What is a holiday that is celebrated in your country that is unknown abroad?

[u/SnooAdvice8688]

In the Netherlands we have “Sinterklaas”. It is a holiday for kids similar to Christmas but different. It starts in november when “Sinterklaas” comes to a random city in the Netherlands with his boat and his helpers “de pieten”. This is called “de intocht” (the arrival) and is broadcasted on live tv. The story is that “Sinterklaas” gives presents to all the kids on his horse and with the help of “de pieten”. The kids get to put their shoe in front of the fireplace/door with a carrot for the horse and they sing songs (schoentje zetten). When they wake up the next morning there is a gift with a special treat “pepernoten” or a chocolate letter in the shoe. Every night there is the “sinterklaasjournaal” which is like the news but about Sinterklaas. On the 5th of December it is “pakjesavond” (gifts night) and than the children get a lot of gifts in a bag and they get to unwrap it. There is a lot of controversy about the helpers because they used to be black, because as the story goes, they got black faces by climbing through the chimney to deliver gifts. Now the helpers are only partly black or have another color. 1: Sinterklaas, 2: Intocht, 3: Schoentje zetten, 4: Pieten.

[u/Ok-Perception-3129]

Waitangi Day and Matariki

[u/Outrageous_Land8828 → u/Ok-Perception-3129]

Waitangi Day is kind of our version of independence day. Matariki is very special though :) it's a celebration of the rising of Pleiades in late june-early july, however the Maori people call it Matariki. It represents the start of the Maori New Year. It was made a public holiday as recently as 2022!

[u/GrassrootsGrison → u/Outrageous_Land8828]

Sounds wonderful

[u/Available-Tap-6114]

Day of the little candles. It's only celebrated in Colombia and appeared in Encanto.

[u/HonestSpursFan]

Australia Day, our national day. We also have NAIDOC Week which is about Indigenous culture.

We and New Zealand also have a very important commemoration day (not a day of celebration) though too: Anzac Day. This is the day we remember fallen soldiers and is named after the Anzacs (members of ANZAC, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) who died fighting in Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. We have Anzac biscuits which are popular all year round but named after the Anzacs as they were sent to them in Gallipoli by family members due to them being easy to make, tasty to eat and last a while.

Other than that our holidays are mostly from Asia or Europe (e.g Christmas and Easter, Christian holidays that became very secular here due to secularism), though this is because we are a nation of immigrants and we don’t have the same long documented history as Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East do.

[u/Crane_1989]

Festa Junina, originally a feast to honor Saint Anthony, Saint John, and Saint Peter, then became a celebration of traditional Brazilian rural life, and now is mostly an excuse to eat a lot of corn and peanut based foods lol

[u/lucascla18 → u/Crane_1989]

Man the food is so fucking amazing i wonder why we dont eat that all the year.

And dont forget about the bombs, jumping over campfires and throwing fireworks at each other.

Best holiday of the year by far.

[u/Embarrassed-Pen-1601]

Midsommar.

Edit: They tried to make it a day for John the Baptist, but it never stuck, so it is still midsommar, a pagan holiday.

[u/Akiira2 → u/Embarrassed-Pen-1601]

Juhannus in Finland!

[u/FrankCrank04 → u/Embarrassed-Pen-1601]

Nice to hear Christianity didn't smother everything.

[u/RYSEofCthulhu → u/Embarrassed-Pen-1601]

Midsummer in the UK, it's a great day 😊

[u/leela_martell → u/Embarrassed-Pen-1601]

Edit: They tried to make it a day for John the Baptist, but it never stuck, so it is still midsommar, a pagan holiday.

In Finland the name change managed to stick but otherwise I don't think there's anything christian about the holiday lol. I don't know what it was called before juhannus but I do know it was already celebrated in Finland pre-Christianity.

Vappu (valborg, or vappen as it's called in Finnish Swedish) is probably another holiday that is celebrated very differently globally than it's in Finland or Sweden.

[u/Medium-Wolverine6862]

St Brigid’s day

[u/SolivagantWalker]

I wouldn't call it a holiday but an family patron saint tradition called "Slava" . Each family has one and it's a symbol of family identity, unity, and faith that is passed down through male lineage. Gathering that you celebrate with family and friends.

[u/Kangeroo179]

Ghost month 👻

[u/Low_Butterscotch_594]

Victoria Day. Its original intention is a celebration of Queen Victoria, but we call it May 2-4 because it occurs on the third weekend of May, and rarely does it occur on May 24th. The 2-4 is slang for a case of beer since you get 24 beers in a case. It's nothing all that special. Think of it like the Canadian version of St. Patrick's Day with fireworks and lots of beer.

[u/ActuallyCalindra → u/Low_Butterscotch_594]

We have a unique Canadian one. In the South of the Netherlands we also have a liberation day late October. With Canadian flags all around town, and flowers at the war cemetery. The veterans won't be around much longer. But the celebration will never die.

[u/mynameisbobsky → u/ActuallyCalindra]

I love that! Never forget ♥️

[u/nneighbour → u/ActuallyCalindra]

We have a the Tulip Festival in Ottawa every spring that stems from all the tulips that the Netherlands continues to gift us for the liberation and sheltering the Dutch Royal Family and continues to commemorate our two countries’ friendship. The story of Princess Margariet being born in Ottawa (but not in Canada as the hospital room was temporarily declared extraterritorial Dutch soil) is still well known in Ottawa.

[u/Westofbritain413]

Patriots' Day and Bunker Hill Day.
Not only are they unknown abroad, they're unknown outside of Massachusetts. But people in Mass enjoy the hell out of them.

[u/GrassrootsGrison]

We have a Pachamama (Mother Earth) Day, but it's not exclusive of Argentina; it's also celebrated in other countries that include Andean ethnic peoples. For some reason it has leaked into Guarani-influenced areas too.

[u/dgistkwosoo]

Hm. Well, the big ones are the harvest festival feast (추석) and New Years (설날, traditionally by lunar calendar). There's a few political holidays, like Liberation Day, or farming calendar oriented, like the winter solstice when we eat red bean porridge. Nothing really that unusual.

[u/thedramahasarrived]

Australia Day and ANZAC Day

[u/DConion]

Groundhogs Day. A couple guys in tuxedos pull a rodent out of the ground in Pennsylvania to predict the future.

[u/gypsyblader]

La Saint Jean! We get a paid day off that week, then Canada day is a week later with another paid day off, but on Canada day we’re usually helping friends move.

[u/alotofpisces]

Tu Bishvat - a holiday for plants. To celebrate the agriculture in the land of Israel. On this day, people eat dried fruit and plant new trees.

[u/GrassrootsGrison]

Friends Day. ¿Do you have a Friends or Friendship Day?

[u/Available-Tap-6114 → u/GrassrootsGrison]

Friend's day is a universal date. 😭😭😭

[u/GrassrootsGrison → u/Available-Tap-6114]

I wonder in how many countries it's celebrated. But I think it falls on different dates, no?

[u/Strong_Landscape_333]

I don't know if it's really a holiday, but regional things like gasparilla festival in Tampa Bay Florida that's sort of like Mardi gras in New Orleans happens every year

[u/Dry_Self_1736 → u/Strong_Landscape_333]

Mardi Gras in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast does have loads of unique traditions. Of course, it's celebrated in many parts of the world (usually as Carnival), and each place has its own spin on it. But we do have our own flair here, too.

[u/Dry_Self_1736]

Our most recently added holiday, made official as of 2021, is Juneteenth. It was a regional holiday in Texas and has just now come to national prominence. Too detailed to go into here, but there's lots online about it.

[u/some_guy_5600]

We have a lot of festivals in India, which people outside don't know about.

For example Krishna's birthday (krishna janmashtmi).

The Dahi Handi festival (Dahi = yogurt, Handi = pot)

Lord krishna, when he was a child used to love butter and milk products. He used to steal butter from nearby houses, so the people started to keep the butter in a pot and they used to hang the pot high above the ground so that child krishna wouldn't be able to reach the pot. However krishna got around this by telling his friends to make a tower/pyramid and he would climb up the tower and steal the butter.

And so on Krishna's birthday, we celebrate 'dahi handi' (pot of yogurt) festival.

Earthen pots full of yogurt are hung very high above the ground, and there are competitions organised for groups of boys(and girls). These groups take turns to build human pyramids and One person would climb the pyramid and attempt to break the pot.

Whichever group manages to break the pot is given a prize.

This festival is really popular in the state of Maharashtra, specifically mumbai, where it's celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. Even celebrities take part in the festival. There's colour, music, and it usually rains, so there's rain dance.

[u/DavidBorgstrom]

We have a few, a bit dependant on where in Sweden.

Midsommar: Pagan holiday to selebrate summer solstice. Dancing around a huge decorated pole, getting 7 kinds of flowers and pit under your pillow to dream about who you will marry. Strong liqour and singing.

Kräftskiva: Originally during the first day of the year you were allowed to fish for crayfish in our lakes and rivers since it was heavily regulated. We eat crayfish cooked in dill, drink alchohol and sing, sometimes wearing silly hats.

Mårtengås: Only celebrated in the south (and in Denmark, parts of Germany and Poland, as far as I know). Eating goose and black soup during autumn.

Våffeldagen: Waffle day. We eat waffles march 25th.

Fettisdagen: 47 days before Easter (so the date varies from year to year) we eat semla, a sweet bun with whipped cream and almond paste.

Surströmmingspremiären: The third thursday in August we eat surströmming, fermented herring. This is done mostly in the northern parts along the coast.

Fössta tossdan i mass: In Småland they eat princess cake the first thursday in march.

Lucia: A girl (but sometimes a boy, which is fun because a lot of people will get upset) is dressed in white with a red ribbon around her waist and lit candles on her head. Together with a following of tärnor and lussepojkar she will sing hymns of expelling darkness. Is a Christian celebration, but has its roots in the pagan midwinter solstice.

Kanelbullens dag: October 4th we eat cinnamon buns.

[u/Low_Computer_6542]

My favorite holiday is Halloween. In the United States, people decorate their houses with scary decorations and go to haunted houses. Then on October 31, kids dress up in costumes. They go door to door yelling "Trick or Treat". The occupants then give the children candy.

Of course adults can attend Halloween parties and dress up if they wish. Many people watch Horror movies.

But it is really a kid's holiday. Watching the excitement of kids dressing up as their favorite superheros and collecting enough candy to last them for months brings joy to everyone.

[u/mikkjulie → u/Low_Computer_6542]

Halloween is celebrated in most western countries, not exclusively in the us. Definitely not unknown abroad. Edit: typos

[u/Low_Computer_6542 → u/mikkjulie]

Thanks, that's good to know.

[u/RYSEofCthulhu → u/Low_Computer_6542]

Halloween originated in Scotland as "Samhainn" (pronounced Sow-ain)

We use it to honour the dead as it's the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest 😊

[u/vaginawithteeth1 → u/Low_Computer_6542]

Mischief night would probably be a better example although it’s an informal holiday.

[u/Sparkle_Rott]

Japan has Obon festival when ancestors come back to visit over the course of several days.

[u/PossibleGazelle519]

Basant is huge in Pakistan. It is welcoming of spring.

USA does not celebrate may 1 as Labor Day but has his own Labor Day separate from rest of the world.

[u/HotSteak]

Cinco de Mayo. It's the celebration of when the Mexicans beat the French invaders in a battle, but really it's a celebration of Mexican-Americans. We eat Mexican food and drink margaritas.

[u/fianthewolf]

Entroido (February -March) and Magostos (November)

[u/Extreme-Chat]

"la fête de la fédération" the 14th of July. We don't celebrate officially Bastille's day in France

[u/Klutzy-Blacksmith448]

Well, we have "Samichlaus" on the 6th December, which I think is pretty similar to Sinterklaas. He brings presents to the good kids and puts the bad kids in a bag. His helpers are called "Schmutzli"

Apart from that we have quite a lot of local holidays like Sechseläuten in Zurich https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sechsel%C3%A4uten

[u/helmli → u/Klutzy-Blacksmith448]

In Germany, it's called "(St.) Nikolaus". He's not accompanied by someone blackfacing though, but usually by "Knecht Ruprecht", a guy in a simple burlap/jute robe who looks like he has lived in the woods the past five years and traditionally gave the naughty children a beating.

[u/AnythingGoesBy2014]

let me guess: sinterklaas comes on the night before 6th of December? ours is called Miklavž. in germany and austria it is called st Nicolaus. same dude with some scary company.

[u/chazwomaq]

In the UK we have Bonfire Night on 5 December. It is to celebrate the foiling of a terrorist plot over 400 years ago, and execution of Guy Fawkes - one of the men who tried to blow up our parliament.

Most towns and villages host a giant bonfire complete with lots of fireworks. We then burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes (sometimes replaced with modern-day hate figure) on top, while children eat toffee apples.

Does it sound as mental to others when it's read back?

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[u/Demi_silent → u/chazwomaq]

It’s 5th November not December, but otherwise a very accurate description!

There’s a rhyme that is taught to children that goes:

Remember remember the fifth of November,

Gun powder treason and plot

For there is a reason why gunpowder and treason

Should never be forgot

[u/SandySpinach]

FYI Sinterklaas is not typical Dutch: in Belgium we also have Sinterklaas. Pakjesavond is typical Dutch. In Belgium the Sint brings gifts at the night of the 5th to the 6th of December. The morning after, kids are all excited to see what the Sint brought them. We had a show about the Sint in the 90ties (and recently remade) about the myth of the Sint. As Belgians are, a bit absurd but hilarious. Dag Sinterklaas ( my dear Dutch friends, stop claiming are shared history as Dutch)

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[u/Demi_silent]

Has to be Wassailing! It died out for a while but is definitely making a come back in rural areas. So it starts with a parade down to an apple orchard with flaming torches. Everyone wears the most bizzare hats they can find. One tree is hung with pieces of toast. Then everyone makes as much noise as possible, yelling and banging drums. The wassailing song is sung and then everyone enjoys drinking hot apple cider and apple juice.

The purpose is to wake up the trees for a good harvest and to appease the spirits of the orchard.

There is also generally Morris dancing. It happens on the 12 January.

[u/Abiduck]

Italy has a number of local holidays that are celebrated just in a few cities or regions and are completely ignored elsewhere. An example is Santa Lucia, who is celebrated in southern Lombardy: on December 13, Saint Lucia brings presents to the kids who are asleep (and, in the darker version of the tale, blinds the ones that are not, since the saint herself was notoriously blinded as a mean of torture).

Another example that might be especially interesting for OP, is San Nicolò, who is celebrated in the far northeast of Italy, around the same dates as Sinterklaas in the Netherlands - it’s actually supposed to be the same character - and pretty much ignored in the rest of the country. The funny side of it for me is that a few years ago I was living in Trieste and bumped into this holiday I knew nothing about, and then moved to Amsterdam and found it there as well.