Category: Cultural Diversity

During July there are several national days and notable holidays and festivals. Why not brighten up your video calls by using our virtual backgrounds to highlight these special days? You’ll find some instructions on how to use these images in Zoom and Microsoft Teams at the bottom of the page. July 1st – Canada Day […]

In the Northern Hemisphere, June is a summer month when individual vacations start to take precedence over wondering when the next public holiday. However there are still some important and diverse festivals and holidays taking place. June also features the major Islamic festival of Eid Al-Adha. Month info: Probably the name June is derived from the latin word ‘iuvenis‘ which means young, but it is also linked to the goddess […]

May always gets off a strong start with one of the biggest secular holidays of the year taking place on May 1st – International Workers’ Day. This holiday can trace it roots back to European pagan fire festivals celebrating the return of the sun at the end of winter. Nowadays however, any red on May […]

This year, April showers us with some important holidays. Without a doubt, Easter dominates the month. It’s 19 days later than it was last year, though it takes place on the same date as Orthodox Easter. The reasons for the shifting dates are covered below. Other notable festivals this month are the Solar New Year […]

March is a month of rebirth and renewal as spring starts to push back winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Over 300 million people will mark Spring with Persian New Year on March 21st; and Balinese New Year, and the Hindu festival of Holi also brings color and life to this month. This year, March also […]

Whether or not February is a busy month for holidays and festivals rather depends on the phases of the Moon. For instance, this year, the second new moon after December 21st takes place on January 29th, which means that February misses out on the prestigious Lunar New Year holidays. Month info: February gets it name from […]

January 1: New Year’s Day New Year’s Day is a public holiday in all countries that observe the Gregorian calendar, with the exception of Israel January 6: Epiphany Epiphany is an important and widely-observed Christian festival that marks the visit of the Magi (the three wise men) to the infant Jesus. January 7: Orthodox Christmas […]

January is ushered in with New Year’s Day, which is celebrated with a public holiday for 90% of the world’s population, making it the most widely observed holiday of the year. January is notable for the lack of national days; clearly January wasn’t a good time to ask your colonial powers for your independence. Indeed […]

After the diversity of religious festivals and notable national days during the previous few months, the focus of December is undeniably one holiday – Christmas. This month we take a deeper look at the day when over two billion people (over a third of the world’s population) will celebrate the birth of Christ. Month info: The […]

November is a month of harvest festivals, some of the oldest holidays, that date back to when ancient farming communities gathered to give thanks for a good harvest, essential in surviving the imminent harsh winter. In addition to American Thanksgiving, this year November also hosts the birthday of the founder of one of the world’s […]