Jamaican Holidays
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Jamaica has numerous holidays that are celebrated annually as public holidays. They can be classified as Christian and secular holidays. There are celebrations that are just geared towards these holidays, such as dances and various festivals.
The Christian holidays are Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter and Christmas, while the secular holidays are Labor Day, Emancipation Day, Independence Day, National Heroes day, Boxing Day and New Years Day. The dates for these are not always fixed as it depends on the calendar year.
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of lent that is said to be forty days before the Easter. During this time some persons abstain from eating meat, it usually comes on a different day every year which can be early February or late march. This holiday got its name when persons use to place ashes on the forehead as a sign of repentance. However, not everyone in the Christian community celebrates this day.
Good Friday is celebrated in April and is observed during the holy week that proceeds the Sunday in the Easter holiday, it commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. On this day persons would go to worship and fasting. In the past, the meal of fish of bread or bun and cheese would be prepared the day before as there would be no cooking on the Friday as it was believed Jesus was on the cross. But this has changed somewhat today.
Easter is celebrated in April on the Sunday and Monday as a continuation from the Good Friday, with persons going to worship. It was in recognition of Jesus rising from the dead, similar to the Good Friday, it was not celebrated by all Christian communities.
Christmas day is celebrated on December 25, commemorating the birth of Jesus and is celebrated by some in Christian community with church celebrations. It is celebrated by Non-Christians with special customs such as gift giving and various displays of decorations including nativity scenes, Santa Claus, lights and Christmas tree. There are also special festivals that heighted at this time with dance such as Jonkunnu and Hosay. There is special food that is eaten at this time, for example the sorrel, rice and gungo peas and Christmas pudding.
Labor Day is celebrated on May 23, this is resulting from the Bustamante led rebellion of labor leading into the independence of Jamaica. Later on Labor Day was celebrated to showcase the development of labor in the Jamaica and various projects are done in the different communities across the island.
Emancipation day is celebrated on August 1; this came about as a result of the abolishment of slavery which took place on the August 1 1838.
Independence Day is celebrated on August 6, after Emancipation day; this is the final celebration for a variety of festival celebrations. The festivals started in 1962 to highlight the fine, literary and performing artists and also to celebrate the things that were Jamaican. This festival is considered to be an important development of the Jamaicans and gives them a sense of who they are, teaching about the culture and about their heritage.
Heroes’ Day is celebrated in October and is held to honor the efforts of the six heroes and one heroin, they fought the institutions of colonialism, slavery and that changed the history of Jamaica.
Boxing Day celebrated on the December 26, the day after Christmas day, the name was given because of the gifts that were placed in boxes and given to plantation workers and members of the society who was less privileged. Today this meaning might change slightly, but this holiday is celebrated wildly in Jamaica.
New Year’s Day is celebrated on January 1, as a Jamaica holiday, after a night of fireworks and church services at midnight on the 31st of December to signal the New Year.