are among the most beautiful of harvest festivals. Outstanding is the international Floralies held throughout the summer every five years since about 1837 in Ghent, Belgium. The festival traces its origins to the Roman Floralia, a spring rite honoring the goddess Flora. In 1980 the Floralies was held in North America for the first time, in Montréal, under the auspices of the International Association of Horticultural Producers.
Days of thanksgiving are celebrated in many lands and at various times of the year. Thanksgiving Day, as celebrated in the U.S., now a traditional family feast, is the nation's oldest celebration of gratitude, dating from 1621. The Virgin Islands observe a Thanksgiving Day (October 25) to rejoice in the end of the hurricane season.The most important festivals of respect honor the dead. Such festivals have been observed for centuries, and many modern peoples continue age-old customs to honor national heroes and the deceased members of their own immediate family groups. In the Far East the festivals of the dead include family reunions and ceremonial meals at ancestral tombs. Mexicans observe November 2 as El día de Los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") with celebrations in cemeteries made colorful by offerings of flowers, earthen pots of food, toys, and gifts, along with the burning of candles and incense. In the U.S. the custom of honoring dead heroes on special days began in 1868 with the decorating of the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. A quiet tone is characteristic of the approach to the general Memorial Day and the Confederate Memorial Day celebrated at different times in different southern states (see
Memorial Day). Both community and family observances reflect a spirit of reverence and remembrance.The timing of seasonal festivals is determined by the solar and the lunar calendars and by the cycle of the seasons. The Chinese New Year, set by the lunar calendar, and celebrated for an entire month in late January or February, is a time of gaiety, parades, and theatrical performances. Many other kinds of seasonal festivals are celebrated, ranging from the
Québec Winter Carnival, usually held in February, to Beach Day (December 8), marking the beginning of the beach season in Uruguay. Historic customs are often perpetuated in seasonal festivals. An example is Homstrom (celebrated February 3), an old Swiss festival exulting in the end of winter with the burning of straw people as symbols of the end of Old Man Winter. The most famous of seasonal festivities, set by the church calendar, but secular in tone, are the pre-Lenten carnivals of Europe and Latin America and the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.National festivals are official observances of such events as the confederation of the provinces of Canada (see
Canada Day), the signing of the Declaration of Independence in the U.S. (see Independence Day), the adoption of a constitution, as in Japan (May 3), or the origin of the world's oldest national flag, as in Denmark (June 15). Closely allied to this type of festival are victory celebrations. An example of an outstanding victory festival is the Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican commemoration of their defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. This festival is observed not only in Mexico but also in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities with large Mexican-American populations.Another important type of festival is the commemorative day, celebrated since ancient Greek and Roman times, when rulers as well as gods were honored. Planned programs in the U.S. annually offer respect to presidents such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., on or about their birthdays. Ecuador and Venezuela honor the birth of the revolutionary statesman Simón Bolívar, the "George Washington of South America," on July 24. Festivals honoring the Icelandic explorer Leif Ericson, who discovered Vinland, are held on October 9 in Iceland and Norway and in the United States in
Wisconsin and Minnesota. Gandhi Jayanti is a festival held in India on the birthday (October 2) of Mohandas K. ("Mahatma") Gandhi. An honor roll assembled from worldwide commemorative days would be impressive.Cultural festivals are popular throughout the world. Kalevala Day (February 28) in Finland is the occasion for parades and ceremonials dedicated to the Finnish national epic the
Kalevala and to its 19th-century editor-compiler, the scholar Elias Lönnrot. The most famous annual festival in Wales is the Royal National Eisteddfod (see Eisteddfod) held in August to honor the finest talent in Welsh literature and music. Austria holds the annual summer Salzburg Festival of music, and Hawaii has its spectacular Aloha Festival pageantry in October and November. In addition to these examples, film, art, dance, children's, and theatrical festivals crowd the calendars of many nations.The festivals of many ethnic and national groups are credited with the preservation of unique customs, folktales, costumes, and culinary skills. An interesting recent development is the merging of the arts, lore, and customs of various regions in Africa in the cultural festival known as Kwanzaa (Swahili kwanza, "beginnings"). Introduced from Africa into the U.S. in 1977, this festival is celebrated with feasts and songs in the home for seven days and nights from December 26 to January 1. The African colors, green for the future and black for struggle, are prominently displayed. Parents play the key role in this celebration, which stresses family unity and cultural self-determination, responsibility, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Communal feasts, as occasions for eating, drinking, and merrymaking, have a long recorded history, going back to early Greece. The most famous contemporary eating and drinking festivity is the Oktoberfest, which has been held in Germany annually since October 17, 1810, the wedding day of the future King Louis I of Bavaria. It is a fall festival celebrating the best in beer, food, and entertainment.Changing Festivals
Halloween
, associated historically with All Hallows' Eve, is now, in the U.S., primarily a "trick or treat" secular festival for children. Formerly, the fun centered on playing tricks on unwary neighbors. Changing attitudes in communities resulted in Halloween becoming an occasion for small children, usually garbed in costume, to go from house to house for treats. Older children still participate, but many forfeit treats to collect funds for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).As societies change, the characteristics of their traditional festivals and feasts may alter also; new ones often emerge as others decline in popularity. Most likely, however, some festivals will remain unaltered for generations. For participants they are a tonic. For observers they offer a nostalgic experience. Certainly communal celebration—in its various forms—is part of the life-style of all peoples and makes a contribution to the living history of modern civilization.
Contributed By:
Ruth W. Gregory
Iran Holidays
Iran 1998
Jan 20 Tu Martyrdom of Imam Ali
30 Fr Id-Al-Fitre
Feb 11 We Revolution Day
23 Mo Martyrdom of Imam Jaffar Sadeq
Mar 10 Tu Birth of Imam Reza
20 Fr Petroleum Day
21 Sa Now Rooz (4 days)
Apr 1 We Islamic Republic Day
2 Th National Picnic Day
8 We Id-E-Qorban
16 Th Id-E-Ghadir
May 6 We Tassua
7 Th Ashura
Jun 4 Th Death of Iman Khomaini
5 Fr 15th Khordad Uprising
15 Mo Arbiin
23 Tu Demise of the Prophet Mojtaba
Jul 6 Mo Birthday of the Prophet
Nov 13 Fr Birthday of Imam Ali
17 Tu Prophet's Mission
Dec 5 Sa Birth of the 12th Imam
*Some holidays may not be national holidays and are not necesarily observed throughout an entire country. The printed World
Holiday Time Guide provides more information by noting these exceptions.
Jamaica Holidays
Jan 1 Th New Year's Day
Feb 25 We Ash Wednesday
Apr 10 Fr Good Friday
13 Mo Easter Monday
May 23 Sa Labour Day
25 Mo Labour Day observance
Aug 1 Sa Emancipation Day
6 Th Independence Day
Oct 19 Mo National Heroes Day
Dec 25 Fr Christmas Day
26 Sa Boxing Day
Yugoslavia Holidays
Jan 1 Th New Year's Day
2 Fr New Year's holiday
7 We Christmas Day (Orthodox)
Mar 28 Sa National holiday (Serbia)
Apr 20 Mo Easter Monday (Orthodox)
27 Mo National Day
May 1 Fr International Labor Day
Jul 7 Tu People's Uprising Day (Serbia)
13 Mo People's Uprising Day (Montenegro)
Nov 30 Mo Day of the Republic
Dec 1 Tu Day of the Republic holiday
Bosnia and Herzegovina Holidays
Jan 1 Th New Year's Day
Mar 1 Su Independence Day
May 1 Fr International Labor Day
Nov 25 We National holiday
Croatia
Jan 1 Th New Year's Day
6 Tu Epiphany
Apr 13 Mo Easter Monday
May 1 Fr International Labour Day
30 Sa National holiday
Jun 22 Mo Insurrection Day
Aug 5 We National holiday
15 Sa Assumption
Nov 1 Su All Saints' Day
Dec 25 Fr Christmas Day
26 Sa Christmas holiday
Israel 1998
Jan 1 Th New Year's Day
8 Th 10th of Tevet Fast
Feb 11 We Tu B'Shevat
Mar 11 We Fast of Esther
12 Th Purim (Tel Aviv)
13 Fr Purim (Jerusalem)
Apr 11 Sa Passover (first day)
17 Fr Passover (last day)
23 Th Holocaust Remembrance Day
29 We Remembrance Day (Zahal)
30 Th Independence Day
May 14 Th Lag B'Omer
24 Su Yom Yerushalayim
31 Su Pentecost
Jul 12 Su 17 of Tamuz Fast
Aug 2 Su Fast of Tisha B'Av
Sep 21 Mo Jewish New Year (2 days)
23 We Gedalyahu Fast
30 We Day of Atonement
Oct 5 Mo Sukkot (first day)
12 Mo Sukkot last day)
Dec 13 Su Hannukkah (first day)
20 Su Hannukkah (last day)
*Some holidays may not be national holidays and are not necesarily observed throughout an entire country. The printed World
Holiday Time Guide provides more information by noting these exceptions.
Poland 1998
Jan 1 Th New Year's Day
Apr 13 Mo Easter Monday
May 1 Fr Labor Day
3 Su Constitution Day
Jun 11 Th Corpus Christi
Aug 15 Sa Assumption
Nov 1 Su All Saints' Day
11 We Day of Independence
Dec 25 Fr Christmas Day
26 Sa Christmas holiday
