Holidays & Celebrations

     Holidays and celebrations are events that are met with great fanfare and joy in all different parts of the world, and in all cultures. Not every holiday is celebrated everywhere however, and different countries and nations often have their own festivities to honor various days and deities. Independence Day is one holiday that is celebrated almost everywhere in the world. Since this holiday is commemorated as a country’s day of independence, and was often won through many difficult battles, it remains significant in numerous countries. This holiday, celebration or significant day is celebrated on specific days, in various months throughout the year by the following countries; this includes but is not limited to; Sudan, Switzerland, Ecuador, Malaysia, Nauru, Estonia, the Dominican Republic, India, Cyprus, Gabon, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Sierra Leone, Honduras, Mexico, New Guinea, San Marino, Swaziland, turkey, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Fiji, Uganda, Peru, Nigeria, Finland and Thailand to name but a few.  Often these special days will also be used to honor the birthdays of a national hero or public figure that happened to be born on the day that independence for that country or nation was declared. Often this is the most important holiday for a nation to commemorate.
     Holidays that are widely known and celebrated, are sometimes known as “calendar holidays” because they are noted in published calendars for the year. These popular holidays are as follows; Martin Luther King Jr. Day- Jan. 3rd, St. Valentine’s Day- Feb. 1st , Mardi Gras- Feb., Purim, usually in March, St. Patrick’s Day- March 17th, Easter, celebrated in March or April depending on the calendar, Passover, usually in April, Mother’s Day- the 2nd Sunday in May, Father’s Day-the second Sunday in June, Shavuot- 5th night of the Jewish month of Sivan, usually in May or June, Independence Day- 4th of July, Rosh Hashanah-usually in September or October, Sukkot- September or October, Ramadan, which depending on the muslim calendar, can be celebrated in either Sept, Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan.,  or Feb., Halloween-Oct. 31st, “Los Dias de los Muertos”- Nov.1st, Thanksgiving- 4th Thursday of Nov., Chanukah- celebrated in Dec., Christmas- Dec. 25th, and Kwanzaa,  which begins on Dec 26th and continues until Jan 1st. There are a few lesser known holidays that are on the calendar, but are met with much less fanfare, and these include, but are not limited too; Groundhog day, Flag Day, Lincoln’s birthday, and Earth day.
     Special days that are celebrated almost everywhere in the world, are birthdays. This is a day for people to celebrate their loved ones and friends by honoring on the day of their birth. These celebrations often include lots of food, people, music, sometimes dancing and festive drinking, and usually culminate in the consumption of some type of decadent dessert. In different cultures around the world, the festivities can include party items such as piñatas, body painting, longevity threads, monetary gifts, and gifts of all kinds, the lighting of candles, and in some places, the person when turning a certain age is given a key to the house to signify an age of responsibility and earning adulthood.  Holidays and celebrations are times for people of all ages and cultures to take time to have fun, and honor those around them and their traditions.