Celebrate!

[JustGeorge]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

 

[SomeRandom]

Diwali. Festival of Lights. Ton of sweets and festivities
Christmas. A day to spend with family and share gifts, food and alcohol
But COVID restricted such events
Alas

 

[JustGeorge]

Diwali. Festival of Lights. Ton of sweets and festivities
Christmas. A day to spend with family and share gifts, food and alcohol
But COVID restricted such events
Alas

I hope next year things are back running again for you...

 

[Aupmanyav]

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

Shivaratri, Navratra, Janmashtami, Holi, Diwali, Rakshabandhan, Navreh (New Year's day, March/April) are the major festivals with us. Family, community and social. The secular functions are the Republic day (Jan. 26) and Independence day (Aug. 16).

 

[SalixIncendium]

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

The only festival I feel attached to from a religious standpoint is Maha Shivaratri.

Any other observance is done for family and is usually secular in nature.

 

[sun rise]

Meher Baba's birthday and amartithi (the day he "completed his work"/dropped his (physical) body/died). We also celebrated guru purnima day (the day to honor one's spiritual teachers) on a couple of occasions.

In the past we celebrated Christmas in a secular way because of my wife's upbringing. We celebrate our dog's birthday and the day she "came home" (we adopted her) with gifts for her.

 

[SomeRandom]

I hope next year things are back running again for you...

Hopefully

 

[Twilight Hue]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

Anything with food.

Like the strawberry festival.

 

[JustGeorge]

Anything with food.

Like the strawberry festival.

I haven't heard of this one. Mind sharing more?

 

[stvdv]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

#MeToo

In the Ashram of Sai Baba they "really" welcomed all Religions. Not just in word (which is easy), but also in deed. The followers were given the opportunity to celebrate their festivals. And not "just celebrate".

They were encouraged to decorate the whole Hindu (Sai Baba) temple in their own tradition, and also being the lead singers during their festival singing their own traditional songs, and have the 20.000-50.000 visitors all follow in unison their devotional songs.

They were also allowed to prepare their traditional food for all the thousands of other guests.

And they were given the opportunity to perform a show in their tradition.

Those festivals were the best, and you can imagine we had quite a few. Hindus already have many festivals they celebrate, but as Sai Baba added 1 week of Christian Christmas celebrations (even Santa Claus showed up in the Ashram) + Buddha Poornima Celebration + Chinese New Year (complete with Dragons) + Tamil New Year etc. etc. We got our full share of Celebrations (each year again)

This was the perfect way to "really" welcome people of other Religions, and really show respect to the other Faiths

We went from one celebration to the next. I just loved these. I never Celebrate my own birthday, but in those 10 years I had enough Celebrations for a lifetime
@stvdvRF

 

[stvdv]

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you

Nowadays I don't have any celebrations. But I prefer to use these festival days to fast or do some other Sadhana. So it's solitary now.

Being in the Asram made it much easier to do fasting or any other Sadhana. The Group effect gave me so much more drive to go deep

 

[JustGeorge]

#MeToo

In the Ashram of Sai Baba they "really" welcomed all Religions. Not just in word (which is easy), but also in deed. The followers were given the opportunity to celebrate their festivals. And not "just celebrate".

They were encouraged to decorate the whole Hindu (Sai Baba) temple in their own tradition, and also being the lead singers during their festival singing their own traditional songs, and have the 20.000-50.000 visitors all follow in unison their devotional songs.

They were also allowed to prepare their traditional food for all the thousands of other guests.

And they were given the opportunity to perform a show in their tradition.

Those festivals were the best, and you can imagine we had quite a few. Hindus already have many festivals they celebrate, but as Sai Baba added 1 week of Christian Christmas celebrations (even Santa Claus showed up in the Ashram) + Buddha Poornima Celebration + Chinese New Year (complete with Dragons) + Tamil New Year etc. etc. We got our full share of Celebrations (each year again)

This was the perfect way to "really" welcome people of other Religions, and really show respect to the other Faiths

We went from one celebration to the next. I just loved these. I never Celebrate my own birthday, but in those 10 years I had enough Celebrations for a lifetime

That sounds like an amazing experience.

 

[stvdv]

That sounds like an amazing experience.

Yes. And it really felt good. No fighting between Religions, but celebrating together even the celebration of the other

That's Real Magic, and the only way to world peace

 

[RestlessSoul]

I prefer Easter to Christmas, for all sorts of reasons. Christmas is something to be endured, got through, survived. So, symbolically, is Good Friday, but two days later the theme is resurrection. Both festivals represent triumph over death, and darkness, but it’s easier to feel that optimism when there’s daffodils.

I’ve often wondered what Christmas feels like in Australia, or even somewhere on the equator; must be a very different holiday away from the bleak midwinter.

Living in London, I am aware of other religion’s festivals, but I don’t personally participate unless invited to; Indian friends and colleagues sometimes give out sweets during Diwali, and a Moslem friend once invited me round to his house to eat with his family after Ramadan ended. To my eternal shame, I turned up drunk; I hope he’s forgiven me now, though he never said anything at the time.

 

[oldbadger]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

Ah! Apart from Christmas our festivals are about anniversaries (wife and self) ......first date, wedding and birthdays being the leaders.

Because our Wedding anniversary is on December 18th we have a holiday from that date through to Boxing Day.... a happy time.

 

[exchemist]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

Just the regular Christian festivals. But with both English and French traditions (e.g. boudins blancs with apple on Christmas Eve and a galette des rois at Epiphany.). The run up to Easter is also quite a big deal: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. Some rather special music for those. Some years I have been called on to sing the part of the narrator in the Passion, on Good Friday: 16 pages of unaccompanied solo plainchant, with contributions from the priest as Jesus, and various members and groups from the choir as Pontius Pilate, the High Priest, St Peter, the Maidservant and the Crowd. As I'm not a soloist, it's the most challenging and exhausting musical thing I've ever done.

 

[Martin]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

I celebrate the summer and winter solstices, though I haven't come across any nudey dancing in the woods yet.

 

[ChristineM]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

Two, Saturnalia and the fete of St Louis.

Over the years we have given the kids various mid winter celebrations from around the world. Not for any religious reason but more in the spirit of education. Eventually the kids demanded, no more, they want to hold Saturnalia, nothing else will do. It didn't take long before discovering the reason... It lasts a whole week during which they get presents every day. And one of them is chosen as king/queen for the last day, along with all the privileges the title gives

The fete of St Louis is the village summer let your hair down event, 4 days of events, parades, fair grounds, circuses, food stalls and alcohol tents lining the street, both classical and rock concerts all culminating in a gigantic fireworks display. There is no getting away from it so might as well join in the fun. During the fete the sleepy little village of just over 500 inhabitants will see as many as 10,000 merrymakers.

Oh, and we join in the children annual trial and execution of Petassou. Petassou was an evil wizard who brought (undefined) bad happenings and evil smells. School children will dress up in various traditional costumes and parade through the village after a captured and bound effigy of Petassou. The parade eventually leading to the land behind the village hall where.... Speeches, traditional folk songs and the trial is held and Petassou condemned to death by burning.
A bonfire is built, Petassou placed on top and set alight. Thus preventing evil bad happenings in the village for another year.

Great fun for all...

 

[Ashoka]

Thaipusam, Thai Pongal, Ganesha Chaturthi, Pancha Ganapati, Maha Shivaratri, Navratri, etc. There's a lot of them.

 

[Vinayaka]

I find festivals and holidays fascinating. So full of tradition and fun, though it seems how things are observed sometimes vary on place or region.

Which festivals do you observe? Are they social or solitary? What kinds of activities are done on your holidays? Are things for you religious, secular, or a mixture of both?

Thai Pongal, Thai Pusam, Sivaratri, Tamil New Year, Guru Purnima, the local annual bramotsavam (13 days), Ganesha Chaturthi, Skanda Shasthi (6 days), Ardra Abhishekham, Guru Jayanthi, Mahasamadhi ... All afre religious, although Thai Pondal, New year, and the local bramotsavam have more cultural aspects, or more to do with people.