Religious Holidays 2016: Interfaith Calendar For Major World Religions

While some religious holidays always fall on the same day every year, like Christmas, many others shift in response to the lunar calendar. With 2016 quickly approaching, below is a list of religious holidays for nine of the world’s major religions. Please note: Jewish, Baha’i and Islamic holidays begin at sunset the previous day.

Jewish Holidays:

Jan. 25: Tu B’Shevat

March 23-24: Purim

April 22-30: Passover

May 22: Second Passover

May 26: Lag B’Omer

June 11-13: Shavuot

July 23- Aug. 14: Fast of 3 Weeks

July 24: Fast of the 17th of Tammuz

Aug. 13-14: Fast of Tish’a B’Av

Aug. 19: The 15th of Av

Oct. 2-4: Rosh Hashanah

Oct. 11-12: Yom Kippur

Oct. 16-23: Sukkot

Oct. 23-25: Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

Christian Holidays:

Jan. 6: Epiphany

Jan. 10: Baptism of Jesus

Feb. 2: Candlemas

Feb. 10: Ash Wednesday

Feb. 14: St. Valentine’s Day

March 17: St. Patrick’s Day

March 19: St. Joseph’s Day

March 20: Palm Sunday

March 24: Maundy (Holy) Thursday

March 25: Good Friday

March 27: Easter

March 28: Easter Monday

April 23: St. George’s Day

April 30: St. James the Great Day

May 5: Ascension of Jesus

May 15: Pentecost

May 22: Trinity Sunday

May 26: Corpus Christi

June 29: Saints Peter and Paul

July 15: Saint Vladimir

Aug. 1: Lammas

Aug. 15: The Assumption of Mary

Sept. 8: Holy Cross Day

Sept. 29: Michael and All Angels

Oct. 31: All Hallows Eve

Nov. 1: All Saints’ Day

Nov. 2” All Souls’ Day

Nov. 20: Christ the King

Nov. 27: Advent-First Sunday

Nov. 30: St. Andrew’s Day

Dec. 6: St. Nicholas Day

Dec. 24: Christmas Eve

Dec. 25: Christmas

Dec. 28: Holy Innocents

Buddhist Holidays:

Jan. 24: Mahayana New Year

Feb. 8: Chinese New Year

Feb. 15: Nirvana Day

March 23: Magha Puja Day

April 22: Theravada New Year

May 15: Wesak-Buddha Day

July 11: Obon

July 19: Asala-Dharma Day

Dec. 8: Bodhi Day

Islamic Holidays

May 5: Lailat al Miraj

May 21: Lailat al Bara’ah

June 7: start of Ramadan

July 2: Laylat al Kadr

July 7: Eid-al-Fitr (end of Ramadan)

Sept. 10: Waqf al Arafa-Hajj

Sept. 13: Eid-al-Adha

Oct. 3: Hijra- Islamic New Year

Oct. 12: Day of Ashura/Muharram

Dec. 12: Milad un Nabi

Hindu Holidays

Jan. 15: Makarsankranti/Pongal

Feb. 12: Vasant Panchami

March 7: Maha Shivaratri

March 8: Telugu New Year/Ugadi/Gudi Padwa

March 13: Vaisakhi/Baisakhi/Vishu

March 15: Ramanavami

March 23: Holika Dahan

March 24: Holi

April 8: Hindi New Year

April 13: Tamil New Year

April 14: Bengali New Year/Bihu

April 22: Hanuman Jayanti

May 9: Akshaya Tritiya

June 4: Savitri Pooja

July 6: Puri Rath Yatra

July 19: Guru Purnima

Aug. 7: Nag Panchami

Aug. 12: Varalakshmi Vrat

Aug. 18: Raksha-Bandhan

Aug. 25: Krishna Janmashtami

Sept. 5: Ganesh Chaturthi

Sept. 14: Onam

Sept. 16: Vishwakarma Puja

Sept. 30: Mahalaya Amavasya

Oct. 1-10: Navaratri

Oct. 11: Dusshera

Oct. 15: Shardad Purnima

Oct. 19: Karwa Chauth

Oct. 28: Dhanteras

Oct. 30: Diwali

Nov. 1: Bhai Dooj

Nov. 6: Chhath Puja

Nov. 14: Kartik Poornima

Dec. 10: Geeta Jayanti

Dec. 15: Dhanu Sankranti

Pagan Holidays:

Feb. 2: Imbolc

March 20: Ostara

May 1: Beltane

June 20: Midsummer

Aug. 1: Lughnasadh

Sept. 22: Mabon

Oct. 31: Samhain

Dec. 22: Yule

Sikh Holidays:

Jan. 5: Guru Gobind Singh Birthday

Jan. 14: Maghi-Lohri

March 24: Holi

April 13: Vaisakhi

April 18: Birthday of Guru Angad Dev

June 16: Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib

Oct. 20: Birth of the Guru Granth

Oct. 30: Diwali

Nov. 14: Guru Nanak Birthday

Nov. 24: Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib

Baha’i Holidays:

Feb. 26-March 1: Intercalary

March 2-20: Nineteen Day Fast

March 21: New Year

April 21: First Day of Ridvan

April 29: Ninth Day of Ridvan

May 2: Twelfth Day of Ridvan

May 23: Declaration of the Bab

May 29: Ascension of Baha’u’llah

July 9: Martyrdom of the Bab

Oct. 20: Birth of the Bab

Nov. 12: Birth of Baha’u’llah

Nov. 26: Day of the Covenant

Nov. 28: Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Shinto Holidays:

Jan. 1: Oshogatsu

Jan. 7: Koshogatsu

Jan. 15: Seijin Shiki

Feb. 17: Toshigoi

March 3: Joshi-no-Sekku

March 21: Shubun-sai

May 3: Taue Matsuri

May 5: Tango-no-Sekku

June 30: Oharai/Grand Purification Festival

Nov. 15: Shichigosan

Nov. 23: Niinamesei