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This is an incomplete list of festivals and holidays that take place during the winter in the northern hemisphere, especially those commemorating the season. Many festivals of light take place in this period since the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere is the Winter Solstice.

Holidays are listed in chronological order under each heading.

Buddhist

• Bodhi Day: December 8 - Day of Enlightenment, celebrating the day that the historical Buddha (Shakyamuni or Siddhartha Guatama) experienced enlightenment (also known as Bodhi).

Celtic

• Samhain: November 1 - first day of winter in the Celtic calendar (and Celtic New Year's Day)
• Winter Solstice: December 21-December 22 - midwinter
• Imbolc: February 1 - first day of spring in the Celtic calendar

Chinese

• Dong zhi: Winter solstice
• Signature of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan) : December 25 - a secular national holiday, which due to its date is celebrated in some respects like Christmas
• Chinese New Year (late January - early February) - considered the end of winter in the traditional Chinese calendar

Christian

• Advent: four weeks prior to Christmas.
• Saint Nicholas' Day: December 6
• Christmas Eve: December 24
• Christmas: December 25 - Due to a fourth century arrangement to offset the pagan Roman Saturnalia festival, the birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25..
• 12 Days of Christmas: December 25 through January 6
• Saint Stephen's Day: December 26
• Saint John the Evangelist's Day: December 27
• Holy Innocents' Day: December 28
• Saint Sylvester's Day: December 31
• Watch Night: December 31
• Feast of the Circumcision: January 1
• Feast of Fools: January 1
• Saint Basil's Day: January 1 (Christian Orthodox) In Greece, traditionally he is the Father Christmas figure.
• Twelfth Night: Epiphany Eve: January 5
• Epiphany - January 6: the arrival of the Three Magi.
• Armenian Apoststolc Christmas: January 6
• Eastern Orthodox Christmas according to the Julian Calendar: January 7
• Candlemas: February 2
• St. Valentine's Day: February 14

Germanic

• Modranect: or Mothers' Night, the Saxon winter solstice festival.
• Yule: the Germanic winter solstice festival

Hindu

• Navratri:Nine-day celebration worshipping female divinity, in October or November. Culminates in Dussehra.
• Diwali:Known as the Festival of Lights, this Hindu holiday celebrates the victory of good over evil. The five-day festival is marked by ceremonies, fireworks and sweets. Women dress up and decorate their hands with henna tattoos for the melas, or fairs. Many different myths are associated with Diwali, one of which celebrates the return of Lord Rama after a 14-year exile and his defeat of the demon Ravana.
• Bhaubeej

Jewish

• Hanukkah: Starting on 25 Kislev (Hebrew) or various dates in November or December (Gregorian) - eight day festival commemorating the miracle of the oil after the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his defeat in 165 BCE.
• Tu Bishvat: New Year of the Trees occurring on the 15th of Shevat, January or February.
• Purim: Occurring on 14th or 15th day of Adar, late February to March, commemorating the miraculous deliverance and victory of the Jews of the Persian Empire in the events recorded in the Book of Esther

Muslim

• Eid ul-Adha: Starting on the 10th of Dhul Hijja, a four day holiday commemorating the Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.

NOTE: The Islamic calendar is based on the moon and this festival moves with respect to the solar year. It is, however, falling in the winter in the first decade of the present [21st] Century of the common era.

Pagan and Neo-Pagan

• Samhain: November 1 - first day of winter in the Celtic calendar (and Celtic New Year's Day)
• Yule: (Winter Solstice) - Germanic and Egyptian Pagan festival of the rebirth of the Sun
• Imbolc: (Oimelc) (February 1 or 2), but traditionally the evening of (January 31)¹
• Winter Solstice: (December 21) - New Age festival

Persian

• Sadeh: A mid-winter feast to honor fire and to "defeat the forces of darkness, frost and cold".
• Yalda: The turning point, Winter Solstice (December 21). End of the longest night of the year (Darkness), and beginning of growing of the days (Lights). A celebration of Good over Evil.
• Chahar Shanbeh Suri: Festival of Fire, Last Wednesday of the Iranian Calendar year. It marks the importance of the light over the darkness, and arrival of spring and revival of nature.

Polynesian

• Matariki: (Māori New Year, usually early June) - Rising of the Pleiades star cluster before dawn.

Roman

• Saturnalia: the Roman winter soltice festival
• Festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun: late Roman Empire - December 25
• Lupercalia, the Roman end-of-winter festival - February 15

Secular

• Winterval: Secular name for winter festivities coined by Birmingham City Council to encompass all holidays being recognized from October to January
• Sydney Winter Festival: Winter Festival recreates the magic of traditional European winter celebrations, including a variety of culinary delights, and first class entertainment on an expansive outdoor screen. From August 1-10th 2008
• Zamenhof Day: (December 15) - Birthday of Ludwig Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto; holiday reunion for Esperantists
• Winter Solstice, Yule: (December 21 or December 22) (Late June weekend in Australia) - Celebration of the Winter Solstice.
• HumanLight: (December 23) - Humanist holiday originated by the New Jersey Humanist Network
• Chrismukkah: Slang term for the amalgam of Christmas and Hanukkah celebrated by religiously mixed families and couples
• Yuletide: (December 25) - Classic and modern, respectively, terms for the social and federal December 25th holiday
• Boxing Day: (December 26) - Gift-giving day after Christmas.
• Kwanzaa: (December 26 - January 1) - Pan-African festival
• Yulefest, Midwinter Christmas (around late June or July) - Australian New Zealand winter 'Christmas/Yuletide'
• New Year's Eve: (December 31) - Last day of the Gregorian year
• Hogmanay: (Night of December 31 - Before dawn of January 1) - Scottish New Years Eve Celebration
• New Year's Day: (January 1) - First day of the Gregorian year
• Burns Night: (January 25) - Birthday of Robert Burns
• Groundhog Day: (February 2)
• Quebec City Winter Carnival: (February) - Annual celebration of winter.
• Fur Rondy: (Late February and early March]) - Winter celebration in Anchorage, Alaska
• Festival du Voyageur: February winter celebration of the fur trade in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Slavic

• Karachun - the ancient Slavs polytheistic winter solstice festival

Fictional

• Festivus: December 23 - quirky holiday invented on the television show Seinfeld
• Festival of the Bells: Midwinter celebration in Fraggle Rock, also mentioned in A Muppet Family Christmas.
• Decemberween: December 25 - A holiday in the Homestar Runner universe, occurring 55 days after Halloween.
• Hogswatchnight: December 32 - New Year's Eve/Christmas in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (plays on Hogmanay, Watch Night, and "hogwash")
• Winterfair: from the Vorkosigan Saga of Lois McMaster Bujold; a Barrayarran cultural holiday
• Chrismukkah: the modern-day merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah.
• Chrismahanukwanzakah: the modern-day merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas, Judaism's Hanukkah, and the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa.
• Hedgehog Day: February 2 - supposed archaic European version of Groundhog Day, dating back to Roman times.
• Wintersday: The annual winter holiday in the MMORPG Guild Wars. This holiday is based on Christmas and Yule and one can get neat hats.
• Starlight Celebration: The annual winter holiday based on Christmas/Yule/winter solstice in the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI (aka FFXI). Players can collect various holiday equipment, Mog house furnishings, fireworks, and food.
• Shoe Giving: - quirky holiday famously invented on the show Hyperdrive (TV series)
• Freezingman: - January 11- A Burning Man inspired event held in Colorado as a Winter Arts and Music Festival http://www.coloradofreezingman.com http://tribes.tribe.net/freezingman
• Couch Burning: June 21 (Southern hemisphere Winter Solstice) - A couch is burnt on a bonfire on the 21st of June, inspired by the Burning Man festival and conducted by CouchSurfers.
• Noob Day: December 26 - The day following Christmas when all the people who received online games as gifts go online for the first time and are killed off or mocked by veterans.

See also

• Christmas worldwide
• Winter solstice

Holidays portal

References