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Cultural and Religious Holiday Calendar 2024

Below is a list of cultural and religious holidays to be aware of when scheduling your events and meetings in 2024. If this list is missing a date that you would like to see added, please email AFP’s Head of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access at Othalene.lawrence@afpglobal.org.

*AFP Offices Closed
**Work-restricted Religious Holy Days
Find Partial Cultural and Religious Holiday Descriptions here

Date	Holiday	Religion/Culture
January
1	New Years Day	U.S. Federal Holiday *
6	Epiphany	Eastern Christianity
7	Coptic Orthodox Christmas	Christianity
13	Maghi	Hinduism
14	Orthodox New Year	Christianity
14	Pongal/Makara Saṅkrānti	Hinduism
15	Martin Luther King Day	U.S. Federal Holiday *
21	World Religion Day	Baháʼí
24	Tu Bishvat	Judaism
February
1	Imoblc	Pagan and Wiccan
2	Candlemas	Christianity
8	Lailat al Miraj	Islam
10	Lunar New Year	Chinese Cultural Holiday, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism
14	Ash Wednesday	Christianity
15	Parinirvana	Buddhism
19	President’s Day	U.S. Federal Holiday *
26-29	Intercalary / Ayyam-i-ha	Baháʼí
March
8	Mahāśivarātrī/Shiv	Hinduism **
10	Ramadan, Wednesday Afternoon and Friday Afternoon on April 9th	Islam**
15	Shri Ramakrishna Jayanti	Hinduism **
19-20	Naw Rúz	Baháʼí **
20-21	Nowruz	Persian **
24	Palm Sunday	Christianity
25	Holi	Hinduism
29	Good Friday	Christianity
31	Easter	Christianity
April
6	Laylat al-Qadr	Islam
9-10	Eid al-Fitr	Islam **
13	Vaisakhi	Sikh
17	Rama Navami	Hinduism **
21	Ridván begins	Baháʼí **
22	Passover begins (1st, 2nd, and last 2 days)	Judaism **
30	Passover ends (1st, 2nd, and last 2 days)	Judaism **
May
1	Beltane	Pagan and Wiccan
2	Ascension Day	Christianity **
2	Ridván ends	Baháʼí **
20	Victoria Day	Canadian Federal Holiday
22	Declaration of the Bab	Baháʼí **
23	Vesak/Buddha Jayanti/ Buddha Purnima/ Buddha Day	Buddhism
27	Memorial Day	U.S. Federal Holiday
29	Ascension of Baháʼu'lláh	Baháʼí **
June
7	Feast of the Sacred Heart	Roman Catholicism
11-12	Shavuot	Judaism **
16	Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib	Sikh **
14-19	The Hajj	Islam
16-17	Eid al-Adha	Islam
19	Juneteenth	U.S. Federal Holiday *
21	National Indigenous Peoples Day	Canadian Federal Holiday
21	Litha	Pagan and Wiccan
July
1	Canada Day	Canadian Federal Holiday
4	Independence Day	U.S. Federal Holiday *
7	Hijri New Year	Islam
9	Martyrdom of the Bab	Baháʼí **
16-17	Ashura	Islam
21	Asalha Puja	Buddhism
24	Pioneer Day	Church of Latter-Day Saints
August
1	Lughnasadh	Gaelic and Irish
5	Civic Holiday	Canadian Federal Holiday
12-13	Tisha B’Av 25 hours fasting	Judaism **
15	Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	Catholicism
25	Arbaeen	Islam
26	Krishna Janmashtami	Hinduism **
September
2	Labor Day	U.S./Canadian Federal Holiday *
15-16	Mawlid an-Nabi	Islam **
21-29	Mabon	Wiccan and Pagan
30	National Day for Truth and Reconciliation	Canadian Federal Holiday
October
2-4	Rosh Hashanah	Judaism **
3	Navratri	Hinduism
11-12	Yom Kippur	Judaism **
14	Indigenous People's Day	U.S. Federal Holiday
14	Thanksgiving	Canadian Federal Holiday
16-23	Sukkot	Judaism **
23-25	Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah	Judaism **
24	Birth of Baháúllah	Baháʼí **
24-25	Simchat Torah	Judaism
29 - Nov 3	Diwali	Hinduism
31	Day of Little Souls
November
1-2	The Day of the Dead	Mexico
1	All Saint's Day	Catholicism
2	Birth of Bahá’u’lláh	Bahá’í **
11	Veterans Day	U.S. Federal Holiday
11	Remembrance Day	Canadian Federal Holiday
15	Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Sahib	Sikh
24	Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib	Sikh
25	Day of the Convenant	Bahá’í
27	Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha	Baha’i
28	Thanksgiving	U.S. Federal Holiday
30	St. Andrews Feast Day	Romania, Ukraine, Barbados, Greece, Russia, and Scotland - Catholic Church
December
8	Bodhi Day	Buddhism
21 - Jan 1	Yule	Wiccan and Pagan
25 - Jan 2	Hanukkah	Judaism
25	Christmas	Christianity *
26 - Jan 1	Kwanzaa	African Cultural Holiday
26	Boxing Day	Canadian Federal Holiday

Work-restricted Religious Holy Days
A recognized denominational sacred or holy day that is observed by persons or groups who are required - through a set or system of religious beliefs, laws/doctrines, tenets, canons or theology - to restrict or limit work and/or physical or mental activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something; toil; labor. This definition may include academic endeavors (e.g. examinations, classroom activities and research, or out-of-classroom learning experiences).

Hindu, Jain, and Sikh holy days are calculated on a lunar calendar and are observed at different times in different regions.

All Jewish and Bahá'í holy days begin at sunset the previous day.

Observances/practices vary from culture to culture within and across denominations.

Sunday is widely observed as a Sabbath and day of worship for many faith traditions. In the Jewish faith, Saturday (beginning at sunset on Friday) is a work-restricted Sabbath, Regulations governing observance for worship depends on regional customs.

There are no work-restricted holy days within the Christian faith by tenet. By custom, in the United States, Easter and Christmas (a federal holiday) are considered to be non-workdays.

Reference Note: https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/calendar-religious-holidays-and-observances/index

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