The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon. This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth—the near side—is completely sunlit and appears as an approximately circular disk. The full moon occurs roughly once a month.
The New Year is the time or day at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on January 1. This was also the first day of the year in the original Julian calendar and the Roman calendar.
The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by a range of modern pagans, marking the year's chief solar events and the midpoints between them. Modern pagan observances are based to varying degrees on folk traditions, regardless of the historical practices of world civilizations. British neopagans popularized the Wheel of the Year in the mid-20th century, combining the four solar events marked by many European peoples, with the four midpoint festivals celebrated by Insular Celtic peoples.
In Māori culture, Matariki is the Pleiades star cluster and a celebration of its first rising in late June or early July. The rising marks the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar. On this day, the Chinese believe that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of autumn.
Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna. Additionally, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil, as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu. Holi originated and is predominantly celebrated in the Indian subcontinent, but has also spread to other regions of Asia and parts of the Western world through the Indian diaspora.
Pohela Boishakh is the Bengali New Year celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam. It is a festival based on the spring harvest—which marks the first day of the new year in the official calendar of Bangladesh.
Chuseok, also known as Hangawi, is a major mid-autumn harvest festival and a three-day holiday in South Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunisolar calendar on the full moon. In North Korea, they only celebrate for the day of chuseok. Like many other harvest festivals around the world, it is held around the autumn equinox, i.e. at the very end of summer or in early autumn. It is the biggest traditional holiday in South Korea.
The Mongolian Lunar New Year, commonly known as Tsagaan Sar, is the first day of the year according to the Mongolian lunisolar calendar. The festival of the Lunar New Year is celebrated by Mongolic and some Turkic peoples. The holiday has shamanistic influences.
Losar also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various dates depending on location tradition. The holiday is a new year's festival, celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. In 2024, the new year commenced on 10 February and celebrations ran until the 12th of the same month. It also commenced the Year of the Male Wood Dragon.
Osun-Osogbo is a sacred grove along the banks of the Osun river just outside the city of Osogbo, Osun State of Nigeria.
The Welayta are an ethnic group located in Southwestern Ethiopia. According to the most recent estimate (2017), the people of Wolayta numbered 5.83 million in Welayta Zone. The language of the Wolayta people, similarly called Wolaytta, belongs to the Omotic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite their small population, Wolayta people have widely influenced national music, dance, and cuisine in Ethiopia.
Ayudha Puja is a Hindu observance that falls on the ninth day of the bright half of the moon's cycle of 15 days in the month of September/October, popularly a part of the Navaratri festival. While the Navaratri festival is observed all over the country, the festivity that is widely marked as Ayudha Puja possesses slight variations of veneration and practices across India.
Norway–United Kingdom relations are foreign relations between Norway and the United Kingdom. The two nations have enjoyed very close cultural, economic, military and political cooperation since Norwegian independence in 1905. Both countries are central allies in NATO, and also have many bilateral agreements involving trade and military ties. Recently, the two have collaborated extensively to provide intelligence and arms to Ukraine during Russia's invasion of that country in 2022.
Wolayita or Wolaita is an administrative zone in Ethiopia. Wolayita is bordered on the south by Gamo Zone, on the west by the Omo River which separates it from Dawro, on the northwest by Kembata Zone and Tembaro Special Woreda, on the north by Hadiya, on the northeast by the Oromia Region, on the east by the Bilate River which separates it from Sidama Region, and on the south east by the Lake Abaya which separates it from Oromia Region. The administrative centre of Wolayita is Sodo. Other major towns are Areka, Boditi, Tebela, Bale Hawassa, Gesuba, Gununo, Bedessa and Dimtu.
Irreecha, is thanksgiving holiday celebrating the end of the winter in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Irreecha is the most celebrated cultural festival in Africa. The Oromo people celebrate Irreecha to thank Waaqa (God) for the blessings and mercies they have received throughout the previous year. The Irreecha festival is celebrated every year at the beginning of Birraa (Spring), new season after the dark and rainy winter season. It is attended by hundreds of thousands people. The thanksgiving is celebrated at sacred lakes across Oromia Region like the Hora Finfinne and Hora Harsadi, Bishoftu, Oromia Region as a whole. Once at the lake, festival-goers immerse freshly cut green grass and the flowers they are carrying and sprinkle themselves and place in water.
Gyalpo Losar is a new year festival of Sherpa people of Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling. The festival is celebrated every year from Falgun Shukla Pratipada, the second day of the waxing moon until the full moon.
Bunge Burunje Bunaro, is an Ethiopian musician. Bunge's music mainly relates with Wolayta history and cultures. Bunge is famous for his song which tried to mention many issues relating to politics and wise administration system of Firew Altaye wishing the coming generation share his wisdom, courage and pride for his people. His song Baalay Sonnooriya disclose the cultural festivity of Gifaataa, the Wolaita New Year celebration, its fortune and the likes. Another song entitled Maataa Daannay Kawo Xona literally means the last authority was Kawo Tona, is also popular in Southern regions of Ethiopia. Apart from music, Bunge is also the producer and presenter of Maglala, a unique radio program in collaboration with Wogeta FM that explores the unexplored arts of Wolayta and more.
