Festivals and Celebration Days
Most days of the year there is something to celebrate. Some days it might be a religious festival, an anniversary to remember an event or person, a day to feature a cause or issue, or just a fun commemoration of something silly.
Here are just some of those festival and celebration days…
January
January is the month of new beginnings, resolutions and good intentions. Many try to make changes and improvements to their lifestyle. Veganuary is a month-long celebration of all things vegan and was created to encourage non-vegans to try out the lifestyle. Some also claim the month as Get Organised Month and Get a Balanced Life Month. Here in the UK many people try to do Dry January, not drinking any alcoholic drinks the whole month.
If food is your thing then along with Veganuary in the USA January is also promoted as National Oatmeal Month, National Hot Tea Month, and National Soup Month. All good winter foods.
The month starts with New Year’s Day according to the Gregorian Calendar. Old New Year’s Eve according to the Julian Calendar, which is celebrated in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Srpska, and North Macedonia, is celebrated on 14th January. Chinese New Year then also gets celebrated either in January or February.
January sees the celebration of World Religions Day to help build understanding between the religions. In the USA they also celebrate National Religious Freedom Day reminding us to respect each others beliefs. Christians also celebrate a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January.
In the UK the RSPB (Royal Society for the protection of Birds) promotes the Big Garden Birdwatch encouraging people to spend an hour watching the birds in the garden and noting down what birds they see. Telling the RSPB what you saw helps them to keep track of our birdlife and taking part helps us appreciate our winged friends around us.
So much more also happening in January, to be found here.
February
February is the shortest month of the year and also the only month that doesn’t always have the same number of days each year. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the leap day.
In the UK February is LGBT+ History Month which is also known as Pride Month. In the USA and Canada it is also Black History Month, though in the UK we celebrate that in October. In Brazil it is Carnival Month, celebrating the many different colours of life. February and March are also the season for Mardi Gras, referring to the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, known as Shrove Tuesday. And, of course, it is also the month of Valentine’s Day.
February also sees the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and the World Day of Social Justice. With roughly 6,500 languages spoken in the world today International Mother Language Day is an important commemoration this month.
We all have a story to tell and should all be given a voice and opportunity to tell it. National Storytelling Week is a good opportunity to discover more of the wonderful stories already out in the world and maybe also create your own.
In the Catholic tradition, February is the Month of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Jewish Festival of Purim, is celebrated in February or March. The festival commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an Achaemenid Persian Empire official who was planning to kill all the Jews in the empire, as recounted in the Bible Book of Esther.
So much more also happening in February, to be found here.
March
(coming soon)