Friday, June 3, 2022

April Festivals, Ceremonies, and More


 April 1, April Fool’s Day; Festival of Kali (Hindu)

April 2, International Children’s Book Day

April 3, Birthday of the Buddha

April 4, Megalesia in Rome (from 204 BCE), celebrating the mother goddess, Cybele

April 5, Tomb-Sweeping Day in Taiwan, or Quin Ming Jie 

April 6, First recorded solar eclipse in history, 684 BCE 

April 7, World Health Day

April 8, Hana Matsurei, Flower Festival (Japan)

April 9, Feast of Glory for Baha’i faith

April 10, Anniversary of the first Arbor Day, 1872. Plant a tree!

April 11, Anniversary of when Haley’s Comet was closest to Earth

April 12, Roman festival of Cerealia begins, honoring the grain goddess, Ceres

April 13, International Librarian’s Day

April 14, Songkran Day, Thai New Year

April 15, Fordicia in honor of the Roman goddess Tellus

April 16, Anniversary of Gandhi’s “Prayer and Fasting Day,” 1919

April 17, Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, deposing Communism

April 18, Friendship day in Brazil

April 19, Saint Dunstan’s Day, Joan of Arc is declared a saint in 1909

April 20, Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, circa 571 BCE 

April 21, International Creativity Day

April 22, Earth Day

April 23, World Book Day 

April 24, Astronomy Day

April 25, Festival of Robigalia, for the Roman goddess Robigus who protected crops from mildew

April 26, Birthday of Leonardo de Vinci (1452), painter 

April 27, Freedom Day in South Africa

April 28, Floralia, the festival celebrating Flora, the Roman flower goddess

April 29, Greenery Day in Japan

April 30, Walpurgisnacht in Germany, May Eve

In April, many cultures honor the continuing growth seen in nature with such festivals as the Christian Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of the crucified Christ. This theme of resurrection is found in the mythology of many cultures, including Celtic mythology. In the spring, the Green Man, an avatar of the forests and fields, rises from his autumnal grave to stand tall once more. 

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