Category: Today’s Holiday

This festival to honor the moon goddess is a national holiday in China and a day celebrated in Asian communities all over the world. Family reunions are traditional on this day. People travel long distances to be together for exchanging presents, feasting, and eating moon cakes, which in their roundness are symbolic of family unity. Some are made of lotus seed paste, some of red bean paste, and some have a duck egg in the center. There are varying versions of the origins of the festival; the most accepted is that the day is a harvest festival at a time when the moon is brightest. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

In Nicaragua, September 14 is a national holiday dedicated to the anniversary of the independence of Central America and the battle at San Jacinto. Starting at 7:30 in the morning, the president awards the Presidential Medallion to the best students and teachers from around the country at the Plaza de la Fé Juan Pablo Segundo. Marching bands from 100 schools in the capital and bands from the National Army and the Police participate in a parade that day. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

This most important feast of the Muslim calendar is the concluding rite of those performing the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. For those not on pilgrimage, Eid al-Adha is a three-day festival celebrating Ibrahim’s (Abraham‘s) willingness to obey Allah by killing his son, believed by Muslims to be Ishmael, and not Isaac as written in the Old Testament. Muslims consider Ishmael to be the forefather of the Arabs. Many Muslim families reenact this show of faith by sacrificing a cow, a ram, or a lamb on this day, using a portion of it for the family feast and donating one- or two-thirds to the poor. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

At the Botamochi Temple in Kamakura, Japan, this festival honors St. Nichiren (1222-1282), considered to be Japan’s most fervent Buddhist priest. He was exiled to the island of Sado in the Sea of Japan in 1271. After four years there, he returned and spent the rest of his life on Mount Minobu. The Festival of Nichiren’s Pardon is observed by members of the Nichiren sect with massive demonstrations and the loud chanting of prayers attributed to Nichiren, accompanied by the beating of drums. People make offerings of botamochi, rice balls covered with sweet bean paste, in his honor. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Bilbies are nocturnal marsupials in Australia. The animal is not well known compared to the other iconic animals of Australia, a fact that conservationists hope to rectify by raising awareness on National Bilby Day. The event takes place in Charleville, west of Brisbane, where the bilbies are part of a captive breeding program. On Bilby Day, booths sell bilby stuffed animals and offer face-painting and bilby ears to dress children up like the beloved critters. Wildlife experts are on hand to give talks on the current status of bilbies and other endangered species. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Every two years, the main piazza in Marostica, Italy, is transformed into a giant chessboard. More than 500 townspeople wearing elaborate medieval costumes portray chessmen and act out a living game. Thousands of spectators watch from bleachers, cheering loudly when a castle is lost and moaning when there is an impending checkmate. The local players begin rehearsing in March; some start out as pawns and over the years work their way up to become knights, kings, and queens. The moves in the game are spoken in an ancient dialect, including the final scácco matto! (checkmate). Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The founding of North Korea on September 9, 1948, is observed throughout the country as a national holiday. Much of the observance of North Korea’s founding day centers on adulating Kim Il-Sung, the founding leader. The main public celebrations take place in the capital city, Pyongyang, and can include such events as government banquets in the late Kim’s honor, political meetings, concerts, and displays of song and dance. Officials and citizens also lay flowers before the monuments to Kim in the capital. Similar displays also take place in towns and cities throughout North Korea. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Greek word theotokos means “god-bearer,” or “mother of God.” The feast known as the Nativity of the Theotokos is observed in Orthodox Christian churches on September 8. Western Christian churches celebrate the feast on the same day, but call it the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast of Mary’s nativity is believed to have originated in the East, probably in Syria or Palestine, some centuries ago. By the 11th century, the observation of this feast had spread throughout the Christian world. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

A declaration of independence was made by Pedro di Alcântara (1798-1834) on this day in 1822. Brazil had been a colony of Portugal since the 16th century. Alcântara, better known as Pedro I, became the first emperor of Brazil in 1823 and ruled until 1831. Independence Day is a public holiday in Brazil, and there are celebrations in Brasília, the capital, with parades of military personnel and floats decorated with flowers. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Independence Day is a national holiday in Swaziland. On this day in 1968, Swaziland became self-governing after having been ruled by Britain since 1903. This national holiday was also known as Somhlolo Day or Sobhuza Day, named after Sobhuza II (1899-1982), king of Swaziland from 1921 until his death. In 1973, he disregarded the constitution passed upon independence and assumed supreme power. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary