Holidays and Festivals within Your Nation?

[Wazkyraque]

Does your Nation have any Holidays and Festivals?
What Holidays does your nation celebrate?
Why Do you celebrate Them?
What significance do the Holidays and Festivals have?
Does the Government do anything to celebrate or recognize them?

[Charlotte Ryberg]

The Government of Minoa has made available a full list of public holidays online due to the variations in the Nations. The summer school holiday runs from 4th Friday in July to 1st Wednesday in September.

[Maraque]

Via the Factbook of Tsvarchi.

Holidays, Festivals, Days of Importance

Tsvarchi boasts several holidays, festivals, and days of importance throughout the year, all celebrated with varying degrees of excitement and bliss. Tsvarchivan holidays are notable for being non-religious – such holidays are unconstitutional as a violation of secularism – and as such no religious holiday is officially recognized, although individuals that choose to celebrate those can do so at their own discretion according to their employers stipulations in that regard.

Holiday: Unification Day
Celebrated: January 2nd

Unification Day celebrates the unification of the City-States of Darkaan and Atrulia, which became one after the marriage of HRH King Tizutri Darkaan to HRH King Stahnasuk Atrulia. The two were married in a lavish ceremony – for the times – hosted by the people of the two city-states in gratitude for the two kings and their love for them.

The holiday, which is only officially celebrated in Darkaan and Atrulia, is typically done by the Royal Families of Darkaan and Atrulia hosting borough wide street parties on the Royal Palace grounds, and in party squares everywhere. The Royal Families typically go out and dance and sing with the people.

Holiday: Year's Beginning
Celebrated: January 1st

Year's Beginning celebrates the beginning of the new year, to mark the end of the last year and all of its misgivings, and to start fresh and begin a new year with a fresh outlook on life. Traditionally this holiday is performed by a nationwide meditation session, followed by forming a circle and sharing amongst each other stories and tribulations of the year past.

Holiday: Festival of the Year
Celebrated: January 1st to 2nd

The Festival of the Year is tied in with Year's Beginning, and starts at 23:00 on the 1st of January. This is when the country starts to get ready to party, and dresses up in elaborate costumes, drinks lots of booze, and just lets loose in that oh so familiar Tsvarchivan way. The Royal Families of Tsvarchi usually host a Royal Costume Party at the individual Royal Palace residences as well, which usually last days on end.

Holiday: Massacre Remembrance
Celebrated: May 19th

Massacre Remembrance is a day celebrated in Cuerak to celebrate the loss of life at the hands of the Darkaan-Atrulians after the civil wars that ravaged the region thousands of years ago. The holiday is not widely celebrated in Tsvarchi, or even Cuerak, and is usually celebrated most vigorously by the overtly patriotic, and of those in the Cuerakian Separatist Movement.

Holiday: Month of Solitude
Celebrated: June 1st to 30th

The Month of Solitude is a tenant of the great philosopher Xanthaiyan who said that the path to nirvana is focusing on self and nobody else. His teachings dictated a month of solitude so the body could be stress free and therefore achieve the ultimate feeling of freedom. During this month emergency personnel like doctors, nurses, police officers and firemen do not have off, and other establishments either have reduced hours or stay open. Very few stores close for the entirety of the month. A full time worker (45 hours a week) will typically work just 22.5 hours instead, and the establishment will be closed for the days nobody is scheduled. A part time worker will instead work 11.25 hours a week. 

Holiday: Xanthaiyan's Birthday
Celebrated: July 27th

Simply put, this holiday celebrates the birth, life, and death of the great philosopher Zerake Xanthaiyan, who is single handedly responsible for Tsvarchivan culture as it is known today. The country celebrates by pursuing Xanthaiyan's vision by donating to charity, volunteering in some capacity, and just generally living one's life in accordance to his teachings on life.

Holiday: Day of Appreciation
Celebrated: August 1st

Day of Appreciation is celebrated by simply showing the friends and family in your life that mean the most to you a sign of how you appreciate them, whether it's taking them out to eat, doing something you've been promising to do for ages but could never find the motivation for, or simply just showing kindness to them in some form. The holiday is largely influenced by the teachings of Xanthaiyan.

Holiday: Giving Day
Celebrated: September 15th

Giving Day is celebrated by exchanging gifts – usually home made – to somebody you hold dear to your heart, or to help somebody in some way by 'giving' them your time or attention. The holiday puts an emphasis on doing such with somebody you unfortunately don't have the time to spend a lot of time with, but wish you could, in a show of friendship that despite your time apart, you still think of them every day.

Holiday: Father's Day
Celebrated: October 12th

Father's Day is celebrated by showing the father figure in your life how much you truly appreciate them and all they do for you. Father's Day is usually celebrated by dedicating the entire day to him, taking him to do activities he would like to do, places he would like to eat, and so on. The day is all about dad.

Holiday: Mother's Day
Celebrated: November 5th

Mother's Day is celebrated much in the same way as Father's Day; the day is dedicated to mom, and making her feel comfortable and happy throughout the day, allowing her a day of leisure in an otherwise hectic day. Breakfast in bed and doing all of her typical work is a hallmark of this holiday.

Holiday:Foundation Day
Celebrated: November 22nd

Foundation Day marks and celebrates the founding of the Unified City-States of Tsvarchi, after unification of all six of the original city-states that made up central Nothandryun some 4202 years ago. The holiday is widely celebrated nationwide with massive street block parties and enormous state sponsored fireworks displays. This is when the normally nonchalant Tsvarchivan in regards to nationality really turns into a patriotic and proud Tsvarchivan, for the day.

Holiday: Rain Festival
Celebrated: April 1st to November 1st

The Rain Festival is a day marked by the start of rain season, and the onslaught of intense rainfall for the next half year – an event much appreciated by Tsvarchivans who have an extreme affinity to water.

The holiday is celebrated by intense dancing and celebrations to encourage the rainfall to begin, so that not only will the severe drough experienced by the last six months subside, but so that Tsvarchivans can experience the extreme euphoria they get from the feeling of water touching their bodies – a trait they experience because of their connection to merpeople, which they are descendants of.

Holiday: Sun Festival
Celebrated: November 1st to April 1st

The Sun Festival is celebrated by massive street parties to spur the sun to reveal itself from the clouds of rain that have fallen the last six months, to dry up the land and make it a little bit easier to get around since the last six months it has had to happen by boat primarily since the rainfall was so intense. As much as Tsvarchivans love the water, there comes a time when it is too much, and they wait anxiously for the dry season to come back.

[Enatai]

Certainly the largest single celebration would be the Summer Sun Celebration on the first day of summer. Getting to see Princess Celestia raise the sun on the longest day of the year is truly a sight to behold, and even if you can't actually see it (we refuse to broadcast Princess Celestia on television for fear of crowding her. She is a goddess, not a passing celebrity to be hounded) yourself, the entire country usually holds its own celebrations at dawn, which holds all the more importance to us because traditionally late night and early morning including dawn are considered the holiest time of day for Enataians and Shota Islanders (late afternoons, by contrast, have always been thought of negatively. Before modern medicine, it was thought that those hours, especially the sun's amber glow upon everything as it sets, was a bringer of headaches and nausea, and symbolically considered the 'death' of the daytime and the end of Princess Celestia's work bringing out the sun for the day).

[Urmanian]

Summer Sun Celebration is an event marking the day of summer solstice, which is also the longest day of the year. Parties are held all night long to witness Princess Celestia raise the sun of the summer solstice.

The Winter Wrap Up is the annual activity of clearing winter and bringing in spring that concludes the winter holidays.

The Grand Galloping Gala is an annual Royal Ball attended by high class ponies. The event is held in the capital (Canterlot for Equestria and Flankfurt am Mane for the Greater Herd).

[Conscentia]

Information from the Factbook of Scientar.

Holidays, days of importance and Festivals

Scientar has 20 official celebratory days in it's calender. Scientari holidays are notable for being non-religious.
People are of-coarse free to celebrate unofficial holidays, for example Yule - a common celebration amongst humans and hobbits.
After the calendar reformation there were only 10 holidays. Each was at the beginning of every month with the exception of September, October, and November. Over time this changed and holidays we added and moved.

Celebratory Day: Old Year's End & New Year's Eve
Date: End of Year IC (Intercalary day)

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Spring/Tuile & New Year's Day
Date: 1st of Unitilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Peace
Date: 18th of Dutilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Ideas
Date: 6th of Tritilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Opinions
Date: 10th of Tritilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Family
Date: 19th of Tritilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Summer/Laire
Date: 8th of Quadritilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Labour
Date: 1st of Quintilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Nature
Date: 4th of Quintilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Yavie/Fading
Date: 1st of Hextilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Virtue
Date: 4th of Hextilis

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Talent
Date: 10th of Hextilis

Day of Importance: Day of Rememberance
Date: 11th of September

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Harvest/Arive/Autumn/Fall
Date: 15th of September

Celebratory Day: Leap Day
Date: Leap Day IC (Intercalary day)

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Health and Sports
Date: 10th of October

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Honours
Date: 3rd of November

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Friendship
Date: 10th of November

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Winter/Arive
Date: 22nd of December

Celebratory Day: Celebration of Intellect
Date: 25th of December

[Saurisisia]

We celebrate a number of different Holidays, they are:

January 1st: New Year's Day
February 14th: Valentine's Day
March 17th: St. Patrick's Day
Sunday after Good Friday: Easter
April 20th: Anti-Nazism Day
April 22nd: Anti-Communism Day
Second Sunday in May: Mother's Day
Third Sunday in June: Father's Day
June 6: Memorial Day
June 23: Dinosaur Day
July 4th: Revolutionary Day
September 1: Work Day
September 11th: Patriot Day
October 30: Halloween
November 11: Veteran's Day
Fourth Thursday of November: Thanksgiving
December 25: Christmas
December 31: New Year's Eve