A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. Public holidays are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often also observed as public holidays in religious majority countries. Some religious holidays, such as Christmas, have become secularised by part or all of those who observe them. In addition to secularisation, many holidays have become commercialised due to the growth of industry.
The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of scripture are to be read.
A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year or lunar calendar. The science of religious rites and festivals is known as heortology.
Eid al-Fitr is the earlier of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasting of Ramadan. Eid al-Fitr falls on the first day of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar; this does not always fall on the same Gregorian day, as the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on when the new moon is sighted by local religious authorities. The holiday is known under various other names in different languages and countries around the world. The day is also known as the First Eid or as the Lesser Eid by some Muslim communities.
In the United States, public holidays are set by federal, state, and local governments and are often observed by closing government offices or giving government employees paid time off. The federal government does not require private businesses to close or offer paid time off, as is the case for most state and local governments, so employers determine which holidays to observe.
Bangladesh has numerous public holidays, including national memorial, religious and secular holidays of Bengali origin. The Bengali traditional calendar, known as Baṅgābda is the national and official calendar in Bangladesh. The holidays are celebrated according to Bengali, Islamic or Gregorian calendars for religious and civil purposes, respectively. Religious festivals like Eid are celebrated according to the Islamic calendar, whereas other national holidays are celebrated according to the Bengali and Gregorian calendar. While, the Islamic calendar is based on the movement of the moon, it loses synchronization with the seasons, through seasonal drift. Therefore, some public holidays are subject to change every year based on the lunar calendar.
Qatar observes several public holidays. The two weekend days are Friday and Saturday, similarly to other Islamic countries. Annual public holidays include:
An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classes and do relevant exams and homework during this time, which comprises school days and school holidays. The duration of school days, holidays and school year varies across the world. The days in the school year depend on the state or country as In Maryland there are 180 days in a school year, but in Minnesota there are 165 days in the year.
There are two main holidays in Islam that are celebrated by Muslims worldwide: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The timing of both holidays are set by the lunar Islamic calendar, which is based upon the cycle of the moon, and so is different from the more common, European, solar-based Gregorian calendar. Every year, the Gregorian dates of the Islamic holidays change.
Eid prayers, also referred to as Salat al-Eid, are holy holiday prayers in the Islamic tradition. The literal translation of the word "Eid" in Arabic is "festival" or "feast" and is a time when Muslims congregate with family and the larger Muslim community to celebrate.
Jumu'atul-Wida is the last Friday in the month of Ramadan before Eid al-Fitr. This is a holy day for Muslims.
Bayram is the Turkic word for a nationally-celebrated festival or holiday, applicable to both national and religious celebrations.
Sri Lanka, having a history as long as many ancient civilizations, positioned at the crossroads of the East and the West, and being a multicultural society, celebrates a wide variety of festivals, ceremonies and events.
This is a list of public holidays in Senegal.
Public holidays in Palestine.
This is a timeline of events during the year 2025 which relate to religion.
