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 Mallorca next week"), the North American equivalent being "vacation".

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.

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:

• In Japan, golden-week, lasting roughly a full week.
• In Poland during holidays on the 1st and 3rd of May, when taking a few days of leave can result in 9-day-long holidays; this is called The Picnic (or MajГіwka).
• 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.

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.

Religious holidays

Buddhist holidays

• Vesak
• Matsuri (in Japan, could also be considered a Shinto holiday)
• Blessed Rainy Day in Bhutan

Celtic, Norse, and Neopagan holidays

In 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

Christian holidays

See also liturgical year.

• 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 Night

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

Hindu holidays

• Baisakhi
• Daserra
• Diwali
  • Diwali Amvasaya (Laxmi Puja)
  • Diwali (day 2)
  • Bhaubeej
• Ekadasi
• Ganesh Chaturthi
• Gokul Ashtami
• Gudhi Padwa
• Holi
• Mahashivratri
• Makar Sankranti
• Onam
• Pongal
• Rama-Lilas
• Ram Navami
• Vaikunta Ekadasi
• Ugadi

Islamic holidays

• Aashurah (especially in Shi'a Islam)
• Eid: date determined by the lunar calendar and observation of the moon
  • Eid ul-Fitr, Lesser Bairam
    • Eid ul-Adha, Greater Bairam
• Festival of Muharram
• Ramadan

Jewish holidays

Main article: Jewish holidays

• Hanukkah (also: Chanukah; the Feast of Lights)
• Lag Ba'omer
• Passover
• Purim (Based on the events in the Biblical book of Esther)
• Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
• Shavuot (Pentecost)
• Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles)
• Tisha B'Av
• Tu Bishvat (New year of the trees)
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

The winter holiday season

In many Western countries, the winter holiday season is a period of time surrounding Christmas. Except in North America, the phrases "holiday season" and "holiday period" usually mean the summer months when most people take their annual holiday ("vacation" in North American English), and phrases such as the "festive period" are used to describe the period around Christmas and New Year. Usually, this festive period 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. 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 - (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, and marks the beginning of the American "holiday season".

• 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.

• 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.

National holidays

See the list of holidays by country.

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.

• Perihelion ( 3-6 January, depending on year and location)
• Breakup Day (13 February)
• Valentine's Day (14 February)
• Leap Day (29 February, every four years)
• Astronomy Day (date varies depending on cycle of Moon)
• April Fool's Day (1 April)
• Earth Day (22 April)
• Labour Day, Worker's Day or May Day (1 May, most countries - United States and Canada are prominent exceptions)
• Mother's Day (second Sunday in May in North America, fourth Sunday in Lent in UK)
• World Ocean Day (8 June)
• Father's Day (third Sunday in June; 19 March, others; 8 August, Republic of China)
• Halloween (31 October)
• United Nations holidays
  • International Women's Day

Other secular holidays

Other secular holidays not observed internationally:

• Boxing Day (26 December in Commonwealth countries)
• Flag Day (14 June in the United States)
• Grandparent's Day (Sunday after September Labor Day - proclaimed in the United States by Jimmy Carter in 1978)
• Groundhog Day (2 February in United States and Canada)
• Independence day (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
• Loyalty Day (1 May in the United States)
• Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January in the United States)
• Mother-in-Law's Day (fourth Sunday in October, where?)
• Pioneer Day (24 July in Utah, United States)
• Queen's Day (30 March in the Netherlands)
• Sweetest Day (third Saturday in October, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan in the United States)
• Holidays originating in ancient Latvia

Unofficial holidays

These 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 are generally intended as humorous distractions and excuses to share laughs among friends.

• Winter-een-mas (seven days of celebration; 25-31 January)
• Pi Day (14 March)
• International Cannabis Day (20 April)
• Towel Day (25 May) (a tribute to the late Douglas Adams)
• 24-hour Comics Day (24 April)
• No Pants Day (first Friday of May)
• Bloomsday (16 June based on James Joyce's novel Ulysses)
• X-Day (5 July in the Church of the SubGenius)
• Evoloterra (20 July celebrates the the first manned Moon Landing)
• Pi Approximation Day (22 July)
• National Talk In Elevators Day (last Friday of July)
• National Underwear Day (11 August)
• International Talk Like a Pirate Day (19 September)
• Ask a Stupid Question Day (28 September)
• October Fool's Day (1 October) (Southern Hemisphere version of April Fool's Day)
• Brick Day (15 October)
• Mole Day (23 October)
• Festivus (23 December)
• Christmahanukwanzakah (the holiday season in general, a holiday made out of a marketing campaign invented by Virgin Mobile during the 2004 holiday season.)
• Blame Someone Else Day (first Friday the 13th of the year)
• Flying Spaghetti Monsterism Holy Day (every Friday)
• Sinkie Day (The Day After Thanksgiving)
• Tax Freedom Day (calculated by dividing the tally of all taxes collected in each year by a tally of all income, and applying it to the calendar)
• Purple Day (every Wednesday)

Referencing 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!"

See also

• 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

External links

• Google category: Holidays -- Calendars and Lists
• Sharp calendar of religious festivals
• Holiday Stress Brings Anxiety and Abuse (ABC News)cs:SvГЎtek