The Ever Project

All Kinds of Holidays

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 0 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

Some holidays that may seem odd to people of one culture may be a perfectly ordinary tradition to people of another culture. Even some well-known holidays may have traditions not familiar in all cultures where they are celebrated. There are religious, secular, and national holidays; there are also "fan holidays", traditions that have gained popularity with a particular group of people to honor the subject of their passion. Special days, weeks, or months are often promoted in the interest of commerce or public awareness. And certainly there are holidays that are no longer celebrated or even remembered by modern cultures.

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Featured Holidays 

I've finally formatted this lens so that information about various holidays can be easily found here, but as you can see, there are only a few featured holidays right now.

January 

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January Links 

No links yet!
Coming soon!

February 

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February Links 

UNESCO - International Mother Language Day | Journée internationale de la langue maternelle
This celebration of heritage and diversity in language originated as a Bangladeshi commemoration of an incident in which university students were killed while trying to gain recognition of the Bengali tongue as a state language.

March 

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March Links 

Pi Day - The official web site for Pi Day, March 14th
The mathematical constant represented by the Greek letter %u03C0 (pi), has its own holiday. Since the first three digits of this number are 3.14, it makes sense to celebrate it during the third month, on the fourteenth day!

Moveable Feasts 

Some holidays are celebrated on the same day of the same month each year; others may celebrated on the same day of the week each year. Some holidays are observed on a date closer to the weekend than the actual date of the holiday, for the sake of efficiency. Easter always falls on a Sunday, but sometimes it's observed in March, and sometimes in April; its date each year is set according to a complex formula.

[A more detailed essay on moveable feasts coming soon!]

April 

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April Links 

National High Five Day
The "high five", that hand-slapping gesture of mutual congratulation, has its own holiday, celebrated annually on the third Thursday of April in the United States and elsewhere.

May 

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May Links 

Free Comic Book Day May 3rd 2008
As the name implies, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world are giving away special issues of comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores.
Towel Day :: A tribute to Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
In the universe of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy stories, galactic hitchhikers are respected if they know where their towel is, since it is a very useful item. This holiday is more or less celebrated by bringing a towel with you wherever you go.

Free Comic Book Day 

from Wikipedia

Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Brainstormed by retailer Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics in Concord CA in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer magazine, it was started in 2002 and is coordinated by the industry's single large distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors. The next event will be on May 2, 2009.

Free Comic Book Day is scheduled on the first Saturday of May after the release of a major theatrical film adaptation of a well known superhero property, in order to take advantage of the film's heavy promotion and related press about the comic book medium. On Free Comic Book Day, participating comic book store retailers give away specially printed copies of free comic books, and some offer cheaper back issues and other items to anyone who visits their establishments. Retailers do not receive the issues for free; they p...

Learn More About Comics 

...at Amazon.com

Free Comic Book Day may be a promotional gimmick for the comic book industry, but it has an educational aspect as well, as the free comic books introduce new readers to the stories and the art form. The following books may not be free, but they do the same sort of thing.

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

This book explains comics as a literary and artistic form, in comic book form itself.

Amazon Price: $15.61 (as of 07/04/2008)
List Price: $22.95
Used Price: $8.25

The DC Comics Encyclopedia

This copiously illustrated encyclopedia chronicles more than 1,000 DC Comics characters from the 1930s to the present.

Amazon Price: $26.40 (as of 07/04/2008)
List Price: $40.00
Used Price: $25.23

The Marvel Encyclopedia

This unique, one-volume encyclopedia contains more than 1000 of Marvel's greatest, with full details of their powers and their thrill-packed careers.

Amazon Price: $26.40 (as of 07/04/2008)
List Price: $40.00
Used Price: $25.27

Towel Day 

from Wikipedia

Towel Day is celebrated every May 25 as a tribute by fans of the late author Douglas Adams. The commemoration was first held in 2001, two weeks after his death on May 11 2001. On this day, fans carry a towel with them during the day to demonstrate their participation and mourning of the author. The towel is a reference to Adams's popular science fiction comedy series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy''.

In case you forgot your towel... 

...buy one from Amazon.com!

Sorry, there are no results available from Amazon.

June 

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Obsolete Holidays 

[Coming soon!]

July 

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August 

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August Links 

National Underwear Day at Freshpair.com
This annual event seems to be a promotional gimmick to sell underwear. Apparently people are even encouraged to dress only in underwear all day.

September 

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September Links 

Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19
Arr! Talk like a pirate! All day, matey!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day 

from Wikipedia

== Background ==

Category: Image - :Pirateguys portrait 2005HR.jpg|right|thumb|250px|"Cap'n Slappy" and "Ol' Chumbucket", the founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day.

According to Summers, the day is the only holiday to come into being as a result of a sports injury. He has stated that during a racquetball game between Summers and Baur, one of them reacted to the pain with an outburst of "Aaarrr!", and the idea was born. That game took place on June 6, 1995, but out of respect for the observance of D-Day, they chose Summers' ex-wife's birthday, as it would be easy for him to remember.

At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when John Baur and Mark Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to the American syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002. Barry liked the idea and promoted the day.Dave Barry, [http://www.miamiherald.com/283/story/100129.html "Arrrrr! Talk like a pirate?or prepare to be 'boarded'"]. 8 September 2002. Growing media covera...

The Five A's of Piratey Speech 

Talk Like a Pirate Day: The Five A's

The Pirate Guys, Ol' Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy teach ye lubbers the basics of talkin' like a pirate

Runtime: 2:02 | 257941 views | 182 Comments

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Name Days 

In some cultures, instead of celebrating birthdays, people celebrate name days. The tradition originated with the observances of the anniversaries of the deaths of Christian saints; people named after a particular saint would celebrate their name day on that saint's feast day.

[A more detailed essay on name days coming soon!]

October 

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November 

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December 

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December Links 

Koala Wallop - View topic - Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day: 12-8-7
This humorous role-playing holiday was proposed last year in this forum discussion; perhaps it will become an annual event.

Directories of Unusual Holidays 

A+ Forwards: Day of Days
a list of unusual holidays
Bizarre American Holidays Home Page
Only in the USA can we celebrate the glory of egg salad, dictionaries, and procrastination. Here we celebrate these lesser known holidays. You won't find boring holidays like Thanksgiving and Mother's Day in here!
Party Guide Online - Party On!
A directory of worldwide celebrations, listing holidays, recreational events and special occasions. Find events and plan your weekends, your vacation or your own special event!
Office Holidays: Home
This site is styled as a calendar listing various holidays which members of an international group of office workers might observe, as an aid in planning meetings.

What's your favorite odd holiday? 

Do you participate in any unusual observances? Whether it's a wacky tribute, a promotional gimmick, a family tradition, a religious festival, a national holiday, or any other sort of special time, I'd be interested to hear about it!

quippingqueen

Well, now you're talking my loopy language! A mighty fine list of hiliarious holidays awaits your reading enjoyment at "funny festivities"!

Posted May 07, 2008

Indices of Links Lists 

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