Calendar
Holidays and Festivals June 2023
JUNE brings a wide range of festivals and summer-themed observances in communities around the Northern Hemisphere.
1 – Holy Ascension (Christian)
4 – Trinity Sunday (Christian)
4 – Pentecost (Orthodox Christian)
8 – Corpus Christi (Catholic Christian)
(Note: Observed in some denominations on nearest Sunday, June 11, in 2023)
9 – St. Columba of Iona (Christian)
11 – The Sunday of All Saints (Orthodox Christian)
14 – Flag Day (U.S.)
16 – Sacred Heart of Jesus (Catholic Christian)
16 – Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib (Sikh)
18 – Father’s Day (U.S.)
19 – New Church Day (Swedenborgian Christian)
19 – Juneteenth (US)
21 – Summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
21 – Litha (Yule) (Wicca, pagan) (Northern/Southern hemisphere); Midsummer
24 – St. John the Baptist (Christian)
26 – Sundown, Hajj begins (Islam)
27 – Sundown, Waqf al Arafa (Day of Arafat) (Islam)
28 – Sundown, Eid al-Adha (Islam)
29 – Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Christian)
Holidays and Festivals July 2023
JULY‘s name honors Julius Caesar, who was born in this month. More summer-time festivals are sprinkled around the Northern Hemisphere, including National Hog Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month in the U.S. That’s appropriate since this is the month of American Independence Day.
3 – Asalha Puja Day (Dharma Day) (Buddhist)
4 – Independence Day (US)
6 – Fast of Tammuz 17; The Three Weeks begins (Jewish)
9 – Martyrdom of the Bab (Baha’i)
15 – Obon (Ullambana) (Buddhist)
(Note: This observance is Shichigatsu Bon; Hachigatsu Bon / Kyu Bon, or “Old Bon,” commences in August)
19 – Sundown, Hijri (New Year) (Islam)
23 – Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)
24 – Pioneer Day (Mormon)
26 – Sundown, Tisha B’Av (Jewish)
27 – Sundown, Ashura (Islam)
Holidays and Festivals August 2023
AUGUST was named after another Roman emperor, Augustus. Among the month-long observances are Happiness Happens (no kidding!) and National Immunization Awareness Month, which is promoted by the CDC in the U.S.
1 – Lammas (Christian)
1 – Lughnassadh (Imbolc) (Wicca, pagan)
1 – Dormition Fast begins (Orthodox Christian)
1 – Sundown, Tu B’Av (Jewish)
6 – Feast of the Transfiguration (Christian)
13 – Obon (Ullambana) (Buddhist)
15 – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Catholic, Christian, Oriental, Anglican Communion)
15 – Dormition of the Theotokos (Christian)
30 – Raksha Bandhan (Hindu)
Holidays and Festivals September 2023
SEPTEMBER‘s name is a remnant of the fact that Romans once had 10 months and this was the seventh, hence “sept.” A whole series of cancer-awareness observances have been clustered in September.
1 – Ecclesiastical New Year (Orthodox Christian)
4 – Labor Day (U.S.)
6 – Krishna Janmashtami (Hindu)
8 – Nativity of the Virgin Mary/Theotokos (Christian)
11 – Patriot Day (U.S.)
12 – Enkutatasch (Ethiopian New Year) (Rastafari, Ethiopian Orthodox)
12 – Paryushan Parvarambha begins (Jain)
15 – Sundown, Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)
19 – Ganesh Chaturthi (Hindu)
20 – Samvatsari Parva begins (Jain)
21 – Mabon (Imbolc) (Wicca, pagan) (Northern/Southern hemisphere)
23 – Autumnal (fall) equinox (Northern Hemisphere)
24 – Sundown, Yom Kippur (Jewish)
26 – Sundown, Mawlid an-Nabi (Islam)
28 – Meskel (Ethiopian Eritrean Orthodox Christian)
29 – Michael and All Angels (Christian)
29 – Sundown, Sukkot (Jewish)
Holidays and Festivals October 2023
OCTOBER retains its old reference to this being the eighth month in the old Roman system, thus “oct.” One of the biggest cancer-awareness campaigns – Breast Cancer Awareness Month -takes place each October. This also is National Bullying Prevention Month.
4 – St. Francis Day (Blessing of the Animals) (Catholic Christian)
6 – Sundown, Shemini Atzeret (Jewish)
7 – Sundown, Simchat Torah (Jewish)
9 – Indigenous Peoples Day (US)
9 – Columbus Day (U.S.)
9 – Thanksgiving (Canada)
15 – Navaratri (Hindu)
16 – Birth of the Bab (Baha’i)
17 – Birth of Baha’u’llah (Baha’i)
18 – St. Luke, Apostle and Evangelist (Christian)
24 – Daesara, Dussehra (Hindu)
31 – Reformation Day (Protestant Christian)
31 – All Hallows Eve (Christian)
31—Samhain (Wicca, pagan)
Holidays and Festivals November 2023
NOVEMBER was named for novem or “ninth,” continuing the ancient Roman custom of numbering months.
1 – All Saints (Christian)
2 – All Souls’ Day (Catholic Christian)
5 – Daylight Saving Time ends
11 – Veterans Day (U.S.)
12 – Diwali (Deepavali) (Hindu, Jain, Sikh)
15 – Nativity Fast begins (Orthodox Christian)
23 – Thanksgiving (U.S.)
24 – Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib (Sikh)
25 – Sundown, Day of the Covenant (Baha’i)
26 – Christ the King (Christian)
27 – Sundown, Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i)
30 – St. Andrew’s Day (Christian)
Holidays and Festivals December 2023
DECEMBER, with dec for “ten,” wraps up the old Roman system of numbering months.
3 – First Sunday of Advent (Christian)
6 – St. Nicholas Day (Christian)
7 – Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (U.S.)
7 – Hanukkah (Chanukah) begins (Jewish)
8 – Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) (Buddhism)
8 – Immaculate Conception of Mary (Catholic)
12 – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Catholic)
16 – Posadas Navidenas begins (Hispanic Christian)
21 – Yule (Christian, Wicca, pagan)
21 – Winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
25 – Christmas (Christian)
25 – Feast of the Nativity (Orthodox Christian)
26 – Kwanzaa begins
26 – Feast of St. Stephen (Christian)
28 – Holy Innocents (Christian)
31 – Feast of the Holy Family (Catholic)
31 – Watch Night (Christian)
