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The word 'holiday' has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. A contraction of holy and day, holidays originally represented special religious days. This word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day of rest (as opposed to regular days of rest such as the weekend).
In the English-speaking world a holiday can mean a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation (e.g. "I'm going on holiday to Malta next week"), the North American equivalent is "vacation". Many Canadians will use the terms ''vacation'' and ''holiday'' interchangeably when referring to a trip away from home or time off work. In Australia the term can refer to a vacation or gazetted public holiday, but not to a day of commemoration such as Mothers' Day or Halloween.
In all of the English-speaking world, a holiday can be a day set aside by a nation or culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for celebration but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observance or activity. A holiday can also be a special day on which school and/or offices are closed, such as Labor Day.
When translated from/to other languages, the meanings of the word "holiday" may be conflated with these of "observance" and "celebration".

Contents

Public holidays

Consecutive holidays

Religious holidays

Bahá'í holidays

Buddhist holidays

Celtic, Norse, and Neopagan holidays

Christian holidays

Hindu holidays

Muslim holidays

Jewish holidays

The American winter holiday season

Holidays traditionally in the winter holiday season

Winter holiday greetings

National holidays

International holidays (secular)

Other secular holidays

Unofficial holidays

No holidays?

See also

References

Print

External links

Public holidays

A 'public holiday' or 'legal holiday' or 'bank holiday' is a holiday endorsed by the state. Public holidays can be either religious, in which case they reflect the dominant religion in a country, or secular, in which case they are usually political or historical in inspiration. "Public holiday" is the term used in, for example, Australia. "Bank holiday" is the term used in the UK because on these days the banks traditionally did not open for business, which originally prevented the transacting of other commercial business (although many banks, industries and shops in the UK now work on Bank Holidays). "Legal holiday" is the predominant term used within the United States, although "bank holiday" is recognized by many people as referring to the same phenomenon. In the United States both federal holidays and state holidays are observed.

Consecutive holidays

'Consecutive holidays' are a string of holidays taken together without working days in between. They tend to be considered a good chance to take short trips. In late 1990s, the Japanese government passed a law that increased the likelihood of consecutive holidays by moving holidays from fixed days to a relative position in a month, such as the second Monday. Well-known consecutive holidays include:

★ Beginning in 2000, Spring Festival, Labor Day and National Day are week-long holidays in the People's Republic of China.

★ In Japan, ''golden-week'', lasting roughly a full week.

★ In Colombia, in the ''the holy week'' there are consecutive holidays Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday) and Viernes Santo (Holy Friday) (variable dates in March or April)

★ In Poland during holidays on the 1st May and 3rd May, when taking a few days of leave can result in 9-day-long holidays; this is called The Picnic (or Majówka).

★ In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day can occasionally occur in Holy Week, the week before Easter; in this case the three holidays (St. Patrick's Day, Good Friday, and Easter Monday) plus three days leave can result in a 10-day break. See Public holidays in the Republic of Ireland.

★ In Australia, Canada, Poland and the UK, a public holiday otherwise falling on a Sunday will result in observance of the public holiday on the next available weekday (generally Monday). This arrangement results in a long weekend

★ The U.S. Congress changed the observance of Memorial Day and Washington's Birthday from fixed dates to certain Mondays in 1968 (effective 1971). Several states had passed similar laws earlier.

★ In The Netherlands, Queen's day is celebrated on 30th April, Remembrance of the Dead on the 4th May and Liberation day every 5 years on the 5th May. When Queen's day falls on Friday and Liberation Day is celebrated, two days' break can result in a 10-day break.

Religious holidays

Bahá'í holidays

Main articles: Bahá'í calendar


★ Naw Ruz (Bahá'í New Year)

★ 1st Day of Ridván

★ 9th Day of Ridvan

★ 12th Day of Ridvan

★ Declaration of the Báb

★ Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh

★ Martyrdom of the Báb

★ Birth of the Báb

★ Birth of Bahá'u'lláh

Buddhist holidays

★ Vesak

★ Bon Festival (in Japan)

★ Blessed Rainy Day in Bhutan

Celtic, Norse, and Neopagan holidays

''In the order of the Wheel of the Year:''

★ Samhain (Celtic): 31 October-1 November, Celtic New Year, first day of winter

★ Winternights (Norse): 29 October-2 November, Norse New Year

★ Yule (Norse): 21 December-22 December, winter solstice, Celtic mid-winter

★ Imbolc (Celtic): 1 February-2 February, Celtic first day of spring

★ Ostara/Easter (Norse): 21 March-22 march, vernal equinox, Celtic mid-spring

★ Beltane (Celtic): 30 April-1 May, Celtic first day of summer

★ Litha (Norse): 21 June-22 June, summer solstice, Celtic mid-summer

★ Lughnasadh (Celtic): 1 August-2 August, Celtic first day of autumn

★ Mabon/Harvest End (Norse): 21 September-22 September, autumnal equinox, Celtic mid-fall

Christian holidays

★ Advent

★ All Saints' Day

★ All Souls' Day

★ Ascension Thursday (Ascension of Jesus into Heaven)

★ Ash Wednesday (beginning of Lent)

★ Assumption of Mary (Assumption of the Virgin Mary)

★ Candlemas

★ Childermas

★ Christmas (Birth of Jesus)

★ Corpus Christi (Sacrifice of Jesus)

★ Easter (Resurrection of Jesus, end of Lent)

★ Easter Triduum

★
★ Holy Thursday (Celebration of The Last Supper)

★
★ Good Friday (Death of Jesus)

★
★ Holy Saturday

★
★ Easter Vigil

★ Easter Monday (Monday following Easter Sunday, not part of the Easter Triduum)

★ Epiphany

★ Lent (40 days of penance before Easter)

★ Pentecost or Whitsun (Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus)

★ Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (last day of Carnival, last day before Ash Wednesday)

★ Winter Lent

★ Watch Night

★ Jesus Day a state holiday in Texas
The Catholic patronal feast day or 'name day' are celebrated in each place's patron saint's day, according to the Calendar of saints.

Hindu holidays

★ Akshaya Tritiya

★ Baisakhi

★ RakshaBandhan

★ Dasara

★ Diwali

★
★ Diwali Amvasaya (Laxmi Puja)

★
★ Diwali (day 2)

★
★ Bhaubeej

★ Durga Puja

★ Ekadasi

★ Ganesh Chaturthi

★ Gokul Ashtami

★ Gudhi Padwa

★ Guru Purnima

★ Holi

★ Karthikai deepam

★ Krishna Janmaashtami

★ Mahashivratri

★ Mahalakshmi vrata

★ Bhogi

★ Makara Sankranti

★ Kanumu

★ Navratri

★ Onam

★ Pongal

★ Rama-Lilas

★ Ram Navami

★ Vaikunta Ekadasi

★ Vijayadashami

★ Ugadi

Muslim holidays

★ Aashurah Muharram

★ Eid: date determined by the lunar calendar and observation of the moon

★
★ Eid ul-Fitr

★
★ Eid ul-Adha

★ Mawlid Al Rasul - Celebration of Prophet Muhammad's birth

★ Nisfu Shaaban

★ Nuzul Al Qur'an - First revelation of Quran

★ Ramadan-ul-Mubarik

★ Isra' Mi'raj - Prophet Muhammad's ascension to heaven.

★ Youm Arafat - Eve of Eid ul-Adha

Jewish holidays

Main articles: Jewish holiday


★ Hanukkah (also: Chanukah; the Festival of Lights)

★ Passover

★ Purim (Deliverance from Marcus Mit C)

★ Rosh Hashanah (New Year)

★ Shavuot (Festival of Weeks; Harvest Festival)

★ Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles)

★ Tisha B'Av

★ Tu Bishvat (New year of the trees)

★ Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

The American winter holiday season

Main articles: Winter holiday season

In the United States and periodically Canada, the 'winter holiday season' is known as a period of time surrounding Christmas that was formed in order to embrace all cultural and religious celebration rather than only Christian celebrations. Usually, this period begins near the end of November and ends with New Year's Day on January 1. The holiday season is usually commercially referred to with a broad interpretation, avoiding the reference of specific holidays like Hanukkah or Christmas. Traditional "holiday season" festivities are usually associated with winter, including snowflakes and wintry songs. In some Christian countries, the end of the festive season is considered to be after the feast of Epiphany, although this has only symbolic value.

Holidays traditionally in the winter holiday season

★ Thanksgiving - (second Monday in October in Canada, fourth Thursday in November in USA) — Holiday generally observed as an expression of gratitude, traditionally to God, for the autumn harvest. It is traditionally celebrated with a meal shared among friends and family in which turkey is eaten. It is celebrated by many as a secular holiday, and in the USA marks the beginning of the "holiday season".

★ Winter Solstice, Yule - (Winter solstice, around 21-22 December in the northern hemisphere and 21-22 June in the southern hemisphere) — The celebrations on the winter solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year, are traditionally marked with anything that symbolizes or encourages life. Decorations of evergreens, bright objects and lights; singing songs, giving gifts, feasting and romantic events are often included. For Neopagans this is the celebration of the death and rebirth of the sun and is one of the eight sabbats on the wheel of the year.

★ Hanukkah - (26 Kislev - 2/3 Tevet - almost always in December) — Jewish holiday celebrating the defeat of Seleucid forces who had tried to prevent Israel from practising Judaism, and also celebrating the miracle of the Menorah lights burning for eight days with only enough (olive) oil for one day.

★ Christmas Day - (25 December) — Christian holiday commemorating the traditional birth-date of Jesus. Observances include gift-giving, the decoration of trees and houses, and Santa Claus folktales.

★ Kwanzaa (USA) - (26 December - 1 January) — A modern American invention held from December 26 to January 1 honoring African-American heritage, primarily in the United States. It was invented in 1966 by black activist and marxist Ron Karenga.

★ Boxing Day (26 December or 27 December) — Holiday observed in many Commonwealth countries on the first non-Sunday after Christmas.

★ St Stephen's Day or Second Day of Christmas (26 December) — Holiday observed in many European countries.

★ Eid ul-Adha (31 December 2006 or 22 December 2007) — The Festival of Sacrifice — Commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son for God. Marks the end of the Pilgrimage or Hajj for the millions of Muslims who make the trip to Mecca each year. Its presence in the Winter Holidays is mostly coincidental, and will move out of the holiday season within a few years.

★ New Year's Day - (1 January) — Holiday observing the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. Preceded by New Year's Eve on 31 December, which is celebrated with festivities in anticipation of New Year's Day.

★ A secular name for these holidays is a winter holiday. iTunes classifies "Christmas Music" as "Holiday Music" which can cause confusion for the English speaking world outside of the US, for whom "Holidays" are the same as "Vacations" - Annual Holidays, Easter Holidays, School Holidays, Summer Holidays, Skiing Holidays, Public Holidays etc.

Winter holiday greetings

National holidays

International holidays (secular)

Many other days are marked to celebrate events or people, but are not strictly holidays as time off work is rarely given.

★ Valentine's Day (14 February)

★ International Women's Day (8 March, particularly in Eastern European Countries)

★ Labour Day, Worker's Day or May Day (1 May in most countries. The United States and Canada both celebrate on the first Monday in September)

★ Mother's Day (second Sunday in May in North America, fourth Sunday in Lent in UK)

★ Halloween (31 October)

Other secular holidays

Other secular holidays not observed internationally:

★ Canada Day (1 July) in Canada, celebration of the date of the Confederation of Canada, although Canada was not completely independent from Britain until the proclamation of the Constitution of Canada, 17 April, 1982.

★ Independence day (4 July in the United States; many other nations refer to the holiday celebrating their independence as Independence Day as well. )

★ Lee-Jackson-King Day (20 January) Combined holiday celebrated in the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1984 to 2000

★ Confederate Memorial Day Celebrated by the original Confederate States at various times during the year; still celebrated on the fourth Monday in April in Alabama

★ Robert E. Lee's birthday and Martin Luther King's birthday (third Monday in January in Alabama)

★ Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January in the United States)

★ Groundhog Day (2 February in United States and Canada)

★ Spring Holiday, a secular euphemism for Easter or Good Friday. Counterpart of "Winter holiday".

★ Patriot's Day (third Monday in April in Massachusetts and Maine, United States)

★ Queen's Day (30 April in the Netherlands)

★ Labour Day (Many European and South American countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1)

★ Juneteenth (19 June) Official holiday in 14 states that commemorates the abolition of slavery in Texas (unofficial in 5 other US states)

★ Victoria Day (Monday on or before May 24 in Canada, also in some parts of Scotland)

★ Flag Day (14 June in the United States)

★ Pioneer Day (24 July in Utah, United States)

★ Labor Day (first Monday in September in the United States (federal holiday) and Canada)

★ Grandparents Day (Sunday after September Labor Day - proclaimed in the United States by Jimmy Carter in 1978)

★ St. Patricks Day (17 March in Ireland)

★ Saint Nicholas Day (05 December in the Netherlands, 06 December in Belgium)

★ Boxing Day (26 December in the Commonwealth of Nations)

★

Unofficial holidays

''see also ''

These are holidays celebrated by various groups and individuals. Some are designed to promote a cause, others recognize historical events not recognized officially, and others are "funny" holidays, generally intended as humorous distractions and excuses to share laughs among friends.

★ Bloomsday (16 June based on James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'')

★ Buy Nothing Day (The Day After Thanksgiving)

★ Devil's Night (October 30)

★ Festivus (23 December)

★ Friendship Day (first Sunday in August)

★ GIS Day (The Wednesday during Geography Awareness Week in November)

★ International Cannabis Day (20 April)

★ International Dadaism Month (4 February, 1 April, 28 March, 15 July, 2 August, 7 August, 16 August, 26 August, 18 September, 22 September, 1 October, 17 October, 26 October)

★ International Talk Like a Pirate Day (19 September)

★ International Kitchen Garden Day (4th Sunday of August)

★ Mischief Night (30 October) Notorious night of vandalism the night before Halloween

★ Mole Day (23 October)

★ Monkey Day (December 14))

★ No Pants Day (first Friday of May)

★ Pi Day (14 March) or Pi Approximation Day (22 July)

★ Tax Freedom Day

★ Towel Day (25 May) (a tribute to the late Douglas Adams)

★ Winter-een-mas (The season lasts all of January, however the actual holiday itself is 25 January - 31 January)

★ X-Day (5 July in the Church of the SubGenius)

★ Russian Reversal Day (7 July)

No holidays?

Referring to the original meaning of the term, Henny Youngman included this joke among his vast catalog of one-liners:
:"I was an atheist for awhile, but I gave it up. No holidays!"
Although Youngman's jest suggests that the list of holidays for a non-believer would necessarily be the "empty set", many non-believers honor various and other , and those of one faith often honor holidays of other faiths.

See also

★ Federal holiday

★ Bank Holiday

★ Holiday heart syndrome

★ Adventure tourism

★ List of holidays by country

★ Annual observances in the United States

★ Annual observances in the United Kingdom

★ Luxury resorts

★ Scientology holidays

★

★ Japanese holiday

References

Print

★ Holidays & Holy Days: Origins, Customs, and Insights on Celebrations Through the Year, Susan E. Richardson, , , Vine Books, , ISBN 0-8307-3442-2

★ Celebration: The Story of American Holidays, Lucille Recht Penner and Ib Ohlsson, , , MacMillan Publishing Company, , ISBN 0-02-770903-5

★ American Holidays: Exploring Traditions, Customs, and Backgrounds, Barbara Klebanow and Sara Fischer, , , Pro Lingua Associates, , ISBN 0-86647-196-0

External links

★

★ ''Holiday Stress Brings Anxiety and Abuse'' (ABC News)

★ U.S. Mail holidays - UPS holidays - FedEx holidays - Internet Accuracy Project

★ ''Seguinet French Holidays'' (Holiday in France)