Feasts and festivals are special times of celebration. Most of them take place once a year and may last for one or more days. Many feasts and festivals honor great leaders, saints, or gods or spirits. Others celebrate a harvest, the beginning of a season or of a year, or the anniversary of a historical event. Most are joyous occasions, but some involve mourning and repentance.
During some feasts and festivals, adults stay away from their jobs, and children stay home from school. Some people celebrate happy events by decorating their homes and streets, wearing special clothes, and exchanging gifts. Many of these celebrations include special meals, dancing, and parades. Solemn occasions may be observed with fasts, meditation, and prayer.
In the past, nearly all feasts and festivals were religious. Today, many of them celebrate nonreligious events. This article discusses feasts and festivals in five major religions. For a discussion of nonreligious celebrations, see Holiday.
In Christianity,
the most important festivals recall major events in the life of Jesus Christ. These festivals include Christmas, which celebrates his birth; and Easter, his Resurrection. Other Christian festivals honor the Virgin Mary, various saints, and the founding of the church.
Christians celebrate feasts and festivals both in church and at home. The celebrations vary widely among different groups. Many Protestants and Roman Catholics consider Christmas the most joyous and elaborate festival. Members of the Eastern Orthodox Churches regard Easter as their most important celebration. Some feasts and festivals are celebrated only in certain parts of the world. For example, a town may hold a festival for its patron saint.
In Judaism,
the most sacred festivals are Rosh Ha-Shanah, the Jewish New Year; and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. According to Jewish tradition, people are judged on Rosh Ha-Shanah for their deeds of the past year. On Yom Kippur, Jews fast, express their regret for past sins, and declare their hope to perform good deeds during the coming year.
Many Jewish festivals commemorate major events in Jewish history. For example, Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt (see Passover). Hanukkah is a celebration of a Jewish victory over the Syrians in 165 B.C. (see Hanukkah). Purim honors the rescue of the Jews of Persia (now Iran) from a plot to kill them. Jews celebrate these festivals both in synagogues and at home.
In Islam.
All followers of Islam, who are called Muslims, observe two celebrations—`Īd al-Ad-hā (also spelled Eid al-Adha), the Feast of Sacrifice, and Īd al-Fitr, the Feast of Fast-Breaking. The Feast of Sacrifice occurs on the last day of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, in the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. Animals are sacrificed in commemoration of the Biblical prophet Abraham, whose faithfulness to God prevented the sacrifice of his older son Ishmael (Abraham’s younger son, Isaac, in the Bible). See `Id al-Ad-ha. The joyous Feast of Fast-Breaking is held on the first day following Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink from dawn to sunset (see Id al-Fitr).
Many Muslims celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, born in about 570. Muslims who belong to the Shī`ah division of Islam set aside a day to mourn the death of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of Muhammad.
In Buddhism.
Buddhists hold two principal kinds of festivals. The first type of festival commemorates several key events in the life of Buddha—chiefly his birth, enlightenment, and death. Buddhists in different parts of the world observe these events in a variety of ways. In Japan, for example, Buddhists celebrate Buddha’s birthday by decorating their temples with flowers and pouring sweet tea over statues of the infant Buddha.
The second type of Buddhist festival honors the community of Buddhist monks. One such festival marks the end of the monks’ annual retreat. During this celebration, groups of villagers perform a ceremony called the kathina, in which they give robes to the monks.
In Hinduism.
Hindus hold festivals to honor each of the hundreds of Hindu gods and goddesses. Most of these festivals are local celebrations at the temples and honor specific divinities.
A few festivals are observed by all Hindus, chiefly in their homes and villages. These festivals, which include Holi and Diwali (also known as Dipavali), combine religious ceremonies with feasts, fireworks, parades, and other traditional amusements. Holi, the spring festival, is a boisterous celebration in which people throw colored water at one another (see Holi). During the festival of Diwali, which honors several Hindu gods, including the goddess of wealth and beauty, Hindus decorate houses and streets with lights.
