Event Season - Modestly Dress to Impress
Discover some of the significant religious, national, social and cultural events that are occurring around the world in this calendar month. As Australia is a multicultural nation, many of these events are available for all to access and enjoy (as appropriate). So know what events are linked to religion, culture, ethnicity or tradition and attend while wearing respectful and beautiful modest clothing!
Calendar of Cultural and Religious Events
February
6 Feb: Waitangi Day
The national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ceremonies take place at Waitangi and elsewhere to commemorate the signing of the treaty. A variety of events are held, including parties, Māori hui (social gatherings), reflections on New Zealand history, official awards and citizenship ceremonies. Because there is free movement of citizens between Australia and New Zealand, many of these ceremonies and parties also occur in Australia on this day.
10 Feb: Lunar New Year
Various East and Southeast Asian cultures and traditions celebrate New Year at this time. Family gatherings are common features across cultures, with those from near and far travelling to be with loved ones in time to welcome the new year. Lots of amazing dinners and feasts are a feature of this holiday.
10 Feb: Chinese Lunar New Year (2024 Year of the Wood Dragon)
For Chinese communities across the world, the Lunar New Year is one of the most important cultural holidays of the year. It is celebrated through a range of traditional customs, including ancestor worship, family gatherings, special foods and gift exchanges.
10 Feb: Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year—2024 Year of the Dragon)
Tet is considered the first day of Vietnam’s spring, a time marked by new beginnings. The Vietnamese community celebrates Tet with many customs, ancestor worship, family gatherings, special foods and gift exchanges.
10 Feb: Seollal (Korean Lunar New Year -2024 Year of the Dragon)
Known in the Koreas as Seollal, Lunar New Year typically lasts three days (the day before and after the New Year). Centred on charye - paying respect to elders - the new year is a time to remember a shared heritage and look forward to the future. Koreans usually perform ancestral rites, play folk games, eat traditional foods, listen to stories and talk well into the night.
10 Feb: Losar (Tibetan New Year)
Losar is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various dates depending on location (Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and India). The holiday is a new year's festival, celebrated on the first day of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar, which corresponds to a date in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. Losar is a 15-day New Year celebration observed by Tibetans (as well as some people from Nepal, Bhutan, and India) around the world. The festival’s main events occur on the first three days, followed by informal gatherings with family and friends and culminating on the 15th day with the Butter Lamp Festival. On the day of Losar (approximately 3 days into the festival) people wake up early, wear new clothes, and offer prayers to the Gods is a custom that's followed on this day. People celebrate by eating "kapse"—a type of cake and drinking "chang"—an alcoholic beverage.
13 Feb: Anniversary of the Apology to members of the Stolen Generations
On 13 February 2008, the Australian Parliament made a formal apology to members of the Stolen Generation. This date is now commemorated and reflections made through assemblies and civic services in schools and government institutions throughout the nation on this day. This is not a celebratory event, it is a reflective memorialisation.
13 Feb: Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the English name for what is known in some other countries as Mardi Gras (French for 'Fat Tuesday') or Carnival in Spanish and Portuguese countries, and is the last day before Lent for many Christian communities. Famous celebrations include the Brazilian Carnival in Rio De Janeiro and the New Orleans Mardi Gras. It is observed in many Christian communities through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice, as well as eating pancakes and other sweets. Lots of people host their own mini Mardi Gras carnivals around this time.
14 Feb: Ash Wednesday (Lent begins)
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Christian calendar. Lent involves 40 days of fasting and reflection that concludes with Easter. Many people give up some worldly good for the period of lent. This is a period of contemplation and self-reflection rather than celebration.
15 Feb: Nirvana Day (Parinirvana Day)
An annual Buddhist festival that remembers the death of the Buddha when he reached Nirvana at the age of 80. This is a huge food based celebration.
20 Feb: World Day of Justice
A global observance aimed at promoting efforts to tackle issues such as poverty exclusion, unemployment and for fostering solidarity in pursuit of social development and justice within and among nations. If this is observed, it is mostly done so within schools and government institutions and there is no real formal commemorations or celebrations attached to the day. It is more used by charity groups and others to promote and remember the need for better justice and action in this world.
21 Feb: International Mother Language Day
The United Nations’ International Mother Language Day celebrates linguistic and cultural diversity. Another UN focused day of recognition that has no formal commemorations or celebrations attached to it, but rather is used to inspire thought and conversation about this topic.
21 Feb: Shaheed Day
Bangladesh celebrates Shaheed Day on 21 February each year. This is a very solemn holiday that remembers the bravery and death of Dhaka University students who fought to keep Bengali as the national language. It is a day of national mourning to honour the memory of the nation’s martyrs.
24 Feb: Makha Bucha (Magha Puja)
Buddhist Festival celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. Māgha Pūjā is a day that laypeople make merit. This is usually done with a motivation to improve oneself in the cycle of existence. Monastics and lay devotees will hold processions, light candles, attending preaching and making offerings of food, as well as meditating and Buddhist chants. Also, devotees will sometimes release animals from captivity. Moreover, devotees uphold and reflect on the five Buddhist moral precepts on this day, which includes avoiding intoxicants.
24 Feb: Lantern Festival
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, two weeks after Chinese New Year, another important traditional Chinese festival, the Chinese Lantern Festival or Yuanxiao Festival is celebrated. It marks the first full moon of the new lunar year and the end of the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) period. During the festival, houses are festooned with colourful lanterns, often with riddles written on them; if the riddle is answered correctly, the solver earns a small gift. Festival celebrations also include the eating of sticky rice and lion and dragon dances, parades, and fireworks.
January
1 Jan: New Year's Day (Western Cultural)
New Year’s Day is the first day of the Gregorian calendar and is often celebrated with fireworks and parades.
1 - 2 Jan: Feast of St Basil (Christian)
St Basil is considered one of the great leaders and thinkers of the Orthodox Christian Church. In many Greek homes, a special cake is baked on the eve of St Basil’s Day with a gold or silver coin hidden inside. Similar traditions exist for some Western Christian Churches.
6 Jan: Epiphany (Christian)
Epiphany commemorates the manifestation of God in human form as Jesus Christ. It is a holiday and celebration for both Eastern and Western Christianity, so there are often two dates used depending on the church and whether it uses the Julian Calendar (common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity) or the Gregorian Calendar (the modern Western calendar). In many countries, Epiphany is celebrated with special pastries, and children often receive small gifts in their shoes in honour of the Magi’s gifts to the baby Jesus. In Eastern traditions, baptism is common during Epiphany, and houses may be blessed with holy water. So home based dinners are a common part of this religious and cultural celebration.
7 Jan: The Holy Nativity Feast (Nativity of Christ) (Christian)
Orthodox Churches that use the Julian Calendar celebrate Christmas on this day, with some traditions observing a week-long period of holidays from 1 January. All the dinners and gifts etc that have come to be part of the Western Christian Christmas are also a feature of the Eastern Orthodox Christmas. So if you’re invited to an Eastern Orthodox Christmas dinner – expect to leave feeling very full! J
15 Jan: Thai Pongal (Hindu/Cultural)
Thai Pongal is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka. It is observed at the start of the month Thai according to the Tamil solar calendar. It is dedicated to the Hindu sun god Surya. It is traditionally an occasion for decorating rice-powder based kolam artworks, offering prayers in the home, temples, getting together with family and friends, and exchanging gifts to renew social bonds of solidarity.
19 Jan: Epiphany (Orthodox) (Christian)
Epiphany commemorates the manifestation of God in human form as Jesus Christ (see 6 Jan).
20 Jan: Gurpurab of Guru Gobind Singh Ji (Sikh)
Sikh communities celebrate the birthday of the 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (born in 1666). The celebration often sees temples beautified with decorations, special prayers, devotional hymns and music and food being offered to all people for the entire day (as an act of charity).
25 Jan: Buddhist New Year (Mahayana New Year) (Buddhist)
Buddhist New Year depends on the country of origin or ethnic background of the community. In Mahayana Buddhist countries, the New Year starts on the first full moon day in January. Adherents are expected to visit a nearby temple on New Years Day. Once there, they light candles to bring happiness and good luck for the coming year. For Buddhists, the new year is a time for meditation and self reflection. The goal is to find ways to improve and learn from past mistakes. So this is a quiet, contemplative holiday rather than a huge celebration.
26 Jan: Australia Day (Social)
Australia Day is more accurately described by Aboriginal Australians as “Invasion Day” or the “Day of Mourning” as it commemorates the date that British colonists with their ships full of convict prisoners, invaded the Australian continent with the intention of staying here permanently. It is a date that led to massive destruction of Indigenous culture via murder, war, disease and government policy - such as a the Stolen Generation Policy. Australia Day was celebrated on numerous dates throughout its history before this date was chosen as the permanent date. Even then, it was not a date that involved any kind of significant carnival or government induced party atmosphere until it was subjected to jingoistic forced celebrations hosted by local councils, which did not begin with any great significance around the country until the 1990s. Prior to this is was just a day off for most people, similar to the Queen’s (now King’s) Birthday or Labour Day in some states. Thankfully some local councils have now refused to host these great celebrations until a more appropriate date can be found which celebrates the success of all members of the nation, not just those linked to white colonialism. We do not recommend anyone take part in Australia Day “celebrations” hosted by councils or other government institutions. However, there are great protests which get larger every year, where Australians actively march and call for the date to be moved so this national holiday becomes inclusive finally. These are a great thing to be part of, or just stick to enjoying a day off with friends, having a barbeque or spending the day near the pool, beach or local lake or river.
27 Jan: International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Social)
Holocaust Remembrance Day is a memorial for the six million Jews killed by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. Many people of Jewish and other faiths observe this day. It was designated by a United Nations General Assembly resolution on 1 November 2005. Many countries have instituted their own Holocaust Memorial Days. Obviously, this is a day of great reflection and memorialisation and not a celebratory event. It is usually marked by religious prayers from many faiths, and civil memorial ceremonies which discuss the realities of genocide and the impact it had and continues to have on the lives of real people all around the world today.