Portal:Holidays

Portal:Holidays

Portal:Holidays

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Introduction

Graphic showing the symbols and types (religion/secularism) of varying holidays.

A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. Public holidays are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often also observed as public holidays in religious majority countries. Some religious holidays, such as Christmas, have become secularised by part or all of those who observe them. In addition to secularisation, many holidays have become commercialised due to the growth of industry.

Holidays can be thematic, celebrating or commemorating particular groups, events, or ideas, or non-thematic, days of rest that do not have any particular meaning. In Commonwealth English, the term can refer to any period of rest from work, such as vacations or school holidays. In American English, the holidays typically refers to the period from Thanksgiving to New Year's, which contains many important holidays in American culture. (Full article...)

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Christmas Day or Christmas falls on December 25. It is preceded by Christmas Eve on December 24, and in some countries is followed by Boxing Day on December 26. Some Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on January 7. An annual holiday that marks the traditional birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth, Christmas combines the celebration of Jesus' birth with various other traditions and customs, many of which were influenced by winter festivals such as Yule and Saturnalia. Christmas traditions include the display of Nativity scenes and Christmas trees, the exchange of gifts and cards, and the arrival of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

Christmas is celebrated in most countries around the world, owing to the spread of Christianity and Western culture, along with the enduring popularity of wintertime celebrations. Various local and regional Christmas traditions are still practiced, despite the widespread influence of American and British Christmas motifs disseminated by film, popular literature, television, and other media.

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Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes was an English military man and member of a group of Roman Catholics who attempted to carry out the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605. "The Gunpowder Plot" was a plan to assassinate the Protestant King James I and the members of both houses of the Parliament of England, by blowing up Westminster Palace, in which the king addressed a joint assembly of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. His activities were detected before the plan's completion, and following a severe interrogation involving the use of torture and a trial in Westminster Hall, he and his co-conspirators were executed for treason and attempted murder. Fawkes's failure (or the attempt) is remembered by Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night) on 5 November.

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