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Religious & Cultural Calendar

Multi-faith Calendar for 2008*

Some dates may vary regionally as they are determined by the lunar calendar. Jewish festivals usually commence at sunset on the previous day.

January
1^st	Secular - New Years Day Christian – Circumcision - Festival of St. Basil the Great Shinto - Oshogatsu (or Shogatsu) Global Family Day
4^th	World Braille Day
5^th	Sikh – Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh
6^th	Christian – Epiphany – Theophany World Day for War Orphans
7^th	Rastafari – Christmas Day (Ethiopian)
9^th	Muslim – Al-Hijira
10^th	Women given the right to vote in 1918
13^th	Christian – Baptism of the Lord
14^th	Hindu – Makar Sankrant
15^th	Shinto - Seijin Shiki Martin Luther King Day
19^th	Muslim – Ashura
20^th	World Religion Day
22^nd	Jewish – Tu B’Shevat
27^th	International Holocaust Remembrance Day
31^st	Sikh – Birthday of Guru Har Rai
February
1^st	Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month 1^st – 29^th
2^nd	Pagan – Imbolc
3^rd	Shinto – Rissun
4^th	World Cancer Day
5^th	Christian – Shrove Tuesday
6^th	Christian – Ash Wednesday
7^th	Chinese New Year (Year of the Rat)
8^th	Buddhist – Parinirvana, Losar
11^th	Hindu – Vasant Panchami
12^th	Darwin Day
14^th	Christian, Secular – St. Valentine’s Day
15^th	Buddhist – Nirvana Day
25^th	Fairtrade Fortnight – 25^th February to 9^th March
March
1^st	Christian – St. David’s Day
2^nd	Bahia – Nineteen Day Fast (start) Christian - Mothering Sunday
3^rd	Shinto – Hina-matsuri
6^th	Hindu – Mahashivratri
7^th	Women’s World Day of Prayer
8^th	International Women’s Day
16^th	Christian – Palm Sunday
17^th	Christian - St. Patrick’s Day
20^th	Christian – Maundy Thursday Muslim – Milad un Nabi Pagan - Spring Equinox, Eoster
21^st	Christian – Good Friday Hindu – Holi Jewish – Purim Bahai – Naw-Ruz Shinto – Shubun-sai, Equinox day International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
22^nd	Sikh – Hola Mohalla Jehovah’s Witnesses – Memorial of Christ’s Death World Day for Water
23^rd	Christian – Easter Sunday
24^th	Christian – Easter Monday
25^th	Christian – Annunciation Muslim – Milad un Nabi (Shia)
26^th	Mental Health Week – 26^th March to 1^st April
April
6^th	Hindu – Bikarami Samvat, Varsha-Pratipada
7^th	World Health Day
13^th	Sikh – Vaisakhi
14^th	Hindu – Rama Navami Sikh – Hola Mohalla, Birthday of Guru Nanak
16^th	World Voice Day
18^th	Jain – Mahavira Jayanti Sikh – Birthday of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Angad Dev
19^th	Hindu – Hanuman Jayanti
20^th	Jewish – Passover
21^st	Bahai – Ridvan first day
23^rd	Christian – St. George’s Day
28^th	International Workers’ Memorial Day
29^th	Bahai – Ridvan ninth day
May
1^st	Christian – Ascension Day Pagan – Beltane Secular – May Day
2^nd	Jewish – Yom Hashoah Bahai – Ridvan twelth day Sikh – Birthday of Guru Arjan Dev
4^th	Christian – Ascension Day (Catholic Church in England and Wales)
5^th	Deaf Awareness Week 5^th to 11^th May
11^th	Christian – Pentecost – Whitsun
17^th	International Day Against Homophobia
20^th	Buddhist – Theravada New Year and Wesak or Buddha day
21^st	World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
23^rd	Sikh – Birthday of Guru Amar Das Bahai – Declaration of the Bab
25^th	Christian – Corpus Christi
29^th	Bahai – Ascension of Baha’u’llah
31^st	World No Tobacco Day
June
5^th	World Environment Day
9^th	Jewish – Shavuot
15^th	Learning Disability Week – 15^th to 21^st June
16^th	Sikh – Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev
27^th	Deafblind Awareness Week – 27^th June to 3^rd July
July
5^th	Sikh – Birthday of Guru Hargobind
6^th	Disability Awareness Day
9^th	Bahai – Martyrdom of the Bab
18^th	Buddhist – Asala, Dharma Day
20^th	Jewish – 17^th Tammuz
23^rd	Sikh – Birthday of Guru Har Krishen Rastafari – Birthday of Haile Selassie I
August
1^st	Pagan - Lughnasadh, Lammas
6^th	Christian – Transfiguration
10^th	Jewish – Tisha B’Av
12^th	International Youth Day
15^th	Christian – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
16^th	Hindu – Raksha Bandhan
17^th	Rastafari – Birthday of Marcus Garvey
23^rd	International Day for the Rememberance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
24^th	Hindu – Janmashtami – Krishna Jayanti
28^th	Jain – Paryushana
September
2^nd	Muslim – Ramadan start
3^rd	Hindu – Ganesh Chaturthi
8^th	Christian – Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary International Literacy Day
11^th	Rastafari – Ethiopian New Year
21^st	International Day of Peace
22^nd	Pagan – Autumn Equinox
29^th	Hindu – Navaratri start
30^th	Jewish – Rosh Hashanah
October
1^st	Muslim – Eid-Ul-Fitr Black History Month 1^st to 31^st
9^th	Jewish – Yom Kippur Hindu – Dussera Sikh – Birthday of Guru Ram Das
10^th	World Mental Health Day
14^th	Jewish – Sukkot
17^th	International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
20^th	Bahai – Birth of the Bab
21^st	Jewish – Shemini Atzeret; Simchat Torah
28^th	Sikh, Hindu, Jain – Diwali
31^st	Christian – All Hallows’ Eve Pagan – Samhain
November
3^rd	International Day of Disabled People
5^th	National Adoption Week
9^th	Remembrance Sunday
11^th	Armistice Day
12^th	Bahai – Birth of Baha’u’llah
13^th	Sikh – Birthday of Guru Nanak
15^th	Shinto – Shichigosan (7-5-3 festival)
23^rd	Shinto – Niinamesei
24^th	Sikh – Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur
26^th	Bahai – Day of the Covenant
28^th	Bahai – Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha
30^th	Christian – St. Andrew’s Day – Advent Sunday
December
1^st	World Aids Day
8^th	Muslim – Hajj start Buddhist – Bodhi Day Christian – Feast of the Immaculate Conception
10^th	International Human Rights Day
11^th	Muslim – Eid-Ul-Adha
21^st	Pagan – Winter Solstice, Yule
22^nd	Jewish – Hanukkah
24^th	Christian – Christmas Eve
25^th	Christian – Christmas Day
26^th	Christian – St. Stephen’s Day Secular - Boxing Day
29^th	Muslim – Al-Hijira

* Sources: bbc.co.uk, Wikipedia, All Wales Ethnic Minority Association