Holiday
A holiday is 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) observation or activity.
Based on the English words "holy" and "day," holidays originally represented special days of the Christian church calendar. The word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day.
- Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
- Passover
- Rosh Hashanah (Spiritual New Year)
- Purim (Based on the events in the Biblical book of Esther)
- Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles)
- Hannukah (also: Chanukah; the Feast of Lights)
- Tu B'shevat (New year of the trees)
- Purim
- Yom HaShoah (Holocaust remembrance day)
- Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israel independence day)
- Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks)
- Tisha B'Av
Christian holidays:
- Christmas (Birth of Jesus Christ)
- Good Friday (Death of Jesus Christ)
- Easter (Resurrection of Jesus Christ)
- Ascension Day (Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven)
- Pentecost (Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus Christ)
- Whitsun
- All Saints Day
- (see liturgical year for a more complete list)
Islamic/Muslim holidays
- Ramadan
- Eid al Fitr, Lesser Bairam
- Eid al Adha, Greater Bairam
National holidays:
- Australia
- ANZAC Day (also New Zealand) (April 25)
- Australia Day (January 27)
- Remembrance Day (November 11) - NOT a public holiday
- Queen's Birthday Holiday (June 8)
- Melbourne Cup Day (first tuesday in November) - Victoria only
- Show Day (localised holiday, on a different day in each region)
- Canada
- Victoria Day (May 25 if May 25 falls on a Monday, else May 24)
- Canada Day (July 1)
- The Netherlands
- South Africa
- United States
- New Years Day (January 1)
- Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January)
- President's Day (third Monday in February)
- Memorial Day (fourth Monday in May; originally May 30)
- Independence Day (July 4)
- Labor Day (first Monday in September)
- Columbus Day (second Monday in October; originally October 12)
- Veteran's Day (second Monday in November; originally November 11)
- Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November)
- Mexico
- Día de la Constitución (February 5)
- Natalicio de Benito Juárez (March 21)
- Día del Trabajo (May 1)
- Cinco de Mayo (May 5)
- Dieciséis de Septiembre (September 16), Mexican independence day
- Día de la Revolución (November 20)
- Italy
- Capodanno (New Years Day) (January 1)
- Epifania (January 6
- Rome's foundation (April 21) (in Rome only)
- St. Peter and St. Paul (June 30) (in Rome only)
- Ferragosto (August 15)
- The Victory on WWI (November 4)
Other holidays:
- April Fool's Day (April 1)
- Boxing Day (December 26)
- Father's Day (3rd Sunday in June)
- Grandparent's Day (Sunday after September Labor Day - proclaimed by Jimmy Carter in 1978)
- Halloween (October 31)
- Mother's Day (2nd Sunday in May)
- Mother-in-Law's Day (4th Sunday in October)
- New Year's Day - (January 1)
- Valentine's Day (February 14)
- Worker's Day or May Day (May 1, most countries - United States and Canada are prominent exceptions)
External Links:
- Bizarre American Holidays -- a comprehensive compilation of special recognition given both to months and individual days. Unfortunately, the origins of the commemorations aren't provided.
In the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, a holiday is also a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation (e.g., "I'm going on holiday to Majorca next week"), like an American "vacation".
Farm holiday: see Agriturismo.
BTW, we need to add all those national holiday articles, recently added to Wikipedia, to this page.