Holiday Season 2020
You might have heard people discussing the "holiday season". For example, "what are your plans for this holiday season?" Or "are you planning to go home this holiday season?" etc. Do you know what exactly the HOLIDAY SEASON is?
Holiday Season 2020 Date
- Thanksgiving Day 2020: Thursday, November 26, 2020.
- Hanukkah 2020: Thursday, December 10 – Friday, December 18
- Kwanzaa 2020: Saturday, December 26 – Friday, January 1, 2021
- Christmas 2020: Friday, December 25
- New Year Eve 2020: Thursday, December 31
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day 2020:Thursday, November 26, 2020.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States and Canada that takes place on the fourth Thursday of November every year. In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October.
Apart from the United States and Canada, Thanksgiving is also celebrated in Grenada, the Philippines, Saint Lucia, Liberia and the Netherlands.
It began as a day where people took the opportunity of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and the preceding year.
People come together to give thanks for a bountiful harvest and enjoy a big meal with their family and community. On Thanksgiving Day, the main part of the meal is usually turkey. More than 50 million turkeys are served in the US every year for Thanksgiving.
Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady Book – a colonial women’s magazine lobbied Congress for years to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the US.
President Abraham Lincoln was the first US president to officially declare the festival as the last Thursday in November.
The date was set in stone by President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941.
If you want to know more about Thanksgiving Day, visit here
Hanukkah
Hanukkah 2020 Date: Thursday, December 10 – Friday, December 18
Hanukkah also called the Festival of Lights is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated for eight days and nights. As Hanukkah is based on the lunar cycle, it starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. It means it can fall anywhere from November 28th to December 26th.
As per Wikipedia, “Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the larger Syrian army. It also celebrates a miracle that happened during this time, where just a day’s supply of oil allowed the menorah in the rededicated Temple in Jerusalem to remain lit for eight days. Therefore, Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah for eight days. “
The hanukiah is a candle holder, an important Hanukkah symbol. Jews celebrate the festival by lighting candles in a traditional eight-branch candle holder called a Menorah.
Did you know? They lit the higher candle (also known as shamash, meaning “attendant”) first and then rest of the eight candles.
On this occasion, people eat oily foods like doughnuts and spend time with their families and communities.
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa 2020 Date: Saturday, December 26 – Friday, January 1, 2021
Kwanzaa is an African-Americans celebration of community, family and culture that begins on December 26th and ends on January 1st.
Kwanzaa is pronounced as “kwahn-zuh”. This term derived from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya Kwanza”, meaning “first fruits of the harvest” or “first fruits”.
In 1966, this festival was first introduced by Dr Maulana Karenga to the United States. “Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday, but a cultural one with an inherent spiritual quality,” Dr Karenga writes.
He says “Thus, Africans of all faiths can and do celebrate Kwanzaa, i.e. Muslims, Christians, Black Hebrews, Jews, Buddhists, Baha’i and Hindus, as well as those who follow the ancient traditions of Maat, Yoruba, Ashanti, Dogon, etc.”
Kwanzaa centres around seven principles and seven primary symbols also spelt with 7 letters.
Seven Principles includes:
- Umoja (unity)
- kujichagulia (self-determination),
- Ujima (collective work and responsibility),
- Ujamaa (cooperative economics),
- Nia (purpose),
- Kuumba (creativity) and
- Imani (faith)
Seven Symbols includes:
- Mazao (crops),
- Mkeka (mat),
- Kinara (candleholder),
- Muhindi (corn),
- Kikombe cha umoja (unity cup),
- Zawadi (gifts) and
- Mishumaa saba (seven candles)
Colors of Seven candles includes:
Three candles are RED — represents the struggle;
Three candles are GREEN – represents the land and hope for the future;
One candle is BLACK – represents people of African descent.
This day people decorate their houses with fruits, flags (red, black, green) and a Kinara – a candle holder that holds seven candles. People also dance and sing traditional songs. On the sixth day of Kwanzaa, there’s a Karamu, which is a big feast.
For more information, visit here.
Christmas
Christmas 2020: Friday, December 25
Christmas is the most famous festival of the holiday season. While Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, there is no concrete evidence that Jesus was born in December.
“The Bible doesn’t mention his exact birthday, and the Nativity story contains conflicting clues. For instance, the presence of shepherds and their sheep suggest a spring birth. When church officials settled on December 25 at the end of the third century, they likely wanted the date to coincide with existing pagan festivals honoring Saturn (the Roman god of agriculture) and Mithra (the Persian god of light). That way, it became easier to convince Rome’s pagan subjects to accept Christianity as the empire’s official religion.” (Source)
New Year’s Eve
New Year Eve 2020: Thursday, December 31
We all celebrate this last night of the old year and the beginning of the new one. People say goodbye to the current year and welcome the new year with great pomp.Holiday Season Quotes
“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” – Hamilton Wright Mabie
“It’s not about presents but it is about your presence. Therein lies the spirit of the holiday season.”
― Julieanne O’Connor.
“The holiday season is about love! Share it. Spread it. Live it.”
― Amy Leigh Mercree
“May the splendor of the holiday season and the beauty of the lights enlighten your life and warm your heart.” ― Debasish Mridha
“No matter the packaging or the size… everything we are lucky to have is a gift and gifts are blessings even if in disguise.”
― Nyki Mack
“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
“Come, woo me, woo me, for now I am in a holiday humor, and like enough to consent.” – William Shakespeare
Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice – Dave Barry
One should live between extravagance and meanness. Don’t save money by starving your mind. It is false economy never to take a holiday, or never to spend money for an evening’s amusement or for a useful book- Orison Swett Marden
New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday – Charles Lamb
Hope you enjoyed holiday season article.