Religious Holidays - Comprehensive Calendar Academic Year 2016-2017 All Faculty and Staff at ESF receive annual reminders of the college s policy regarding the need to respect and appropriately accommodate student s observance of religious holidays, and they are encouraged to work carefully with students in anticipating and resolving conflicts to their mutual satisfaction. The list that follows is adapted from that developed by Williams College Chaplin s Office (http://chaplain.williams.edu/religious-holidays-comprehensive-calendar-academic-yr-2016-2017/ ). It is not exhaustive; however, it includes major festivals and holy days for many, though by no means all, religious traditions represented in the ESF community. (If it does not include an important date in the religious calendar of your particular tradition, please let us know.) Every effort has been made to insure that this information is accurate. Note that some holidays in some traditions are tied to the lunar calendar or to particular cultural patterns that vary by region or by sect which make their location in the calendar somewhat more fluid. Dates marked with a double asterisk (**) denote occasions on which the precept of a particular tradition, and the practice of nearly all its adherents, includes significant restrictions on academic activity. ic Holidays: Regional customs or moon sightings may cause a variation of the date for ic holidays, which begin at sundown the day before the date specified for the holiday. The ic calendar is lunar and the days begin at sunset, so there may be one-day error depending on when the New Moon is first seen. For holidays associated with Christianity, the following notations are used to denote observance by particular strands of the Christian tradition: RC-Roman Catholic P-Protestant O-Orthodox 2016 DAYS HOLIDAY RELIGION Sep. 12 Eid al Adha Sep. 13 (date can vary by a day) Oct. 1 Navaratri Hinduism Oct. 9 Oct. 1 Muharram/New Year Oct. 2 (date can vary by a day) Oct. 2 **Rosh Hashanah (2 days) Oct. 4 Oct. 11 Tuesday Dussehra/Dasara Hinduism Oct. 11 **Yom Kippur Oct. 12
Oct. 11 Ashura Oct. 12 Oct. 16 **Sukkot (1st 2 days) Oct. 23 Sundow- Oct. 23 **Shemini Atzeret Oct. 25 **Simchat Torah Oct. 19 **Birth of the Báb Oct. 20 Thursday Oct. 30 Diwali Hinduism -Jain Nov. 3 Thursday Sikh Nov. 1 Tuesday All Saints Day Christianity (RC, Nov. 2 All Souls Day Christianity (RC, Nov. 11 Friday **Birth of Bahá u lláh Nov. 12 Nov. 14 Monday Guru Nanak Jayanti Birthday Sikh Nov. 27 Advent Begins Christianity (O, Dec. 24 Saturday P, RC) Dec. 8 Thursday Bodhi Day Buddhism Dec. 8 Thursday Feast of the Immaculate Conception Christianity (RC, Dec. 13 Mawlid al Nabi Dec. 14 (dates can vary by a day) Dec. 21 Winter Solstice Zoroastrian Dec. 24 Hanukkah Jan. 1
Dec. 25 Christmas Christianity (RC, Dec. 26 Monday Kwanzaa African Jan. 1 American 2017 DAYS HOLIDAY RELIGION Jan. 6 Friday Epiphany/Theophany Christianity (RC, Jan. 6 Friday Nativity of Christ Armenian Orthodox Christian Jan. 7 Saturday Christmas O Jan. 12 Thursday Mahayana New Year Buddhism Jan. 15 Jan. 28 Saturday Chinese New Year Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist Feb. 5 Four Chaplains Interfaith Feb. 15 Nirvana Day Buddhism, Jain, Sikh Feb. 25 Saturday Maha Shivaratri Hinduism Feb. 27 Monday Great Lent begins-clean Monday Christianity (O) Feb. 28 Tuesday Shrove Tuesday Christianity (RC, Mar. 1 Ash, Lent begins Christianity (RC, Mar. 1 Sunrise- Nineteen Day Fast begins Mar. 20 Mar. 11 **Purim Mar. 12 Mar. 12 Magha Puja Day Buddhism Mar. 13 Monday Holi Hinduism
Mar. 14 Tuesday Mar. 20 **Naw-Ruz (New Year), Mar. 21 Zoroastrian Mar. 28 Tuesday New Year Hinduism Apr. 5 Ram Navami Hinduism Apr. 8 Saturday Buddha s Birthday/Hanamatsuri Buddhism Apr. 9 Palm Christianity (RC, Apr. 10 **Pesach (1st 2 days and last 2 Apr. 18 days of Passover) Apr. 14 Friday Good Friday/Holy Friday Christianity (RC, Aprl. 14 Friday Baisakhi (Vaisakhi) Sikh Apr. 16 Easter/Pascha Christianity (RC, Apr. 20 Thursday **Ridván (1st day) Apr. 21 Friday Apr. 22 Yom HaShoah Apr. 23 Apr. 23 Lailat al Mi raj Apr. 24 Apr. 28 Friday **Ridván (9th day) Apr. 29 Apr. 30 Yom Ha Atzmaut May 1 May 1 **Ridván (12th day) May 2 May 4 Thursday National Day of Prayer Interfaith May 10 Vesak/Visakha Puja Buddhism May 10 Wesak (Birth of Buddha) Buddhism
May 22 **Declaration of the Báb May 23 May 25 Thursday Ascension of Jesus Christianity (RC, May 26 Friday Ramadan May 27 May 28 **Ascension of Baha u lláh Bahá May 29 May 30 Shavuot June 1 Thursday Jun. 4 Pentecost Christianity (RC, Jun. 24 Eid al-fitr (date can vary by a day) Jun. 25