i * Western & Chinese Festivals * Buddhist Festivals * Hindu Festivals * Islamic Festivals * Jewish Festivals & Days of Remembrance * Others of general interst *
Throughout the world, food is closely associated with Festivals. The most common one, is celebrated by more or less everyone. It is...? your birthday!
Most festivals in the west are connected to historical events or religion. Even people with no religious beliefs celebrate things like ChristmasandEaster. they have a holiday and enjoy family gatherings or parties with friends.
Below, we are compiling a list of Festivals to promote understanding between world cultures. Send details of those we have omitted to the usual adresses: enjoyingenglishinfo|@yahoo.com
Father Christmas is also known as Santa Claus, or St Nicholas. St Nicholas was an actual man, a priest in a small coastal village in Turkey some 2000 years ago. His people were poor fishermen and farmers. It is said that during special relious festivals, he left small gifts of food, clothing and money at each household during the night. Hence the origin of Father Christmas.
Now the fame of Christmas has spead world-wide, beyond countries which have Christianity as their main religion. In Shanghai 2005, a large Gothic style building in the centre of Beihai Street, the main shopping centre of the city, was decorated with lights and Santa Claus climbing the front of the building. The attraction lasted from December 20th, through Christmas, The New Year and Chinese Spring Festival until the Lantern Festival on February 20th, 2006, attracting millions of visitors to the city for shopping.
Christmas.
Christmas Day, December 25th, is traditionally a celebration of Jesus Christ, founder of the Christian religion. In western countries today, especially in the UK and US, is tends to be a commercial extravaganza. Even in China, retail businesses have been quick to realize the trading opportunities of The Season of Goodwill to all Men.
So, at the heart of modern Christmas is a mixture of religion, tradition and over-spending. The rush to busy impressive, expensive gifts for relatives and friends is frantic. Toys, electrical goods, cosmetics and clothing are the most sought-after purchases.
Older and more traditional people attend a Christmas Carol Service or Mass, at local churches on Christmas Eve, December 24th. It continues through mid-night to the early hours of Christmas Day.
Others are busy wrapping gifts and putting up the Christmas Tree, traditionally a Pine tree, which is decorated with bells, silver balls and twinkling lights. They are waiting the arrival of Father Christmas or Santa Clause (US) on his sleigh drawn by reindeer from Lapland in northern Europe, within the Arctic Circle. Traditionally it is laden with gifts for Children.
Father Christmas is actually based on an ancient priest from what is now Turkey.
He is said to have devoted much time to the poor people in his district, by giving out small gifts of food, clothing and money. It was revived some years ago by a mythical Dutchman from Holland named Sinterklauss.
Incidentally, for the mathematicians amongst you, some years ago, Manchester University calculated that for Santa and his sleigh to visit every family in the world on Christmas Eve, he would need to travel at 1,760 miles a minute.
China benefits directly from Christmas celebrations in the west, as it manufactures almost all the artificial trees, twinkling light and decorations that are purchased.
Christmas Day is a time for family gatherings, giving gifts and feasting. Lunch is traditionally a plump turkey - similar to a chicken, goose or roast duck. It is accompanied by a range of roast and boiled vegetables including; potatoes,carrots, brussel sprouts ( a king of very small hard cabbage) and parsnips, another kind of root vegetable roasted in an oven.
It is followed by a range of desserts including fruit with cream, luxurious fresh fruit, such a pineapple, melon and strawberries, and Christmas Pudding - a heavy dessert made from dried fruit and served with cream or brandy sauce.
The whole thing starts again late in the afternoon with High Tea. This consists of ham and other sliced cold meat, including the turkey, and is accompanied with salad of tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce. Christmas cake completes the feast. It is similar to the pudding except that it is covered in marzipan - almond paste, and covered in icing, which is a sweet sugary mixture, which is also festively decorated with snow scenes.
At 3pm GMT, Queen Elizabeth II delivers her Christmas message to millions across the world on television and radio. It is a time in particular, when Britain comes to a halt.
There is usually no public transport on Christmas day or the 26th, which is called Boxing Day. From the 17th century, it was the day when owners of large estates invited the workers and their families to 'the Big House'. They were given Christmas Boxes of food, clothes and money.
In the one or two weeks before Christmas, groups of Carol Singers, or Carollers (US), and local bands tour the district and public places to sing Carols, which are religious songs.
I am often asked if I miss it, and the reply is that I don't. I don't have to spend hundreds of pounds that I can't afford. Instead I go to a favourite Korean restaurant with a few Chinese friends. We chat and have a wonderful lunch. It is a pleasant, leisurely gathering amongst people I enjoy being with.
Alan Cooper.
7th December, 2007.
The New Year
London 2008. Times Square - New York 2008 Chinese New Year Meizhou, 2008
The New Year follows Christmas and is a big time for parties, which continue through the last night of the year to January 1st. Celebrated all over the world, the festivities are similar to the Spring Festival in China, family gatherings with friends.
It's worth mentioning that the Chinese New Year is now a huge tourist attraction in China Town, central London. It is marked by traditional festivities, such as Lion and Dragon dances, music, dancing and other cultural activities. Chinese restaurants, and there are hundreds of them, prepare special dishes with varieties of 'jiaozi', dumplings.
Up Helly Aa. Celebrated on the last Tuesday in January in the Shetland Isles - north of Scotland. Originally a pagan Viking festival from Norway, it has been adapted to mark the end of the Christian festive season. It is a time of celebration, feasting and dancing, and ends with the ritual burning of a Viking long boat, which is usually launched out to sea, in the way that Vikings used to honour their dead.
Ice and Snow festivals. December - February
Snow and Ice Festivals have become increasingly popular during the past quarter of a century in countries across the northern hemmisphere. The festivals enjoys a fun-filled reputation for a fascinating variety of snow-related activities and competitions involving artists and ice lovers from around the world.
Festivals are a major tourist attraction in China, the Scandanavian countries od Norway, Sweden and Finland, as well as China (pictured). The Arts of snow, snow sports, snow culture, snow tourism are all features. International ice sculpturing competitions, as well as a winter swimming tournaments, are common, adding fuel to the merry making.
Spring FestivalHeld on the first day of the first lunar month and lasting for two weeks, the spring festival is regarded by the Chinese people as the grandest and most important annual festival, similar in many ways to Christmas in predominantly Christian countries. It is an event for the Chinese people to celebrate family reunion and is full of rich and colorful activities.
Among all the customs and activities that people kept and held, pasting Spring Festival scrolls, the character 'Fu', and paper-cut pictures, setting off firecrackers and fireworks, paying New Year visits, and eating jiaozi have been handed down by Chinese people from generation to generation. To everyone the festival is of great significance.
February 14th ...
St Valentine's Day. Need I say more?
Easter, during Springtime is an important holiday. It celebrates the death and resurection of Jesus Christ and, like spring symbolizes a new beginning. People give each other eggs to show the start of a new life ahead.
The word 'Easter' is derived from the word 'Eastre' - who 3000 years ago, was celebrated as the Goddess of Spring! Didn't know that, did you ? Neither did I until students asked me. It was 3 weeks before I found the answer!
Maundy Thursday Thursday before Easter celebrated by Christians as 'The Last Supper - before Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday. see explanation of Maundy Money bottom of page
Lei Feng Day - 5th March (China)..
Lei Feng still has influence as selfless model in 45 years. Source: Xinhua News
Born in Wangcheng, Hunan (near the Town of Leifeng, Changsha, Hunan, named in his honour), Lei was orphaned at an early age and raised under the wings of the Communist Party. He became a member in the Communist youth corps when he was young and joined a transportation unit of the People's Liberation Army at the age of twenty. Lei died in 1962 at the age of 21, when a telephone pole, struck by an army truck, hit him while he was directing the truck in backing up. After Lei's death, his diary was published, and Lei was built up as a good example to the Chinese people to be cheerfully selfless and noble in thought.
When Lei Feng died in the line of duty, he was only 22, but his short life gives concentrated expression to the noble ideals of a new people, nurtured with the communist spirit, and also to the noble moral integrity and values of the Chinese people in the new period. These are firm faith in communist ideals, political warmheartedness for the party and the socialist cause, the revolutionary will to work arduously for self-improvement, the moral quality and self-cultivation of showing fraternal unity and taking pleasure in assisting others, the heroic spirit of being ready to take up cudgels for a just cause without caring for one's safety, the attitude of seeking advancement and studying hard, and the genuine spirit of matching words with deeds and enthusiastically carrying out one's duties ¨C Editorial, People's Daily 1993.03.05.
Arbor Day. Many countries have Arbor Day but on different days. China's Arbor Day falls on March 12th every year to remember the death of Dr. Sun Yat Sen who emphasized on the construction of forest industry. After the birth of New China, Chinese leaders paid great attention to forestation projects. In February 1979, the Chinese State Council suggested that March 12th be Chinese Arbor Day. Since then, Chinese citizens actively plant trees as their legal obligation. The ecological condition is improved a lot by their efforts.
Women's Day Falling on March 8th, Women's Day is a festival for women worldwide. It is celebrated since 1975 for the purpose of remembering the women's struggle for getting the reasonable right and peace.
In China, Chinese government designated it as a national holiday for women who are rewarded with a half day holiday on Mar. 8th. Children respect their mother by doing housework and husbands prepare dinner and presents for their wives. In some places, organizations and schools hold mountain-climbing competitions to add a festive atmosphere or communication meetings to talk about their life and work. Flowers are presented to women by students, children, or husbands.
Mother's Dayin March in the UK*, is also special day for family reunions. Young children give their mothers flowers, and perhaps a home-made card. Mothers young and old also, are also treated by their children or sometimes their husbands, with gifts of flowers or perhaps a special Sunday lunch in a restaurant or pub.
Like most Festivals, as people have become wealthier, with more money in their pockets to spend, the day has become more commercialised.
When we were kids, we searched the woods and hedge-rows for wild flowers, like primroses, a beautiful delicate pale yellow flower, and snowdrops, a tiny flower with pointed dark-green leaves, with a pure white bell shaped flower on top - similar to a pixies hat from fairy tales. We tied posies, small bunches, with ribbon or coloured wool.
* 1st or 2nd Sunday in May throughout the world.
All Fools Day - April 1st - April Fool's Day.
www.museumofhoaxes.com Known world-wide, but I am not sure how or where it began. I must do some more research.
It is a short celebration of fun, where friends, family, classmates and work colleagues try to play tricks on each other. Common ones are to tell your friend that their shoe lace is undone. They may look down to see that it is still tied or they may even be wearing slip-on shoes, without laces. If your trick is successful you shout, 'April Fool!'
At home it has almost a cult following. Newspapers and television channels print or report on bogus stories and events in the hope of catching people out. Top 10 April Fool's Day linksUse Search Engines andsearch'April 1st'
My most successful trick, performed on Wang Bo was early in the morning on April 1st, 2007. He was still asleep, as I was preparing for work. I banged on his door. 'Get up,', I yelled. 'It's snowing! Let's go and build a Snowman!' He jumped out of bed and hurriedly dressed, looking out of the window. 'It's not.' he said, somewhat confused and dazed.
'April Fool!' I said quietly, tapping my nose - a gesture which means 'I know'. 'Oh God!' he sighed. 'I'll get you next year!'
May 1st - Mayday.Photos: May Queen and Dancing. Mandy Barrow.
Is it always celebrated on May 1st ? No it's not! Not in the UK anyway. Many of our holidays, are one-day public holidays, or bank holidays as they are commonly know. A day is added onto a weekend to make a long weekend - Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Bank holidays get their name from the early 1700' s. Banks were then privately owned and closed their doors several times a year on Mondays to give their hard-working staff an additional days rest. If May 1st falls on a Monday, then the holiday is normal. If it falls Tuesday to Sunday, then the May day holiday is celebrated on the first Monday in May.
Unlike China and Russia, where Mayday or Worker's Day is celebrated with military parades, Mayday in Europe still celebrates the arrival of Springtime. Children dance round a Maypole to country music, holding coloured ribbons, red of white and blue. As they weave in and out, a checkered pattern appears from the inter-laced ribbons at the top of the pole and gradually extends downwards. The patterns vary depending on the way the dances, which have different names, are performed. A girl from the village is crowned 'My Queen'.
On village greens, in the afternoon, families used to gather for a tea-party of sandwiches and cakes and gossip. I clearly remember when I was only 5 or 6 years old, proudly clutching my ribbon, dressed in a brilliant white short sleeved shirt and grey trousers, waiting with my classmates for the music to boom with a tinny sound through the speaker system.
A warm, wet feeling spread across my chest and a sticky, sweet sensation filled my mouth. Disaster! Blood was gushing down my chin; I had a nose-bleed! ...and so ended my one and only chance to demonstrate my skills at Mayday dancing.
Youth Day (China) Youth Day is an event that held for the youngsters over fourteen years old on May 4th. Its purpose is to encourage young people to study hard in order to contribute to the nation. Schools usually organize social events for students or sodalities for students communicating with each other on that day. All the young people are summoned to study from the 'Youth Medal' (Medals rewarded for the model youth) winners and learn their stories.
International Nurse Day is set up to commemorate the great contribution made by Florence Nightingale, the forerunner of nursing. In 1912, the International Council of Nurses designated May 12th, the birthday of Nightingale, as International Nurse Day, in order to encourage nurses to learn from her and inherit the glorious tradition of nursing.
Dragon Boat Festival - May
Contestants take a rest during a dragon boat racing in celebration of the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival in Fengtai District of Beijing, Saturday May 23, 2009. The Duanwu Festival, or 'Dragon Boat Festival', was established in remembrance of Qu Yuan, a ministerial scholar and patriotic poet in the Warring States period (476 - 221BC), who committed suicide in the Miluo River during the Warring States period. Legend has that he fell into a lake whilst trying to scoop the Moon's reflection from the waters ~ silly man! Nodoubt suffering from a excess of 'pijou'.
The traditional celebrations include eating zongzi (pyramid-shaped snacks made of glutinous rice ball stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves), drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats. The festival date, reckoned on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on May 28th this year. [CFP]
Oak Apple Day - May 29th
...Parliament had ordered the 29 of May, the King's birthday, to be for ever kept as a day of thanksgiving for our redemption from tyranny and the King's return to his Government, he entering London that day. Samuel Pepys (1660)
What is an oak apple? An oak apple is also known as an oak gall. It is caused by the larvae of a cynipid wasp.
What is oak apple day?
Monarchists celebrate Charle's II's birthday and his escape from the Roundheads on 29th May, during the Civil War. It is called 'Oak Apple Day' in memory of the time when the king hid in an oak tree following the Battle of Worcester. Thanks to the protection of this tree 'the Boscobel Oak' in the grounds of Boscobel Hall, Staffordshire, Charles was eventually crowned king of Great Britain and Ireland on 29th May 1660; and his supporters celebrated in a manner that would surely have been condemned by the Puritans of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth.
Cromwell (1599-1658), the leader of the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War, raised a highly successful cavalry force (known as Ironsides) and declared Britain a republic in 1649. He was also part of a special commission that tried King Charles I and condemned him to death that same year. Nevertheless, the king's son (also Charles), having spent nine years wandering through Europe after his near escape, issued a Declaration that promised a general amnesty and freedom of conscience. Parliament accepted and he was proclaimed king.
The wearing of a sprig of oak on the anniversary of Charles' crowning showed that a person was loyal to the restored king. Those who refused to wear an oak-sprig were often set upon, and children would challenge others to show their sprig or have their bottoms pinched. Consequently, this day became known as Pinch-Bum-Day. In parts of England where oak-apples are known as shick-shacks, the day is also known as Shick-Shack Day. It is also likely that the royal association conceals a pagan tradition of tree worship.
These days it is traditional for monarchists to decorate the house with oak branches or wear a sprig of oak on 29th May. In All Saints Church in Northampton, a garland of oak-apples is laid at Charles II's statue. Whereas, in Grovely Forest, Salisbury, a procession takes place at first light, accompanied by the sound of horns. It is also traditional to drink beer and eat plum pudding - especially at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, which was founded by Charles II on this very day.
On or near this date, a curious figure called the Garland King rides through the streets of Castleton, Derbyshire, at the head of a procession. His head and the upper part of his body are completely hidden by a 'garland' - a heavy wooden construction, shaped like a beehive and covered with flowers and greenery. On top of the garland is a small posy of flowers, which is called the 'queen'. Behind the king rides his queen (at one time played by a man in woman's clothes), accompanied by a band and children dressed in white. After pausing to dance at various points along the way, the procession arrives at the church and the garland is pulled up to the top of the church tower and fixed to a pinnacle. The 'queen' posy is then placed on the town war memorial.
Children's Day - China - June 1st Celebrated on June. 1st, Children's Day is a festival for children all over the world. Every year, when the day comes, the whole nation is full of children's smiling faces, songs and great joy in China.
Parents usually take their children to visit places of great interest thus helping them learn more about Chinese history and culture. Schools organize the showing of excellent children's films. In kindergartens, children present their special skills such as singing and dancing to parents and teachers. Besides, some children are lucky to receive special gifts from their elderships.
Army Day - Aug. 1st, (China) Army Day is set aside to commemorate the contribution that the PLA has made to China both past and present. Chinese leaders and public figures go to veterans' homes to show their great concern for them, and symposia and get-togethers are held for the soldiers on that day. In some places, soldiers and their dependents are rewarded with the opportunity to visit tourist attractions for free while some are presented with beneficial books to mark the occasion.
Teachers' Day - China -1st September. Teachers are praised as the engineers of human spirit. In order to carry forward the fine tradition of respecting teachers and valuing education, the Chinese Government designated that Teachers' Day fall on September 10th every year. The reason to choose this day is because when the fall semester begins, a fine studious atmosphere will be created if activities of respecting teachers and valuing education are held.
Mid-Autumn Festival (China) Falling on the 15th day of the Chinese 8th lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival means family reunion to Chinese people, thus it is one of the most important traditional festivals. Thereare many beautiful legends about the origin of this festival.Admiring the full moon and eating moon cakes are the traditionalactivities held on this day.
Halloweenan ancient pagan festival heralding the end of the old year.
Spook me - Click me!
More than 2,000 years ago, November 1st was the start of the New Year. Crops had been harvested and preparations were under way for planting in the Spring.
Carved pumpkins, hollowed out and carved with hideous features of triangular eyes, nose and mouth with gaps between the teeth, were lit from inside with a candle to frightened away evil spirits, so that new crops would flourish .
Many people still put a lighted pumpkin in their window on October 31st. Children dress up as witches, wizards and ghosts, to frighten each other in the darkness, making weird noises. Some go round their neighbours and play trick or treat, collecting small amounts of pocket money or sweets, candy.
5th November ~ Guy Fawkes or
Bonfire Night...
Remember, remember the 5th of November...Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
It is one of the most exciting festivals. Celebrated with roaring bonfires, firecrackers and fireworks with hot food or soups served out of doors on a cold, frequently wet and windy winter's night, it marks an historical event in English History 400 years ago. A group of rebels, dis-satisfied with the Government and law and order in the country, tried and failed to blow up, assassinate, the Government and the King as they met in the Houses of Parliament. They were caught, tortured and put to death within 24 hours. It is to remind our Government that they are there by the will and choice of the people and can be removed .
We do it democratically now a days, by elections. I don't know though...... Beware!
Journalists' Day Falling on November 8th, Journalists' Day is set up to praise the hard work of journalists. The day is celebrated to acknowledge the prominent achievement of journalists in promoting the development of China's journalism.
Rembrance Day - 11th November (UK) and other cultures
Note: The super-imposed image of a fallen soldier on the poppy leaf - special commemorative stamp from the Royal Mail (UK). With Links.. various sources.
Remembrance Day ¨C also known as Poppy Day (UK), Veterans Day (US), Armistice Day (the event it commemorates) ¨C is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918.
The Qingming Festival - Tomb Sweeping Day (China and SE Asia) meaning Clear and Bright Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar). Every leap year, Qing Ming is on April 4. Astronomically, it is also a solar term (See Qingming). In solar terms, the Qingming festival is on the 1st day of the 5th solar term, which is also named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime and also to tend to the graves of departed ones, and remember the Fallen Heroes of the Revolution.
Qingming is a statutory public holiday in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It has long been a public holiday in the latter three jurisdictions, but became a public holiday in mainland China in 2008 for the first time since 1949.
The transcription of the term Qingming may appear in a number of different forms, some of which are: Qingming * Qing Ming * Qing Ming Jie * Ching Ming (official in Hong Kong) * Ching Ming Chieh . The holiday is also known by a number of other names in the English language: * Clear Brightness Festival * Festival for Tending Graves * Grave Sweeping Day * Chinese Memorial Day * Tomb Sweeping Day * Spring Remembrance.
Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear Brightness Festival are the most common English translations of Qingming Festival. Tomb Sweeping Day is used in several English language newspapers published in the Republic of China.
For the Chinese, it is a day to remember and honor one's ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, (joss) paper accessories, and/or libation to the ancestors. The rites are very important to most Chinese and especially farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming, or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They think that willow branches help ward off the evil ghosts that wander on Qingming. Also on Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, dance, and Qingming is a time where young couples start courting. Another popular thing to do is fly kites (in shapes of animals, or characters from Chinese opera).
The Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) explained...
Local people and visitors celebrate the Chinese New Year in Chinatown, London - 2008
Fish
The Koi fish is usually seen in paintings. Decorated food depicting the fish can also be found. It symbolizes surplus or having additional savings so as to have more than enough to live throughout the remaining year. It coheres with the Chinese idiom (Pinyin: niánnián yŏuyú)
These lanterns differ from those of Mid Autumn Festival in general. They will be red in colour and tend to be oval in shape. These are the traditional Chinese paper lanterns. Those lanterns, used on the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year for the Lantern Festival, are bright, colourful, and in many different sizes and shapes.
Dragon and lion dances are common during Chinese New Year. It is believed that the loud beats of the drum and the deafening sounds of the cymbals together with the face of the dragon or lion dancing aggressively can evict bad or evil spirits. Lion dances are also popular for opening of businesses in Hong Kong.
Red couplets and red lanterns are displayed on the door frames and light up the atmosphere. The air is filled with strong Chinese emotions. In stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and other cities, products of traditional Chinese style have started to lead fashion trend[s]. Buy yourself a Chinese-style coat, get your kids tiger-head hats and shoes, and decorate your home with some beautiful red Chinese knots, then you will have an authentic Chinese-style Spring Festival.
¡±
¡ªXinwen Lianbo, January 2001, quoted by Li Ren, Imagining China in the Era of Global Consumerism and Local Consciousness[3]
The Chinese New Year celebrations are marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends, a practice known as "new-year visits" (Chinese; pinyin: bàinián). New clothings are usually worn to signify a new year. The colour red is liberally used in all decorations. Red packets are given to juniors and children by the married and elders. See Symbolism below for more explanation.
All these festivities may vary from region to region and from family to family.
Days before the new year
On the days before the New Year celebration Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. There is a Cantonese saying "Wash away the dirt on ninyabaat" (ÄêØ¥°Ë£¬Ï´åååÝ), but the practice is not usually restricted on nin'ya'baat (ÄêØ¥°Ë, the 28th day of month 12). It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start .
In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is prevalent, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year are also taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, and replaced with new decorations. Taoists (and Buddhists to a lesser extent) will also "send gods" (ËÍÉñ), an example would be burning a paper effigy of the Kitchen God, the recorder of family functions. This is done so that the kitchen god can report to the Jade Emperor of the family household's transgressions and good deeds.
The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the dinner every family will have. A dish consisting of fish will appear on the tables of Chinese families. It is for display for the New Year's Eve dinner. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings (jiaozi) after dinner and have it around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape is like a Chinese tael. By contrast, in the South, it is customary to make a new year cake (Niangao) after dinner and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days of the new year. Niangao literally means increasingly prosperous year in year out. After the dinner, some families go to local temples, hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the new lunar year. Beginning in the 1980s, the CCTV New Year's Gala was broadcast minutes before the start of the New Year.
The first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth, officially beginning at midnight. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Year's Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before.
Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.
Some families may invite a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Members of the family who are married also give red packets containing cash to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers.
While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards, which have resulted in increased number of fires around New Years and challenged municipal fire departments' work capacity. For this reason, various city governments (e.g., Hong Kong, and Beijing, for a number of years) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain premises of the city. As a substitute, large-scale fireworks have been launched by governments in cities like Hong Kong to offer citizens the experience.
Second day of the new year
Incense is burned at the graves of ancestors as part of the offering and prayer ritual.
The second day of the Chinese New Year is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. Traditionally, daughters who have been married may not have the opportunity to visit their birth families frequently.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.
Business people of the Cantonese dialect group will hold a 'Hoi Nin' prayer to start their business on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. The prayer is done to pray that they will be blessed with good luck and prosperity in their business for the year.
Third and fourth days of the new year
The third and fourth day of the Chinese New Year are generally accepted as inappropriate days to visit relatives and friends due to the following schools of thought. People may subscribe to one or both thoughts.
1) It is known as "chì k¨¯u" , meaning that it is easy to get into arguments. It is suggested that the cause could be the fried food and visiting during the first two days of the New Year celebration.
2) Families who had an immediate kin deceased in the past 3 years will not go house-visiting as a form of respect to the dead, but people may visit them on this day. Some people then conclude that it is inauspicious to do any house visiting at all. The third day of the New Year is allocated to grave-visiting instead.
Fifth day of the new year
In northern China, people eat Ji¨£ozi (dumplings) on the morning of Po Wu . This is also the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth. In Taiwan, businesses traditionally re-open on this day, accompanied by firecrackers.
Seventh day of the new year
The seventh day, traditionally known as renri , the common man's birthday, the day when everyone grows one year older.
It is the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, is eaten. This is a custom primarily among the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore. People get together to toss the colourful salad and make wishes for continued wealth and prosperity.
For many Chinese Buddhists, this is another day to avoid meat.
The ninth day of the New Year is a day for Chinese to offer prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven (Ì칫) in the Taoist Pantheon. The ninth day is traditionally the birthday of the Jade Emperor.
This day is especially important to Hokkiens and Teochews (Min Nan speakers). Come midnight of the eighth day of the new year, Hokkiens will offer thanks giving prayers to the Emperor of Heaven. Offerings will include sugarcane as it was the sugarcane that had protected the Hokkiens from certain extermination generations ago. Tea is served as a customary protocol for paying respect to an honored person.
Fifteenth day of the new year
The fifteenth day of the new year is celebrated as Yuánxi¨¡o jié, otherwise known as Chap Goh Mei in Fujian dialect. Rice dumplingsTangyuan a sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in a soup, is eaten this day. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home. This day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, and families walk the street carrying lighted lanterns.
This day often marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.
The following information is awaiting editing and additions and will be ready shortly...
Chinese Festivals
1. New Year's Day New Year's Day is a grand occasion for the Chinese people. They celebrate the New Year like people all over the world. Since ancient times, the day has been called 'Yuandan' by the Chinese. 'Yuan' means 'at the beginning'. 'Dan' means 'day', so joined together the words mean 'first day of a year'. For 3,000 years, China has greeted Yuandan with joyous ceremonies.
Due to the different longitudes upon which countries lie in the world, the time of the celebration varies. China is the twelfth country to celebrate the event and the people are rewarded with one day's vacation. All kinds of festive programs are presented on TV, and organizations and schools hold parties to let everyone enter into the jubilant atmosphere of the festival. Sincere good wishes are reflected by people's smiles and wonderful performances at parties. Great hopes for an excellent year are embedded in everyone's mind.
3. Women's Day Falling on March 8th, Women's Day is a festival for women worldwide. It is celebrated since 1975 for the purpose of remembering the women's struggle for getting the reasonable right and peace.
In China, Chinese government designated it as a national holiday for women who are rewarded with a half day holiday on Mar. 8th. Children respect their mother by doing housework and husbands prepare dinner and presents for their wives. In some places, organizations and schools hold mountain-climbing competitions to add a festive atmosphere or communication meetings to talk about their life and work. Flowers are presented to women by students, children, or husbands.
6. May Day As a day for the working people worldwide, it was established on May 1st in 1886. In China, all kinds of jubilant assemblies and amusement activities are held in parks, theaters, and on plazas. In the evening, entertainment programs are held on TV, and some model laborers are invited to the evenings.
11. Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party In May, 1938, Chairman Mao suggested that July 1st be the anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party to mark the first central committee of the Communist Party of China held in July 1921. From then on, Chinese people celebrate the birth of the Chinese Communist Party every year to remind them that without the Communist Party, there would be no precious happy life today.
13. Teachers' Day Teachers are praised as the engineers of human spirit. In order to carry forward the fine tradition of respecting teachers and valuing education, the Chinese Government designated that Teachers' Day fall on September 10th every year. The reason to choose this day is because when the fall semester begins, a fine studious atmosphere will be created if activities of respecting teachers and valuing education are held.
15. National Day Oct. 1st is China's National Day. It is a festival of great importance to the people nationwide and they celebrate it with great felicitation. In the early morning, numerous people arrive at Tiananmen Square in Beijing to see the ceremonial raising of the national flag. This is followed by a great ceremonial review of troops on the Tiananmen Square and various festive activities are held in different regions. When evening comes, fireworks are set off to illuminate the sky brightly and gallantly.
In 1999, the Chinese government decided that the three days designated for the National Day celebration be combined with the two weekends on either side, thus giving people a seven-day vacation. Also because of the great indulgences during the week, it is regarded as another Golden Week for the Chinese people when they can go out to visit some long-cherished tourist attractions or doing other things people like to do.
this isn't easy to find brief explanations or illustrations. Suggestions welcome!
Festivals & Annual Hindu Calendar
Listed below are twenty-two major Hindu festivals, of which seven(highlighted) are most important for Hindus in Britain today. More detailed information on many of these festivals is also available from IES upon request.
Major Hindu Festivals
Makara Sankranti / Lobri
Winter Solstice Festival
January
Vashant Panchami
Spring Festival
Jan/Feb
Saraswati Puja
Worship of the Goddess of Learning.
Jan/Feb
Maha Shiva Ratri
Night Festival in honour of Lord Shiva
Feb/March
Gaura Purnima
Full-moon Festival for the Birthday of Chaitanya
March
Holi
The Coloured-water Spring Festival
March
Chaitra
The Spring New-Year Festival (for some Hindus)
March/April
Rama Navami
The Birthday of Lord Rama
March/April
Hanuman Jayanti
The Birthday of Hanuman
April
Narasimha Jayanti
Appearance of half-man/half-lion Incarnation of Vishnu
Celebrations for Muslims around the world. by Borgna Brunner
This U.S. postage stamp commemorates the two major Islamic festivals, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Eid means festival.
Muharram (1 Muharram) The Islamic New Year
The month of Muharram marks the beginning of the Islamic liturgical year. The Islamic year begins on the first day of Muharram, and is counted from the year of the Hegira (anno Hegirae)the year in which Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina (A.D. July 16, 622).
The Islamic new year is celebrated relatively quietly, with prayers and readings and reflection upon the hegira.
This holiday celebrates the birthday of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. It is fixed as the 12th day of the month of Rabi I in the Islamic calendar. Mawlid means birthday of a holy figure and al-Nabi means prophet.
The day is commemorated with recollections of Muhammad's life and significance. Fundamentalist Muslims, such as the Wahhabi sect, do not celebrate it.
Eid al-Fitr (1 Shawwal) The Celebration concluding Ramadan
Ramadan, the month of fasting, ends with the festival of Eid al-Fitr. Literally the "Festival of Breaking the Fast," Eid al-Fitr is one of the two most important Islamic celebrations (Eid al-Adha is the other). At Eid al-Fitr people dress in their finest clothes, adorn their homes with lights and decorations, give treats to children, and enjoy visits with friends and family.
A sense of generosity and gratitude colors these festivities. Although charity and good deeds are always important in Islam, they have special significance at the end of Ramadan. As the month draws to a close, Muslims are obligated to share their blessings by feeding the poor and making contributions to mosques.
Eid al-Adha (10 Dhu'l-Hijjah) The celebration concluding the Hajj
Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, commemorates the prophet Abraham's willingness to obey Allah by sacrificing his son Ishmael. According to the Qu'ran, just before Abraham sacrificed his son, Allah replaced Ishmael with a ram, thus sparing his life.
One of the two most important Islamic festivals, Eid al-Adha begins on the 10 day of Dhu'l-Hijja, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Lasting for three days, it occurs at the conclusion of the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims all over the world celebrate, not simply those undertaking the hajj, which for most Muslims is a once-a-lifetime occurrence.
The festival is celebrated by sacrificing a lamb or other animal and distributing the meat to relatives, friends, and the poor. The sacrifice symbolizes obedience to Allah and its distribution to others is an expression of generosity, one of the five pillars of Islam.
In the Year of the Hegira
A.H. 1430
A.H. 1431
A.H. 1432
A.H. 1433
Muharram (Islamic New Year)
Dec. 29, 2008
Dec. 18, 2009
Dec. 7, 2010
Nov. 26, 2011
Mawlid al-Nabi (Muhammad's Birthday)
March 9, 2009
Feb. 26, 2010
Feb. 15, 2011
Feb. 4, 2012
Ramadan begins
Aug. 22, 2009
Aug. 11, 2010
Aug. 1, 2011
July 20, 2012
Eid al-Fitr (Ramadan ends)
Sep. 21, 2009
Oct. 10, 2010
Aug. 30, 2011
Aug. 19, 2012
Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice)
Nov. 28, 2009
Nov. 15, 2010
Nov. 6, 2011
Oct. 26, 2012
NOTE: All holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the date given. The Islamic calendar is based on lunar observation; thus, the above dates may vary by one or two days. Dates apply to North America.
Jewish Festivals and Days of Remembrance in Israel
Jewish festivals, originating in antiquity, are observed in Israel intensively and in many ways. They are manifested in traditional and nontraditional customs and practice, and they leave their imprint on diverse aspects of national life. The Jewish festivals are the ¡°landmarks¡± by which Israelis mark the passing of the year. They are very much a part of daily life: on the street, in the school system and in synagogues and homes around the country.
Shabbat, (the Sabbath - the weekly day of rest) on Saturday, is marked in Israel with most people spending the day together with family and friends. Public transport is suspended, businesses are closed, essential services are at skeleton-staff strength, and leave is granted to as many soldiers as possible. The secular majority take advantage of their weekly day of rest for leisure time at the seashore, places of entertainment and excursions in outdoor settings. The observant devote many hours to festive family feasts and services in synagogue, desist from travel, and refrain from working or using electrical appliances.
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish new year. Its origin is Biblical (Lev. 23:23-25): ¡°a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts [of the shofar, the ram¡¯s horn].¡± The term Rosh Hashanah, ¡°beginning of the year,¡± is rabbinical, as are the formidable themes of the festival: repentance, preparation for the day of Divine judgment, and prayer for a fruitful year. The two-day festival falls on 1-2 Tishrei in the Jewish calendar, usually September in the Gregorian calendar, and starts at sundown of the preceding evening, as do all Jewish observances. Major customs of Rosh Hashanah include the sounding of the shofar in the middle of a lengthy synagogue service that focuses on the festival themes, and elaborate meals at home to inaugurate the new year. The prayer liturgy is augmented with prayers of repentance.
In many senses, Israel begins its year on Rosh Hashanah. Government correspondence, newspapers and most broadcasts carry the ¡°Jewish date¡± first. Felicitations for the new year are generally tendered before Rosh Hashanah.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur, eight days after Rosh Hashanah, is the day of atonement, of Divine judgment, and of ¡°affliction of souls¡± (Lev. 23:26-32) so that the individual may be cleansed of sins. The only fast day decreed in the Bible, it is a time to enumerate one¡¯s misdeeds and contemplate one¡¯s faults. The Jew is expected, on this day, to pray for forgiveness for sins between man and God and correct his wrongful actions against his fellow man. The major precepts of Yom Kippur - lengthy devotional services and a 25-hour fast - are observed even by much of the otherwise secular population. The level of public solemnity on Yom Kippur surpasses that of any other festival, including Rosh Hashanah. The country comes to a complete halt for 25 hours on this day; places of entertainment are closed, there are no television and radio broadcasts (not even the news), public transport is suspended, and even the roads are completely closed. Yom Kippur in Israel has special meaning due to memories of the 1973 war, a surprise attack launched by Egypt and Syria against Israel on that very day.
Sukkot
Sukkot, described in the Bible (Lev.23:34) as the ¡°Feast of Tabernacles¡± begins five days after Yom Kippur). Sukkot is one of the three festivals that were celebrated (until 70 CE) with mass pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem and are therefore known as the ¡°pilgrimage festivals.¡± On Sukkot, Jews commemorate the Exodus from Egypt (c. 13th century BCE) and give thanks for a bountiful harvest. At some kibbutzim, Sukkot is celebrated as Chag Ha¡¯asif (the harvest festival), with the themes of the gathering of the second grain crop and the autumn fruit, the start of the agricultural year, and the first rains.
In the five days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, tens of thousands of householders and businesses erect sukkot - booths for temporary dwelling, resembling the booths in which the Israelites lived in the desert, after their exodus from Egypt - and acquire the palm frond, citron, myrtle sprigs and willow branches with which the festive prayer rite is augmented. All around the country, sukkot line parking lots, balconies, rooftops, lawns, and public spaces. No army base lacks one. Some spend the festival and the next six days literally living in their sukkot, while most observers just eat their meals there.
In Israel, the ¡°holy day¡± portion of Sukkot (and the other two pilgrimage festivals, Passover and Shavuot) is celebrated for one day. Diaspora communities celebrate it for two days, commemorating the time in antiquity when calendation was performed at the Temple and its results reported to the Diaspora using a tenuous network of signal fires and couriers.
The prayer liturgy is augmented with additional prayers, including the Hallel, a collection of blessings and psalms, recited on Rosh Hodesh (the beginning of each lunar month) and on the pilgrimage festivals.
After the festive day, Sukkot continues at a lesser level of sanctity, as mandated by the Torah (Lev. 23:36). During this intermediate week - half festival, half ordinary - schools are closed and many workplaces shut down or shorten their hours. Most Israelis spend the interim days of Sukkot and Passover at recreation sites throughout the country.
The intermediate week and the holiday season end on Shemini Atseret, the ¡°sacred occasion of the eighth day¡± (Lev. 23:36), with which Simhat Torah is combined. Celebration of Shemini Atseret/Simhat Torah focuses on the Torah and is noted for public dancing with a Torah scroll in one¡¯s arms and with recitation of the concluding and beginning chapters of the Torah, renewing the yearly cycle of Torah reading. After dark, many communities sponsor further festivities, often outdoors, that are not limited by the ritual restrictions that apply on the holy day itself.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah, beginning on 25 Kislev (usually in December), commemorates the triumph of the Jews, under the Maccabees, over the Greek rulers (164 BCE) - both the physical victory of the small Jewish nation against mighty Greece and the spiritual victory of the Jewish faith against the Hellenism of the Greeks. Its sanctity derives from this spiritual aspect of the victory, and the miracle of the flask of oil, when a portion of sacramental olive oil meant to keep the Temple candelabrum lit for one day lasted for eight days, the time it took for the Temple to be rededicated.
Hanukkah is observed in Israel, as in the Diaspora, for eight days. The central feature of this holiday is the lighting of candles each evening - one on the first night, two on the second, and so on - in commemoration of the miracle at the Temple. The Hanukkah message in Israel focuses strongly on aspects of restored sovereignty; customs widely practiced in the Diaspora, such as giftgiving and the dreidl (spinning top - sevivon in Hebrew), are also in evidence. The dreidl¡¯s sides are marked with Hebrew initials representing the message ¡°A great miracle occurred here¡±; in the Diaspora, the initials stand for ¡°A great miracle occurred there.¡± Schools are closed during this week; workplaces are not.
Tu B'Shevat, the fifteenth of Shevat (January-February), cited in rabbinical sources as the new year of fruit trees for sabbatical, tithing, and other purposes, has almost no ritual impact. But it has acquired secular connotations as a day when trees are planted by individuals, especially by schoolchildren and it serves as the time when intensive afforestation is undertaken by the Jewish National Fund and local authorities. During this month, although it is still cold, the fruit trees begin to flower, starting with the almond tree.
Purim
Purim, another rabbinical festival in early spring, occurs on 14 Adar (15 Adar in walled cities), commemorating the deliverance of beleaguered Jewry in the Persian Empire under Artaxerxes, as recounted in the Scroll of Esther. This festival compensates for the solemnity of many other Jewish observances by mandating merriment. Schools are closed, public festivities abound, newspapers run hoax items reminiscent of April Fools¡¯ Day, children (and adults) don costumes, and a festive reading of the Scroll of Esther is marked by noisemakers sounded whenever the villain Haman¡¯s name is recited. The Orthodox indulge in inebriation, within limits, and carry out an exacting list of duties: giving of alms, evening and morning readings of the Scroll of Esther, exchange of delicacies and a full-fledged holiday feast.
Passover (Pessah)
Passover (Pessah), is celebrated in the spring, beginning on 15 Nisan. Passover is the festival celebrating the Exodus from Egypt (c. 13th century BCE) and liberation from bondage. Freedom is, indeed, the festival¡¯s dominant theme. The rites of Passover begin long before the festival, as families and businesses cleanse their premises of hametz - leaven and anything containing it - as prescribed in the Bible (Ex. 12:15-20). The day before the festival is devoted to preparatory rituals including ceremonial burning of the forbidden foodstuff. On the holiday evening, the seder is recited: an elaborate retelling of the enslavement and redemption. At this festive meal, the extended family gathers to read the Haggadah and enjoy traditional foods, particularly matza (unleavened bread). The following day¡¯s observances resemble those of the other pilgrimage festivals.
Passover is probably second only to Yom Kippur in traditional observance by the generally nonobservant. In addition, a secular Passover rite based on the festival¡¯s agricultural connotations is practiced in some kibbutzim. It serves as a spring festival, a festival of freedom, and the date of the harvesting of the first ripe grain. Passover also includes the second ¡°intermediate¡± week - five half-sacred, half-ordinary days devoted to extended prayer and leisure - and it concludes with another festival day.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
On Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, less than a week after Passover, the people of Israel commune with the memory of the six million martyrs of the Jewish people who perished at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust. Modern rites of public bereavement and special ceremonies are held. On this day a siren is sounded at 10 a.m., as the nation observes two minutes of silence, pledging ¡°to remember, and to remind others never to forget.¡±
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars is commemorated a week later, as a day honoring those who fell in the struggle for the establishment of the State of Israel and in its defense. At 8 p.m. on the eve of Remembrance Day and at 11 a.m. on the following morning, two minutes of silence, as a siren sounds, give the entire nation the opportunity to remember its debt and express its eternal gratitude to its sons and daughters who gave their lives for the achievement of the country¡¯s independence and its continued existence.
Independence Day 2003
Independence Day (5 Iyar) directly follows Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel¡¯s Wars and is held on the anniversary of the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948). While this is not a centuries-old celebration, it is a day that means a lot to many citizens who have physically and actively participated in the creation of a new state and its struggle for survival, and have witnessed the enormous changes that have taken place since 1948. On the eve of Independence Day municipalities sponsor public celebrations, loud-speakers broadcast popular music and multitudes go ¡°downtown¡± to participate in the holiday spirit.
Many synagogues also hold special services of thanksgiving, where Hallel is recited marking Israel¡¯s national deliverance.
On Independence Day, many citizens get to know the countryside by travelling to battlefields of the War of Independence, visit the memorials to the fallen, go on nature hikes and, in general, spend the day outdoors picnicking and having barbecues.
Israel Prizes for distinction in literary, artistic and scientific endeavor are presented and the International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth is held. Army bases are opened to the public and air force fly-bys, as well as naval displays, take place. Lag B'Omer (18 Iyar), the thirty-third day in the counting of the weeks between Passover and Shavuot, has become a children¡¯s celebration featuring massive bonfires. It commemorates events at the time of the Bar-Kochba uprising against Rome (132-135 CE).
Jerusalem Day is celebrated on 28 Iyar, about a week before Shavuot, and commemorates the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, after it had been divided by concrete walls and barbed wire for 19 years. On this day, we are reminded that Jerusalem is ¡°the focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment and modern renewal.¡± Hallel is recited in some synagogues.
Shavuot
Shavuot, the last of the pilgrimage festivals, when enumerated from the beginning of the Jewish year, falls seven weeks after Passover (6 Sivan), at the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. The Bible (Deut. 16:10) describes this occasion as the festival of weeks (Heb. shavuot), for so is it counted from Passover, and as the occasion on which new grain and new fruits are offered to the priests in the Temple. Its additional definition - the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai - is of rabbinical origin. Shavuot is observed among the Orthodox with marathon religious study and, in Jerusalem, with a mass convocation of festive worship at the Western Wall. In the kibbutzim, it marks the peak of the new grain harvest and the ripening of the first fruits, including the seven species mentioned in the Bible (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates). The Ninth of Av (Tisha B¡¯Av, falling in July or early August), commemorates the anniversary of the destruction of the First and Second Temples. On the day itself, numerous rules of bereavement and the Yom Kippur measures of ¡°self-denial,¡± including a full-day fast, are in effect.
Other Celebrations
Ethnic communities observe additional rites and celebrations of their own. Some better-known celebrations include the Mimouna, unique to Moroccan Jewry, on the day after Passover, celebrating the renewal of nature and its blessings; and the Saharana of Kurdish Jewry, after Sukkot, which was the national holiday of the Jews in Kurdistan. Another event is the Sigd holiday of the Ethiopian Jewish community, in mid-November, a celebration which began in Ethiopia, expressing their yearning for Zion, and continues in Israel today as an expression of their thankfulness.
Thus, with its diverse population and multiple lifestyles and attitudes, Israel celebrates the cycle of Jewish festivals and observances in a public manner that underscores the country¡¯s Jewishness and its centrality to Judaism.
Jewish Festivals and Fasts
Welcome to the Jewish Calendar here you will be able to find out all calendar information such as times and dates of all Jewish festivals and fasts.
Please be aware that many festivals do come in on the evening before the festival start date.
The Royal Maundy is an ancient ceremony which has its origin in the commandment Christ gave after washing the feet of his disciples on the day before Good Friday. The commandment, or mandatum, 'that ye love one another' (John XIII 34) is still recalled regularly by Christian churches throughout the world and the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor which was accompanied by gifts of food and clothing, can be traced back to the fourth century. It seems to have been the custom as early as the thirteenth century for members of the royal family to take part in Maundy ceremonies, to distribute money and gifts, and to recall Christ's simple act of humility by washing the feet of the poor. Henry IV began the practice of relating the number of recipients of gifts to the sovereign's age, and as it became the custom of the sovereign to perform the ceremony, the event became known as the Royal Maundy.
In the eighteenth century the act of washing the feet of the poor was discontinued and in the nineteenth century money allowances were substituted for the various gifts of food and clothing.
Maundy money as such started in the reign of Charles II with an undated issue of hammered coins in 1662. The coins were a fourpenny, threepenny, twopenny and one penny piece but it was not until 1670 that a dated set of all four coins appeared.
Prior to this, ordinary coinage was used for Maundy gifts, silver pennies alone being used by the Tudors and Stuarts for the ceremony.
Today's recipients of Royal Maundy, as many elderly men and women as there are years in the sovereign's age, are chosen because of the Christian service they have given to the Church and community. At the ceremony which takes place annually on Maundy Thursday, the sovereign hands to each recipient two small leather string purses. One, a red purse, contains - in ordinary coinage - money in lieu of food and clothing; the other, a white purse, contains silver Maundy coins consisting of the same number of pence as the years of the sovereign's age.
Maundy money has remained in much the same form since 1670, and the coins used for the Maundy ceremony have traditionally been struck in sterling silver save for the brief interruptions of Henry's Vlll's debasement of the coinage and the general change to 50% silver coins in 1920.
The sterling silver standard (92.5%) was resumed following the Coinage Act of 1946 and in 1971, when decimalisation took place, the face values of the coins were increased from old to new pence.
The effigy of The Queen on ordinary circulating coinage has undergone three changes, but Maundy coins still bear the same portrait of Her Majesty prepared by Mary Gillick for the first coins issued in the year of her coronation in 1953.
Other Festivals...
Mud Festivals - various East Asian Countries - March - September
Festival at Mimsubi Shrine, Yotsukaido, Japan. Boryeong Festival, South Korea is popular with International tourists
Traditionally, although I can't find details of their origin, Mud Festivals in Japan and South Korea take part between families and friends in good quality sea mud, which is rich in minerals, and good for their skin. Revellers are modestly covered, romp and massage each other for satisfying all over body toning... or just good fun! They are big tourist attractions, often accompanied with health and craft sessions, such as making special mud-soap bars and mineral lotions.
Tomatina Tomato Throwing Festival ~ August
In August each year near Valencia, Spain, around 20 thousand people gather for a tomato fight. Between 11am and 1pm they throw 125 thousand kilos of ripe tomatos at each other. As the boom sounds to mark the end of the festival, streets are cleaned with water from a near-by Roman aqueduct.
No one is certain how the festival began, but it has been popular since 1945. Some suggest that it was a demonstration against General Franco, Dictator and victor of the Spaniah Civil War. More likely, is that a band of brawling youths attacked each other with produce from a local street vendor.
The Authorities originally tried to ban the annual demonstration, but in 1959 gave in to the popular demand for people to be able to let off steam. It's now a huge tourist attraction. Visitors are welcome, but be sure to bring a change of clothes!
Orange-Throwing-Festival-Italy - late February / early March
The orange-throwing festival is part of the Ivrea Carnival in northern Italy. It is not known exactly when it began - perhaps more than a thousand years ago, but it is recorded as having been an important part of local tradition for more than 150 years. It's now a majr tourist attraction.
Traditionally, it has been the responsibility of young women to take care of the orange groves. It is said that, to attract the attention of suitable young men, they threw oranges at passers by. Today, the game is played in teams. Visitors are welcome - but if you don't want to get hit, wear a rd hat. It shows the participants that you are 'neutral'.
Prise de la Bastille by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel
Bastille Day is the Frenchnational holiday which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale (National Celebration) and commonly le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille
on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille
fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern
nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the
constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities are held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic.
Article 17 of the Constitution of France gives the President the authority to pardon
criminals, and since 1991 the President has pardoned many petty
offenders (mainly traffic offences) on 14 July. In 2007, President
Sarkozy declined to continue the practice.
History
The storming of the Bastille
On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to hear their grievances. The deputies of the Third Estate representing the common people (the two others were the Catholic Church and nobility) decided to break away and form a National Assembly. On 20 June the deputies of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath,
swearing not to separate until a constitution had been established.
They were gradually joined by delegates of the other estates; Louis
started to recognize their validity on 27 June. The assembly re-named
itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July, and began to
function as a legislature and to draft a constitution.
In the wake of the 11 July dismissal of Jacques Necker, the people of Paris,
fearful that they and their representatives would be attacked by the
royal military, and seeking to gain ammunition and gunpowder for the
general populace, stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison in Paris which had often held people jailed on the basis of lettres de cachet,
arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed. Besides holding
a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, the Bastille had been known
for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal
government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism
of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the siege in July 1789
there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance.
When the crowd—eventually reinforced by mutinous gardes françaises—proved
a fair match for the fort's defenders, Governor de Launay, the
commander of the Bastille, capitulated and opened the gates to avoid a
mutual massacre. However, possibly because of a misunderstanding,
fighting resumed. Ninety-eight attackers and just one defender died in
the actual fighting, but in the aftermath, de Launay and seven other
defenders were killed, as was the 'prévôt des marchands' (roughly,
mayor) Jacques de Flesselles.
The storming of the Bastille was more important as a rallying
point and symbolic act of rebellion than a practical act of defiance.
The Fête de la Fédération of the 14 July 1790 was a huge feast and official event to celebrate the uprising of the short-lived constitutional monarchy in France and what people considered the happy conclusion of the French Revolution.
The event took place on the Champ de Mars, which was at the time far
outside Paris. The place had been transformed on a voluntary basis by
the population of Paris itself, in what was recalled as the Journée des
brouettes ("Wheelbarrow Day").
A mass was celebrated by Talleyrand, bishop of Autun. The popular General Lafayette, as captain of the National Guard of Paris and confidant of the king, took his oath to the constitution, followed by the King Louis XVI.
After the end of the official celebration, the day ended in a huge
four-day popular feast and people celebrated with fireworks, as well as
fine wine and running naked through the streets in order to display
their great freedom.
Origin of the present celebration
On 30 June 1878, a feast had been set in Paris by official decision
to honour the Republic (the event was immortalised in a painting by Claude Monet).
On the 14 July 1879, another feast took place, with a semi-official
aspect; the events of the day included a military review in Longchamp,
a reception in the Chambre of Deputies, organised and presided by Léon Gambetta, and a Republican Feast in the pré Catelan with Louis Blanc and Victor Hugo. All through France, as Le Figaro wrote on the 16th, "people feasted a lot to honour the Bastille".
On the 21 May 1880, Benjamin Raspail
proposed a law to have "the Republic choose the 14 July as a yearly
national holiday". The Assembly voted the text on 21 May and 8 June.
The Senate approved on 27 and 29 June, favouring 14 July against 4
August (honouring the end of the feudal system
on 4 August 1789). The law was made official on 6 July 1880, and the
Ministry of the Interior recommended to prefects that the day should be
"celebrated with all the brilliance that the local resources allow".
Indeed, the celebrations of the new holiday in 1880 were particularly
magnificent.
In the debate leading up to the adoption of the holiday, Henri Martin,
chairman of the French Senate, addressed that chamber 29 June 1880. "Do
not forget that behind this 14 July, where victory of the new era over
the ancien régime
was bought by fighting, do not forget that after the day of 14 July
1789, there was the day of 14 July 1790. … This [latter] day cannot be
blamed for having shed a drop of blood, for having divided the country.
It was the consecration of unity of France. … If some of you might have
scruples against the first 14 July, they certainly hold none against
the second. Whatever difference which might part us, something hovers
over them, it is the great images of national unity, which we all
desire, for which we would all stand, willing to die if necessary."
The parade passes down the Champs-Elysées from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde where the President of the French Republic, his government and foreign ambassadors to France stand. This is a popular event in France, broadcast on French TV, and is the oldest and largest regular military parade in the world. In some
years, invited detachments of foreign troops take part in the parade and foreign statesmen attend as guests.
Smaller military parades are held in French garrisson towns (like Toulon, Belfort...) with local troops.
New York City has a large Bastille Day celebration each year on 60th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and the Empire State Building is illuminated in blue, white and red.
San Francisco has a large celebration in the downtown historic French quarter.
Chicago has hosted a variety of Bastille Day celebrations in a number of locations in the city, including Navy Pier and Oz Park.
The recent incarnations have been sponsored in part by the Chicago
branch of the French-American Chamber of Commerce and by the French Consulate-General in Chicago.
Baltimore has a large Bastille Day celebration each year at Petit Louis in the Roland Park area of Baltimore City.
Orlando
has a boutique Bastille Day street festival that began in 2009 in the
Audubon Park Garden District and involves champagne, wine, music,
petanque, artists, and street performers.
Milwaukee's four-day street festival begins with a "Storming of the Bastille" with a 43-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower.
Minneapolis has a celebration in Uptown with wine, French food, pastries, a flea market, circus performers and bands.
1989: France celebrates the 200th anniversary of French Revolution, notably with a monumental show on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, directed by French designer Jean-Paul Goude. President François Mitterrand hosts world leaders
Father Christmas is actually based on an ancient priest from what is now Turkey. 
Up Helly Aa. Celebrated on the last Tuesday in January in the Shetland Isles - north of Scotland. Originally a pagan Viking festival from Norway, it has been adapted to mark the end of the Christian festive season. It is a time of celebration, feasting and dancing, and ends with the ritual burning of a Viking long boat, which is usually launched out to sea, in the way that Vikings used to honour their dead.
Ice and Snow festivals. December - February
Held on the first day of the first 
Among all the customs and activities that people kept and held, pasting Spring Festival scrolls, the character 'Fu', and paper-cut pictures, setting off firecrackers and fireworks, paying New Year visits, and eating jiaozi have been handed down by Chinese people from generation to generation. To everyone the festival is of great significance.
Maundy Thursday Thursday before Easter celebrated by Christians as 'The Last Supper - before Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday. see explanation of Maundy Money bottom of page
Arbor Day. Many countries have Arbor Day but on different days. China's Arbor Day falls on March 12th every year to remember the death of 
Mother's Day
May 1st - Mayday. Photos: May Queen and Dancing. Mandy Barrow.
Children's Day
Falling on the 15th day of the Chinese 8th lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival means family reunion to Chinese people, thus it is one of the most important traditional festivals. Thereare many beautiful legends about the origin of this festival.Admiring the full moon and eating moon cakes are the traditionalactivities held on this day. 
Rembrance Day - 11th November (UK) and other cultures
Oct. 1st is 
This U.S. postage stamp commemorates the two major Islamic festivals, 
Muharram (1 Muharram)
Traditionally, although I can't find details of their origin, Mud Festivals in Japan and South Korea take part between families and friends in good quality sea mud, which is rich in minerals, and good for their skin. Revellers are modestly covered, romp and massage each other for satisfying all over body toning... or just good fun! They are big tourist attractions, often accompanied with health and craft sessions, such as making special mud-soap bars and mineral lotions.
