Buddha Day is the celebration of Buddha's birthday. It commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha. Community: Buddhist Common practices: Decorating homes Visiting local temples Observers are encouraged to refrain from slaughtering and to avoid eating meat on...

Beltane is a fire festival that celebrates the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year. Communities: Pagan, Wiccan, Druid Common practices: Jumping the balefire Dancing the Maypole

Ascension of the Baha'ullah commemorates the death of the founder of the Bahá’í faith who died in 1892. Community: Bahá’í Common practices: Devotional programs Reading from the scriptures

Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish New Year. Beginning at sundown, it is a two-day holiday that marks the beginning of the High Holy Days, a ten-day period of introspection and repentance. It is a time for reflection...

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is considered the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It is a day dedicated to atonement, prayer, and fasting. Yom Kippur takes place ten days after Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year)...

Mabon is the second celebration of the harvest, a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth, and recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddesss and the God during the coming winter...

Sukkot begins at sundown and is an eight day long celebration with a dual meaning. It is both a harvest festival, celebrating the gathering of crops, and a commemoration of the 40-year period when the Israelites lived in temporary shelters...

Shemini Atzeret is a Jewish holiday that directly follows the seven-day festival of Sukkot. Its name means "Eighth Day of Assembly," and it is considered by some to be a separate festival, as it concludes the intense period of the...

Simchat Torah begins at sundown and marks the completion of the annual cycle of reading the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) in synagogues and the beginning of the new cycle. This s a joyous Jewish holiday...

Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival that spans nine nights and ten days, celebrating the divine feminine, or Shakti. The festival's name literally means "nine nights" (nava for nine and ratri for nights). It commemorates the victory of the goddess...