Next month's Festivals

Details of service

Each month we will e mail you details of all the festivals that will take place in the following month together with full information on how people celebrate them.

	Format - Word attachment c250kb file size
	E mailed to arrive on the first working day of the month
	Total cost for the service £5 per month

One month's Free Trial - If you would like to test the service just send us an e-mail giving your contact details to nextmonth@multicultural-matters.com

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An example of the data that will be supplied is detailed below - please note this data refers to 2008.

JANUARY 2008 Festivals

Day		Community	Festival
Sun	1	Black Diaspora	Kwanzaa: Last day
	1	Cameroonian	Independence Day
	1	Greek/Greek Cypriot	Saint Basil's Day
	1	Japanese	Ganjitsu/Oshogatsu
	1	Slovak	Independence Day
	1	Sudanese	Independence Day
	1	UK	New Year's Day
Mon	2
Tue	3	Scottish	Bank Holiday
Wed	4	Burmese	Independence Day
Thu	5	Sikh	Guru Gobind Singh Ji: Birthday
	5	UK	Twelfth Night
Fri	6	Christian	Epiphany
Sat	7	Buddhist: Mahayana	Bodhi Day
	7	Christian: Orthodox	Christmas Day
	7	Rastafarian	Rasmus
Sun	8

Festival	Community	Observance
Bank Holiday	Scottish	Scotland has an extra day’s holiday at New Year, although it is subject to royal proclamation.
Epiphany	Christian: Orthodox	This festival celebrates the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist. Due to differences between the Julian and Gregorian calendar, it is celebrated thirteen days after the Western Epiphany.
Epiphany	Christian	In earlier times this was the Christmas festival and it is still important in some Eastern Orthodox churches although they celebrate Epiphany thirteen days later. It is also known as Three Kings Day and celebrates the 3 Wise Men, who some people believe were Zoroastrian priests, visiting baby Jesus. The word Epiphany means showing or manifestation. It is one of the Roman Catholic Holy Days of Obligation when people should take communion.
Ganjitsu/ Oshogatsu	Japanese	Ganjitsu is New Years day in Japan and the whole 3-day festival is called Oshogatsu. It is the most important festival of the year and the traditional belief is that whatever happens to you at this time sets the scene for the rest of the year. (Oshogatsu means Standard Month). For this reason there is a tradition whereby everyone must begin the year by laughing so there is a great deal of hilarity as the clock strikes midnight. The day before houses must be cleaned thoroughly. Pine and bamboo arrangements, which traditionally symbolise New Year, are placed in front of shops and houses. Straw rope decorations called shimenawa are hung on doors to ward off misfortune and to signify purification within. Paper sculptures are also hung in doorways. Although this is essentially a Shinto festival, some people may visit Buddhist temples from where, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, the bell is pealed 108 times. The significance of the number 108 is that it represents the number of faults in most human beings and people are meant to think about them and try to eradicate them from their lives. The bells are also helpful in banishing evil spirits. Traditional food includes rice cakes and a special soup: red snapper is a popular fish, as the colour is considered lucky. The evening meal at which all the family should be present is called the Osechi. Many people dress in traditional clothes at New Year, if not they are likely to wear their very best clothes. Although Ganjitsu is very much a family occasion it is also a time for paying respect to friends and business associates. Children are particularly indulged and usually receive presents of cash.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji: Birthday	Sikh	Born in 1666, he became Guru in 1675 after the martyrdom of his father Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. He was the tenth and last Guru and the founder of the Khalsa. This festival is second only to Guru Nanak’s birthday in terms of importance in the Sikh calendar. It is mark ed by a procession led by the Panj Piaray (5 baptised Sikhs who represent the first 5 people to join the Khalsa) and the Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the Sikh Holy scripture) on a float. The festival is always preceded by a full non-stop reading of the Holy Granth (Akhand-Path), which takes 48 hours. People watching the processions are given symbolic offerings of fruit, sweets and soft drinks. This is in the spirit of Langar; the open kitchen attached to every Gurdwara where people of all faiths are welcomed to share a communal meal. The third Guru Amar Das Ji started this tradition; it is a practical demonstration of the belief in equality that is an essential part of the Sikh faith. Many Sikhs illuminate their homes with oil lamps (deepas), candles or multi coloured electric bulbs. There might be firework displays or people may have them at home. Children have new clothes. Greeting cards depicting the Sikh Khanda symbol are popular. It is customary to give to charity at this time.
Independence Day	Burmese	Commemorates the anniversary of independence gained from Britain in 1948.The Union Jack was lowered at 4:20 a.m. , a time chosen by astrologers as being particularly auspicious. It is a public holiday in Burma/Myanmar.
Independence Day	Cameroonian	Commemorates the anniversary of the date when East Cameroon became an independent republic in 1960. It is a public holiday in Cameroon .
Independence Day	Slovak	Commemorates the 15^th anniversary of independence declared in 1993.
Independence Day	Sudanese	Commemorates the 50^th anniversary of Sudan achieving its independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956. It is the main National Day in Sudan .
Kwanzaa: Last day	Black Diaspora	The last day of the seven-day festival and the one on which most gifts (Zawadi) are exchanged. They should be home made or at least hand crafted and if so should ideally be bought from black businesses.
New Year's Day	UK	A public holiday in the UK , which most people spend recovering from the night before. It begins at midnight on New Year’s Eve when everyone links arms with the person next to them and warbles Auld Lang Syne. (The Queen does not do this.) There are different traditions around the country but many people believe that the first person over the doorstep after midnight should be a dark-haired man. This is believed to have originated in the time when a blond Viking at the door often put a bit of a dampener on the evening. It is known as Ne’er Day in Scotland .
Saint Basil's Day	Greek/Greek Cypriot	Although the Greek community celebrate Christmas at the same time as the Western church, the traditional day for exchanging presents is Saint Basil’s Day. Special cakes containing coins are baked; the person who gets the piece containing the coin will have good luck for the rest of the year.
Twelfth Night	UK	Christmas decorations should be taken down by dusk on this day.