Other Religious, Traditional, and Informal Holidays Celebrated in The United States
In addition to the federal/national holidays, many religious, ethnic, and other traditional holidays populate the calendar, as well as observances proclaimed by officials and lighter celebrations. These are rarely observed by businesses as holidays (Except for Easter and most often also on Good Friday); indeed, many are viewed as opportunities for commercial promotion. Because of this commercialization, some critics apply the deprecatory term Hallmark holiday to such days, after the Hallmark greeting card company.
| Date | Name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| January 6 | Epiphany | Epiphany (from Greek epiphaneia, "manifestation"), falls on the 12th day after Christmas. It commemorates the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, as represented by the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the miracle of the wine at the marriage feast at Cana. One of the three major Christian festivals, along with Christmas and Easter. Epiphany originally marked the beginning of the carnival season preceding Lent, and the evening preceding it is known as Twelfth Night. |
| January 7 | Orthodox Christmas | January 7 is the Gregorian Calendar equivalent of December 25 on the Julian Calendar still observed by the Russian and other Eastern Orthodox Churches. |
| January or February | Lunar New Year | First day of the year in the lunar calendar, traditionally used by many East Asian communities. |
| February 2 | Groundhog Day | The day on which folklore states that the behavior of a groundhog emerging from its burrow is said to predict the onset of Spring. |
| February 14 | Valentine's Day | St. Valentine's Day, or simply Valentine's Day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. Modern traditional celebration of love and romance, including the exchange of cards, candy, flowers, and other gifts. |
| February or March, date varies | Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday | A festive season (Carnival) leading up to Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Closes with Ash Wednesday (40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays), which starts the penitential season of Lent in the Western Christian calendar. |
| March 8 | International Women's Day | A day set aside to honor women and their accomplishments in history. |
| March 17 | Saint Patrick's Day | A holiday honoring Saint Patrick that celebrates Irish culture. Primary activity is simply the wearing of green clothing ("wearing o' the green"), although drinking beer dyed green is also popular. Big parades in some cities, such as in New York City. |
| April 1 | April Fools' Day | A day that people commonly play tricks or jokes on family, friends, and coworkers, especially in English-speaking nations. Sometimes called "the Feast of All Fools" as a play on the feast days of saints; there is no evidence the holiday has any Christian religious origins. |
| March/April/May (depends on Hebrew Calendar) | Passover | A seven- or eight-day festival in Judaism, commemorating the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. For Karaite Jews, Passover is the holiest day of the year and is the festival that marks the beginning of the year. Some Christian groups celebrate Passover instead of Easter. In many regions with large Jewish communities, schools close for all or part of Passover. |
| Sunday before Easter | Palm Sunday | Celebration to commemorate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. |
| The Friday before (western) Easter | Good Friday | Friday of Holy Week, when Western Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Good Friday is a holiday in some individual counties and municipalities, as well as a state holiday in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. State and local government offices and courts are closed, as well as state-chartered banks and in these jurisdictions. Federal banks and post offices that are located in buildings that close for Good Friday and Easter will also be closed but not in formal observance of the holiday. Good Friday is also a holiday in U.S. territories of Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Many public and private schools; some colleges, universities and private-sector businesses; and financial markets are closed on Good Friday. |
| Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon, date varies from March 22 to April 25, inclusive (see Computus), | Easter | Celebration of the resurrection of Jesus in most Western Christian churches. A minority of Protestant churches do not observe Easter. Eastern Orthodox (including Western Rite), Oriental Orthodox and some Neo-Celtic churches observe Easter according to a different calendar, usually on a later Sunday (thus they also observe Palm Sunday and Good Friday on different days than Western Christians).
Many Americans decorate hard-boiled eggs and give baskets of candy, fruit, toys and so on, especially to children; but gifts of age-appropriate Easter baskets for the elderly, the infirm and the needy are increasingly popular. An annual Easter Egg Roll has been held on the White House South Lawn for young children on Easter Monday since President Hayes started the tradition in 1878. Not a federal holiday because of the First Amendment prohibition on establishment of religion, and because it is always on Sunday. Many companies that are normally open on Sunday close for Easter but that is increasingly not the case. |
| April 22 (varies by location and observance) | Earth Day | A celebration of environmentalism. |
| Last Friday in April | Arbor Day | A day for planting trees. |
| May 1 | May Day | In most other countries, May 1 is International Workers' Day, the equivalent of Labor Day, and some Americans do observe May 1 in that context. But before it was a labor-related holiday, May Day was a Celtic and English holiday that celebrated the transition from Spring to Summer, and it is that holiday that those Americans and Canadians who still celebrate May Day call to mind. |
| May 5 | Cinco de Mayo | Primarily a celebration of Mexican culture by Mexican-Americans living in the United States. Although this is the anniversary of the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, Cinco de Mayo is far more important in the USA than in Mexico itself, often celebrated even by non-Mexican-Americans. Additionally, this "holiday" is often mistaken by Americans as being Mexican Independence Day, which is actually observed on September 16. |
| Second Sunday in May | Mother's Day | Honors mothers and motherhood (made a "federal holiday" by Presidential order, although most federal agencies are already closed on Sundays) |
| June 14 | Flag Day | Commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, in 1777. |
| Third Sunday in June | Father's Day | Honors fathers and fatherhood. |
| August 26 | Women's Equality Day | Celebrates the fight for, and progress towards, equality for women. Established by the United States Congress in 1971 to commemorate two anniversaries: Passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ensuring Woman Suffrage in 1920 and a nation-wide demonstration for equal rights, the Women's Strike for Equality, in 1970. |
| September 11 | Patriot Day | Commemorates the attacks on the World Trade Center (New York City) and the Pentagon (Washington, DC) in 2001. |
| September 17 | Constitution/Citizenship Day | Commemorates the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. |
| September or October (depends on Hebrew calendar) | Rosh Hashanah | Observed by Jewish people. Traditional beginning of the Jewish High Holidays. It also celebrates the beginning of a new year on the Hebrew calendar. In regions with large Jewish populations, schools and universities may close on Rosh Hashanah. |
| September or October (depends on Hebrew calendar) | Yom Kippur | Observed by Jewish people.
This day marks the end of the Ten Days of Penitence that began with Rosh Hashanah. It is described in Leviticus as a "Sabbath of rest," and synagogue services begin the preceding sundown, resume the following morning, and continue to sundown. In regions with large Jewish populations, schools and universities may close on Yom Kippur. |
| October 6 | German-American Day | Commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families from Krefeld near the Rhine landed in Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown, Pennsylvania, the first German settlement in the original thirteen American colonies. |
| October 31 | Halloween | Originally the end of the Celtic year, it now celebrates Eve of All Saint's Day. Decorations include jack o'lanterns. Costume parties and candy such as candy corn are also part of the holiday. Kids go "trick-or-treating" to neighbors who give away candy. Not generally observed by businesses. |
| First Tuesday after the first Monday in November | Election Day | Observed by the federal and state governments in applicable years; legal holiday in some states. |
| Day After Thanksgiving | Black Friday | Traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the United States. "Black Friday" is not a holiday under that name, but California and some other states observe "The Day After Thanksgiving" as a holiday for state government employees. Virtually all schools, colleges and universities are also closed, along with many non-retail private sector businesses. Federal government offices, post offices and federally-chartered banks must open on Black Friday (unless the President issues an executive order or proclamation allowing them to close). It is called "Black Friday" because it begins the sales period when most American retailers make their profits for the year. Contrary to popular belief, Black Friday is not the busiest sales day of the year (that honor belongs to Christmas Eve, December 24). Rather, it is the barometer by which retailers are able to gauge December sales and whether they will indeed end the year "in the black" (instead of "in the red"). A busy Black Friday almost invariably indicates a busy shopping season, while poor sales on Black Friday usually herald a very slow season. |
| November/December/January (depends on Hebrew calendar) | Hanukkah | An eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BC. In regions with large Jewish populations, schools and universities may close for part of Hanukkah. |
| December 7 | Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day | Day to mourn the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. |
| December 8 | Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary | Immaculate Conception is a dogma of the Catholic Church maintaining that the Virgin Mary was kept free of original sin from her moment of conception. Companies in some states will give day off to their employees. |
| December 24 | Christmas Eve | Day before Christmas Day. Virtually every business closes early, though a few remain open 24 hours. |
| December 26 through January 1 | Kwanzaa | African American holiday celebration created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga |
| December 31 | New Year's Eve | Final Day of the Gregorian year. Usually accompanied by much celebration, such as party and fireworks. Virtually every company and retail outlet closes early, except for stores that sell alcoholic beverages and party supplies. |
Read more about this topic: Public Holidays In The United States
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—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)