HOLIDAYS

It is also known as Radunitsa or Radonitsa and is a festival amongst many eastern Slavs, though Belarus is the only country where it is a state holiday.

Despite its date being dependent on Easter and it being observed as an Orthodox Christian holiday, the origins of Radunitsa are pagan rather than Christian with its roots based on an ancestor festival.

On Radonitsa, families go to church and then on to the cemetery. At the family tomb, a meal is eaten and any leftovers are offered to dead relatives. In pagan times, families would have left eggs on the graves of the dead, symbolising rebirth.

When Christianity arrived in the region, rather than suppress the older traditions, the church simply absorbed the rituals into Christian festivals. The egg was an easy one as the date of spring for the ancestor worship festival fell close to Easter and the use of the egg as a symbol of rebirth fitted well with the Easter message of resurrection.

Despite honouring and remembering the dead, Radonitsa is a day of celebration not one of mourning. Indeed, in Slavic languages, Radonitsa means ‘Joy Day’.

Despite its date being dependent on Easter and it being observed as an Orthodox Christian holiday, the origins of this festival are pagan rather than Christian with its roots based on an ancestor festival.

On Memorial Easter, families go to church and then on to the cemetery. There, the family graves are cleaned and a meal is eaten with some food intentionally let to fall on the ground as an offering to dead relatives. 

In pagan times, families would have left eggs on the graves of the dead, symbolising rebirth. When Christianity arrived in the region, rather than suppress the older traditions, the church simply absorbed the rituals into Christian festivals. The egg was an easy one as the date of spring for the ancestor worship festival fell close to Easter and the use of the egg as a symbol of rebirth fitted well with the Easter message of resurrection.

As one of the first countries to take steps along the long revolutionary road to the end of European rule of Latin America, Venezuela can be excused for effectively having two independence days. 

In 1806, there had been a failed attempt to start a revolution in Venezuela by Francsico de Miranda. Despite the failure, the attempt had sowed the seed of insurrection and a few years later, events in Europe would gave the independence movement further impetuous.

In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain and put his brother Joseph on the throne. Many of the Spanish colonies in Latin America remained loyal to the deposed King Ferdinand. On 17 April 1810, news that Ferdinand had been finally defeated by Napoleon reached Caracas, where the people decided independence was better than French rule.

On 19 April 1810 (Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday) Vicente Emparan, the Captain General of Venezuela, was dismissed, giving way to the formation of the Supreme Junta of Caracas, one of the first to form an autonomous government in Latin America.

The Junta governed until 2 March 1811, when the First National Congress was installed, which appointed a triumvirate composed of Cristóbal Mendoza, Juan Escalona and Baltasar Padrón. 

Francsico de Miranda returned from exile, and pushed further for independence. A few months later, on 5 July 1811, the Declaration of Independence was finally signed, creating the First Republic of Venezuela. The Spanish resisted this movement for independence and the revolution and republic was quashed in 1812. 

However, this first declaration of independence meant that full independence was only a matter of time indeed nine years later Venezuela became independent under the leadership of Simon Bolivar in 1821.

Zimbabwe was first influenced by Europeans with the arrival of The British South Africa Company in the 1890s. The company had been founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1889 to colonise the region.

The area became known as Southern Rhodesia (in honour of Cecil Rhodes) in 1895 and was governed by the British South Africa Company until 1922 when the European settlers voted to become a British Colony.

In 1953, Britain created the Central African Federation, made up of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi).

Following the breakup of the Federation in 1964, when Zambia and Malawi gained independence, Ian Smith became Prime Minister of the country (now called Rhodesia). Smith began a campaign for independence from Britain, with the government being run by the white minority. Independence was declared in 1965, but was not recognised internationally and led to sanctions against the country. This also led to an extensive campaign of guerilla warfare within Rhodesia and the rise of the Zanu and Zapu organisations.

Under this pressure, the white minority finally consented to multiracial elections in 1980. Robert Mugabe and his Zanu party won the independence elections, with Mugabe becoming Prime Minister and Zimbabwe’s independence being formally recognised on April 18th 1980.

Rose Francine Rogombé was a Gabonese politician who became the Acting President of Gabon in June 2009 after President Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had led Gabon for 42 years, passed away after a heart attack. 

Rogombé was a lawyer by profession and a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party. She was elected as President of the Senate in February 2009 and as such constitutionally succeeded Bongo.

Rogombé’s interim presidency ended in October 2009 when Ali Bongo, the son of the late President, won the presidential elections. She then returned to her post as President of the Senate.

Rogombé died, aged 72, on April 10th 2015 at a hospital in Paris, where she had gone for medical treatment a few days prior.

New Year celebrations in Lao last for four days, though the traditions and customs are similar to Songkran, Thai New Year. This is the most important festival of the year in Laos.

Day one

This is the last day of the old year. Statues of Buddha images are cleaned with water and people throw water at each other, to ‘wash away’ any bad will that related to the past year.

Day two

The second day is known as the ‘day of no day”, a day that falls in neither the old year or the new year. People parade to the local monasteries to hear services from the monks. A popular highlight of the day is the parade featuring the winner of the Miss New Year beauty pageant.

Day three

This is the first day of the New Year. Begins with an early morning procession of monks and almsgiving (‘tak bat’).

Many people in Lao believe in kwan (spirits that live inside humans, animals, plants and inanimate objects). On the first day of the new year, the tradition is that the kwan might leave the body and be exposed to bad omens for the coming year. To make sure the kwan return to the body, a ceremony called Baci is performed. Chants are made by a village elder to make the kwan return to the body, then white thread is tied around wrists to keep the kwan inside and wish the kwan good luck for the year ahead.

Day four

The most sacred images of Buddha images are put on temporary display and people will dress in their finest traditional clothes and make offerings to ask for good luck in the coming year.

Tarija in southern Bolivia is one of Bolivia’s oldest settlements. It was founded on July 4th 1574 by the conquistador Luis de Fuentes and was named in honour of Francisco de Tarija, who was the first Spaniard to visit the valley. At the forefront of nationalism in the region, Tarija declared independence from the Spanish rule in 1810.

While such declarations were ignored by the Spanish, this act of insurrection would lead to conflict, when on April 15th, 1817 at the Batalla de la Tablada, Tarija’s citizens won a major victory over the Spanish forces. The 1817 victory at Tarija is seen as an important milestone in the country’s history and is commemorated in the city with this public holiday.

After the War of Independence and despite interest from Argentina, Tarija opted to become part of Bolivia, which won its independence and formally established itself as a Republic in 1825. 

Interestingly for the first 100 years after the battle, the battle was commemorated on May 4th. It was only when a historian made the correction that it was moved to April 15th.

Cultural festivals take place in Tarija during the entire month of April in what has come to be called the April Days of Tarija (“Los Abriles de Tarija”). The festival revolves around the La Tablada anniversary celebrations and the central event is held on April 15th and 16th.

Cultural events include concerts, dance and theatre. Other events throughout the month also include fairs and handcrafts as well as the traditional Livestock Show and Rodeo Chapaco.

It is a public holiday in Sri Lanka and in India, it is a public holiday in many regions.

The Tamil year starts on April 14th in the Gregorian calendar. It is similar to the Vernal Equinox which is usually celebrated on or around March 21st. The date differs due to the position of the Tamil region in the northern hemisphere and some ancient and impressive astronomical observations involving the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn.

Though not purely a religious festival, Puthandu does hold special significance to Hindus as it is said to be the day that the Hindu god of creation, Lord Brahma, started creation.

Tamil New Year’s Day is celebrated on the first day of Chithirai – the first month in the Tamil Calendar and is also known as Varusha Pirappu.

By the end of the 19th century, almost all the nations of the Americas had liberated themselves from colonial rule.

This raised the issue of what level of co-operation should exist between these states to mutually benefit each other.

To address this, the First International Conference of American States met, at the invitation of the United States, in Washington, DC, from October 1889 through April 1890, to consider measures that would preserve and promote the prosperity and welfare of the American States.

Near the end of the conference, on April 14th 1890, the conference adopted a resolution forming the International Union of American Republics, now known as the Organization of American States (OAS).  The OAS is the world’s oldest regional organization.

The original member countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Since the OAS has expanded to include many Caribbean countries who gained independence in the 20th century.

Despite being the only country to observe Pan American Day, Honduras was suspended from the OAS from 2009 – 2011 as the other nations did not recognize the legitimacy of the Honduran government during that time.

Liberia’s history is quite unique amongst other African nations. It began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society who believed black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. This meant that Liberia didn’t have the struggle from Independence that marks the history of many African nations in the 20th century.

However, when the settlers arrived, the land wasn’t uninhabited, and the relationship between the new arrivals and the indigenous people would come to define the history of this west African nation.

Liberia had enjoyed a period of stability and prosperity under the leadership of William Tubman, who was president from 1944 until 1971. Though an Americo-Liberian, he had the respect of all Liberians.

After Tubman died in 1971, his Vice President, William Tolbert became President.

Though Tolbert enacted some democratic reforms, he never had the same reverence as Tubman and his attempts to balance the Americo-Liberian and the indigenous Liberians were hampered by a fall in the price of rubber in the 1970s, reducing the income in a key sector of the economy.

When Tolbert’s government increased the price of rice, the opposition party, the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL) called for a peaceful demonstration in Monrovia. The demonstration turned into race riots with many people being killed.

As a result, Tolbert banned the PAL and had its leadership arrested on charges of treason, which would prove to be a fateful and fatal move.

On the morning of April 12th 1980, 17 non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe launched a coup d’état. The group entered the Presidential palace and killed Tolbert, whose body was dumped into a mass grave together with 26 other victims of the coup.

The Battle of Rivas took place in Rivas, Nicaragua between the army lead by William Walker and Costa Rica’s army led by President Juan Rafael Mora Porras, General José Joaquín Mora Porras, and General Jose Maria Cañas. 

Walker was an American who had assumed control of Nicaragua and was amassing troops and consolidating his power in the region. Alarmed by his actions, Costa Rica declared war on Walker. 

Walker’s army was on the run after two battles with the Costa Rican army, when on April 11th 1856, they were confronted with nearly 700 Costa Rican troops in Rivas. 

The two armies were fighting each other in a grueling and bloody battle for over nine hours without either side gaining any decisive advantage, when Juan Santamaría, a Costa Rican drummer boy from Alajuela, volunteered to burn down the “El Mesón de Guerra”, a building, in which Walker’s troops where gathered. The son of a single mother, Santamaria volunteered for the charge, with the condition that someone would look after his mother if he died.

Santamaria threw a torch onto the thatched roof of Walker’s stronghold, causing it to catch fire and his troops to flee. While he was successful in his mission and his actions enabled the Costa Ricans to win the battle, Santamaria was then killed by sniper fire. 

His heroics were the defining factor in the Costa Rican victory at Rivas. For his sacrifice, he became recognised as a National Hero of Costa Rica.

Juan Santamaria is a household name in Costa Rica. He is considered a national hero and his legacy still endures well over a century after his death. A statue, famous paintings, literature, and even an airport bear his name The country’s main international airport is named after him, the Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría, though it is more commonly known as the San Jose airport (SJO).

The first ceremony takes place on Good Friday where the “Epitafios”, an imitation of the Christ’s funeral bier, is decorated with many flowers by the local women. The “Epitafios” is then paraded through the streets of the villages or the neighbourhoods of the cities.

In some areas of Greece such as Crete, the ceremony is also accompanied by the burning of effigies of Judas Iscariot.

A great celebration also takes places on the Saturday, for Christ’s triumphant return. At the stroke of midnight, all the lights of the churches are put out to symbolise the darkness which enveloped Christ as He passed through the underworld. Then a priest appears holding aloft a lighted taper and chanting “Avto to Fos… “(This is the Light…) and uses the Holy flame to light the candles of nearby worshippers. These worshippers then share their Light with their neighbours, until the entire church and the courtyard is illuminated by the candlelight.

After midnight, the families and friends meet to eat the “Mayeretsa”, a soup made from lamb tripe, rice, dill and lemon. The rest of the lamb will be roasted on Sunday morning for the lunch, with wines and dances.

This festival is of great importance across all of Greece but some place are notable for their Easter celebrations: Hydra, Corfu, Pyrgi on Chios, Olymbos on Karpathos and St John’s monastery on Patmos.

The Republic of Kosovo is a partially-recognized state and disputed territory at the heart of the Balkans in South-eastern Europe.

Following the collapse of Yugoslavia, ethnic tensions in Serbia erupted into to the Kosovo War in 1998.

The conflict resulted in the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.

In November 2005, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Martti Ahtisaari to lead the Kosovo status process.

On February 17th 2008, the Kosovo assembly unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia “in full accordance with the recommendations of U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.” It pledged to be a democratic republic and accept all the obligations under the Ahtisaari plan, including the adoption of a new constitution within 120 days.

The constitution was signed on April 7th 2008 at 13:00 local time at the national library in Pristina.

The constitution was then ratified on April 9th and came into effect on June 15th 2008.

It is the most important legal document which guarantees the basic rights and freedoms of all the citizens of the country.

Before the holiday begins, observant Jews will remove and discard all food with leavening (called chametz) from their households, doing a thorough job, so that not even a crumb remains. This tradition is called bedikat chametz.

In the absence of leaven, Jews will eat specially prepared unleavened bread, or matzah, on Passover. Many Jews will also eat products made with matzah “flour” – unleavened bread that has been finely ground. Matzah dates back to the Exodus, where the Jews, not having had time to wait for the dough to rise before leaving Egypt, journeyed into the desert with unleavened bread.

Passover is a family holiday and a happy one. The first night is the most important, followed by the second night. It is traditional for a Jewish family to gather on both these nights for a special dinner called a seder (literally translating as “order”, due to the very specific order of the ceremony) where the reading of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the Haggadah retells the story of the Israelite exodus from Egypt.

At the seder, three matzohs are used. During the seder, the middle matzoh is broken in half. The smaller piece is returned to the set of matzohs while the larger piece is designated as the Afikomen, or the dessert matzoh. Two distinct customs have arisen regarding the afikomen, both of which involve the afikomen being hidden as a means of keeping the children interested in the proceedings. In one custom, a child “steals” it and the parent has to find it. If the parent can’t find it, the child is given a reward for the return of the afikomen. In the other custom the parents hide the afikomen and the children look for it at the end of the meal. If the children find it, they receive the reward.

After gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Askar Akayev became President.

In 2005, a popular uprising known as the “Tulip Revolution”, forced President Akayev’s resignation in April of that year. Opposition leaders formed a coalition, and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

On April 6th 2010, civil unrest broke out in the town of Talas after a demonstration against government corruption and increased living expenses.

On April 7th 2010, the unrest had spread and mass anti-government protests in Bishkek turned violent, with over 84 people being killed and many hundreds injured in clashes with security forces.

A transition government took control and Bakiev fled the country soon afterwards.

The day has been a public holiday since 2016.

To mark the events of 2010, hundreds of people attend a special ceremony at a memorial site near Bishkek, including top government officials and the relatives of victims who died during the revolution. People laid wreaths and flowers and held prayers for the deceased.

Since independence, the history of this small, landlocked African country has been dominated by tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.

The first democratic elections in June 1993, brought the Hutu, Melchoir Ndadaye to power, though he was assassinated in October of that year.

In early 1994, the parliament elected another Hutu, Cyprien Ntaryamira as President.

On April 6th 1994, Ntaryamira died in a plane crash. The private Dassault Falcon 50 jet which belonged to Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, a fellow Hutu, was shot down while landing at Kigali International Airport, Rwanda. The plane crashed, killing both presidents. The deaths ignited the Rwandan Genocide.

President Ntaryamira Day is a solemn observance during which people reflect upon one of the most tragic events in African history.

The Easter Bunny is now an established part of the Easter traditions. In Europe and America, the Easter Bunny visits the garden of children leaving chocolate eggs and treats for the children to find on Easter Egg hunts.

Rabbits and hares don’t have any direct connection to any Christian tradition and it is interesting to note that the pagan goddess, Ostara was always traditionally accompanied by a hare. The modern tradition derives from a German custom that was first recorded in the 16th century. It may seem strange for a rabbit to be laying eggs, but as eggs were part of the foods banned during Lent, then the reintroduction of eggs would have been a welcome treat, no matter how they arrived in the garden.

It was once thought that hares could give birth without conceiving, which may have made them a way of explaining the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary. It is also said that the sight of Rabbits appearing from their underground burrows is a reminder of Jesus appearing from the tomb after his resurrection on Easter morning.

On Easter Sunday, the traditional meat for dinner is lamb. The lamb was a sacrifice during the Jewish Passover, and it became a symbol for Jesus. It is also seasonal as Spring lamb is particularly tender and noted for its subtle flavour.

Chungmyung Day falls on one of the 24 divisions of the year and represents the sky clearing up for spring.

Traditionally the day is spent tidying up graves and doing home repairs that could not be done during the winter months.

It takes place on the same date as the Ching Ming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) in China which also shares rituals about ancestor worship.

Despite the rich history of the traditions of this day, it has only been an official holiday since 2010, when Kim Jong Eun declared this day as a holiday so that the people could spend it conducting traditional rituals.

Along with New Year’s Day, Lunar New Year’s Day, Dano (May 5th) and Chuseok, Hansik is one of the five ‘folk holidays’ offically commemorated in North Korea, but are not viewed as important as Kim Jong Il’s and Kim Il Sung’s birthdays, which both are normally celebrated with three days of holidays.

At first glance, it seems a strange name for a day that marked such a terrible event as a crucifixion, but when we look at the origin of the name it becomes clearer… or it would if there was one origin that people could agree on. As it stands, you can take your pick from the following:

• Some say it comes from the use of “Good” as an adjective applied to the day, which is an Old English synonym for “holy.”
• Others believe it stems from a corruption of the word “God,” in much the same way that “Good Bye” comes from the phrase “God be with ye.” So the name may be derived from ‘God’s Friday’.
• Undoubtedly most Christians perceive the day as “good” because the message of Easter is of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. Indeed, the New Testament is also known as the Gospel, which is Greek for ‘Good News’.

Also, it also worth noting that this confusion over the name is mainly confined to Western European and North American Christians. Eastern Orthodox Christians call it “Great and Holy Friday. Around the rest of the world, it’s known as Holy Friday in most Latin nations, ‘Great Friday’ by the Slavic peoples, “Friday of Mourning” in Germany and “Long Friday” in Norway.

The Malvinas Islands are probably better known in the English-speaking world by their British name, the Falklands.

The holiday is a tribute to Argentina’s fallen soldiers in the Falklands War, which began with the Argentine occupation of the Islands on April 2nd 1982.

The war lasted 74 days, with 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors, and airmen, and three civilian Falklanders killed.

Malvinas Day was first introduced in 2001. It replaced the June 10th “Sovereignty over Malvinas Islands” Day, which until then had commemorated the appointment of Luis Vernet as governor of the Islands by Buenos Aires in 1832.

The Argentine government is continuing with its efforts to identify the remains of all it’s fallen troops on the islands. Speaking at the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the 649 fallen soldiers on April 2nd 2019, Secretary for Human Rights Claudio Avruj said “this… …is a very important and emotional event, which adds to the valuable and significant work carried out by the humanitarian mission to identify our Malvinas heroes”.

The origins of the customs of the day are shrouded in mystery. Some scholars believe it is likely to be a relic of festivities held to mark the vernal equinox. These celebrations of the first days of spring began on 25 March and ended on 2 April. Certainly, there is some evidence to suggest that 1 April was observed as a general festival in pagan Britain.

More commonly, the customs are associated with the switch to the Gregorian calendar in France during the sixteenth century.

Historically, many parts of the world celebrated 1 April as New Year’s Day – due to its relationship with the start of Spring.

France was one of the first countries to adopt 1 January as their official New Year’s Day, by decree of Charles IX in 1564. This was before the 1582 adoption of the Gregorian calendar.

The gifts and traditions which had been the feature of the 1st of April switched to January 1st. However, many people either refused to accept the change or did not hear about the news for several years. Those who still celebrated April 1 were seen as ‘fools’ by the general populace, and fair game to be the butt of pranks and tricks were known as a “poisson d’avril” or “April fish.” 

The traditions spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century and was brought to the American colonies by both the English and French.

In 1814, Malta had become a crown colony of the British Empire after the British had help expel occupying French forces.

Following the heroic defense of the island during World War II, King George VI had promised the Maltese people self government which they gained in 1947. This eventually led to independence from Britain in 1964 and Malta becoming a republic later that year.

British forces remained on the island until 31 March 1979, when the Defence Treaty with Britain came to an end.

The removal of British was partly financial. When the Labour government came to power in Malta in 1971, it renegotiated the the lease agreement that allowed British forces to stay on the island until 1979 at an increased rent.

This withdrawal meant that for the first time in over a thousand years, Malta had no foreign military presence on its land.

The main events of the activities commemorating this date take place at the Freedom Day Monument at Vittoriosa and at the War Memorial in Floriana. In the afternoon the Grand Harbour hosts a competitive regatta.