Holidays

Below is a complete listing of all the major religious holidays and holy days for the 2011-2012 school year. Religious holidays for the Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim traditions are included. See also the “Guidelines for Religious Holiday Observance and Student Absences.”

Major Religious Holidays/Holy Days

2011-2012 School Year

August

01 (Mon.)  Ramadan (first day)- Islamic*
31 (Wed.)  Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan)- Islamic*

September
29 (Thur.) Rosh Hashanah- Jewish* (first day)
30 (Fri.)  Rosh Hashanah (second day)

October
08 (Sat.)  Yom Kippur- Jewish*
13 (Thur.) Sukkot- Jewish* (first day of seven days)
26 (Wed.)  Diwali (Festival of Lights)- Hindu

November
06 (Sun.)  Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice at the end of Hajj)- Islamic*
12 (Sat.)  Baha'u'llah's Birthday (Commemorates Founder's Birthday)- Bahá'í
26 (Sat.)  Al-Hijra/Muharram (New Year)- Islamic*

December
08 (Thus.) Bodhi Day (Buddha's Enlightenment, Rohatsu)- Buddhist
21 (Wed.)  Hanukkah- Jewish* (first day of eight days)
25 (Sun.)  Christmas- Christian

February
04 (Sat.)  Mawlid al-Nabi (Muhammad’s birthday)- Islamic*
15 (Wed.)  Nirvana Day (Commemorates the death of Buddha)- Buddhist
22 (Wed.)  Ash Wednesday- Christian

March
08 (Thur.) Purim- Jewish*
08 (Thur.) Holi (Spring festival)- Hindu
21 (Wed.)  Naw-Ruz (Baha’i  New Year)- Bahá'í

April
01 (Sun.)  Palm Sunday- Christian 
06 (Fri.)  Good Friday- Christian 
07 (Sat.)  Passover (Pesach; first of eight days)- Jewish*
08 (Sun.)  Easter- Christian
08 (Sun.)  Palm Sunday- Orthodox Christian 
13 (Fri.)  Holy Friday- Orthodox Christian
15 (Sun.)  Easter- Orthodox Christian
21 (Sat.)  Ridvan (Declaration of Baha'u'llah; 12 days; begins at sunset 4/20)- Bahá'i

May
06 (Sun.)  Vesak (Buddha Day, celebrates the birth of Buddha, Visakah Puja)- Buddhist
27 (Sun.)  Pentecost- Christian

 * Jewish and Islamic holidays traditionally begin at 

 sunset on the previous evening

Explanatory Notes 

• Ash Wednesday: Begins Christian observance of Lent; name derives from use of ashes to signify penitence.
• Baha’u’llah’s Birthday: Commemorates the birth of the founder of the Bahá’í faith in 1817.
• Bodhi Day: Buddhist celebration of the Enlightenment of Buddha, ca. 596 B.C.E.
• Christmas: Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
• Diwali: Festival of Lights; one of four seasonal celebrations in India.
• Easter: The day Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
• Eid al-Adha: Islamic festival of sacrifice; commemorates Abraham’s faith, and is also a memorial to the dead.
• Eid al-Fitre: Islamic festival of the breaking of the fast of Ramadan.
• Good Friday (Holy Friday): The day Christians commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion.
• Hanukkah: Jewish festival of lights; eight day commemoration of the rededication of the Second Temple in 165 B.C.E. A candle is lighted on each evening.
• Holi: Spring festival; a Hindu carnival occasion featuring bright colors, pilgrimages, and bonfires.
• Nirvana Day: Commemorates the death of Buddha.
• Palm Sunday: Begins Christian Holy Week; palms recall the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Orthodox Christian observances are the same as those observed in the West, but are based on the Julian (Eastern) calendar rather that the Gregorian (Western) calendar.
• Passover (Pesach): Eight day celebration marking the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt; Seder ceremonies retell the story of the “Exodus.”
• Pentecost 50 days after Easter, when Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus. Sometimes referred to as the “birthday of the Church.”
• Purim: Feast of Lots. Celebrates deliverance of Jews in ancient Persia from a plot to destroy them. The scroll of Esther is read.
• Ramadan: The ninth month in the Islamic calendar; 30 days of strict fasting from sunup to sundown in honor of the first revelations to the Prophet Muhammad.
• Ridvan: Commemorates the declaration of Baha’u’llah to his followers in 1863. Work is suspended for the Bahá’í faithful on the 1st, 9th, and 12th days.
• Rosh Hashanah: Jewish New Year beginning 10 days of penitence concluded on Yom Kippur.
• Sukkot: Jewish festival of booths (or tabernacles) and the fall harvest; takes its name from the booths used by Israelites during desert wanderings. First two days and last two days have special observances.
• Yom Kippur: Jewish day of atonement; most solemn Jewish holy day, devoted to prayer, fasting and repentance.