List of multinational

festivals and
holidays

This is an incomplete list of multinational festivals and holidays.

January

Christianity
Feast of the Circumcision: 1 January

Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve): 5 January

Epiphany: 6 January – the arrival of the Three Magi

Armenian Apostolic Christmas: 6 January

Orthodox Christmas: 7 January – in churches using dates corresponding to the old Julian
calendar, 7 January is equivalent to 25 December in the Gregorian calendar.
Secular
Saint Basil's Day: 1 January – In Greece, traditionally he is the Father Christmas figure.

New Year's Day: 1 January – First day of the Gregorian Year.[1]

 Old New Year: 14 January: New Year's Day according to the "old" Julian calendar. Includes a
winter ritual of strolling and singing that was later incorporated into the Christmas carol.
Sikhism
Lohri/Bhogi: 13 January
Telugu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra
Makar Sankranti: 14 January
Tamilnadu
Pongal: 14 January
Punjab
Lohri: 14 January

February

Tibetan Buddhism
Losar: Sometime in February (Moveable)
Christianity
Candlemas: 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord; 40 days after Christmas; end
of Christmas/Epiphany Season.
Paganism
Imbolc: 1 February – first day of spring in the Celtic calendar.
Satanism
Lupercalia: 15 February – A TST Satanic celebration of bodily autonomy, sexual liberation, and
reproduction; based on the Roman end-of-winter festival of the same name.
Secular
Groundhog Day: 2 February

Darwin Day: 12 February

Saint Valentine's Day: 14 February

March

April

May
June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Buddhism
Bodhi Day: 8 December – Day of Enlightenment, celebrating the day that the historical Buddha
(Shakyamuni or Siddhartha Gautama) experienced enlightenment (also known as Bodhi).
Christianity
Advent: four Sundays preceding Christmas Day

Saint Barbara's Day: 4 December – The Feast of St. Barbara is celebrated by Artillery
regiments across the Commonwealth and some western Catholic countries.

Krampusnacht: 5 December – The Feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated in parts of Europe on 6

December. In Alpine countries, Saint Nicholas has a devilish companion named Krampus who
punishes the bad children the night before.

Saint Nicholas Day: 6 December

Feast of the Immaculate Conception: 8 December – The day of Virgin Mary's Immaculate
Conception is celebrated as a public holiday in many Catholic countries.

Saint Lucy's Day: 13 December – Church Feast Day. Saint Lucy comes as a young woman with
lights and sweets.
Las Posadas: 16–24 December – procession to various family lodgings for celebration and
prayer and to re-enact Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem[4]

Longest Night: A modern Christian service to help those coping with loss, usually held on the
eve of the Winter solstice.

Nikoljdan: 19 December - the most common slava, St. Nicholas's feast day.

Christmas Eve: 24 December – In many countries e.g. the German speaking countries, but
also in Poland, Hungary and the Nordic countries, gift giving is on 24 December. The magic of
Christmas Eve is in the air. This the December global holiday (https://friendswebdesigner.co
m/15-most-popular-december-global-holidays) Frosty snow gently falls from the sky, and
you can see your breath when you exhale. It's Christmas Eve—one of the most beautiful
evenings of the year.

Christmas Day: 25 December and 7 January – celebrated by Christians and non-Christians

alike.[5][6][7]

Anastasia of Sirmium feast day: 25 December

Twelve Days of Christmas: 25 December–6 January

Saint Stephen's Day: 26 December – In Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ireland a
holiday celebrated as Second Day of Christmas.

Saint John the Evangelist's Day: 27 December

Holy Innocents' Day: 28 December

Saint Sylvester's Day: 31 December

Hinduism
Pancha Ganapati: a modern five-day Hindu festival celebrated from 21 through 25 December
in honor of Ganesha.

Vaikuntha Ekadashi: Mid December - Mid January: see "moveable".

Historical
Malkh: 25 December

Mōdraniht: or Mothers' Night, the Saxon winter solstice festival.

Saturnalia: 17–23 December – An ancient Roman winter solstice festival in honor of the deity
Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and expanded with festivities through to
23 December. Celebrated with sacrifice, a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving,
continual partying, and a carnival.
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Day of the birth of the Unconquered Sun): 25 December – late
Roman Empire
Humanism
HumanLight: 23 December – Humanist holiday originated by the New Jersey Humanist
Network in celebration of "a Humanist's vision of a good future."[8]
Judaism
Hanukkah: usually falls anywhere between late November and early January. See "movable"
Paganism
Yule: Pagan winter festival that was celebrated by the historical Germanic people from late
December to early January.

Koliada: Slavic winter festival celebrated on late December with parades and singers who visit
houses and receive gifts.
Persian
Yalda: 21 December – The turning point, Winter Solstice. As the longest night of the year and
the beginning of the lengthening of days, Shabe Yaldā or Shabe Chelle is an Iranian festival
celebrating the victory of light and goodness over darkness and evil. Shabe yalda means
'birthday eve.' According to Persian mythology, Mithra was born at dawn on 22 December to a
virgin mother. He symbolizes light, truth, goodness, strength, and friendship. Herodotus
reports that this was the most important holiday of the year for contemporary Persians. In
modern times Persians celebrate Yalda by staying up late or all night, a practice known as
Shab Chera meaning 'night gazing'. Fruits and nuts are eaten, especially pomegranates and
watermelons, whose red color invokes the crimson hues of dawn and symbolize Mithra.
Satanism
Sol Invictus: 25 December – A TST Satanic celebration of being unconquered by superstition
and consistent in the pursuit and sharing of knowledge.
Secular
World AIDS Day: 1 December

International Day of Disabled Persons: 3 December

Human Rights Day: 10 December

Salgirah: 13 December - celebration of Shia Ismaili Muslims of their Imam (Aga Khan IV)

Zamenhof Day: 15 December – Birthday of Ludwig Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto; holiday

reunion for Esperantists

Soyal: 21 December – Zuni and Hopi

Winter Solstice: on or about 21 December

Dongzhi Festival – a celebration of Winter

Festivus: 23 December – a secular holiday created by Daniel O'Keefe and then made popular
by his son Dan O'Keefe, a writer on the comedy television series Seinfeld, as an alternative to
Christmas

Newtonmas: 25 December – As an alternative to celebrating the religious holiday Christmas,

some atheists and skeptics have chosen to celebrate 25 December as Newtonmas, due to it
being Isaac Newton's birthday on the old style date.

Boxing Day: 26 December

Kwanzaa: 26 December–1 January – Pan-African festival celebrated in the US

New Year's Eve: 31 December – last day of the Gregorian year

Ōmisoka:31 December – Japanese traditional celebration on the last day of the year

Hogmanay: night of 31 December–before dawn of 1 January – Scottish New Year's Eve

celebration

Watch Night: 31 December

Unitarian Universalism
Chalica: first week of December – A holiday created in 2005, celebrated by some Unitarian
Universalists.[9]
Fictional or parody
Erastide: In David Eddings' Belgariad and Malloreon series, Erastide is a celebration of the day
on which the Seven Gods created the world. Greetings ("Joyous Erastide") and gifts are
exchanged, and feasts are held.

Feast of Winter Veil: 15 December–2 January – A holiday in World of Warcraft. This holiday is
based on Christmas. Cities are decorated with lights and a tree with presents. Special quests,
items and snowballs are available to players during this time. The character of "Greatfather
Winter", who is modeled after Santa Claus, appears.[10][11] Germanic tribes used to celebrate
the Winter Solstice as a time to be thankful for the blessings given to them to survive harsh
winters. The term "Weil", incorrectly translated to "veil", means abundance in German.

Feast of Alvis: in the TV series Sealab 2021.[12] "Believer, you have forgotten the true meaning
of Alvis Day. Neither is it ham, nor pomp. Nay, the true meaning of Alvis day is drinking.
Drinking and revenge."–Alvis[13]
 Hogswatch: a holiday celebrated on the fictional world of Disc-world. It is very similar to the
Christian celebration of Christmas.

Frostvale: the winter holidays in the Artix Entertainment universe

Decemberween: 25 December – a parody of Christmas that features gift-giving, carol-singing

and decorated trees. The fact that it takes place on 25 December, the same day as Christmas,
has been presented as just a coincidence, and it has been stated that Decemberween
traditionally takes place "55 days after Halloween". The holiday has been featured in the
Homestar Runner series.

Wintersday, the end-of-the-year celebration in the fictional universe of the Guild Wars
franchise, starts every year mid December and ends the next year on early January.

IES Competition Time, Don's Event questions on the number of trips he took all over the world
and in return offering prizes for the person who can guess closest. Follows this up with
everyone's favourite Andrew Award presentation.

Winter's Crest: the winter celebration held on the continent of Tal'Dorei in the world of
Exandria, as featured in the RPG show Critical Role.

Candlenights: pan-religious, pan-sexual, personal pan pizza winter holiday created by Justin,
Travis, and Griffin McElroy. Featured on the podcasts My Brother, My Brother, and Me, and
Adventure Zone.

Snowdown: A celebration observed in Runetera, The world in which League of Legends is set.
During snowdown, starting in December and ending in January "Frost-chilled days give way to
colder nights, but the warmth of Snowdown calls together kindred spirits and foes alike."[14]
During this time, winter game modes, winter cosmetic map changes, and new Snowdown
skins are released, as well as the previous years' Snowdown skins being made available again.

Life Day: Wookie celebration of life, featured in the Star Wars Holiday Special, in which
Wookies gather with family, wear long red robes, sing under sacred The Tree of Life and
reminisce.

The Dawning: A celebration of the Light of the Traveler, and a time to spread cheer and give
gifts to help keep The Darkness at bay during the long days of the winter months. Celebrated
in the Destiny franchise of video games.

Movable date

See also
See also

References

External links

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=List_of_multinational_festivals_and_holidays&
oldid=1119233944"

Last edited 5 days ago by Meaghanhowe