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The 195 Day Bus Ride

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Topic: Put Your Party Hat On

Posted by: looney_tunes

Subject: Put Your Party Hat On
Date: Aug 12 10

Every country has its special holidays, and holiday traditions – food, costume, celebratory activities – that we can enjoy as we travel on the Bus Ride. We may not manage to be there on the best day, but let's share information about what we could experience in the right season!

Many of us will be relying on second-hand sources for information - if you live in the country we are visiting, please let us all know how YOU celebrate any special holidays.

Please feel free to leave feedback for the site administrators. We will take all feedback into account as we tweak and add new features.
The old reply to thread function was removed because it got to the point where people weren't even reading the announcements and assuming, by default, that they were somehow being wronged or forgotten or insulted or abused or cheated out of something in some manner.

225 replies. On page 4 of 12 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The Finns should be so proud of their holiday tradition celebrating a 'Declaration of Christmas Peace.'

Reply #61. Sep 25 10, 2:52 PM

One of the major holidays of Oman is the National Day and Birthday of Sultan Qaboos, celebrated on November 18. Sultan Sayyed Qaboos bin Sa'id Al ‘Bu Sa'id organizes official celebrations that are moved to a different location every year; the Sultan personally travels the chosen area during the preceding month, meeting his people and listening to local concerns. On the day itself, you will see huge cutouts of the Sultran everywhere, along with national flags draped from every available spot. Festivities include camel racing and processions during the day, along with traditional dances, and fireworks throughout the evening.

Sultan Qaboos isthe 14th descendant of the Al Bu Sa'idi dynasty, and the first Sultan of Oman. In 1970 Qaboos overthrew his father (or possibly he took up the leadership after his father's abdication, depending on which story you read) and changed the country's name from Muscat and Oman to "the Sultanate of Oman" in an effort to suggest a stronger political unity within the nation.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/abatage/caulfield82/532710000/tpod.html

Reply #62. Sep 26 10, 12:22 AM

On October 19 Albanians celebrate Mother Teresa Day as an official and national holiday ratified by Parliament. Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997) was a Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity (born in Skopje, now part of Macedonia) and Indian citizenship, better known as Mother Teresa. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1950, and spent over 45 years caring for the poor, the sick, the orphaned and the dying. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta on October 19, 2003.

http://everydaysaholiday.org/mother-teresa-day-albania/

Reply #63. Sep 27 10, 12:47 AM

Bangladesh has a number of national holidays, including a mixture of secular, Islamic, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist celebrations.

Vesakha, also nicknamed 'Buddha's Birthday', celebrates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, and often referred to as 'The Buddha'. The exact date of Vesakha varies from year to year (and from country to country, on occasion) because it is defined in terms of the lunar calendar, but is around April or May on the Gregorian calendar. Celebrations include a pre-dawn temple ceremony that includes the raising of the Buddhist flag and the singing of hymns in praise of the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings) and the Sangha (his disciples). Offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks are traditionally made as part of the service.

Reply #64. Sep 28 10, 2:09 PM

In the Marshall Islands, Fishermen's Day is celebrated on the first Friday of July. Fairs and festivals related to the traditional lives of fishermen are arranged. This often merges into a celebration of US Independence Day (July 4), since US holidays are celebrated in the Marshall Islands along with local ones.

Reply #65. Sep 29 10, 12:50 AM

December 31 is Dünya azərbaycanlıların həmrəyliyi günü, or International Azeri Solidarity Day. The Popular Front of Azerbaijan led the removal of borders between Soviet Azerbaijan and Iran on December 31, 1989. The date also marks the '1st World Congress of the Azeri people' in Istanbul, in 1992. Azeris living around the world (there are large Azeri communities in Iran and Turkey, as well as smaller groups in other countries) are urged to celebrate their language, faith and traditions.

Reply #66. Sep 30 10, 12:48 AM

Sudan celebrates the major Islamic festivals, including Ramadan (along with its end, Eid Al Ramadan), Eid Al Ramadan at the time of the Haj, and Moulid Al Nabi (The Prophet’s Birthday). A more esoteric festival is
Sham Al Nassim (Spring Holiday), celebrated on the first Monday following Easter. The origin of the holiday is obscure, but it is believed to be descended from one of the ancient Egyptian festivals in connection with the beginning of spring. This is a non-religious non-national general public holiday, designed mainly to give a welcome break to the tedium of work. It is very much a family holiday and many families pack picnic lunches and spend a day in shaded areas by the river. It is also referred to as the day to “sniff the breezes”.

The information on holidays was taken from Maria Baba’s CROSS CULTURAL STUDY OF KHARTOUM, April 1981 mimeograph as cited at

http://sudan.usembassy.gov/holidays2.html

Reply #67. Oct 01 10, 12:43 AM

Honduras has many local festivals. The largest of all Honduras festivals is 'La Feria de San Isidro', the Carnival celebrated in Le Ceiba around the third Saturday of May. While the Saturday is the official day of celebrations, the parades, concerts and parties start days, even weeks, in advance. Festivities culminate in a huge parade down the Avenue San Isidro on Saturday.

Semana Santa (the week before Easter) is also a time when many celebrations occur. One of the most famous of these occurs in the mountain town of Santa Rosa de Copan, where six separate parades reenact biblical events relating to the Easter story. The climax is a parade over a bed of flowers with religious and political leaders escorting a 'Jesus' and his cross to the main cathedral.

Reply #68. Oct 02 10, 2:14 AM

Cassinga Day is a national public holiday in Namibia remembering the Cassinga massacre on May 4, 1978. The day is a time to recall the approximately 600 people killed when the South African Defence Force attacked a SWAPO base (and refugee camp) at Cassinga in southern Angola. SWAPO, the South West Africa People's Organisation, was at the time leading the Nqamibian struggle for independence from South African rule. Commemorations are marked yearly by ceremonies at Heroes Acre, outside of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.

Reply #69. Oct 03 10, 12:07 AM

As well as Islamic holidays, Syrians celebrate two Easter holidays, one according to the Julian calendar (as is common among Orthodox churches) and one according to the Gregorian calendar (more common in western churches). This reflects the religious diversity of the country, whose population is 74% Sunni Muslim, 13% Shia Muslim, 5% Chalcedonian Antiochian Orthodox Christian, 2% Catholic Christian, 3% other Christian, and 1% other religions.

The Kurdish population of Syria celebrate Kurdish New Year's Day, Nowruz, on March 22, a remnant of their links with Iranian culture.

Reply #70. Oct 04 10, 12:05 AM

In Sao Tome and Principe, Independence Day on 12 July celebrates the achievement of independence from Portugal in 1975, after a long colonial history. The islands of Sao Tome and Principe were uninhabited when first sighted by Portuguese explorers in 1471. The first settlers were sent there to exploit the West African slave, spice and sugar trades, and slaves were imported to work the plantations. White settlers were encouraged to marry slave women and populate the island. The society evolved into a complex mixture of Portuguese and African cultures.

Dating from the same period, Agriculture Reform Day on September 30 celebrates the nationalization of the largest plantations. A photo showing the celebrations at the time can be seen in the National Museum.

Reply #71. Oct 05 10, 1:12 AM

In Indonesia, Mother's Day (Hari Ibu) is celebrated on December 22. This date has surprisingly (given the name of the day) feminist roots. The first Indonesian Women's Congress was held from December 22 through the 25th, 1928, meeting in a building now known as Wanitatama in Adisucipto Street, Jogjakarta. It was attended to representatives of 30 different feminist organizations from 12 cities in Java and Sumatra. It was during the third Indonesian Women's Congress, in 1938, that a movement started to make the day an officially-recognised holiday. It became an official holiday in 1959, celebrating the spirit of Indonesian women. Today is has become a sentimental expression of love and gratitude to mothers, as it is in many parts of the world. Presents and parties are the order of the day, with mothers 'off the hook' for domestic chores for the day.

Reply #72. Oct 06 10, 12:16 AM

Ghana celebrates Founder's Day on September 21, the birthday of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, the first Prime Minister of Ghana and a founding member of the Organization of African Unity. Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966, and was the winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1963. As well as leading Ghana through the path to independence from the United Kingdom (for which he was given the honorific Osagyefo, which means 'redeemer' in the Twi language), he was a staunch supporter of Pan-Africanism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkruma

Reply #73. Oct 07 10, 1:16 AM

On March 12, Gabon celebrates Renovation Day (according to some websites; others dispute whether or not it is actually a holiday – I am going with it because it is unique to Gabon). On March 12, 1968 the Parti Democratique Gabonais (Gabonese Democratic Party, known as the PDG) became the only legal political party in Gabon, where it has held power since its formation. In May 1990 a change to the constitution reestablished a multiparty political system in Gabon.

Reply #74. Oct 08 10, 12:47 AM

John Frum Day is celebrated on Tanna Island, Vanuatu on February 15. John Frum is a (mythylogical?) figure associated with cargo cults on Tanna. Cargo cults focus on obtaining the material wealth ('cargo') of an imperialist colonizing culture by the indigenous people, usually using magical and religious rituals. They developed in a number of Pacific islands during the 19th and 20th centuries. Observance increased dramatically during and immediately after WWII, with the American and Japanese soldiers bringing large amounts of material into the islands. John Frum is Tanna's local hero, often described as an American WWII soldier (black or white varies in the telling).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frum

Reply #75. Oct 09 10, 12:03 AM

East Timor's long struggle for independence is reflected in the number of national public holidays that commemorate significant events in the struggle. We start with Proclamation of Independence Day (November 28), the anniversary of the date in 1975 when East Timor unilaterally declared its independence from Portuguese colonial rule. The subsequent invasion by Indonesia (an invasion which was supported by a number of western nations due to Indonesia's claim that the Timorese were organizing a Communist leadership) is remembered on National Heroes' Day, December 7. The Indonesian occupation involved a number of bloody confrontations, one of which is used to represent them all on National Youth Day, November 12. The Santa Cruz massacre (also known as the Dili massacre) was the shooting of East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, on 12 November 1991. Popular Consultation Day, August 30, celebrates the UN-supervised popular referendum which was held on August 30, 1999, in which the people of East Timor chose independence over 'special autonomy' within Indonesia. May 20, Independence Restoration Day, is the anniversary of the day in 2002 when sovereignty was transferred from a UN transitional government to the people of East Timor.

Reply #76. Oct 10 10, 12:21 AM

As well as Christian and Islamic holidays, the people of Mauritius celebrate Chinese New Year and a number of Hindu festivals, including Maha Shivratree, which occurs sometime in February (varying dates on a Gregorian calendar, as it is set from a Hindu calendar). Maha Shivaratree is literally "The Great Night of Siva." Hindu devotees set on foot pilgrimage from all over the island for the sacred lake at Grand Bassin, usually carrying a `Kanwar' - light wooden arches covered in flowers. At Grand Bassin, pilgrims collect holy water which is ritually poured over a statuette of Siva in re-enactment of the classical myth according to which Siva's throat had to be cooled down after he drank the poison from the oceans to spare mankind. The seas became poisoned during the churning of the ocean which, according to one creation myth, gave rise to the universe.

Information taken from

http://www.maurinet.com/holiday.html

Reply #77. Oct 11 10, 1:00 AM

Estonians celebrate National Flag Day on June 4. It was on June 4, 1884 that the flag of the Estonian Students' Society at the University of Tartu was consecrated. The flag (consisting of horizontal bands of blue, black and white) became associated with Estonian nationalism, and was declared to be the national flag when Estonia declared independence in 1918.

The invasion of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940 led to the flag's ban. During the German occupation (1941-1944) the flag was accepted as a flag of ethnic significance, but not as the national flag; it flew as a national flag for the short interval between German retreat and the arrival of the Soviet army, when it once again became illegal until the late 80s – it was once again allowed to be flown from February 24, 1989, and was formally re-declared the national flag on August 7, 1990, a bit more than a year before Estonia regained full independence.

Reply #78. Oct 12 10, 1:51 AM

Slovakia celebrates a holiday in honor of St. Cyril and St. Methodius on July 5. On July 5, 833 these two missionaries arrived in Greater Moravia, a region that included what is now Slovakia. These two brothers are commonly credited with introducing the Glagolitic alphabet widely used in the area until it was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet developed by one of their students. The celebration also commemorates the introduction of literacy and the preaching of the gospels in the Slavonic language by the brothers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glagolitic_alphabet

Slovakia celebrates a holiday in honor of St. Cyril and St. Methodius on July 5. On July 5, 833 these two missionaries arrived in Greater Moravia, a region that included what is now Slovakia. These two brothers are commonly credited with introducing the Glagolitic alphabet widely used in the area until it was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet developed by one of their students. The celebration also commemorates the introduction of literacy and the preaching of the gospels in the Slavonic language by the brothers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glagolitic_alphabet

Reply #79. Oct 13 10, 2:00 AM

El Salvadoreans celebrate the Dia de la Cruz (Day of the Cross) on May 3. This is a good example of a pre-Christian festival which has taken on Christian trimmings since colonization. It originates as a harvest festival, linked to the start of the rainy season. People construct (or buy) a cross out of saplings, poles, or some other suitable material. The cross is set up on an altar in the front yard, with offerings of fruit and flowers at its base. People then go from house to house praying at each cross.

Reply #80. Oct 14 10, 1:40 AM

225 replies. On page 4 of 12 page(s). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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