Holiday
For other uses, see Holiday (disambiguation).The word
holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. Based on the words
holy and
day, holidays originally represented
special religious days. The 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 most of the English-speaking world a holiday is also 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 being "
vacation". However, some Canadians (especially those of English or Irish descent) will use both the terms vacation and holiday interchangeably when referring to a trip away from home or time off work.
In
Canada and the
United States, a
holiday is 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".
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 do not by law open for business, which originally prevented the transacting of other commercial business (although some industries in the UK now work through Bank Holidays, including some shops). "
Legal holiday" is the predominant term used within the United States of America although "Bank Holiday" is recognized by many persons as referring to the same phenomenon.
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
Poland during holidays on the
1st 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.
* In
Australia and
England, 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,
Veterans Day, and
Washington's Birthday from fixed dates to certain Mondays in 1968 (effective 1971). Several states had passed similar laws earlier.
See
:Category:Holy days*
Vesak*
Bon Festival (in
Japan)
*
Blessed Rainy Day in
BhutanIn 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*
Advent*
All Saints' Day*
All Souls' Day*
Ascension Day (Ascension of
Jesus into Heaven)
*
Ash Wednesday*
Assumption of Mary (Assumption of the Virgin Mary)
*
Candlemas*
Childermas*
Christmas (Birth of
Jesus)
*
Corpus Christi (Sacrifice of
Jesus)
*
Easter (
Resurrection of Jesus)
*
Easter Triduum**
Easter Vigil**
Good Friday (Death of
Jesus)
**
Holy Saturday**
Holy Thursday (Celebration of
The Last Supper)
*
Epiphany*
Lent*
Pentecost or
Whitsun (Descent of the
Holy Spirit upon the disciples of
Jesus)
*
Shrove Tuesday or
Mardi Gras (last day of
Carnival)
*
Winter Lent*
Watch NightThe Catholic
fiestas patronales are celebrated in each place's patron saint's day, according to the
Calendar of saints.
*
Akshaya Tritiya*
Baisakhi *
Dasara*
Diwali**
Diwali Amvasaya (
Laxmi Puja)
**Diwali (day 2)
**
Bhaubeej*
Ekadasi*
Ganesh Chaturthi*
Gokul Ashtami*
Gudhi Padwa*
Guru Purnima*
Holi*
Karthikai deepam*
Krishna Janmaashtami*
Mahashivratri*
Mahalakshmi vrata*
Makar Sankranti*
Navratri*
Onam*
Pongal*
Rama-Lilas*
Ram Navami*
Vaikunta Ekadasi*
Vijayadashami*
UgadiIslamic holidays
*
Aashurah Muharram
*
Eid: date determined by the
lunar calendar and observation of the moon
**
Eid ul-Fitr, Lesser Bairam
***
Eid ul-Adha, Greater Bairam
*
Mawlid Al Rasul - Celebration of Prophet Muhammad's birth
*
Nisfu Shaaban*
Nuzul Al Qur'an - First revelation of Holy Koran
*
Ramadan-Ul-Mubarik*
Isra' Mi'raj - Prophet Muhammad's ascension to heaven.
*
Youm Arafat - Eve of
Eid ul-Adha*
Hanukkah (also: Chanukah; the Festival of Lights)
*
Lag Ba'omer*
Passover*
Purim (Deliverance from Evil)
*
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)
*
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
In many
Western countries, 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. It is noted by some, however, that winter-associated themes are simply a ripoff from Christmas tradition. 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".
*
Yule - (
Winter Solstice, around 21-22 December) — a Pagan celebration of the winter solstice. One of the eight sabbats.
*
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. Christmas is also celebrated as a secular gift-giving holiday; other observances include the decoration of trees and houses. A secular, "politically-correct" euphemism for Christmas is "
Winter holiday".
*
Kwanzaa (USA) - (
26 December -
1 January) — Holiday observance held from
December 26 to
January 1 honoring African-American heritage, primarily in the United States. It was created in 1966.
*
Boxing Day (
26 December) — Holiday observed in many Commonwealth countries on
26 December. In many European countries it is also a holiday, called St Stephen's Day or the second day of Christmas.
*
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.
Winter holiday greetings
(See Christmastime greetings)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)
*
Father's Day (Various dates depending on celebrating country)
*
Halloween (
31 October)
See also "
International observance". Some of these observances are celebrations, some others are not, being, e.g., mournful observances.
Suggested international observances
*
Astronomy Day (date varies depending on cycle of
Moon)
*
World Ocean Day (
8 June)
Other secular holidays not observed internationally:
*
Independence day (
4 July in the United States; observed by many different countries at different dates)
*
Lee-Jackson-King Day (
20 January) Combined holiday celebrated in the
Commonwealth of Virginia from 1984 to 2000
*
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)
*
Loyalty Day (
1 May in the United States)
*
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)
*
Sweetest Day (third Saturday in October, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan in the United States)
*
Mother-in-Law's Day (fourth Sunday in October,
where?)
*
Boxing Day (
26 December in the
Commonwealth of Nations)
*
Holidays originating in ancient LatviaThese 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.
*
Bagel Day (February 7)
*
Blame Someone Else Day (first
Friday the 13th of the year)
*
Bloomsday (
16 June based on
James Joyce's novel
Ulysses)
*
Buy Nothing Day (The Day After Thanksgiving)
*
Evoloterra (
20 July celebrates the first manned
Moon Landing)
*
Festivus (
23 December)
*
Flying Spaghetti Monsterism Holy Day (every Friday)
*
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)
*
Mole Day (
23 October)
*
No Pants Day (first Friday of May)
*
Pi Approximation Day (
22 July)
*
Pi Day (
14 March)
*
Star Wars Day (
4 May) ("May the Fourth be with you")
*
Tax Freedom Day*
Towel Day (
25 May) (a tribute to the late
Douglas Adams)
*
X-Day (
5 July in the Church of the SubGenius)
Some holidays that were once widely celebrated are less so today, for various reasons. One example of this fact is revealed by the assumption inherent in this bit of dialogue from the 1961 musical-comedy album,
Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America, Volume One.
Christopher Columbus, who has arrived in the
New World just moments earlier, tells a
Native American that he wants to cash a check...
*Native: "You out of luck today.
Banks closed."
*Columbus: "Oh? Why?"
*Native: "Columbus Day!"
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 secular holidays and other "holy" days, and those of one faith often honor holidays of other faiths.
*
Federal holiday*
Bank Holiday*
Holiday heart syndrome*
D-Day*
Adventure tourism*
List of holidays by country*
List of holiday colors*
Annual observances in the United States*
Annual observances in the United Kingdom*
Luxury resorts*
Scientology holidays*
List of songs about holidays*
*
Holiday Stress Brings Anxiety and Abuse (ABC News)
*
Holidays At The Limit*
U.S. Mail holidays - UPS holidays - FedEx holidays - Internet Accuracy Project
