LIST OF WINTER FESTIVALS

This is an incomplete list of festivals and holidays that take place during the winter in the northern hemisphere, especially those commemorating the season. Many festivals of light take place in this period since the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere is the Winter Solstice.
Holidays are listed in chronological order under each heading.

Contents

Celtic

Chinese

Christian

Germanic

Jewish

Muslim

Pagan and neopagan

Persian / Iranian

Polynesian

Roman

Secular

Slavic

Zen Buddhist

Fictional

See also

Celtic

★ 'Samhain': November 1 - first day of winter in the Celtic calendar (and Celtic New Year's Day)

★ 'Winter Solstice': December 21~December 22 - midwinter

★ 'Imbolc': February 1 - first day of spring in the Celtic calendar

Chinese

★ 'Dong zhi': Winter solstice

★ 'Signature of the Constitution of the Republic of China' (Taiwan) : December 25 - a secular national holiday, which due to its date is celebrated in some respects like Christmas

★ 'Chinese New Year' (late January - early February) - considered the end of winter in the traditional Chinese calendar

Christian

★ 'Advent': four weeks prior to Christmas - preparing for the birth of Christ.

★ 'Saint Nicholas' Day': December 6

★ 'Christmas Eve': December 24

★ 'Christmas': December 25 - celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

★ '12 Days of Christmas': December 25 through January 6

★ 'Saint Stephen's Day': December 26

★ 'Saint John the Evangelist's Day': December 27

★ 'Holy Innocents' Day': December 28

★ 'Saint Sylvester's Day': December 31

★ 'Watch Night': December 31

★ 'Feast of the Circumcision': January 1

★ 'Feast of Fools': January 1

★ 'Twelfth Night': Epiphany Eve January 5

★ 'Epiphany - January 6': the arrival of the Three Magi.

★ 'Eastern Orthodox Christmas' according to the Julian Calendar: January 7

★ 'Candlemas': February 2

★ 'St. Valentine's Day': February 14

Germanic

★ 'Modranect': or Mothers' Night, the Saxon winter solstice festival.

★ 'Yule': the Germanic winter solstice festival

Jewish

★ 'Hanukkah': Starting on 25 Kislev (Hebrew) or various dates in December (Gregorian) - eight day festival commemorating the miracle of the oil after the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his defeat in 165 BCE.

★ 'Tu Bishvat': New Year of the Trees occurring on the 15th of Shevat, January or February.

★ 'Purim': Occurring on 14th or 15th day of Adar, late February to March, commemorating the miraculous deliverance and victory of the Jews of the Persian Empire in the events recorded in the Book of Esther

Muslim

★ 'Eid ul-Adha': Starting on the 10th of Dhul Hijja, a four day holiday commemorating the Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.

Pagan and neopagan

★ 'Samhain': November 1 - first day of winter in the Celtic calendar (and Celtic New Year's Day)

★ 'Yule': (Winter Solstice) - Germanic Pagan festival of the rebirth of the Sun

★ 'Imbolc ': (February 1 or 2) - festival of candles

★ 'Winter Solstice': (December 21) - New Age festival

Persian / Iranian

★ 'Sadeh': A mid-winter feast to honor fire and to "defeat the forces of darkness, frost and cold".

★ 'Yalda': The turning point. End of the longest night of the year (Darkness), and beginning of growing of the days (Lights). A celebration of Good over Evil.

★ 'Chahar Shanbeh Suri': Festival of Fire, Last Wednesday of the Iranian Calendar year. It marks the importance of the light over the darkness, and arrival of spring and revival of nature.

Polynesian

★ 'Matariki': (Māori New Year, usually early June) - Rising of the Pleiades star cluster before dawn.

Roman

★ 'Saturnalia': the Roman winter soltice festival

★ 'Festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun': late Roman Empire - December 25

★ 'Lupercalia', the Roman end-of-winter festival - February 15

Secular

★ 'Winterval': Secular name for winter festivities coined by Birmingham City Council to encompass all holidays being recognized from October to January

★ 'Zamenhof Day': (December 15) - Birthday of Ludwig Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto; holiday reunion for Esperantists

★ 'Winter Solstice, Yule': (December 21 or December 22) (Late June weekend in Australia) - Celebration of the Winter Solstice.

★ 'HumanLight': (December 23) - Humanist holiday originated by the New Jersey Humanist Network

★ 'Chrismukkah': Slang term for the amalgam of Christmas and Hanukkah celebrated by religiously mixed families and couples

★ 'Yuletide': (December 25) - Classic and modern, respectively, terms for the social and federal December 25th holiday

★ 'Boxing Day': (December 26) - Gift-giving day after Christmas.

★ 'Kwanzaa': (December 26 - January 1) - Pan-African festival

★ 'Yulefest, Midwinter Christmas' (around late June or July) - Australian New Zealand winter 'Christmas/Yuletide'

★ 'New Years Eve': (December 31) - Last day of the Gregorian year

★ 'Hogmanay': (Night of December 31 - Before dawn of January 1) - Scottish New Years Eve Celebration

★ 'New Year's Day': (January 1) - First day of the Gregorian year

★ 'Burns Night': (January 25) - Birthday of Robert Burns

★ 'Groundhog Day': (February 2)

★ 'Quebec City Winter Carnival': (February) - Annual celebration of winter.

★ 'Fur Rondy': (Late February and early March]) - Winter celebration in Anchorage, Alaska

Slavic

★ Karachun - the ancient Slavs polytheistic winter solstice festival

Zen Buddhist

★ 'Rohatsu'

Fictional

★ 'Festivus': December 23 - quirky holiday famously invented on the show Seinfeld

★ 'Festival of the Bells': Midwinter celebration in ''Fraggle Rock'', also mentioned in ''A Muppet Family Christmas''.

★ 'Decemberween': December 25 - A holiday in the Homestar Runner universe, occurring 55 days after Halloween.

★ 'Hogswatchnight': December 32 - New Year's Eve/Christmas in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' novels (plays on Hogmanay, Watch Night, and "hogwash")

★ 'Winter-een-mas': January 25 - January 31 - from ''Ctrl+Alt+Del''

★ 'Winterfair': from the Vorkosigan Saga of Lois McMaster Bujold; a Barrayarran cultural holiday

★ 'Chrismukkah': the modern-day merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah.

★ 'Chrismahanukwanzakah': the modern-day merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas, Judaism's Hanukkah, and the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa.

★ 'Pule': December 25 - Fictional replacement for Christmas created on the show Jimmy Neutron

★ 'Hedgehog Day': February 2 - supposed archaic European version of Groundhog Day, dating back to Roman times.

See also

★ Winter solstice