Religious and Cultural Festivals Calendar
1 st -Circumcision (Christian) New Year s Day (secular) Oshogatsu (or Shogatsu)(shinto) Festival of St Basil the Great (Christian) 5 th - Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) 6 th - Epiphany (Christian) Christmas day (Armenian Orthodox) (Christian) Theophany (Orthodox) (Christian) 7 th - Christmas Day (Orthodox) (Christian) Christmas Day (Ethiopian) (Rastafari) 12 th - Baptism of the Lord (Christian) 13 th -St Hilary s Day (Christian) 14 th - Makar Sankranti (Hindu) 15 th - Seijin Shiki (Adults day) (Shinto) 16 th - Tu B Shevat (Jewish) 18 th - Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (start) (Christian) 21 st - St Agnes (Christian) 24 th - Milad un Nabi (Birthday of the prophet Muhammad) (Muslim) January 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 25 th - St Paul s Day (Christian) 28 th - St Thomas Aquinas (Christian) 29 th - Milad un Nabi (Shia) (Muslim) 31 st - Birthday of Guru Har Rai (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh)
2 nd - Candlemas (Christian) Imbolc (Pagan) 3 rd Rissun (Setsubun) (Shinto) February 8 th - Parinirvana Nirvana Day (Buddhist) 11 th - Our lady of Lourdes (Christian) 14 th - St Valentines Day (Christian) 15 th - Nirvana Day (alternative date) (Buddhist) Vasant Panchami (Hindu) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
1 st- St David s Day (Christian) Fast of Esther (Taanit Esther) (Jewish) 2 nd - Nineteen Day Fast (start) (Bahai) 3 rd - Hina- matsuri Festival of Dolls (Shinto) March Clean Monday Beginning of Lent (Orthodox) (Christian) 4 th Shrove Tuesday (Christian) 5 th - St Piran s day (Christian) Ash Wednesday 10 th - Mothering Sunday (Christian) 16 th Purim (Jewish) 17 th - St Patricks Day (Christian) Shushan Purim (Jewish) Hola Mohalla (Lunar Calendar) (Sikh) 19 th - St Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian) 20 th - Spring Equinox- Eoster (Pagan) 21 st - Naw- Ruz (Bahai) Jamshedi Noruz (Fasli) (Zoroastrain) Shubun-sai - Equinox Day (Shinto) 25 th - Annunciation (Christian) 26 th -Khordad Sal (Fasli) (Zoroastrian) 30 th - Mothering Sunday (Christian) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 31 st - Ugadi (Yugadi) (Hindu)
8 th Swaminarayan Jayanti (Hindu) 13 th - Palm Sunday (Christian) Vaisakhi (Sikh) 14 th - Birthday of Guru Nanak (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) Fast of the Firstborn (Jewish) Hola Mahalla (Nanakshah calendar) (Sikh) 15 th - Passover (1 st day) (Jewish) Theravada New Year (Buddhist) 17 th Maundy Thursday (Christian) 18 th - Good Friday (Christian) Birthday of Guru Tegh Bahadur (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) 19 th - Holy Saturday (Western) (Christian) 20 th Easter (Orthodox) (Christian) Easter Sunday (Western) (Christian) 21 st - Ridvan- first day (Bahai) Anniversary of Haile Selassies visit to Jamaica (Rastafari) April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 23 rd - Passover (final day) (Jewish) St George s day (Christian) 28 th Lag B Omer (Jewish) 29 th - Ridvan ninth day (Bahai)
1 st - Beltane (Pagan) 2 nd - Ridvan twelfth day (Bahai) May Birthday of Guru Arjan Dev (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) 4 th - Yom Hazikaron (Jewish) 5 th - Yom Ha atzmaut (Jewish) 14 th Wesak or Buddha day (Buddhist) 18 th Lag B Ohmer (Jewish) 19 th - Pentecost Whitsun (Christian) 23 rd - Declaration of the Bab (Bahai) Birthday of Guru Amar Das (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) 25 th - St Bede the Venerable (Christian) 28 th - Yom Yerushalayim (Jewish) 29 th - Ascension Day (Christian) Ascension of Baha u llah (Bahai) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 st - Ascension Day (Catholic Church in England and Wales) (Christian) June 4 th Shavuot (1 st day) (Jewish) 8 th Pentecost Whitsun (Christian) 15 th - Trinity Sunday (Christian) All Saint s Day (Orthodox) (Christian) 16 th - Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) 19 th Corpus Christi (Christian) 21 st - Summer Solstice Litha (Pagan) 22 nd Corpus Christi (Catholic Church in England and Wales) (Christian) 28 th Ramadan (start) (Muslim) 29 th - St Peter and St Pauls Day (Christian) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
5 th - Birthday of Guru Hargobind (Nanakshahi Calendar) (sikh) 9 th - Martyrdom of the Bab (Bahai) July 15 th - St Swithins Day (Christian) 16 th - Tisha B Av (Jewish) 19 th - Jamshedi Noruz (Qadimi) (Zoroastrian) 22 nd -St Mary Magdalene (Christian) 23 rd - Birthday of Guru Har Krishen (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) Birthday of Haile Selassie I (Rastafari) 24 th - Pioneer Day (Mormon) Khordad Sal (Qadimi) (Zoroastrian) Lailat al Qadr (Muslim) 28 th Eid-Ul-Fitr (Muslim) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1st- Lughnasadh- Lammas (Pagan) 5 th Tisha B Av (Jewish) 6 th - Transfiguration (Christian) August 15 th -Dormition of the Theotokos (Christian) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian) 17 th -Birthday of Marcus Garvey (Rastafari) 18 th - Jamshedi Noruz (Shenshai) (Zoroastrian) 23 rd -Khordad Sal (Shenshai) (Zoroastrian) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
8 th - Nativity of the Theotokos (Christian) Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian) September 11 th - Ethiopian New Year (Rastafari) 14 th - The Triumph of the Cross (Christian) 23 rd - Autumn Equinox (Pagan) Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Catholic) 25 th -Rosh Hashanah (1 st day) (Jewish) Navaratri (start) (Hindu) 27 th - Fast of Gedalliah (Jewish) 29 th - Michaelmas/St Michael, St Gabriel and St Raphael s Day (Christian) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
2 nd - Feast of the Guardian Angels (Christian) 4 th - Dussera (Hindu) October Eid-UL-Adha (Muslim) Yom Kippur (Jewish) 9 th - Birthday of Guru Ram Das (Nanakshahi calendar) (Sikh) Sukkot (Jewish) 13 th - St Edwards Day (Christian) 15 th - Hoshanah Rabbah (Jewish) Al-Hijira (Muslim) 16 th - Shemini Atzeret (Jewish) 17 th - Simchat Torah (Jewish) 20 th - Birth of the Bab (Bahai) 23 rd Diwali (Hindu, Jain, Sikh) 31 st - Samhain (Hallowe en) (Pagan) All Hallows Eve (Christian) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 st - All saints Day (Hallowmas, All Hallows) (Christian) 2 nd - Coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I (Rastafari) All Souls Day (Christian) All Saints Day (Catholic Church in England and Wales) (Christian) 3 rd - Ashura (Muslim) 6 th - Birthday of Guru Nanak (Lunar Calendar) (Sikh) 11 th - Armistice Day (Multifaith) 12 th - Birth of Baha u llah (Bahai) 15 th - Shichigosan (7-5-3 festival) (Shinto) 17 th - St Hilda (Christian) 23 rd - Niinamesei (Shinto) 24 th - Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur (Nanakshahi Calendar) (Sikh) 26 th - Day of the Covenant (Bahai) 28 th - Ascension of Abdu l-baha (Bahai) 30 th - Advent Sunday (Christian) St Andrew s Day (Christian) November 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
December 8 th - Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Catholic) Bodhi Day (Buddhist) 12 th - Our lady of Guadeloupe (Catholic) 13 th - St Lucy s Day (Christian) 17 th - Hanukkah (Jewish) 21 st - Winter Solstice Yule (Pagan) 24 th - Christmas Eve (Christian) 25 th - Christmas Day ( Christian) 26 th -St Stephen s Day (Christian) Boxing Day (Secular) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Religious and Cultural Festivals Calendar The BBC Website can provide you with more information at www.bbc.co.uk/religion In our area, you can contact the East of England Faiths Agency at www.eefaithscouncil.org.uk The Equality and Diversity section of the Association s Website provides information to help you plan and deliver fair and accessible services. If you need additional advice or support, please contact either your departmental staff equality and diversity representative or: Director of Housing, Support and Care Equality and Inclusion Officer E & D Champion Beth Glenton Paul Kingston Tel: 01473 228657 Tel: 01473 228608 Email: lesleyg@orwell-housing.co.uk Email: paulk@orwell-housing.co.uk