Category Celebration All Around the World

The Month of February

February is the second month of the year and the shortest. Usually, this month has only 28 days. But every fourth year – called leap year – an extra day is added. This keeps the calendar in time with the seasons. If you were born on February 29, you have a real birthday only once every four years.

The Roman calendar was designed to reflect the length of the lunar months. A calendar year lasted 355 days, which is the approximate duration of 12 lunar months. A straightforward method of dividing this time span into 12 calendar months would have been to have some months with 29 days and some with 30 days. However, since even numbers were considered unlucky in ancient Rome, we ended up with a calendar that has seven months with 29 days and four months with 31 days instead. This left February, the last month of the year, with the remaining 28 days.

With its even number of days, the Romans considered February an unlucky month, and it was reserved for rituals honoring the dead.

The word February comes from the Latin word februare, which means “to purify” or “to make clean”.

February is usually cold and stormy in the northern half of the world and warm and sunny in the south.

Picture Credit : Google

Republic Day in India

Rose petals fall from the sky. Huge elephants wearing clanging bells and shining beads lumber down the street along with big, armoured tanks. What a parade! It’s Republic Day, a national holiday in India.

Republic Day, January 26, marks the date in 1950 when India had its own constitution, or set of basic laws. People in India celebrate this as a big step in their independence from Great Britain.

On Republic Day, celebrations occur all over India. The biggest celebration takes place in New Delhi, the capital city. There, a great parade travels down the Raj Path, or Government Road.

Many parades begin with rose petals being dropped from helicopters. Then bands begin to play and Indian soldiers called jawans march in perfect order. The parading elephants carry musicians wearing brightly coloured turbans. As the parade ends, thousands of green, white, and orange-yellow balloons – the colours of India’s flag – float into the air. For the next two days, folk dancers entertain crowds throughout New Delhi.

Picture Credit : Google

Australia Day

Clink-clank-clink. Barefoot prisoners in chains trudge along the road. All around them are guards with guns.

These people aren’t really prisoners and guards. They’re part of a celebration that is held every year in Sydney, Australia’s oldest and largest city. The marchers are showing people what life was like in Australia more than 200 years ago.

On January 26, 1788, a fleet of ships anchored in a harbour off the coast of Australia at what is now Sydney. These ships brought 730 prisoners from Britain. The prisoners, or convicts, were the first Europeans to settle in Australia. Since then, millions of Europeans have chosen Australia as their homeland. Wherever they’re from, they all take part in celebrating Australia Day every year on the Monday closest to January 26.

On this national holiday, Australians enjoy folk dances and happy music from the many nations of people who now live in Australia. Dancers and musicians perform in the oldest part of Sydney, called the Rocks. This hilly area is near the harbour where the first Europeans landed.

Picture Credit : Google

Ramadan

Do people of your religion eat and drink less during certain times of the year? This custom is called fasting. Muslims, people who follow the Islamic religion, fast for a month every year.

Both the long fast and the month are called Ramadan. This is the ninth month of the Islamic year. Because the Islamic calendar is based on the moon, the dates of Ramadan change. During the early 2000’s, Ramadan occurs in autumn in the northern part of the world, but each year it moves a little earlier in the year.

During Ramadan, Muslims fast every day from dawn to sunset. They fast to have their sins forgiven. Those who cannot fast for some reason must either make up the days they miss or feed the hungry. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and people who are ill do not have to fast.

In the daytime, Muslims work less and spend more time praying and reading their holy book, called the Quran.

Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan with a great festival called the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast. It is one of the two great Muslim festivals. The other is the Festival of Sacrifice.

Picture Credit : Google

The Month of January

In most of the world, January is the first month of the year. It is named after the ancient Roman god Janus.

Janus was the god of beginnings and the god of gates and doorways. He is shown with two faces. One face looks to the future. The other face looks back at the past.

In the northern part of the world, January is cold and snowy. It is near the beginning of winter. People go skating and sledging. But in the southern part of the world, January is warm. It is near the beginning of summer – a time for swimming and picnics.

New Year’s Day is just the first of many special days and observances in January. There are plenty of other days that can provide you with ideas for learning and fun to share with your child or students. For example, it’s International Creativity Month, so together you can explore and enjoy indoor activities that celebrate everything from letter writing and puzzles to dragons and kazoos. January is a prime time to learn about important people in history, such as Benjamin Franklin, Amelia Earhart, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Some observances focus on achieving a healthier lifestyle. You may find related activities planned by community centers, schools, or health care organizations related to these specific topics. On other days, you can celebrate with comfort foods, such as chocolate and bagels. Have fun celebrating the Chinese New Year, which is a long holiday filled with daily cultural traditions including feasts of symbolic foods and exchanging monetary gifts in auspicious red envelopes.

Picture Credit : Google

New Year’s Day

Shhhh! We’re counting the seconds to midnight. The New Year is almost here. As the clock begins to strike 12, noise fills the air in many parts of the world. Church bells ring out and people toot horns. Everyone shouts, “Happy New Year!”

Why is there so much noise? It’s one way people show how happy they are. It’s also an old custom. Long ago, people believed that loud noises scared away evil spirits.

Many people also celebrate New Year’s Day with special customs. Some visit friends and relatives. Some make New Year’s resolutions. They promise themselves to do better in the New Year than they did in the old year.

Children in Belgium write their parents New Year’s messages on decorated paper and read them on New Year’s Day. In Russia, children may visit the Kremlin in the heart of Moscow. There, they see a huge fir tree called the New Year Tree. The tree is decorated with many coloured lights.

In Scotland, the evening of December 31 is called Hogmanay. People wait up on Hogmanay until midnight for the “first footer” to arrive. The “first footer” is the first person to cross over the doorstep on the first day of the New Year. According to Scottish tradition, the first footer carries a piece of coal to bring wealth, and a sprig of mistletoe to protect the family from the old year’s spirits.

In Ecuador, people make a straw man dressed in their old clothes. They give the man a list of their family’s faults, and then burn him and the list at midnight to get rid of all their faults.

In many parts of the world, people eat special foods to bring good luck in the coming year. In Japan, people eat a kind of pink fish called red snapper. Pink is a lucky colour in Japan. In southern India, they boil new rice to bring good luck.

In Portugal, people choose 12 grapes from a bunch. They eat them one by one as the clock strikes midnight.

In countries in Europe, roast pig is often served on New Year’s Day. In Hungary, the pig has a four-leaf clover in its mouth for good luck.

In Romania, people stuff their pockets with corn. They walk from house to house “sowing” the corn by tossing it at friends to bring them good luck.

How do you welcome the New Year? Try some of these ideas or make up some of your own!

Picture Credit : Google