Holidays Around The World � Botswana Holidays

Botswana Lights the Candles for a Birthday Celebration

Noel — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:45:08 +0000

Botswana Day: September 30

Botswana Day is a Public Holiday in Botswana

Botswana Day, September 30, commemorates Botswana’s independence from the British on 30 September 1966. The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called “Batswana”, regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. Botswana was one of the most impoverished countries in Africa when it became independent in 1966.

Botswana Day History

The earliest inhabitants of the region were the San, who were followed by the Tswana. About half the country today is ethnic Tswana. The term for the country’s people, Batswana, refers to national rather than ethnic origin. Encroachment by the Zulu in the 1820s and by Boers from Transvaal in the 1870s and 1880s threatened the peace of the region.

In 1885, Britain established the area as a protectorate, then known as Bechuanaland. When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 out of the main British colonies in the region, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, Basutoland (now Lesotho) and Swaziland (the “High Commission Territories”) were not included, but provision was made for their later incorporation. An expansion of British central authority and the evolution of tribal government resulted in the 1920 establishment of two advisory councils to represent both Africans and Europeans.

Proclamations in 1934 regularized tribal rule and powers. A European-African advisory council was formed in 1951, and the 1961 constitution established a consultative legislative council. In June 1964, Britain accepted proposals for a democratic self-government in Botswana. Self-government began in 1965, and on Sept. 30, 1966, the country became independent. Botswana is Africa’s oldest democracy. Seretse Khama, a leader in the independence movement and the legitimate claimant to the Ngwato chiefship, was elected as the first president, re-elected twice.

Botswana Day Customs and Activities

To commemorate Botswana Independence Day, which falls on September 30th, members of the Botswana Irish Community, the Social Inclusion Unit of Limerick City Council and Doras Luimni come to together and host an exhibition of Botswana Arts, Crafts and Cultures. Early in the morning people start to blow their horns in celebration of Botswana’s independence. Activities continue all day and into the night. The morning begins with many speakers, choirs and dance groups performances. At around lunch time the DJ music begin and all the kids gathers around to listen to the music. Food is also served and there are some special events such as a beauty contest to crown Miss Independence.

Other interesting posts:

Botswana National Holiday

Noel — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:52:10 +0000

Botswana National Holiday Date: July 21

National Holiday is a public holiday in Botswana.

Botswana is a country in Southern Africa. It is surrounded by land on all the sides which makes it a country with no beaches. The people who live in Botswana are called the ‘Batswana’ and in singular form known as ‘Motswana’. Botswana gained its independence in September 30th, 1966. Since then Botswana has been a happy and a prosperous country. There are quite a many festivals and special days of celebration in Botswana. One of these is the National Day of Botswana. This is celebrated on 21st of July every year.

Botswana National Holiday History

This day is declared a public holiday to the whole country. The National Day to any country is one of the grandly celebrated and much awaited events of the year. This event brings back all the energy of the people of the country as it has to do with the freedom of the people with out which survival might have been a big doubt in Botswana.

Botswana National Holiday Traditions and Activities

There are many events that take place on this much awaited day. One of the celebrations include the military parade, which has a power packed performance to the crowd and gives an electrifying start to the whole celebration. The military units involved in the scene of wars are brought into in this parade to display the might of all the machines in the country. Dancers and singers then follow along in this parade which makes it even more entertaining to the spectators.

This parade is followed by a series of events by the political leaders and celebrities of the country. The leaders express their views about the prosperity of the country and quote a few words to the public. Speeches delivered by these leaders are said to have a huge impact towards the youth of the country and thus paves way to lead them to good health which in turn makes the whole country prosper in knowledge. People of the country who have achieved from various fields of art, science and sports, etc are rewarded handsomely with prize money, scholarships, etc.

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Botswana Presidents Day

Noel — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:06:31 +0000

Botswana Presidents Day Date: July 20-21

Presidents Day is a public holiday in Botswana.

Botswana is a country in Southern Africa. President’s Day in Botswana, prior to 2006, was a two-day national holiday.

Botswana Presidents Day History

The Public Holidays Amendment of 2006 reduced the President’s Day holiday to a one-day holiday. However, in practice, everyone still takes two-day holidays for President’s Day, including the Bank of Botswana and the Government of Botswana. President’s Day holidays are celebrated on the third Monday and Tuesday of the month of July.

Botswana Presidents Day Traditions and Activities

Accordingly, 20th July and 21st July are reserved for President’s Day holidays in Botswana for 2009. The current President of Botswana is Ian Khama.

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Ascension of the Prophet

Noel — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:34:28 +0000

Ascension of the Prophet Date: July 8

Ascension of the Prophet is observed by Muslims throughout the world.

Lailat-ul-Miraj, means the night of the Ascent, the night when the Prophet Mohammad was spiritually transported to heaven. This falls on the 27th day of Rabaj in the Muslim lunar calendar in 2009 is July 20th.

Ascension of the Prophet History

The Ascent was not of the physical body but of a high spiritual level where the Prophet made the journey through spiritual vision. During this Ascent he was met by Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus and other prophets. Its is also stated that the Angel Gabriel accompanied him part of the way but said he couldn’t continue the journey with him but as the messenger of peace the Prophet must do so and continue this wonderous Ascent.

So the Prophet Mohammad continued the Ascent until he reached Moksh. Moksh is the final liberation, a state of bliss which defines the highest feeling of elation, and where he was closest to God. The five obligatory daily prayers are a result of the Ascent where god came down to give spiritual knowledge to mankind.

Lailat al Mi’raj commemorates the day of the transportation of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in a single night, riding a winged horse called Buraq. Apparently, before he undertook this nocturnal journey, he was visited in his dreams by two archangels who purified his heart and filled him with knowledge and faith required to enter heaven. From the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Prophet was taken up to Heaven, where he met earlier Prophets like Moses and Jesus and finally Allah Himself, who revealed to him the duty of Muslims to recite the Salat (prayer) five times every day. The story goes that Allah had originally said it was the duty of Muslims to recite the Salat fifty times every day, but since this was impossible, Moses advised Muhammad to appeal to Allah, and ultimately, the number of times the Salat must be recited was reduced to five.

Ascension of the Prophet Traditions and Activities

To commemorate the Ascent, mosques and homes are decorated with colourful pennants and streamers during the day and oil lamps, lights and candles for the night.In the evening worshippers gather in mosques and through hymns glorify the Lord (Allah) and the Prophet Mohammad. In teh larger mosques spiritual meetings are held after the Isha prayer where the Ascent is discussed. The final act is the giving of sweets where everyone partakes. Some devotees use this night to give donations, distribute food to the poor and many choose to devote the whole night in remembrance.

Unlike Eids, which are basically family celebrations, Lailat al Mi’raj is a community celebration. Muslims decorate their houses and mosques, especially with lighting during the night. In large mosques, ‘satsangs’ (meetings) are held where the story of the Prophet’s adventures is told. This is followed by prayer and the distribution of ‘prasad’ among devotees. The celebration of this day is focused on children, who are told the story of the Prophet Muhammad’s journey to heaven in mosques and can join adults in prayer afterwards if they want to. Food and treats are distributed later.

Ascension of the Prophet is also known as:

Ascension
Prophet
Lailat-ul-Miraj

Other interesting posts:

Labour Day; May Day; Workers’ Day; Day of Kazak

Noel — Sun, 01 May 2011 06:00:14 +0000

May Day Date: May 1

May Day is celebrated throughout most of the world as a public holiday.

May 1 is considered as the Labour Day by almost all the nations of the world. The workers of the world celebrate this as an annual holiday. This day is the result of a massive labor union movement; this day celebrates the social and economic achievements of workers. This day is also known as May Day. Not only these two names, May 1 has many other names like Worker’s day, National Unification Day, Day of Kazak people’s Unity, Eid el-Ommal, etc.

History of May Day/Labour Day

The Eight-Hour day movement is the origin of the Labour Day. This movement advocated eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, and eight hours of recreation for workers everywhere. It was a revolution in that period.

In Europe, this day has a much older significance. This day is celebrated as a rural festival, which is primarily more important than the Labour Day movement. This is now an international holiday and various countries hold multi-day celebrations. Some of the countries conduct parades, patriotic and labour oriented events, and shows and other events on this day. On the other hand, in Northern Europe, Walpurgis Night is on this scheduled night, and this holiday combines with the Labour Day in some nations.

Although, May 1 is considered as the Labour Day in various nations, Germany celebrates it on May 2. In 1933, Labour Day was established as an official holiday after the Nazi Party came to power. It was expected that this day would prove to be the symbol of the newfound unity between the state and the people. The next day, that is on May 2, all the free unions were prohibited and outlawed by the Nazis. Yet, since workers celebrated the holiday for numerous decades before any official state approval, the Nazi Party’s endeavor to appropriate it left no more term offense.

Although this day has many names, but the essence of them all is the same – to honor the work force of the nation.

May Day/Labour Day Traditions and Celebrations

Time has changed; so the way of celebrating the day too. Throughout the rest of the world, there are May Day marches and rallies held out in the various part of the country. In England, a grand May Day march at the the famous Brewhouse Yard gardens starts near the Castle, Nottingham.

Even today celebration of May Day has a touch of ancient culture and tradition. The maypole is still one of the major features of the May festivities with distinctive interpretations. But whatever way you look at it the theme of the May Day celebration is all about celebrating the renewal of life with new hopes, new dreams and new resolutions. May Day flower baskets are made and treats are left at the thresholds of the loved ones as a token of good wishes and love to strengthen the bondage and to rekindle the lost touches.

Other interesting posts:

New Year

Noel — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:41:57 +0000

New Year Date: January 01

New Year Day is celebrated worldwide.

New Year is an extravagantly celebrated festival in all the cultures in the world. Each culture celebrates New Year according to their calendar. Countries which follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate New Year on January 1st every year which is considered the most festive day amongst all the other days of the year.

New Year History

During the Roman period the New Year was celebrated on the first day of March. Later in 47 BC, Julius Caesar made changes in the calendar and named it the Julian calendar. Marco Antonio and Augustus Caesar later modified the calendar in 44 BC and 8 BC respectively. Finally in the late 1582, Pope Gregory XIII modified the calendar to the form of the one that we all use these days.

January 1st is the first day in this calendar and is celebrated with great significance to it. The expansion of the Western culture all over the world then made January 1 a universally celebrated festival. The New Year which is celebrated worldwide is celebrated with huge fireworks and balloons etc. People wish each other for a very healthy and a prosperous year ahead.

Previously, in Jewish tradition, honey is used to represent a sweet New Year ahead, Rosh Hashana (New Year celebrations in the Jewish tradition). As the traditional meal for that holiday, apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten after a prayer and with blessings recited for a good, prosperous and sweet new year. Some Rosh Hashana greetings show an apple and honey, symbolizing the feast. In some other Jewish communities, small straws of honey are given out to usher in the New Year. The New Year feast which is always followed by the Christmas celebrations, the last week of the year is considered as a week of enjoyment and celebration in the winter season.

Many countries celebrate the New Year in a very grand way. This celebration usually consists of fireworks display and other parades and festivities. For example, London has a major fireworks display along the River Thames, followed by a parade on New Year’s Day. Once, Sydney which had more than half a million people present to witness the celebrations of New Year launched more than 80,000 fireworks at midnight. It was the highest watched celebration on tele-vision worldwide. In Valparaiso more than two million visitors witnessed the huge fireworks in a natural setting. A total of more than 21 kilometers of fireworks were set up on the bay, starting from the commercial port city of Valparaiso to Concon, Chile. These all were set up for 25 minutes of entertainment.

New Year Traditions and Activities

Usually in New York, the celebration is focused around a large crystal ball that slowly descends in a ten second countdown in Times Square, and last year was also the party with the largest number of attendees with more than three million people witnessing the New Year celebrations. Edinburgh plays host to one of the world’s largest Hogmanay (meaning ‘the last day of the year’) events. Celebration here lasts for four days and visitors from all around the globe are attracted to take part in the street parties and festivities, and attend the concerts which take place during midnight.

Important Facts about New Year

New Year is the only festival which is celebrated worldwide. Even though there is no special history behind the festival, all people around the world look forward for this celebration. New Year is a festival in which something innovative and better is done each and every year.

New Years Day is also known as:

New Year Celebrations
New Year Holidays