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. Islamic Holidays: Regional customs or moon sightings may cause a variation of the date for Islamic holidays, which begin at sundown the day before the date specified for the holiday. The Islamic 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

Sundown-Monday

Eid al Adha

Islam

Sep. 13

Sundown-Tuesday

(date can vary by a day)

Oct. 1

Sundown-Saturday

Navaratri

Hinduism

Oct. 9

Sundown-Sunday

Oct. 1

Sundown-Saturday

Muharram/New Year

Islam

Oct. 2

Sundown-Sunday

(date can vary by a day)

Oct. 2

Sundown-Sunday

**Rosh Hashanah (2 days)

Judaism

Oct. 4

Sundown-Tuesday

Oct. 11

Tuesday

Dussehra/Dasara

Hinduism

Oct. 11

Sundown-Tuesday

**Yom Kippur

Judaism

Oct. 12

Sundown-

Wednesday Oct. 11

Sundown-Tuesday

Oct. 12

Sundown-

Ashura

Islam

**Sukkot (1st 2 days)

Judaism

Judaism

Wednesday Oct. 16

Sundown-Sunday

Oct. 23

Sundow-Sunday

Oct. 23

Sundown-Sunday

**Shemini Atzeret

Oct. 25

Sundown-Tuesday

**Simchat Torah

Oct. 19

Sundown-

**Birth of the Báb

Bahá’í

Oct. 20

Wednesday

Diwali

Hinduism -Jain

Sundown-Thursday Oct. 30

Sunday

Nov. 3

Thursday

Nov. 1

Tuesday

– Sikh All Saints Day

Christianity (RC, P)

Nov. 2

Wednesday

All Souls Day

Christianity (RC, P)

Nov. 11

Sundown-Friday

**Birth of Bahá’u’lláh

Bahá’í

Nov. 12

Sundown-Saturday

Nov. 14

Monday

Guru Nanak Jayanti Birthday

Sikh

Nov. 27

Sunday

Advent Begins

Christianity (O,

Dec. 24

Saturday

Dec. 8

Thursday

Bodhi Day

Buddhism

Dec. 8

Thursday

Feast of the Immaculate

Christianity (RC,

Conception

P) Islam

P, RC)

Dec. 13

Sundown-Tuesday

Mawlid al Nabi

Dec. 14

Sundown-

(dates can vary by a day)

Wednesday Dec. 21

Wednesday

Winter Solstice

Zoroastrian

Dec. 24

Sundown-Saturday

Hanukkah

Judaism

Jan. 1

Sundown-Sunday

Dec. 25

Sunday

Christmas

Christianity (RC, P)

Dec. 26

Monday

Kwanzaa

African

Jan. 1

Sunday

2017

DAYS

HOLIDAY

RELIGION

Jan. 6

Friday

Epiphany/Theophany

Christianity (RC,

American

P, O) Jan. 6

Friday

Nativity of Christ

Armenian Orthodox Christian

Jan. 7

Saturday

Christmas

O

Jan. 12

Thursday

Mahayana New Year

Buddhism

Jan. 15

Sunday

Jan. 28

Saturday

Chinese New Year

Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist

Feb. 5

Sunday

Four Chaplains Sunday

Interfaith

Feb. 15

Wednesday

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, P)

Mar. 1

Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, Lent begins

Christianity (RC, P)

Mar. 1

Sunrise-Wednesday

Nineteen Day Fast begins

Bahá’í

Mar. 20

Sundown-Monday

Mar. 11

Sundown-Saturday

**Purim

Judaism

Mar. 12

Sundown-Sunday

Mar. 12

Sunday

Magha Puja Day

Buddhism

Mar. 13

Monday

Holi

Hinduism

Mar. 14

Tuesday

Mar. 20

Sundown-Monday

Mar. 21

Sundown-Tuesday

Mar. 28

Tuesday

New Year

Hinduism

Apr. 5

Wednesday

Ram Navami

Hinduism

Apr. 8

Saturday

Buddha’s Birthday/Hanamatsuri

Buddhism

Apr. 9

Sunday

Palm Sunday

Christianity (RC,

**Naw-Ruz (New Year)

Bahá’í, Zoroastrian

P, O) Apr. 10

Sundown-Monday

**Pesach (1st 2 days and last 2

Apr. 18

Sundown-Tuesday

days of Passover)

Apr. 14

Friday

Good Friday/Holy Friday

Judaism

Christianity (RC, P, O)

Aprl. 14

Friday

Baisakhi (Vaisakhi)

Sikh

Apr. 16

Sunday

Easter/Pascha

Christianity (RC, P, O)

Apr. 20

Sundown-Thursday

**Ridván (1st day)

Bahá’í

Apr. 21

Sundown-Friday

Apr. 22

Sundown-Saturday

Yom HaShoah

Judaism

Apr. 23

Sundown-Sunday

Apr. 23

Sundown-Sunday

Lailat al Mi’raj

Islam

Apr. 24

Sundown-Monday

Apr. 28

Sundown-Friday

**Ridván (9th day)

Bahá’í

Apr. 29

Sundown-Saturday

Apr. 30

Sundown-Sunday

Yom Ha’Atzmaut

Judaism

May 1

Sundown-Monday

May 1

Sundown-Monday

**Ridván (12th day)

Bahá’í

May 2

Sundown-Tuesday

May 4

Thursday

National Day of Prayer

Interfaith

May 10

Wednesday

Vesak/Visakha Puja

Buddhism

May 10

Wednesday

Wesak (Birth of Buddha)

Buddhism

May 22

Sundown-Monday

May 23

Sundown-Tuesday

May 25

Thursday

**Declaration of the Báb

Bahá’í

Ascension of Jesus

Christianity (RC, P, O)

May 26

Sundown-Friday

May 27

Sundown-Saturday

May 28

Sundown-Sunday

May 29

Sundown-Monday

May 30

Sundown-Tuesday

June 1

Sundown-Thursday

Jun. 4

Sunday

Ramadan

Islam

**Ascension of Baha’u’lláh

Bahá’

Shavuot

Judaism

Pentecost

Christianity (RC, P, O)

Jun. 24

Sundown-Saturday

Jun. 25

SundownWednesday



Eid al-Fitr (date can vary by a day)

Islam