Holiday

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Holidays)
Jump to: navigation, search

The word holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. Based on the Old English words holy and day (halig dæg), holidays originally represented special religious days. The word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day.

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) observation or activity. A holiday can also be a special day on which school and/or offices are closed, such as Labor Day.

In most of the rest of the English-speaking world (including Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom) 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"), the North American equivalent being "vacation".

Contents

[edit]

Public holidays

A public holiday or legal 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 character. "Public Holiday" is the term used in Australia and "Bank Holiday" in the UK, although some industries in the UK work through Bank Holidays. "Legal Holiday" is not a term used outside the United States.

[edit]

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:

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.

[edit]

Religious holidays

[edit]

Buddhist holidays

[edit]

Celtic, Norse, and Neopagan holidays

In the order of the Wheel of the Year:

[edit]

Christian holidays

See also liturgical year.

The Catholic fiestas patronales are celebrated in each place's patron saint's day, according to the Calendar of saints.

[edit]

Hindu holidays

[edit]

Islamic holidays

[edit]

Jewish holidays

Main article: Jewish holidays

[edit]

The winter holiday season

In many Western countries, the winter holiday season is a period of time surrounding Christmas.

[edit]

North America

In the United States and Canada, the winter holiday season begins near the end of November and ends with New Year's Day on January 1, reflecting traditional pagan celebrations of the period around the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere.

[edit]

Holidays traditionally in the holiday season

(Holidays in bold represent a federally recognized holiday in aforementioned country)

  • Thanksgiving - (fourth Thursday in November in USA, second Monday in October in Canada) — 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
[edit]

National holidays

See the list of holidays by country.

[edit]

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.

[edit]

Other secular holidays

Other secular holidays limited to only some (groups of) countries include:

[edit]

Humorous, entertaining holidays

Some humorous events have captured the attention of the public, to the point where they have been promoted as annual events. These "funny" holidays are generally intended as humorous distractions and excuses to share laughs among friends.

[edit]

See also

Wikibooks
Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject:
[edit]

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday"
Personal tools