Public holidays in Lebanon

Last updated

The primary national holiday is Independence Day which is celebrated on November 22. [1]

Contents

National holidays

DateEnglish NameArabic NameFrench NameRemarks
January 1 New Year's Day رأس السنة [2] Nouvel an
January 6 Epiphany and Armenian Christmas عيد الظهور الإلهي
عيد الميلاد - الأرمن الأرثودكس [2]
Épiphanie
Noël Arménien
The latter holiday was officially recognized in Lebanon in 2003. [3] It is exclusively celebrated by Armenians in Lebanon. [4]
February 9 St. Maroun Day عيد مار مارونFête de Saint-MaronThe holiday is celebrated by the Maronites, hence the name.
February 14 Rafic Hariri Memorial Dayيوم اغتيال رفيق الحريريJour de l'assassinat de Rafic HaririNational day of mourning remembering the Assassination of Rafic Hariri in 2005 [5] .
March 25 Feast of the Annunciation عيد البشارةFête de l'AnnonciationObserved by both Christians and Muslims [6]
Friday immediately before Easter Sunday Good Friday جمعة الآلام [2] Vendredi SaintBoth the Eastern and Western dates are observed. Also called الجمعة العظيمة in Arabic. [2]
moveable Easter Sunday الفصح المجيد [2] PâquesBoth the Eastern and Western dates are observed. [2]
May 1 Workers' Day عيد العمّالFête du Travail
May 25 Liberation and Resistance Day عيد المقاومة و التحريرFête de la Libération et RésistanceWithdrawal of the Israeli Army from Southern Lebanon in 2000.
August 15 Feast of the Assumption عيد إنتقال العذراء [2] Assomption de Marie
November 22 Lebanese Independence Day عيد الإستقلال [2] Fête nationaleLebanon gained its independence from France in 1943.
December 25 Christmas Day عيد الميلادNoël
Dates following the lunar Islamic calendar
1 Muharram Islamic New Year رأس السنة الهجرية [2] Nouvel an islamiqueIn French, it is also known as 1er Muharram. [7]
10 Muharram Day of Ashura ذكرى عاشوراء [2] Fête de l’Achoura [7] Maqtal al-Husayn is sometimes read on this day.
12 Rabi' al-awwal Mawlid مولد النبيMawlidThe holiday is celebrated on 12 Rabi' al-awwal by the Sunnis while it is celebrated on 17 Rabi' al-awwal by the Shi'ites. Also known as mouloud, mouled, maoulide or Mawlid al-Nabi in French. [7]
1 Shawwal Eid al-Fitr عيد الفطرAïd el-FitrThe holiday lasts for three days until 3 Shawwal. Also known as Id-ul-Fitr, Eid, and the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast.
10 Dhu al-Hijjah Eid al-Adha عيد الأضحىAïd el-KebirThe holiday lasts three days, ending on 13 Dhu al-Hijjah. Also known as la Fête du sacrifice, Aïd al Adha, or Eid el-Kebir in French. [7]

[8]

Other Holidays

DateEnglish nameArabic nameFrench nameRemarks
February 15 St. Vartan Day Only celebrated by the Armenian population in Lebanon. [4] [8]
March 9 Teachers' Day عيد المعلمFête des professeursThe holiday ends on March 9.
March 21 Mother's Day عيد الأمFête des MèresThe holiday also falls on the Vernal Equinox.
May 6 Martyrs' Day عيد الشهداءJour des martyrsSyrian and Lebanese national holiday commemorating the Syrian and Lebanese nationalists executed in Damascus and Beirut on May 6, 1916 by Jamal Pasha.
November 1 All Saints' Day عيد جميع القديسينToussaint
moveable Ascension Day عيد الصعودJour de l'Ascension
September 8 Nativity of Mary ميلاد مريم العذراءNativité de Marie
December 4 Saint Barbara's Day عيد البربارةJour de Barbara

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bastille Day</span> French national day (14 July)

Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the Fête nationale française ; legally it is known as le 14 juillet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lebanon</span> Country in West Asia

Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, by Israel to the south, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance away from the country's coastline. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterlands has contributed to the country's rich history and shaped a unique cultural identity shaped by religious diversity. Lebanon has a population of more than five million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Lebanon's capital and largest city is Beirut, followed by Tripoli and Jounieh. While Arabic is the official language, French is also recognized in a formal capacity; Lebanese Arabic is the country's vernacular, though French and English play a relatively significant role in everyday life, with Modern Standard Arabic being limited to news and government matters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beirut</span> Capital and largest city of Lebanon

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2014, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the thirteenth-largest in the Arab world. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Father's Day</span> Celebration honoring fathers

Father's Day is a holiday honoring one's father, or relevant father figure, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the United States, Father's Day was founded in the state of Washington, United States, by Sonora Smart Dodd in 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day</span> Holiday celebrated on June 24

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, also known in English as St John the Baptist Day, is a holiday celebrated on June 24 in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was brought to Canada by French settlers celebrating the traditional feast day of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. It was declared a public holiday in Quebec in 1925, with publicly financed events organized province-wide by a Comité organisateur de la fête nationale du Québec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Patriots' Day</span> Canadian public holiday

National Patriots' Day is a statutory holiday observed annually in the Canadian province of Quebec, on the Monday preceding 25 May. The holiday was established by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec-in-Council in 2003, according to the Parti Quebecois premier Bernard Landry: "to underline the importance of the struggle of the patriots of 1837–1838 for the national recognition of our people, for its political liberty and to obtain a democratic system of government." Before 2003, the Monday preceding 25 May of each year was unofficially the Fête de Dollard, a commemoration initiated in the 1920s to coincide with Victoria Day, a federal holiday occurring annually on the same date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public holidays in France</span>

There are eleven official public holidays in France, of which four are movable days which always fall on a weekday. The Alsace region and the Moselle department observe two additional days. These holidays do not shift when they fall during a weekend, which means that the average number of observed public holidays falling on weekdays is 8.7 and ranges from seven to ten. Most Asian countries and all North American countries observe between two and ten more public holidays per year on weekdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Lebanon</span> Overview of the culture of Lebanon

The culture of Lebanon and the Lebanese people emerged from various civilizations over thousands of years. It was home to the Phoenicians and was subsequently conquered and occupied by the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Ottoman Turks and the French. This variety is reflected in Lebanon's diverse population, composed of different religious groups, and features in the country's festivals, literature, artifacts, cuisine and architecture of Lebanon. Tourism in Lebanon is popular with periods of interruption during conflict.

<i>Syriana</i> 2005 film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan

Syriana is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer's 2003 memoir See No Evil. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, and Mazhar Munir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lebanese people</span> People inhabiting or originating from Lebanon; citizens or natives of Lebanon

The Lebanese people are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may also include those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state. The major religious groups among the Lebanese people within Lebanon are Shia Muslims (27%), Sunni Muslims (27%), Maronite Christians (21%), Greek Orthodox Christians (8%), Melkite Christians (5%), Druze (5%), Protestant Christians (1%). The largest contingent of Lebanese, however, comprise a diaspora in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa, which is predominantly Maronite Christian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mimouna</span> Traditional Maghrebi Jewish celebration dinner

Mimouna is a traditional Maghrebi Jewish celebration dinner that takes place in Morocco, Israel, France, Canada, and other places around the world where Maghrebi Jews live. It is held the day after Passover, marking the return to eating hametz, which is forbidden throughout the week of Passover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syrians</span> Ethnic group

Syrians are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, who have Arabic, especially its Levantine dialect, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to rule the land and its people over the course of thousands of years. By the seventh century, most of the inhabitants of the Levant spoke Aramaic. In the centuries after the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 634, Arabic became the dominant language, but a minority of Syrians retained Aramaic, which is still spoken in its Syriac and Western dialects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joumana Haddad</span> Lebanese poet, journalist and activist (born 1970)

Joumana Haddad is a Lebanese author, public speaker, journalist and human rights activist. She has been selected as one of the world’s 100 most powerful Arab women by Arabian Business Magazine for her cultural and social activism. In 2021, she was on Apolitical's list of 100 most influential people in Gender Policy. She is founder of Jasad, a quarterly Arabic-language magazine specialized in the arts and literature of the body (2009–2011). Haddad launched a new TV show in November 2018 on Alhurra highlighting the topics of free expression and critical thinking. In September 2019, she founded a youth centered NGO in Beirut called the Joumana Haddad Freedoms Center. In February 2020, in partnership with the Institut Français in Lebanon, she launched the first International Feminisms Festival in the Middle East with a group of local and international co-organizers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France–Lebanon relations</span> Bilateral relations

France–Lebanon relations are the international relations between France and Lebanon. France, the previous administrative power, enjoys friendly relations with Lebanon and has often provided support to the Lebanese. The French language is widely spoken fluently throughout Lebanon and is taught as well as used as a medium of education in many Lebanese schools. Both nations are members of the Francophonie.

Mashrou' Leila was a Lebanese four-member indie rock band. The band formed in Beirut, Lebanon in 2008 as a music workshop at the American University of Beirut.

National Day of Concorde is a national holiday in Niger, celebrated every 24 April since 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haig Papazian</span> Musical artist

Haig Papazian is a Lebanese-Armenian multidisciplinary artist, composer, and architect born in Beirut and currently based out of New York. He is a founding member and violinist of Lebanese pop band Mashrou' Leila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takla Chamoun</span> Lebanese actress (born 1961)

Takla Chamoun Farjallah is a Lebanese actress, drama instructor, producer, and the co-founder and CEO of the Lebanese Film Academy. Chamoun is highly regarded in the Middle East and the Arab World for her acting and her ability to mold into a character.

References

  1. "National holiday", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, archived from the original on June 13, 2007, retrieved 20 December 2009
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 holidays 2009 in Lebanon, archived from the original on 2008-04-19, retrieved 2009-08-30
  3. "Armenian Christmas Becomes National Holiday in Lebanon", Middle East, Lebanon: Asbarez.com, 2003-01-07, retrieved 2009-08-30
  4. 1 2 Figuié, Gérard (1998), "La population", Le point sur le Liban (in French), Maisonneuve & Larose, ISBN   978-2-7068-1314-6 , retrieved 2009-08-30
  5. https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/lebanon/rafik-hariri-memorial-day
  6. "Upcoming Lebanon Public Holidays (Middle East)". The qppstudio.net website. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Fêtes juives et Fêtes islamiques 2008-2011 (in French), Switzerland: Armée suisse, 2009-02-06, archived from the original on 2009-05-04, retrieved 2009-08-30
  8. 1 2 "Lebanon", International Religious Freedom Report 2006, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR, retrieved 2009-08-30