70 Fun Facts About International Holiday

Diwali is best known as the Hindu festival of what?

Homes are lit with diyas — small oil lamps — and many families worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

By popular tradition, Diwali marks whose return to Ayodhya after 14 years in exile?

He came home with Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman, and the city lit lamps to welcome them.

What do people throw at each other during Holi?

The night before, bonfires called Holika Dahan mark the victory of good over evil.

Holi celebrates the arrival of which season?

It falls on the full moon of Phalguna, usually in March, and honors the love of Radha and Krishna.

Chinese New Year is also known by what name?

It begins on the new moon between 21 January and 20 February and ends 15 days later with the Lantern Festival.

In the Chinese New Year legend, the monster Nian was afraid of loud noises and which colour?

That is why the season is drenched in red decorations, firecrackers and hongbao envelopes of cash.

What are the red envelopes of cash given at Chinese New Year called in Mandarin?

Lai see is the Cantonese term and angpow the Hokkien; the money inside should ideally be crisp new notes.

Songkran, celebrated with nationwide water fights, is the New Year festival of which country?

The official date is 13 April, the water symbolizes cleansing, and Buddha statues are bathed as part of the rites.

Vietnam's Tết falls at roughly the same time as which other holiday?

Families decorate with peach blossoms or kumquat trees and eat bánh chưng, a square sticky-rice cake wrapped in leaves.

What do Mexican families build at home and at graves during the Day of the Dead?

Celebrated on 1 and 2 November, the holiday fills the ofrendas with pan de muerto, sugar skulls and orange cempasúchil marigolds.

Which flower is most associated with Day of the Dead altars and graves?

The bright orange cempasúchil is said to guide spirits home with its colour and scent.

Mexico City's big Day of the Dead parade was created after it appeared in which James Bond film?

The 2015 movie invented the parade for its opening; the city staged a real one the following year to meet tourist demand.

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

Its roots are Zoroastrian, it has been celebrated for over 3,000 years, and the UN adopted an International Day of Nowruz in 2010.

The Nowruz Haft-sin table holds seven items that all begin with which letter?

Sabze, samanu, senjed, serke, sib, sir and somāq — sprouts, pudding, oleaster, vinegar, apple, garlic and sumac.

How long do the Nowruz holidays last in Iran?

On the thirteenth day, Sizdah Bedar, everyone leaves the house to picnic outdoors.

Japan's Obon festival honours whom?

Families return to their hometowns to clean graves, dance the Bon Odori and float lanterns down rivers to guide the souls back.

Japan's Setsubun custom involves throwing what while shouting 'Demons out, fortune in'?

You then eat one bean for every year of your age plus one for luck; in Kansai you also eat an uncut sushi roll facing the lucky direction.

Japan's Golden Week begins on 29 April with which holiday?

The name was coined in 1951 by a film executive after a movie sold unusually well during the run of holidays.

Korea's Chuseok, on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, is often translated into English as what?

Families make songpyeon rice cakes and visit ancestral graves to tidy them and offer food.

Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, is so strict that what closes for the whole day?

No work, travel, lights or entertainment are allowed; the night before, demonic ogoh-ogoh effigies are paraded and burned.

Thailand's Loy Krathong festival involves floating what on rivers and ponds?

The krathong is made of folded banana leaves with three incense sticks and a candle, and it coincides with the Yi Peng sky-lantern festival in the north.

Vesak, or Buddha Day, commemorates which three events in the life of the Buddha?

It falls on the full moon of Vesākha, usually in April or May, and the UN formally recognised it in 1999.

Mongolia's Naadam festival centres on which 'three games of men'?

Held 11–13 July, it commemorates the 1921 revolution, and its cross-country horse races are ridden by children as young as five.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of what?

It falls on the first day of Shawwal, begins with a special prayer, and charity — zakat al-fitr — must be paid before it.

Which festival, sometimes called the Sweet Eid, is greeted with the words 'Eid Mubarak'?

The greeting is Arabic for 'Blessed Eid', and the sweet nickname comes from the desserts that dominate the day.

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple after an uprising led by whom?

A single day's worth of oil famously burned for eight, which is why the festival lasts eight nights.

How many branches does a Hanukkah menorah have?

Eight hold the nightly lights and the ninth, the shamash, is used to light the others.

The Jewish festival of Purim commemorates the rescue of the Jews from Haman as told in which book?

The Megillah is read aloud, and the congregation drowns out Haman's name with graggers every time it is mentioned.

What are the triangular pastries eaten at Purim called?

The name means 'Haman's pockets'; costumes and gift baskets of food, mishloach manot, round out the day.

Bastille Day, the French national day, is celebrated on which date?

It marks both the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the Fête de la Fédération a year later; the French simply call it le 14 juillet.

The Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées is called the oldest and largest of its kind where?

The holiday was only made official in 1880, nearly a century after the Revolution.

The first Oktoberfest, in 1810, celebrated what event?

Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese, and the field it was held on is still called the Theresienwiese.

What phrase does the mayor of Munich shout after tapping the first keg at Oktoberfest?

It is Bavarian for 'It is tapped', and only beer brewed within Munich's city limits may be served.

Only beer meeting which condition can be sold at Oktoberfest?

It must also follow the Reinheitsgebot purity law, and the festival draws around seven million visitors.

In which Spanish town do people pelt each other with tomatoes at La Tomatina?

It has run on the last Wednesday of August since 1945, and since 2013 only 20,000 ticket-holders may join in.

What is the one rule every La Tomatina participant is told about the tomatoes?

Roughly 145 tonnes of tomatoes were thrown in 2015, all crushed first to soften the blow.

Which writer made Pamplona's Festival of San Fermín and its running of the bulls world-famous?

The Sun Also Rises sent generations of visitors to watch six bulls and six steers stampede 825 metres through the old town.

The San Fermín festival opens at noon on 6 July with the launch of what?

It is fired from the city hall balcony, and the celebrations run until midnight on 14 July.

Rio de Janeiro's Carnival, the world's biggest, always ends on which day?

About two million people a day take to the streets, and the samba schools compete in the Sambadrome.

Midsummer in Sweden is so important that there have been proposals to do what?

Since 1953 it has always fallen on a Saturday between 20 and 26 June, celebrated with maypole dancing and feasting.

On Saint Lucy's Day, 13 December, a Swedish girl portraying Lucia traditionally wears what on her head?

She wears a white gown with a crimson sash, and saffron lussekatter buns are served.

In Alpine folklore, who accompanies Saint Nicholas on 5 December to punish badly behaved children?

He is horned and hairy with a cloven hoof, swats children with birch rods, and carries a sack or basket to cart off the wicked ones.

Dutch children put a shoe by the chimney for Sinterklaas — and what do they leave in it?

Sinterklaas arrives by steamboat from Spain in mid-November and rides a white horse; he is one of the sources of Santa Claus.

Sinterklaas is said to arrive in the Netherlands each November by steamboat from which country?

The historical Saint Nicholas was actually a Greek bishop of Myra, in present-day Turkey.

Boxing Day, 26 December, coincides with the feast of which saint?

One origin theory points to church alms boxes opened for the poor; another to servants getting the day off after working Christmas.

The Australian cricket team traditionally opens a Test match on Boxing Day in which city?

Britain's football leagues play a full programme the same day, and it is a huge shopping holiday across the Commonwealth.

Guy Fawkes Night, 5 November, marks the failure of which conspiracy?

Parliament passed an act mandating an annual thanksgiving, and the town of Lewes has staged England's wildest bonfire night since 1679.

What is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve and its celebrations?

Edinburgh's 1996–97 party made the Guinness book as the world's largest, with about 400,000 people.

In Scotland's first-footing tradition, the ideal first visitor after midnight is what?

He should bring symbolic gifts such as coal, salt, shortbread, whisky or black bun.

Saint Patrick is said to have used which plant to explain the Holy Trinity?

Historically the Lenten bans on drink were lifted for the day, which explains a lot about how 17 March is celebrated.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates a Mexican victory over which country's army in 1862?

It is not Mexican Independence Day, which is 16 September, and it is far more widely celebrated in the US than in Mexico.

Kwanzaa, celebrated 26 December to 1 January, was created in 1966 by whom?

Its name comes from the Swahili for 'first fruits', and seven candles in a kinara stand for its seven principles.

Timkat, the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration on 19 January, commemorates what?

Priests carry cloth-wrapped tabots — replicas of the Ark of the Covenant — in procession, and UNESCO listed the festival in 2019.

Peru's Inti Raymi, staged each 24 June at Sacsayhuamán near Cusco, honours which Inca deity?

It marks the southern winter solstice, was revived as a pageant in 1944, and is called South America's second-largest festival.

Anzac Day, 25 April, commemorates the 1915 landing at which place?

Dawn services mark the hour of the landing, and the gambling game two-up is legal in Australia only on this day.

Waitangi Day, 6 February, marks the signing of a treaty between Māori chiefs and which power in 1840?

New Zealand first marked the day in 1934 and made it a public holiday in 1974.

Canada Day, 1 July, was known by what name until 1982?

It marks the 1867 union of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a single dominion.

Australia Day, 26 January, marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at which spot?

Arthur Phillip raised the Union Flag there; many Indigenous Australians mark the date as Invasion Day or Survival Day instead.

In Western Christianity, Epiphany on 6 January principally commemorates what?

In Spain and Latin America children find gifts left by the Three Kings in their shoes that morning, and whoever finds the trinket in the king cake is crowned.

China's Dragon Boat Festival falls on which day of the lunar calendar?

That places it in late May or early June, and its legends centre on the poet-minister Qu Yuan of Chu.

Mooncakes, filled with sweet bean or lotus-seed paste, are eaten during which Chinese harvest celebration?

It falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, between 7 September and 8 October.

What activity do children traditionally enjoy at China's Lantern Festival besides carrying lanterns?

In ancient times only the emperor and nobles had large ornate lanterns.

The Chinese Qingming Festival is known in English by what name?

It is also called Ancestors' Day or the Pure Brightness Festival.

Shetland's Up Helly Aa fire festival climaxes with the burning of what?

Up to a thousand costumed 'guizers' parade through Lerwick with torches on the last Tuesday in January.

The first supper honouring Robert Burns was held in 1801 at what location?

His friends met on 21 July, the fifth anniversary of his death; suppers now cluster around his 25 January birthday.

In German folklore, witches gather on Walpurgis Night on which mountain?

It is the highest peak of the Harz range, and the night of 30 April is also called Hexennacht.

What happens to the elaborate constructions built for Valencia's Falles festival at its climax?

La Cremà, the Burning, is why the structures are called falles, meaning torches; the main days run 15 to 19 March.

The Tamil harvest festival Pongal takes its name from a word meaning what?

It refers to the ceremonial dish of rice boiled with milk and jaggery; the Mattu Pongal day honours cattle.

Which freedom fighter turned Ganesh Chaturthi into a large public celebration in Maharashtra in 1893?

He used it to build a shared Hindu identity and bridge divides under colonial rule.

Kerala's Onam festival celebrates the annual return of which legendary king to visit his people?

Onam was declared Kerala's national festival in 1961, and lavish Sadya feasts are prepared for it.