TYPES OF HOLIDAYS

Holidays are often associated with celebrations and gatherings. It is a particular term that creates a picture where family, friend, and other people come together and celebrate. This perception is fundamentally correct because, by definition, a holiday is a day that is set by a country or a group of people intended for conducting different activities, for celebration or observation or for whatever purpose it may serve. The word holiday is said to be a combination of the words holy and day. In the past, this term was only used by the Christian Church to represent their holidays but was later on adopted by almost everyone to describe both special and non-special days.

Several types of holidays are being observed in different parts of the world by people of different cultures. Holidays may refer to the designated days and these days can be Public holidays, Unofficial holidays, Religious holidays and National holidays. These are the types of holidays that we often notice being celebrated.

Public holidays are also known to be legal holidays because these are the holidays that are approved and declared by the state. During these days, work and other official businesses are provided with limits. When a day is declared to be a public holiday, it is usually a non-working day, but it depends upon the agreement of a worker and his employer.

Unofficial holidays are holidays that are not marked on calendars but are celebrated and observed by many people around the world. Some examples of unofficial holidays are April Fool's Day which falls on the 1st of April, Christmas Eve which falls on the 24th of December and Friendship Day which falls on every first Sunday of August.

Another type of holidays is the religious holiday which varies according to a person's religion. This is because individuals who have different religions do not celebrate the same holidays. For instance, Christians celebrate Christmas which is known to be the birth of Jesus every 25th of December. During this day, all Christians will prepare different types of foods and wear different costumes to commemorate the birth of Christ. Families and friends come together and celebrate with all the joy and happiness. However, some religions do not celebrate Christmas, and there are those that celebrate Christmas but not because of the same reason. Another example is the Easter holiday used to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

National holidays also belong to the different types of holidays that people celebrate. From the name itself, a day that is known to be a national holiday is a legal holiday enacted by a particular country. These holidays often refer to the country's celebration of independence and other significant events for such country. A perfect example is United States of America Independence day which hold on July 4, Thanksgiving Day on November 23 and Halloween Day on October 31 each year.

The types of holidays that people celebrate are just the common or basic types of holidays. Other types of holidays were not mentioned and explained because each country or state has their holidays. But one thing is for sure; the major holidays belong to the types that were referred to above.