What holidays exist in your country?

[Djamila]

This is the official, approved list of mandated, federal holidays in Bosnia for 2007:

January 1 - Roman Catholic New Year's Day
January 6 - Orthodox Christian Christmas Eve
January 7 - Orthodox Christian Christmas Day
January 9 - Republic Day
January 14 - Orthodox Christian New Year's Day
January 20 - Islamic New Year's Day
January 27 - St. Sava's Day

March 1 - Independence Day

April 6 - Roman Catholic Good Friday, Orthodox Christian Good Friday
April 8 - Roman Catholic Easter, Orthodox Christian Easter
April 9 - Roman Catholic Easter Monday, Orthodox Christian Easter Monday

May 1 - Labor Day
May 9 - Victory Day

August 15 - Assumption Day

October 13 - Bajram (Eid al'Fitr)

November 1 - Roman Catholic All Saint's Day
November 25 - Statehood Day

December 20 - Kurban Bajram (Feast of Sacrifice)
December 25 - Roman Catholic Christmas Day

 

[Majikthise]

What holidays exsist in my country?

All of them.

 

[Djamila]

What holidays exsist in my country?

All of them.

Yes, but for which are businesses, schools, government facilities, banks and so on closed?

 

[RevOxley_501]

what do you assume on assumption day?

or is it just a day where you make an *** out of u and me

 

[Mike182]

i'm Pagan, every day is a holiday

 

[Djamila]

Oh, I forgot to mention...

There are holidays for which members of certain religious groups, and only members of certain religious groups, are allowed to take - not going to school, or work, or wherever else. They are legally protected and no school or employer can object to these holidays.

Muslim:
Engagement Festival Day (The ceremonies surrounding a couple's engagement are held on the first Friday after they are engaged).
Day of Mosques

Roman Catholic:
St. Valentine's Day
Any other Roman Catholic Saint's Day of preference

Orthodox Christian:
Orthodox Christian families have patron Saints, they take this Saint's feast day as a holiday.
Any other Orthodox Christian Saint's Day of preference.

Jewish:
Any two Jewish holidays of preference.

Other (ie Roma/Gypsies):
Any two religious or cultural holidays of preference.

 

[Djamila]

what do you assume on assumption day?

or is it just a day where you make an *** out of u and me

It celebrates the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. In Bosnia it's a Roman Catholic holiday, the Virgin Mary is an especially important symbol of Roman Catholics here, in much the same way St. Sava (who's feast day is also a mandated, federal holiday) is the "symbol" for Orthodox Christians.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Wow that is a heck of a lot.

in England we get ...8 Days..

new years day
good friday
easter day
spring bank holiday
may day
two in august
christmas day
boxing day.
may day

 

[Djamila]

Wow that is a heck of a lot.

I've realized it is. I understand now one of the jokes in the list, "You know you're a Bosnian living in North America when...".

One of them said, "You've been immediately fired from every job you were hired for in January." Hehehe.

 

[RevOxley_501]

haha


i can see that happening

 

[Djamila]

Other (ie Roma/Gypsies):
Any two religious or cultural holidays of preference.

I'll share a bit of history about this one. It's a new post-war regulation, and the "or cultural" in the law was only added a few years ago.

There have been a flurry of court cases since, with different results.

The courts have ruled, for example, that International Women's Day can be considered a cultural holiday. They've ruled that Gay Pride Day cannot.

Some others that have actually gone through the court system:

Can be considered a cultural holiday:
Israel's Statehood Day
Rumi Day
Karl Marx's Birthday

Cannot be considered a cultural holiday:
Eminnem's Birthday
Jessica Alba's Birthday
Nowruz
The day of the election of a New Pope

(That one was the funniest yet, even funnier than the celebrity birthdays. A Roman Catholic man wasn't paid one day's wages because he stayed home to watch the Jean Paul/Benedict transition and went to court when he found out - hahaha. He was so good-natured about it, it really was a fun new story).

 

[Willamena]

Terry, you counted May Day twice - is there two of them? (*psst* I think one is Labour day)

New Year's Day - Jan 1
Good Friday - April 6
Easter - April 9
Victoria Day - May 21
Canada Day - July 1
Labour Day - Sep 3
Thanksgiving - Oct 8
Rememberance Day - Nov 12
Christmas Eve - Dec 24
Christmas Day - Dec 25

Also, in the province we get:

Family Day - Feb 19
Heritage Day - August 6

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Terry, you counted May Day twice - is there two of them? (*psst* I think one is Labour day)

they adjusted them a while back and introduced spring bank holiday. so we get two in may now.

 

[Djamila]

Hmmm... everyone who shared their country's holidays, place them in order of level of celebration - how big is the party? How numerous are the events?

Place the biggest celebration at the top of the list, and work your way down!

October 13 - Bajram (Eid al'Fitr)
May 1 - Labor Day
January 1 - Roman Catholic New Year's Day
January 27 - St. Sava's Day
December 20 - Kurban Bajram (Feast of Sacrifice)
November 25 - Statehood Day
May 9 - Victory Day
January 9 - Republic Day
January 7 - Orthodox Christian Christmas Day
January 6 - Orthodox Christian Christmas Eve
March 1 - Independence Day
November 1 - Roman Catholic All Saint's Day
December 25 - Roman Catholic Christmas Day
April 6 - Roman Catholic Good Friday, Orthodox Christian Good Friday
April 8 - Roman Catholic Easter, Orthodox Christian Easter
April 9 - Roman Catholic Easter Monday, Orthodox Christian Easter Monday
August 15 - Assumption Day
January 14 - Orthodox Christian New Year's Day
January 20 - Islamic New Year's Day

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

In the uk, only Christmas and new years day involve party type celebrations.
with Christmas day usually family only.

 

[Djamila]

In the uk, only Christmas and new years day involve party type celebrations.
with Christmas day usually family only.

God, have mercy.

Every one of the holidays above has some sort of party - even if it's just the people who have the day off but don't belong to that faith living it up.

 

[Mike182]

In the uk, only Christmas and new years day involve party type celebrations.
with Christmas day usually family only.

we do have bank holidays though!

i know they aren't celebrated beyond having a duvet day, but they still exist!

 

[CaptainXeroid]

Speaking for myself because some of the days vary in parts of America, there are 6 that just about everybody gets:

1. New Year's Day - always Jan 1
2. Memorial Day - Last Monday in May
3. Independence Day - always July 4
4. Labor Day - First Monday in September-
5. Thanksgiving Day - 4th Thursday in November
6. Christmas Day - always Dec 25

Some that are Federal Holidays but not all businesses take them off:

• Martin Luther King Jr Day - 3rd Monday in January
• President's Day - third Monday in February
• Inaguration Day - Jan 20 every 4th year after a multiple of 4.
• Columbus Day - Second Monday in October
• Veteran's Day - always Nov 11

There are other days that are unofficially holidays but it seems like a LOT of offices workers get it off or at least don't work a full day.

• Mardi Gras & Ash Wednesday - 47 & 46 days before Easter respectively.
• Good Friday - Friday before Easter
• Friday after Thanksgiving - duh
• Christmas Eve - always Dec 24
• And any day right before a holiday, especially a Friday.

For some people, the first day of hunting or fishing season is a MAJOR holiday, but I wouldnt' know anything about that. :jiggy:

 

[Booko]

New Year's Day - always Jan 1

- used to sober up from the night before, watch too much (American) football, TV "marathons" of shows, and go to sales at stores

Memorial Day - Last Monday in May

- Celebrated by barbeques and outdoor activities, camping trips for those so inclined

Independence Day - always July 4

- more picnics and barbeques, often at the beach (where available), fireworks...lots of fireworks.

Labor Day - First Monday in September-

- more honoured in the breach than the observance these days. It used to be the last blast of summer before school started, but lots of schools start in August now. It's another day of picnics and barbeques and time on the beach.

Thanksgiving Day - 4th Thursday in November

- feasting and even more (American) football

Christmas Day - always Dec 25
- celebrated by Christians and the irreligious who were mostly raised Christian or who have Christian relatives. Everything's closed except movie theaters, pretty much. Feasting and gifts.


Some that are Federal Holidays but not all businesses take them off:

Martin Luther King Jr Day - 3rd Monday in January

- more a gov't and bank holiday. Some places have special events, but it's nothing like it used to be.

President's Day - third Monday in February

- Celebrated by sales at furniture stores.

Columbus Day - Second Monday in October

- does anyone do anything for this except in NYC?

Veteran's Day - always Nov 11

- there are some special military-related events, but the average person doesn't do anything much


There are some other "holidays" that people don't get off, but we have celebrations of various sorts all the same:

Valentine's Day - Feb. 14th. Couples (married or not) exchange gifts and go out to dine. Never buy roses this week -- too expensive.

St. Patrick's Day - March 17th. Everyone's Irish for a day. :clover: There are parades, lots of drinking of green beer, and general partying.

Easter - sometime in late March or April. Celebrated by Christians and people who like chocolate and other sweets. As a kid, our folks used to hide chocolate Easter eggs around the house and we'd hunt for them. Many Christians celebrate this day with sunrise services. It used to be nearly everything but churches were closed this day, but not practically everything is open. Since it's always on a Sunday, people are already off work, unless you work retail or something of that sort.

Halloween, Oct. 31st. Kids put on fancy dress and go around to houses asking for candy. Adults have parties sometimes also, in fancy dress. Some people make haunted houses (usually in the garage). This holiday is being observed more and more, as businesses figure out they can sell us Halloween decorations, lights, costumes, and spooky yard items like fog machines. We have a number of animated Halloween items for our yard -- creepy tree, black cat, spider on a web, etc. I get them when they are marked down 75-90%.

We also have Mother's Day (in May) and Father's Day (in June). I try to ignore those two, since I see them as inventions of greeting card companies who just want us to buy more crap. blech. We celebrate Mother's Day by me refusing to cook, and we celebrate Father's Day by us fixing my husband's favorite meal. Woot.