As Fall Semester starts again, we are now coming upon the start of the cycle of holidays once more. For many of these holidays (those from religions that follow calendars that differ from the Gregorian calendar), the dates in the secular year will differ but the main content of the posts should not.
To that end, I would like to give the dates for the holidays in the next few months paralleling the Fall semester in most US universities (I am, after all, a professor in the United States).
I have noted only holidays to which I have already written a post. These are those holidays that I would argue are the most important holidays within their religion. Admittedly, there are others which may be of strong importance to those who observe them. Thus, I have not included, for example, the Christian holiday of Advent Sunday on December 1. This does not, however, mean that such holidays are unimportant to those who wish to observe them, which should be kept in mind for religious accommodation purposes.
Similarly, I have left out some holidays that are regionally of importance within a religion but not of such significance beyond the regional context.. For example, I have left out the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) which is primarily observed among Mexican Catholics. Likewise excluded is Bathukamma (this year on October 1) which is primarily observed among Hindus from Telangana state in India.
Note also that observance varies according to practice. For example, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews may observe a holiday for one day that Orthodox and Conservative Jews observe for two days. Some streams of Hinduism may observe Diwali for five full days, while others may do so for one, two or three days. While all Muslims recognize Ashurah as a holiday, it holds much greater significance in Shi'a tradition than in most other branches of Islam. Because of this, two people of the same faith may observe the same holiday for different lengths. These are explained for each holiday in the connected blog post. The main point here, though, is that we should recognize such differences in practice as legitimate.
I have noted only holidays to which I have already written a post. These are those holidays that I would argue are the most important holidays within their religion. Admittedly, there are others which may be of strong importance to those who observe them. Thus, I have not included, for example, the Christian holiday of Advent Sunday on December 1. This does not, however, mean that such holidays are unimportant to those who wish to observe them, which should be kept in mind for religious accommodation purposes.
Similarly, I have left out some holidays that are regionally of importance within a religion but not of such significance beyond the regional context.. For example, I have left out the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) which is primarily observed among Mexican Catholics. Likewise excluded is Bathukamma (this year on October 1) which is primarily observed among Hindus from Telangana state in India.
Note also that observance varies according to practice. For example, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews may observe a holiday for one day that Orthodox and Conservative Jews observe for two days. Some streams of Hinduism may observe Diwali for five full days, while others may do so for one, two or three days. While all Muslims recognize Ashurah as a holiday, it holds much greater significance in Shi'a tradition than in most other branches of Islam. Because of this, two people of the same faith may observe the same holiday for different lengths. These are explained for each holiday in the connected blog post. The main point here, though, is that we should recognize such differences in practice as legitimate.
FALL 2017 RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
The list below gives the date for 2016, the name of the holiday, the main religion observing the holiday and the previous David Victor Vector post on that holiday.While the dates on the links may be from an earlier year, all of these are regularly updated, and all are corrected for the date when it changes.
Enkutatash /Ethiopian New Year (Return of the Queen of Sheba from Jerusalem) and
Ethiopian Tewahedo Churches
Nayrouz /Coptic New Year (commemoration of the martyrs)
Coptic Orthodox Church
Wednesday, September 20 at sunset through either sunset Thursday, September 21 (for most Reform and Reconstructionist Jews) or sunset Friday, September 22 (for Conservative and Orthodox Jews)
Rosh HaShanah
Judaism
Judaism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/09/rosh-hashanah-2012.html
Thursday, September 22
Tuesday, September 26 - Saturday, September 30
Thursday, September 22
Autumnal Equinox/Mabon
Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/09/autumnal-equinox.html
Tuesday, September 26 - Saturday, September 30
Durga Puja
Hinduism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/durga-puja.htmlFriday September 29 at set through Saturday, September 30
Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/09/yom-kippur.html
Friday, September 29 at sunset through Saturday, September 30 at sunset (depending on the sighting of the moon) or for some traditions in North America the following day
Ashura
Islam, especially Shi’a for whom this is a major observancehttp://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2015/09/ashura-2015.html
Wednesday, October 4 at sunset through Wednesday, October 11 sunsetNote: The first two days are major observance days for most Conservative and Orthodox Jews)
Sukkot/Festival of Booths/Festival of Tabernacles
Judaism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2015/09/sukkot-hoshanah-rabah-shemini-atzeret.htmlWednesday, October 11 at sunset through Tuesday, October 12 sunset
Shemini Atzeret
Judaism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2015/09/sukkot-hoshanah-rabah-shemini-atzeret.html
Thursday, October 12 sunset through Friday, October 13 sunset
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2015/09/sukkot-hoshanah-rabah-shemini-atzeret.html
Friday, October 20
Thursday, October 12 sunset through Friday, October 13 sunset
Simchat Torah
Judaism
Friday, October 20
Birth of the Bab
Bahai’ism
Thursday, October 18 through Saturday, October 21Note: Many Hindus of South Indian tradition begin a day earlier on October 19
Devali
Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism 
Tuesday, October 31
Reformation Day
Lutheranism, some Protestant sects
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/samhain-all-saints-day-dia-de-los.html
Tuesday, October 31 sunset through Wednesday, November 1 Samhain
Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism
Wednesday, November 1
All Saints Day
Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Methodism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/samhain-all-saints-day-dia-de-los.htmlThursday, November 2
All Souls Day/Día de los Muertos
Roman Catholicismhttp://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/samhain-all-saints-day-dia-de-los.html
Sunday November 12
Birthday of Bahá'u'lláh
Bahai'ism
Friday, December 8
Bodhi Day
BuddhismThursday, December 21Yule/Winter Solstice
Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/12/yule.html
Tuesday, December 12 sunset through Wednesday, December 20 sunset
Chanukah
Sunday, December 25
Christmas
Western Christian faiths (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism)Christmas
Eastern Orthodox/ Ethiopian Tewahedo/Coptic Christian faiths
Sunday, January 7 (2018)
A FEW CLOSING REMARKS
Before I go on, I should note that all holidays in Islam begin with the actual sighting of the moon. Therefore, the dates given for Eid al-Adha and Ashura are the likely dates for the holiday depending on the sighting conditions. Some debate exists regarding where the moon sighting should occur (e.g., locally or in Mecca). This may also cause observance to fall on a day before or after that indicated in this list. The date given here does not intend to suggest that one or the other interpretation is correct; this date is merely intended to be information for the date most widely observed in North America.
In all likelihood, I have overlooked a holiday or observance. Please feel free to share this with me.
While the links to many of the holidays above were posted in earlier years, they are regularly updated as the holiday approaches for this year. The dates in this post are (to the best of my knowledge) correct for 2017.
Finally, I would like to ask you to spread the word about this blog. If you are not formally a follower, please do add your name to the list through your Google, Twitter, AIM, Netlog or Yahoo account.
Thanks so much!
