Holiday (calendar)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On the calendar, a holiday is a day with some special designation. Holidays serve as recognition of various occasions. These may include the anniversary of some historic event, the birthday or the date of death of a person they honor, the natural occurrence of some annual event, or a date that was designated for that purpose in a religious text.
Depending on its significance, a holiday may be a date in which some special ceremony is held, workplaces, businesses, or schools are closed, special meals are eaten, or various groups of people get together.
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[edit] Types of holidays
[edit] Public holiday
A Public Holiday, National holiday or Legal Holiday is a holiday generally established by law and it designates a non-working day during the year. On such a day, non-essential government offices are closed, giving employees a day off from work, and very frequently, private industries providing non-essential services also suspend operations for the day, enabling their employees to take off.
Holidays vary by country and every year can be different. The Public holidays are generally days of celebration, like the anniversary of something happened in the past and that had a particular relevance for the country of region in which the public holiday has been established or can be a religious celebration like Christmas.
Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history. For example, Australians celebrate Australia Day. The United States currently has 10 federal holidays. Canada has 5 nationwide holidays, 5 statutory holidays for federal employees, and various other holidays observed by individual provinces.
[edit] Religious holiday
A religious holiday is a special day on the calendar observed by one or more religions. A religious holiday may be the obligation of the religion's followers to observe. But some religious holidays in some places can be widely observed even by non-followers in countries where the majority of its population practices that religion.
Many holidays are linked to faiths and religions. Christian holidays are defined as part of the liturgical year. The Catholic patronal feast day or 'name day' are celebrated in each place's patron saint's day, according to the Calendar of saints. In Islam, the largest holidays are Eid ul-Fitr (immediately after Ramadan) and Eid ul-Adha (at the end of the Hajj). Hindus, Jains and Sikhs observe several holidays, one of the largest being Diwali (Festival of Light). Japanese holidays contain references to several different faiths and beliefs. Celtic, Norse, and Neopagan holidays follow the order of the Wheel of the Year. Some are closely linked to Swedish festivities. The Bahá'í Faith observes holidays as defined by the Bahá'í calendar. Jews have two holiday seasons: the Spring Feasts of Pesach (Passover), Chag Ha-Matzot (Festival of Unleavened Bread), and Shavuot (Weeks, called Pentacost in Greek); and the Fall Feasts of Yom Teruah (Day of Blessing, also called Rosh HaShannah), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (Tabernacles).
There are various ways in which religious holidays can be observed. These include the recitation of special prayers, having special meals, placing decorations in one's homes, fasting, or refraining from certain activities, such as work.
In most places, unless also observed as a government holiday or when one is employed by an employer of the same faith, religious holidays are not provided as days off from work, and employees must generally use some of their annual leave if they wish to have off from work for a religious holiday, or else make other arrangements with their employer.
[edit] Opposition
Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate holidays, including Christmas, Halloween, and Easter, because they believe holidays are pagan.[1] They also reject national holidays as well, because they believe that, by celebrating these holidays, they are giving honor to man's governments and not God's Kingdom.[1]
[edit] Secular holiday
A secular holiday is a holiday that is not observed by any religion, but is not recognized by any government either.
Several secular holidays are observed, such as Earth Day or Labour Day, both internationally, and across multi-country regions, often in conjunction with organizations such as the United Nations. Many other days are marked to celebrate events or people, but are not strictly holidays as time off work is rarely given.
[edit] Unofficial holiday
An unofficial holiday is a holiday that is not traditionally marked on calendars. These holidays are celebrated by various groups and individuals. Some promote a cause, others recognize historical events not officially recognized, and others are "funny" holidays celebrated with humorous intent.
[edit] List of unofficial holidays
- March 14: Pi Day
- May 25: Towel Day
- July 22: Pi Approximation Day
- October 23: Mole Day (from 6:02 AM to 6:02 PM)
- December 14: Monkey Day
- December 26-January 1: Kwaanza
