Sep Sat 1
* Ecclesiastical Year begins - Orthodox Christian

Sep Sat 8
* Nativity of the Theotokos - Christian
Orthodox Christians celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary
* Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Christian
Roman Catholic and Anglican churches celebrate the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Sep Tues 11
* Ethiopian New Year - Rastafari
The start of the New Year in Ethiopia is recognised because Rastafarians believe Ethiopia to be their spiritual homeland, and a place to which they want to return.

Sep Fri 14
* The Triumph of the Cross - Christian
Catholics and Orthodox Christians reflect on the salvation they believe inherent in the symbol of the Cross.

Sep Sun 16 (from sunset through nightfall of Sep 18)
* Rosh Hashanah* - Jewish
Jewish New Year. A two-day festival during which work is not permitted.

Sep Wed 19
* Ganesh Chaturthi - Hindu
On this day Hindus all over the world celebrate the birthday of Lord Ganesh
* Fast of Gedalliah - Jewish
Fast in memory of the assassination of Gedalliah Ben Achikam, the Governor of Israel during the days of Nebuchadnetzar, King of Babylonia. Work is permitted.

Sep 20-29
Paryushana Parva ** - Jain

Sep Sat 22
* Autumn Equinox - Pagan

Sep Sun 23
* Saint Pio of Pietrelcina - Catholic
Catholics honour the 20th century Italian stigmatist, popularly known as Padre Pio.

Sep Tue 25 (from sunset through nightfall of Sep 26)
* Yom Kippur - Jewish
Day of Atonement - the most solemn day of the Jewish year. Work is not permitted.

Sep Fri 28
* Mesket- Ethiopian Orthodox Christian

Sep Sat 29
* Michaelmas/St Michael, St Gabriel and St Raphael's Day - Christian
A feast day in honour of the archangel Michael. Michael is one of the angels named in the Bible (along with Gabriel and, in some traditions including Roman Catholic, Raphael)

Sep Sun 30 (from sunset through to sunset of Oct 7)
* Sukkot - Jewish
Sukkot or The Feast of Tabernacles, commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God took special care of them under impossible conditions. Sukkot lasts for seven days, and work is not permitted on the first two days

Oct Tue 2
* Feast of the Guardian Angels - Christian
A Catholic festival celebrated annually on 2 October in honour of guardian angels.

Oct Thu 4
* Saint Francis Day - Catholic Christian

Oct Sun 7
* Hoshanah Rabbah - Jewish
The 7th day of Sukkot.
* Shemini Atzeret (from sunset through nightfall of Oct 8) - Jewish
Shemini Atzeret can be translated as "the assembly of the eighth (day)." In Israel the festival is combined with Simchat Torah.

Oct Mon 8
* Thanksgiving - Canada - Interfaith

Oct Tue 9
* Birthday of Guru Ram Das (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Ram Das (1534-1581) was the fourth of the Sikh Gurus.
* Simhat Torah *- Jewish

Oct Sat 13
* St Edward's Day - Christian
Edward the Confessor was King of England 1042 - 1066. He built Westminster Abbey where there is a shrine to him - and where the saint is also celebrated on January 5 each year, the anniversary of his
death.

Oct Tue 16
* Navaratri (start) - Hindu
Navaratri (nine nights) symbolises the triumph of good over evil and marks the start of autumn.

Oct Thu 18
* Saint Luke - Apostle and Evangelist - Christian

Oct Sat 20
* Birth of the Bab - Bahai
Celebrates the birth of the precursor of the founder of the Baha'i faith.
* Installation of Scriptures as Gukru Granth - Sikh

Oct Wed 24
* Dussera - Hindu
Celebrates Lord Rama's victory over the evil demon Ravana.

Oct Thu 25
* Waqf al Arafa - Hajj Day * - Islam

Oct Fri 26
* Eid-Ul-Adha - Muslim
Festival of Sacrifice marking the day after Arafat. The Day of Arafat is the most important day in the Hajj ritual. This is a four day holiday

Oct Sun 28
* Milvian Bridge Day - Christian
* Reformation Day ** - Protestant Christian

Oct Wed 31
* Samhain Hallowe'en - Pagan
Samhain (pronounced 'sow'inn') marks the Feast of the Dead. Many Pagans also celebrate it as the old Celtic New Year (although some mark this at Imbolc).
* Hallowe'en (All Hallows' Eve) - Christian
The night before All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day). Its origins date back over 2000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. It was celebrated as a Christian festival by the 8th Century.

Nov Thu 1
* All Saints' Day (Hallowmas, All Hallows') - Christian
All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows' Day or Hallowmas) is when Anglicans and Roman Catholics honour all saints, known and unknown, of the Christian church. Orthodox churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost.
* Samhain - Beltane * - Wicca/Pagan Northern and Southern hemispheres

Nov Fri 2
* Coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I - Rastafari
Haile Selassie was the Emperor of Ethiopia. Rastas believe Haile Selassie is God, and that he will return to Africa members of the black community who are living in exile.
* All Souls' Day – Catholic Christian
All Souls' Day is an opportunity for Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic churches to commemorate the faithful departed. They remember and pray for the souls of people who are in Purgatory. All Souls' Day is celebrated on 3 November if the 2nd is a Sunday.

Nov Sun 11
* Armistice Day - Multifaith
Marks the end of the First World War on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. At 1100 on this day people in the UK pause for 2 minutes of silence to remember those who gave
their lives in past conflicts.

Nov Mon 12
* Birth of Baha'u'llah - Bahai
Celebrates the birth in 1817 of the founder of the Baha'i faith.

Nov Tue 13
* Diwali - Hindu
Diwali, the festival of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia. It is an occasion for celebrations by Hindus as well as Jains and Sikhs.
* Diwali - Jain
Diwali, the festival of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia. It is an occasion for celebrations by Hindus as well as Jains and Sikhs.
* Diwali - Sikh
For Sikhs, Diwali is particularly important because it celebrates the release from prison of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind, and 52 other princes with him, in 1619.

Nov Thu 15
* Shichigosan (7-5-3 festival) - Shinto
A festival to give thanks for children. Often celebrated on the nearest Sunday to the 15th to allow working parents to take part.
* Al-Hijira - Muslim
Islamic New Year. Marks the migration of the Prophet Mohammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina
* Nativity Fast through 12-25 - Orthodox Christian

Nov Sat 17
* St Hilda - Christian
The 7th century Northumbrian monastic and saint.

Nov Wed 21
* Yule - Christian

Nov Thu 22
* Thanksgiving USA - Interfaith

Nov Fri 23
* Niinamesei - Shinto
Labour Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday in Japan and originally a harvest festival.

Nov Sat 24
* Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth Sikh Guru and is honoured as a champion of religious freedom. He was executed in 1675 for refusing to convert to Islam.
* Ashura - Muslim
Islamic holy day observed on the 10th of the Islamic month of Muharram. Shi'ite Muslims regard it as a major commemoration marking the martydom of the Prophet's grandson, Hussein.

Nov Sun 25
* Christ the King - Christian

Nov Mon 26
* Day of the Covenant - Bahai
This minor festival celebrates the covenant of Baha'u'llah. Baha'is also mark the life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on this day.

Nov Wed 28
* Ascension of Abdu'l-Baha - Bahai
Marks the death of the son of Baha'u'lláh. This is a minor holy day and work is not suspended.
* Birthday of Guru Nanak (Lunar Calendar) - Sikh
This festival may be celebrated by some on the date fixed by the Nanakshahi calendar: April 14

Nov Wed 30
* St Andrew's Day - Christian
Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, Greece and Russia. The flag of Scotland is the Cross of St. Andrew. St Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was originally a fisherman and became the first Apostle.

Dec Sun 2
* Advent Sunday - Christian
The beginning of the ecclesiastical year on the Sunday closest to November 30. Advent is the season before Christmas - In Western Christendom, four Sundays are included. In Eastern Christendom, the season is longer and begins in the middle of November

Dec Thu 6
* Saint Nicholas Day - Christian

Dec Sat 8
* Feast of the Immaculate Conception - Christian
Celebrated by Roman Catholics who remember Mary's conception as being without sin, therefore, immaculate.
* Bodhi Day - Buddhist
On Bodhi day some Buddhists celebrate Gautama's attainment of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India.
* Hanukkah (from sunset through Dec 16) - Jewish
Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights and marks the restoration of the temple by the Maccabees in 164 BCE. Hanukkah is celebrated at roughly the same time as Christmas, but there is no connection at all between the festivals. Work is permitted except on Shabbat.

Dec Wed 12
* Our Lady of Guadeloupe - Catholic
* Celebrated by Roman Catholics throughout Central and South America who honour the Empress of the Americas. Peter Owen Jones joined over 5 million pilgrims in Guadeloupe.

Dec Thu 13
* St Lucy's Day - Christian
Saint Lucy's Day or the Feast of St. Lucy is marked by Catholics and Orthodox Christians and also celebrated by members of the Lutheran Church.

Dec Fri 21
* Winter Solstice - Pagan
Yule is the time of the winter solstice, when the sun child is reborn, an image of the return of all new life born through the love of the Gods. Within the Northern Tradition Yule is regarded as the New Year.

Dec Sun 23
* Fast of Tevet 10 - Jewish
Work is permitted

Dec Mon 24
* Christmas Eve - Christian
The day before Christmas Day

Dec Tue 25
* Christmas Day - Christian
The day when Western Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Dec Wed 26
* Boxing Day - Secular
The day after Christmas Day. A secular festival.
* St Stephen's Day - Christian
St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is celebrated on this day by Roman Catholics. The day is also called the Feast of Stephen.
* Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathushtra ** - Zoroastrian

Dec Fri 28
* Holy Innocents - Christian

Dec Sun 30
* Feast of the Holy Family - Catholic Christian

Dec Mon 31
* Watch Night - Christian

Jan Sun 1
* Circumcision - Christian
Marks the day when Jesus was circumcised.
* New Year's Day - Secular
The start of the Western calendar year
* Oshogatsu (or Shogatsu, Gantan-sai) - Shinto
Shinto New Year, one of the most popular occasions for shrine visits.
* Festival of St Basil the Great - Christian
St Basil is one of the great fathers of the Orthodox Church.
* Mary, Mother of God - Catholic Christian
* 10th Tevet - Jewish
An important Jewish fast day.

Jan Sat 5
* Twelfth Night - Christian
* Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) was the tenth and last of the Sikh Gurus. He instituted the Five Ks and established the Order of the Khalsa.

Jan Sun 6
* Epiphany - Christian
Celebrates the visit of the wise men (the magi) to the infant Jesus. In the East, where it originated, the Epiphany celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. (Catholics and
Episcopalians celebrate this separately: see Baptism of the Lord) Also known as Dia de los Reyes (Three Kings Day).
* Christmas Day (Armenian Orthodox) - Christian
Armenian Christians celebrate Christ's birth at Epiphany, except for Armenians in the Holy Land, who celebrate Christmas on January 19th.
* Theophany (Orthodox) - Christian
Orthodox churches mark the baptism of Jesus on this day.
* Dia de los Reyes - Hispanic Christians
* Nativity of Christ - Armenian Orthodox

Jan Mon 7
* Christmas Day (Ethiopian) - Rastafari
Rastafarians believe Ethiopia to be their spiritual homeland, and a place to which they want to return.
* Christmas Day (Orthodox) - Christian
Most Orthodox churches use the Julian rather than the Gregorian version of the Western calendar. As a result, they celebrate Christmas
13 days later than other Christian churches.
* Nativity of Christ** – Orthodox Christian

Jan Fri 13
* St Hilary's Day - Christian
According to tradition, "St. Hilary's is the coldest day of the year." St. Hilary was a fourth century Bishop of Poitiers.
* Baptism of the Lord - Christian
Commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. Occurs on the first Sunday after Epiphany. Catholics and Episcopalians celebrate this holy day, but Eastern Christianity celebrates the baptism of Jesus at Epiphany.
* Maghi - Sikh

Jan Mon 14
* Makar Sankranti - Hindu
Makar Sankranti is one of the most important festivals of the Hindu
calendar and celebrates the sun's journey into the northern
hemisphere.

Jan Tue 15
* Seijin Shiki (Adults' Day) - Shinto
Japanese who have reached legal adulthood (20 in Japan) in the previous year attend a shrine to give thanks.
* World Religion Day - Baha'i

Jan 18-25
* Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (start) - Christian
First celebrated in 1908. The days of 18-25 January (regardless of the days of the week involved) were originally chosen because they covered the days between the feast of St Peter and the feast of St Paul. Some churches and regions use a different week.

Jan Sat 19
* Timkat - Ethiopian Orthodox Christian

Jan Mon 21
* St Agnes - Christian
Patron saint of girls, martyred at the age of 13

Jan Thu 24
* Milad un Nabi (Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad) - Muslim
Shia Muslims celebrate this 5 days later. Some Muslims do not approve of celebrating the birthday, and regard doing so as a religious innovation.

Jan Fri 25
* St Paul's Day - Christian
Anglicans and Catholics celebrate St Paul's conversion on the road to
Damascus.

Jan Sat 26
* Tu B'Shevat - Jewish
The Jewish New Year for trees - For religious accounting purposes all trees have their anniversaries on this festival, regardless of when they were planted.

Jan Sun 27
* Mahayana New Year ** - Buddhist

Jan Mon 28
* St Thomas Aquinas - Christian
Doctor of the Church and patron saint of students and theologians.

Jan Tue 29
* Milad un Nabi (Shia) - Muslim
* Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Sunni Muslims celebrate this 5
days earlier. Some Muslims do not approve of celebrating the birthday, and regard doing so as a religious innovation.

Jan Thu 31
* Birthday of Guru Har Rai (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Har Rai (1630-1661) was the seventh of the Sikh Gurus.

Feb Sat 2
* Candlemas - Christian
This is often called The Presentation of Christ in the Temple and commemorates the day Mary took Jesus to the Temple at Jerusalem to present him to God. Coincides with Groundhog Day (USA)
* Iambic - Pagan
Also called Oimelc and Candlemas, Imbolc celebrates the awakening of the land and the growing power of the Sun.
* Presentation of Christ in the Temple - Anglican Christian
* Saint Brighid of Kildare - Celtic Christian

Feb Sun 3
* Rissun (Setsubun) - Shinto
A Spring festival that marks the division between Winter and Spring and is celebrated with beans.
* Four Chaplains Sunday- Interfaith

Feb Sat 4
* Milad un Nabi (Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad) - Muslim
Shia Muslims celebrate this 5 days later. Some Muslims do not approve of celebrating the birthday, and regard doing so as a religious innovation.

Feb Fri 8
* Parinirvana - Nirvana day - Buddhist
Mahayana Buddhist festival marking the anniversary of Buddha's death. Pure Land Buddhists call the festival "Nirvana Day".

Feb Sun 10
* Chinese New Year - Chinese
* Transfiguration Sunday - Christian

Feb Mon 11
* Our Lady of Lourdes - Christian
Marks the day in 1858 when St Bernadette had her first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Feb Tue 12
* Shrove Tuesday - Christian
Also called Pancake Day and Mardi Gras. The British name of "Pancake Day" comes from the tradition of making pancakes to use up all the food that could not be eaten during Lent.

Feb Wed 13
* Ash Wednesday - Christian
The first day of Lent for Western Christian churches. Lent is the season
marking the time Jesus spent in the wilderness.

Feb Thu 14
* St Valentine's Day - Christian
Now more a secular festival than a religious one. There are at least three different saints named Valentine.

Feb Fri 15
* Nirvana day (alternative date) - Buddhist
Nirvana Day is also known as Parinirvana and is celebrated by some Buddhists on February 8th. Nirvana Day is the celebration of Buddha's death when he reached total Nirvana, at the age of 80.
* Vasant Panchami - Hindu
Dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of learning and Brahma's wife. The festival marks the beginning of Spring.

Feb Thu 21
* Fast of Esther (Taanit Esther) - Jewish
A fast in commemoration of the fast of Mordechai and Esther. This is not a major Jewish fast.

Feb Sat 23
* Purim (from nightfall to nightfall of Feb 24) - Jewish
Purim commemorates the time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination by the courage of a young Jewish woman called Esther. Work should be avoided.

Feb Sun 24
* Triodion begins - Orthodox Christian

Feb Mon 25
* Shushan Purim - Jewish
In some places Purim is celebrated one day later. In this case it is called Shushan Purim. Work permitted.
* Magha Puja - Buddhist
Fourfold Assembly or Sangha Day. Marks the day Buddha addressed a meeting of 1250 arahants.

Feb 26 - Mar 1
Intercalary Days * - Baha'i

Mar Fri 1
* St David's Day - Christian
Saint David, or Dewi Sant as he's called in the Welsh language, is the patron saint of Wales.

Mar Sat 2
* Nineteen Day Fast (start) - Bahai
Ends 20 March. During this period Baha'is go without food or drink from sunrise to sunset.

Mar Sun 3
* Hina-matsuri - Festival of Dolls - Shinto
Celebrates daughters in the family

Mar Tue 5
* St Piran's Day - Christian
Piran is regarded as the patron saint of Cornwall and tin miners. He was born in Ireland. The Cornish flag may have been inspired by the legend that Piran discovered the process for smelting tin: black rock with a white cross of pure metal.

Mar Sun 10
* Mothering Sunday - Christian
Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. Not the same as Mothers' Day in the USA.
* Saint David of Wales - Christian
* Maha Shivaratri - Hindu

Mar Sun 17
* St Patrick's Day - Christian
St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.

Mar Mon 18
* Clean Monday - Beginning of Lent (Orthodox) - Christian
The start of the "Great Lent" for Orthodox Christians. This day is called Clean Monday, and occurs seven weeks before the Orthodox Easter

Mar Tue 19
* St Joseph’s Day, (husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary) - Christian

Mar Wed 20
* Spring Equinox - Eoster Pagan
Spring Equinox celebrates the renewed life of the Earth that comes with the Spring.

Mar Thu 21
* Naw-Ruz - Bahai
Baha'i New Year
* Jamshedi Noruz (Fasli) - Zoroastrian
Zoroastrian New Year's Day in the Fasli calendar.
* Shubun-sai - Equinox day - Shinto
A day for visiting graves. Also associated with Buddhism in Japan.

Mar Sat 23
* Lazarus Saturday - Orthodox Christian

Mar Sun 24
* Palm Sunday - Christian
The sixth and last Sunday of Lent. Marks the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and the start of Holy Week.
* Orthodox Sunday - Orthodox Christian

Mar Mon 25
* Annunciation - Christian
Marks the angel Gabriel's message to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to the incarnation of Christ. It also celebrates the incarnation itself as the date falls 9 months before Christmas.
* Fast of the Firstborn - Jewish
Observed only by firstborn males, on the day before Passover. This fast celebrates the survival of Jewish firtborn sons from the 10th Plague of Egypt.
* Passover (from sunset through nightfall of Apr 2) - Jewish
The start of the season of Passover when Jews commemorate the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses. Work is not permitted on the first two and the last two days of
Passover.

Mar Tue 26
* Khordad Sal (Fasli) - Zoroastrian
The birthday of Zoroaster, celebrated on this date in the Fasli calendar. Also known as the Greater Noruz

Mar Wed 27
* Magha Puja Day ** - Buddhist
* Lord's Evening Meal - Jehovah's Witness Christian
* Holi ** - Hindu

Mar Thu 28
* Maundy Thursday - Christian
Christians remember Maundy Thursday as the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and established the ceremony known as the Eucharist.
* Hola Mohalla (Lunar Calendar) - Sikh
Hola Mohalla is three day festival of military exercises and mock battles, together with religious discussions and devotional music, at Anandpur Sahib on the day after Holi.

Mar Fri 29
* Good Friday - Christian
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the execution of Jesus by crucifixion.

Mar Sat 30
* Holy Saturday (Western) - Christian
The evening before Easter Sunday is spent in anticipation of Christ's resurrection the next morning.

Mar Sun 1
* Easter Sunday (Western) - Christian
Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - his return from death after the Crucifixion. The most important Christian festival. Most years Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on a different date.

Apr Tue 2
* Passover (final two days) - Jewish
The eighth and final day of Passover. Note that Passover lasts for seven days in Israel.

Apr Sun 7
* Yom Hashoah - Jewish
The Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day. The date is chosen as the closest date (in the Jewish calendar) to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Apr Thu 11
* Ugadi (Yugadi) - Hindu
Ugadi (literally 'the start of an era') is the New Year festival for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in southern India. It occurs on the first day of the month of Chaitra.

Apr Sat 13
* Vaisakhi - Sikh
The Sikh New Year Festival, which also commemmorates the founding of the Khalsa by the tenth Guru (Guru Gobind Singh) in 1699. Also spelled Baisakhi.

Apr Sun 14
* Birthday of Guru Nanak (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
The founder of the Sikh religion was born on 14 April 1469. This festival is also currently celebrated according to the Lunar Calendar, but this may change.
* Hola Mohalla (Nanakshahi Calendar) - Sikh
Hola Mohalla is currently celebrated according to the Lunar Calendar, but this may change.
* Yom Hazikaron - Jewish
A day of remembrance on the day preceding Israel's Independence Day.

Apr Mon 15
* Yom Ha'atzmaut - Jewish
Israel's Independence Day

Apr Thu 18
* Birthday of Guru Angad Dev (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Angad Dev (1504-1552) was the second of the Sikh Gurus.
* Birthday of Guru Tegh Bahadur (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675) was the ninth of the Sikh Gurus.

Apr Fri 19
* Swaminarayan Jayanti - Hindu
This day marks the birth of Lord Swaminarayan for followers of the Swaminarayan tradition.

Apr Sat 20
* Rama Navami ** - Hindu

Apr Sun 21
* Ridvan - first day - Bahai
The start of a 12 day festival when Baha'is celebrate the day when Baha'u'llah said that he was the prophet predicted by the Bab. The most important Baha'I festival.
* Anniversary of Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica - Rastafari
Marks the date Haile Selassie I visited Jamaica in 1966. Haile Selassie was the Emperor of Ethiopia. Rastas believe Haile Selassie is God, and that he will return to Africa members of the black community who
are living in exile.

Apr Tue 23
* St George's Day - Christian
Saint George is the patron saint of England.

Apr Wed 24
* Second Passover - Jewish
Work permitted

Apr Thu 25
* Theravada New Year - Buddhist
New Year festival for Theravada Buddhists, celebrated for three days from the first full moon day in April
* Hanuman Jayanti ** - Hindu
* Mahavir Jayanti ** - Jain

Apr Sun 28
* Lag B'Omer - Jewish
A minor holiday on the 33rd day of the Omer commemorating a break in the plague during the lifetime of Rabbi Akiva. Work is permitted.

Apr Mon 29
* Ridvan - ninth day - Bahai
Marks the arrival of Baha'u'llah's family at the Ridvan garden.

May Wed 1
* Beltane - Pagan
Pagans celebrate Beltane with maypole dances, symbolizing the mystery of the Sacred Marriage of Goddess and God.

May Thu 2
* Ridvan - twelfth day - Bahai
Marks Baha'u'llah's departure from the Ridvan garden.
* Birthday of Guru Arjan Dev (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606) was the fifth of the Sikh Gurus
* National Day of Prayer USA - Interfaith

May Fri 3
* Holy Friday - Orthodox Christian

May Sun 5
* Easter (Orthodox) - Christian
Orthodox Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - his return from death after the Crucifixion. The most important Christian festival

May Wed 8
* Yom Yerushalayim - Jewish
Jerusalem Day

May Thu 9
* Ascension Day - Christian
Ascension Day marks the last earthly appearance of Christ after his resurrection. Christians believe Christ ascended into heaven. It is celebrated 40 days after Easter.

May Sun 12
* Ascension Day (Catholic Church in England and Wales) - Christian
Ascension Day is normally celebrated 40 days after Easter. The Catholic Church in England and Wales celebrates it on the following Sunday instead.

May Tue 14
* Shavuot (from sunset through to nightfall of May 16) - Jewish
Shavuot is a two-day festival that marks the time when the first harvest was taken to the Temple. Also known as the Festival of Weeks. Work is not permitted for the duration of the festival.

May Sun 19
* Pentecost - Whitsun - Christian
The seventh Sunday after Easter, commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and the birth of the Christian Church.

May Thu 23
* Birthday of Guru Amar Das (Nanakshahi calendar) - Sikh
Guru Amar Das (1479-1574) was the third of the Sikh Gurus.
* Declaration of the Bab - Bahai
The Bab was the Forerunner of Baha'u'llah, founder of the Baha'i faith. His mission was to prepare the world for the coming of Baha'u'llah and he declared it in the evening of May 22 1844.

May Sat 25
* Wesak or Buddha day - Buddhist
The most important of the Buddhist festivals. It celebrates the Buddha's birthday, and, for some Buddhists, also marks his enlightenment and death.
* St Bede the Venerable - Christian
The great Anglo-Saxon saint and scholar from Jarrow.

May Sun 26
* Trinity Sunday - Christian
The first Sunday after Pentecost. Christians meditate on the nature of God as "Three in one".

May Wed 29
* Ascension of Baha'u'llah - Bahai
Anniversary of Baha'u'llah's death in in 1892 near Akka, Israel.

May Thu 30
* Corpus Christi - Christian
Roman Catholic festival celebrating the "real presence of Christ in the Eucharist". The festival falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.