59 Fun Facts About Holidays Around the World

Diwali commemorates which figure's return to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana?

Rama: tradition says Ayodhya's citizens lit up the streets with diyas to welcome him home after 14 years of exile.

Which festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month ends Chinese New Year celebrations?

The Lantern Festival: it was once one of the few nights young women were allowed out, to admire lanterns and perhaps meet a suitor.

What are the home altars built for Mexico's Day of the Dead called?

Ofrendas: families deck them with cempasúchil marigolds, whose bright colour and scent are believed to guide the souls of the dead to the altar.

Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, celebrates the love between which two deities?

Radha and Krishna: legend says Krishna feared Radha would reject him for his skin colour, until his mother suggested a game of colouring faces.

Songkran, the Thai New Year festival, is famous for what public activity?

Water fights: they grew from pouring water over Buddha images and elders' hands, a gesture meant to wash away the old year's misfortune.

Eid al-Fitr traditionally begins once people sight what in the evening sky?

A crescent moon: each Islamic month begins when the new crescent appears, so the date of Eid, the first day of Shawwal, can't be fixed long in advance.

Hanukkah's eight nights recall one day's supply of what lasting eight days?

Oil: rabbinic tradition says one cruse kept the Temple menorah lit for eight days, which is why Jews eat foods fried in oil, such as latkes.

Kwanzaa, the African American holiday created in 1966, takes its name from which language?

Swahili: Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa after the Watts riots as a community-building holiday, naming it from matunda ya kwanza, 'first fruits'.

Rio de Janeiro's Carnival parade is a contest between schools of which dance?

Samba: each school, rooted in a local neighbourhood, spends months building floats and rehearsing for one judged parade in the Sambadrome.

Which German festival began in 1810 as the celebration of a Bavarian royal wedding?

Oktoberfest: the wedding's race was run again the following year, and that decision turned a one-off celebration into a tradition.

Bastille Day marks the storming of a Paris fortress that was being used as what?

A prison: yet when Parisians stormed the Bastille on 14 July 1789 it held just seven prisoners, and they mainly wanted its gunpowder.

Guy Fawkes was arrested in 1605 while guarding explosives placed beneath what?

The House of Lords: the plotters meant to kill James I at the State Opening, and Londoners lit bonfires to celebrate his survival, the root of Bonfire Night.

Midsummer celebrations in Europe were traditionally fixed to the feast day of which biblical figure on 24 June?

John the Baptist: the Gospel of Luke puts his birth six months before Jesus's, so his feast falls opposite Christmas, with 'St John's fires' lit on its eve.

During Japan's Obon festival, families make horses from cucumbers and cows from aubergines for whom?

Their ancestors: the swift cucumber horse brings their spirits home quickly, while the slow aubergine cow carries them back to the other world at a gentle pace.

On Seollal, Korean New Year, children bow deeply to their elders and are given what?

Money: elders hand out New Year money, sebaetdon, and pass on deokdam, words of wisdom.

La Tomatina, the tomato-throwing festival, is held in which town?

Buñol: when authorities banned the tomato fight in the 1950s, locals protested in 1957 with a mock funeral, carrying a coffin with a giant tomato inside.

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is timed to what?

The spring equinox: Nowruz heralds the arrival of spring, so families give their homes a thorough clean and buy new clothes before it begins.

During Thailand's Loy Krathong festival, decorated baskets are floated on rivers to thank whom?

The goddess of water: people thank Phra Mae Khongkha for the year's water and ask forgiveness for using it, while many also honour the Buddha.

On Saint Lucy's Day, 13 December, girls in Sweden lead processions wearing what on their heads?

A crown of candles: the Lucia's white gown recalls the saint's purity, and her red sash the blood of her martyrdom.

In much of Europe, 26 December is the feast of which early Christian martyr?

Stephen: remembered as the first Christian martyr, he was stoned to death and died praying that his killers be forgiven.

Waitangi Day marks an 1840 treaty between the British and which people?

The Māori: the English text has chiefs ceding sovereignty, but the Māori text grants only kāwanatanga, governorship, which is why the treaty is still contested.

Australia Day on 26 January marks the 1788 landing of what?

The First Fleet: Arthur Phillip judged Botany Bay unsuitable, so he moved the fleet north to Sydney Cove, where the flag was raised on 26 January.

Canada Day was known by what name until 1982?

Dominion Day: the 1982 rename began as a private member's bill, which sped through the Commons.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico's 1862 victory over which country at the Battle of Puebla?

France: the win was short-lived, as French forces pressed on and installed Maximilian as Mexico's emperor.

Which island, nicknamed the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, observes Saint Patrick's Day as a public holiday?

Montserrat: the holiday also commemorates a failed uprising by enslaved people on 17 March 1768, alongside the island's Irish heritage.

In Alpine folklore, Krampus punishes naughty children on 5 December with what?

Birch rods: Krampus swats naughty children with a bundle of birch branches, and the basket on his back is, in legend, for carting the worst away.

According to Dutch tradition, Sinterklaas arrives each year by steamboat from which country?

Spain: each November his steamboat 'arrives' in a different Dutch town, and the national welcome is broadcast live on television.

Purim celebrates the foiling of Haman's plot, as told in which book of the Bible?

Esther: Haman picked the date by casting lots, pur, which gave Purim its name, and he was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai.

Passover commemorates the Israelites' Exodus from slavery in which land?

Egypt: the Israelites left in such haste that their dough had no time to rise, which is why matzah, unleavened bread, is eaten at Passover.

Vesak commemorates three events in the life of the Buddha: his birth, his death, and what?

His enlightenment: tradition holds that his birth, awakening and death all fell on the same day, which is why one festival marks all three.

Ramadan's daily fast ends at sunset with which meal?

Iftar: families traditionally open it by eating dates, recalling the Prophet Muhammad's practice of breaking the fast with dates.

Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, is known in English as the Day of what?

Atonement: tradition says God seals each person's verdict for the year as Yom Kippur ends, so Jews spend it fasting and praying for forgiveness.

What instrument is sounded in synagogues on Rosh Hashanah?

The shofar, a ram's horn, isn't sounded when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, since rabbis feared someone might carry it in public.

On Setsubun, what do Japanese people traditionally throw to drive out demons?

Beans: people throw them shouting 'devils out, fortune in', then eat one bean for each year of their age.

Japan's Golden Week opens on 29 April with a holiday honouring which emperor, who reigned through World War II?

Hirohito: after his death in 1989 the day became Greenery Day, honouring the wartime emperor's love of plants.

Pongal, the Tamil harvest festival, is named after a rice dish made by doing what?

Boiling it over: families boil new rice in milk until it spills over the pot, shouting 'Pongalo Pongal', since the overflow signals abundance.

Which civilisation's sun festival, Inti Raymi, is re-enacted every June in Cusco?

The Incas: colonial authorities banned the festival as pagan, and today's pageant at Sacsayhuamán is a reconstruction staged since 1944.

In Scotland's Hogmanay tradition of first-footing, what kind of guest is thought to bring the best luck?

A tall, dark-haired man: the first-foot sets the year's luck and traditionally brings gifts such as coal for warmth, shortbread for food and whisky for cheer.

Canadian Thanksgiving is held on which day?

It has been an official annual holiday since 1879; the current date was fixed by proclamation in 1957.

Mardi Gras is French for what?

Fat Tuesday: people used up eggs, milk and fat before the Lenten fast, which is why many English speakers call the day Pancake Day.

Epiphany, on 6 January, commemorates whose visit to the infant Jesus?

The Magi: in Mexico a ring cake baked for the day hides a baby figurine, and whoever finds it must host a tamale party on 2 February.

Anzac Day on 25 April marks the 1915 landing of Australian and New Zealand troops on which peninsula?

Gallipoli: the campaign failed and the troops were eventually evacuated, yet the landing became a founding moment of Australian and New Zealand identity.

Which pastry is traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Mooncakes: a folk tale says rebels hid messages inside them to coordinate the uprising that overthrew China's Mongol rulers.

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates which ancient Chinese minister and poet?

Qu Yuan: legend says that when he drowned himself in the Miluo River, villagers raced out in boats to save him and threw rice into the river to keep fish from his body.

Besides wrestling and archery, which sport completes the 'three games of men' at Mongolia's Naadam festival?

Horse racing: even the two-year-old that finishes last is greeted with a song wishing it luck.

Ethiopia's Timkat processions carry the Tabot, a model of what?

The Ark of the Covenant: a tabot rests on every Ethiopian Orthodox altar, and since only priests may see it uncovered, it travels wrapped in rich cloth.

On Nyepi, Bali's silent new year, what happens to the island's international airport?

It closes for the whole day: Nyepi's rules forbid work, travel and the use of fire or light across the island.

Zurich's spring holiday Sechseläuten climaxes with the burning of the Böögg, an effigy of what?

A snowman: the Böögg stands for winter, and the faster its explosive-packed head blows off, the warmer the coming summer is said to be.

Many Halloween traditions are thought to derive from Samhain, a harvest festival of which people?

The Gaelic Celts: they held that spirits crossed over easily at Samhain, and wearing costumes may have been a way to disguise oneself from them.

Up Helly Aa, held in Lerwick at the end of January, ends with the burning of what?

An imitation Viking galley: after singing the Up Helly Aa song, the guizers throw their torches into it, and a new galley is built every winter.

Burns Night is celebrated on 25 January because it is what?

The poet's birthday: yet the first Burns Supper, held by nine friends at his cottage in 1801, marked the fifth anniversary of his death.

White Day, held on 14 March in Japan, was created for men to do what?

Return Valentine's gifts: in Japan it is women who give chocolates on 14 February, so the confectionery industry launched an 'answer day' a month later.

The Chinese Qingming Festival, held around 4-6 April, is known in English by what name?

Tomb-Sweeping Day: it absorbed the Cold Food Festival, said to honour Jie Zitui, a loyal courtier who died when his lord set a forest on fire to smoke him out.

Which founding father was the principal author of the Declaration celebrated on the Fourth of July?

Thomas Jefferson: Congress struck out his draft's attack on the slave trade, a cut he later said was made to please South Carolina and Georgia.

Tết is the lunar new year festival of which country?

Vietnam: in 1968 communist forces broke the holiday calm with the surprise Tet Offensive, a military defeat that still turned American opinion against the war.

Vaisakhi, the April harvest festival, is celebrated chiefly in which Indian region?

Punjab: Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa on Vaisakhi in 1699, and in 1919 British troops fired on a crowd gathered in Amritsar on the festival.

Which cave temple near Kuala Lumpur is the focal point of Malaysia's Thaipusam festival?

Batu Caves: many devotees carry kavadis there, portable altars attached to the body by skewers and hooks pierced into the skin.

Which Chinese city hosts the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival each winter?

Harbin: the sculptures' building blocks are sawn from the frozen surface of the Songhua River.

Which South Korean summer festival began as a way to promote a local beauty product?

Boryeong Mud Festival: when coal mining shut down and the economy slumped, officials turned the local seaside mud into a tourist attraction.