Holidays Around The World � september 24

South Africa Enthusiastically Observes Heritage Day

Noel — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:56:56 +0000

South Africa, Heritage Day: September 24

Heritage Day is a Public Holiday celebrated in South Africa

Heritage Day, September 24, is a public holiday in which South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people. People of South Africa celebrate this holiday with great enthusiasm and various cultural events are held all across the country.

Heritage Day is one of South Africa’s newly created public holidays and its significance rests in recognising aspects of South African culture which are both tangible and difficult to pin down: creative expression, historical inheritance, language, the food as well as the land.

South Africa Heritage Day History

In KwaZulu-Natal, the September 24 was known as Shaka Day, in commemoration of the Zulu King, Shaka. Shaka was the legendary Zulu King that played an important role in uniting disparate Zulu clans into a cohesive nation. Contrary to western discourse Shaka was not a “chief.”

The Public Holidays Bill presented to the Parliament of South Africa at the time did not have September 24 included on the list of proposed public holidays. As a result of this exclusion, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a South African political party with a large Zulu membership, objected to the bill. Parliament and the IFP reached a compromise and the day was given its present title and seen as a day “…when South Africans celebrate the diverse cultural heritage that makes up a ‘rainbow nation’.” It is the day to celebrate the contribution of all South Africans to the building of South Africa.

In 2005, a media campaign sought to re-brand the holiday as National Braai Day, in recognition of the South African culinary tradition of holding informal backyard barbecues, or braais. On September 5, 2007, Archbishop Desmond Tutu celebrated his appointment as patron of South Africa’s Barbecue (Braai) Day, affirming it to be a unifying force in a divided country (by donning an apron and tucking into a boerewors sausage). At the end of 2007 National Braai Day changed its name to Braai4Heritage and the initiative received the endorsement of South Africa’s National Heritage Council (NHC). Organiser Jan Scannell announced that the aim is not to have a mass braai, but smaller ones with friends and family.

South Africa, Heritage Day Customs and Activities

South Africans celebrate Heritage Day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Various events are staged throughout the country to commemorate this day.Former Western Cape Provincial Premier Ebrahim Rasool addressed the public at a Heritage Day celebration at the Gugulethu Heritage trail in 2007 in Gugulethu. In Hout Bay, there is an army procession and a recreation of the battle fought there.

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New Caledonia Marks New Caledonia Day

Noel — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:16:10 +0000

New Caledonia Day: September 24

New Caledonia Day is a public holiday in New Caledonia.

New Caledonia is a “sui generis collectivity” of France located in the region of Melanesia in the southwest Pacific. It comprises a main island (Grande Terre), the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands. Approximately half the size of Taiwan, it has a land area of 18,575.5 square kilometres (7,172 sq mi). The population was estimated in January 2009 to be 249,000. The capital and largest city of the territory is Nouméa. The currency is the CFP franc.

New Caledonia became the overseas territory of France on September 24, 1853. The Day is celebrated as a national holidays in New caledonia since then.

New Caledonia Day History

Whalers operated off New Caledonia during the nineteenth century. Sandalwood traders were welcome but as supplies of sandalwood diminished, the traders became abusive. The Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox, measles, dysentery, influenza, syphilis, and leprosy. Many people died as a result of these diseases. Tensions developed into hostilities, and in 1849 the crew of the American ship Cutter were killed and eaten by the Pouma clan.

As trade in sandalwood declined, it was replaced by a new form of trade, “Blackbirding”. Blackbirding was a euphemism for enslaving people from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, New Hebrides, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands to work in sugar cane plantations in Fiji and Queensland. The trade ceased at the start of the twentieth century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, a label later shortened to Kanak and adopted by the indigenous population after the French annexation.

New Caledonia was made a French possession in late 1853, a part of an attempt by Napoleon III to rival the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. Auguste Febvrier Despointes led the expedition that seized the island. Following the example set by the United Kingdom in parts of nearby Australia, France sent a total of 22,000 convicted felons to penal colonies along the south-west coast of New Caledonia between 1864 and 1922. This number included regular criminals as well as political prisoners such as Parisian socialists and Kabyle nationalists.

Towards the end of the penal colony era, free European settlers (including former convicts) and Asian contract workers by far outnumbered the population of forced workers. The indigenous Kanak populations declined drastically in that same period due to introduced diseases and an apartheid-like system called Code de l’Indigénat which imposed severe restrictions on their livelihood, freedom of movement and land ownership.

New Caledonia Day Customs and Activities

On the September 24 every year, a parade is held in New Caledonia to mark the day when it became as overseas Territory of France and Admiral Despointes took possession of New Caledonia for France. Other than parade, various events are held mainly in the glamorous capital of New Caledonia.

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Trinidad and Tobago celebrates Republic Day

Noel — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:15:47 +0000

Trinidad and Tobago Republic Day: September 24

Republic Day is a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago became a Republic on August 1, 1976. The event is celebrated as a public holiday on September 24 because this is the date when the first Parliament met under the new Republican Constitution. The date was removed from the official calendar of holidays from 1999 to 2001 to make way for the Spiritual Baptist (Shouter) Liberation Day which is celebrated on March 30. The Republic Day holiday was reinstated in 2002.

Trinidad and Tobago Republic Day History

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. The country covers an area of 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands; Tobago is much smaller, comprising about 6 percent of the total area and 4 percent of the entire population which is estimated at 1.3 million (2005). The nation lies outside the hurricane belt.

In November, 1969, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to the United States , Sir Ellis Clarke said that “We as a nation, have reached an age of reason where we can take our time, sit calmly and deliberate what we want. The word goind around in the country was that they shoud abandon the Monarchy and go Republic. In June 1971, His Excellency, Sir Solomon Hochoy announced the decision to appoint a commission “to consider the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, and matters related the reto and to make recommendations for revision of the said constitution and for matters of constitution reform in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Trinidad and Tobago Republic Day Customs and Activities

People of Trinidad and Tobago celebrate Republic Day with great patriotism in their hearts. Various ceremonies are held throught the island nation to mark this day with hosting of flag to start with. As the day is a national holiday, people celebrate this day by making delicious food and sharing it with family and relatives. Students take pride in performing various patriotic events in their schools just one day prior to the public holiday.

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Dominican Republic Honors Mercedes Day

Noel — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:14:21 +0000

Dominican Republic Mercedes Day: September 24

Mercedes Day is a Public Holiday in Dominican Republic.

Domican Republic celebrates the Mercedes Day in honor of Our Lady of Mercy, Patroness of Dominican Republic. The catholic holiday is celebrated with very religiously throught Dominican Republic and is a public holiday on 24th of September every year.

Dominican Republic Mercedes Day History

The History about this old catholic holiday in not very clear but according to believers, the only common ground that can be established is that it is a Roman Catholic festival; in both places there are references to Our Lady being the Patroness; and both places were at one stage in conflict with the Spanish Empire and fighting for independence.

Our Lady of Las Mercedes (or the Virgin of the Mercedes) is the Patroness of the Tucuman people, having been bestowed with this title in 1687.

At the Battle of Tucuman on 24th September 1812, Our Lady is credited with ensuring the victory of some 1,800 Argentine troops over the colonial Spanish forces, who numbered about 3,000. The Argentines, under the command of General Manuel Belgrano, placed their faith in Our Lady, and their success enabled the United Provinces of La Plata to press on with their claims, eventually successful, for independence.

Dominican Republic Mercedes Day Customs and Activities

A series of events are held to commemorate this event, which is a national holiday. Masses are celebrated in honor of the patron saint, followed by a procession through the Colonial Zone. The first apparition of the patron took place in 1495 when she spoke to a group of Spanish soldiers who were fighting the Taino Indians.Our Lady of Mercies then appeared on several more occasions at Santo Cerro, where a church has been built in her honor.

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