Festivals and Feasts - پژوهشگر جوان

Festivals and Feasts

Festivals and Feasts, in secular society, communal celebrations involving carefully planned programs, outpourings of respect, rejoicing, or high revelry, established by custom or sponsored by various cultural groups or organizations. Such secular celebrations differ from religious festivals and feasts in that the focus is not on the significance of the rituals of holy days of a particular faith but on the public honoring of outstanding persons, the commemoration of important historical or cultural events, or the re-creation of cherished folkways. In some parts of the world, however, particularly in Latin America and southern Europe, traditional secular festivities follow attendance at religious services.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, national memorial authorized in 1980. Located in Washington, D.C., the site commemorates United States military personnel who died or were declared missing in action during the Vietnam War (1959-1975). The memorial is a V-shaped, black granite wall of polished stone etched with more than 58,000 names. The wall, built in 1982, is 150 m (493 ft) long. It was designed by a 21-year-old architecture student, Maya Lin. A bronze statue by Frederick Hart entitled Three Servicemen was added in 1984 and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, a bronze sculpture by Glenna Goodacre, was added in 1993. This statue of three nurses and a wounded soldier honors the more than 11,000 women who served in the war. Administered by the National Park Service. Area, 0.8 hectares (2 acres)....................

Holidays in united states

Independence Day :Independence Day, in the United States, an annual holiday commemorating the formal adoption by the Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. Although the signing of the Declaration was not completed until August, the Fourth of July holiday has been accepted as the official anniversary of U.S. independence and is celebrated in all states and territories of the United States.

The holiday was first observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, at which time the Declaration of Independence was read aloud, city bells rang, and bands played. It was not declared a legal holiday (see Holiday), however, until 1941. The Fourth is traditionally celebrated publicly with parades and pageants, patriotic speeches, and organized firing of guns and cannons and displays of fireworks; early in the 20th century public concern for a “safe and sane” holiday resulted in restrictions on general use of fireworks. Family picnics and outings are a feature of private Fourth of July celebrations.

Labor Day :Labor Day, legal holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and the Virgin Islands. The celebration of Labor Day, in honor of the working class, was initiated in the U.S. in 1882 by the Knights of Labor, who held a large parade in New York City. In 1884 the group held a parade on the first Monday of September and passed a resolution to hold all future parades on that day and to designate the day as Labor Day. Subsequently other worker organizations began to agitate for state legislatures to declare the day a legal holiday. In March 1887, the first law to that effect was passed in Colorado, followed by New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. In 1894 the U.S. Congress made the day a legal holiday. Parades, and speeches by labor leaders and political figures, mark Labor Day celebrations.Labor Day is celebrated in Canada on the first Monday in September. The first parades and rallies to honor workers were held in 1872 in Ottawa and Toronto, and the September date was officially recognized by Parliament in 1894.

Memorial Day :Memorial Day, legal holiday, observed annually on the last Monday in May in most of the United States, in honor of the nation"s armed services personnel killed in wartime. The holiday, originally called Decoration Day, is traditionally marked by parades, memorial speeches and ceremonies, and the decoration of graves with flowers and flags, hence the original name. Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868, on the order of General John Alexander Logan for the purpose of decorating the graves of the American Civil War dead. It was observed on May 30 until 1971, when most states changed to a newly established federal schedule of holiday observance.

Confederate Memorial Day, formerly a legal holiday in many southern states, is still observed on the fourth Monday in April in Alabama, the last Monday in April in Mississippi, and April 26 in Florida and Georgia.

Veterans Day

Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, holiday observed annually in the United States in honor of all those, living and dead, who served with the U.S. armed forces in wartime. Some states observe the holiday on November 11 and others on the fourth Monday of October.

Armistice Day, the forerunner of Veterans Day, was proclaimed in 1919 to commemorate the termination (at 11 am on November 11, 1918) of World War I. On the first anniversary of the truce, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation eulogizing fallen Allied soldiers and referring to November 11 as Armistice Day. It became a holiday in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

The holiday acquired its present name and broadened significance in the U.S. in 1954. In Canada it is known as Remembrance Day, and in the United Kingdom, as Remembrance Sunday.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day, legal holiday observed annually in the United States on the fourth Thursday of November. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday in October. Most people celebrate Thanksgiving by gathering with family or friends for a holiday feast. Thanksgiving was first celebrated by Pilgrims and Native Americans in colonial New England in the early 17th century.

Its actual origin, however, probably traces to harvest festivals that have been traditional in many parts of the world since ancient times(see Festivals and Feasts). Today Thanksgiving is mainly a celebration of domestic life, centered on the home and family.

CUSTOMS AND SYMBOLS

Public observances of Thanksgiving usually emphasize the holiday’s connection with the Pilgrims. Thanksgiving pageants and parades often feature children dressed in Pilgrim costume, complete with bonnets or tall hats, dark clothes, and shoes with large silver-colored buckles.

Many of the images commonly associated with Thanksgiving are derived from much older traditions of celebrating the autumn harvest. For example, the cornucopia (a horn-shaped basket overflowing with fruits and vegetables) is a typical emblem of Thanksgiving abundance that dates to ancient harvest festivals.

Many communities also decorate their churches with fruits, flowers, and vegetables at Thanksgiving, much as European communities have for centuries during the autumn harvest season. In keeping with the idea of celebrating a plentiful harvest, preparing and eating a large meal is a central part of most Thanksgiving celebrations.

Thanksgiving menus usually include turkey, bread-crumb stuffing, cranberry sauce, squash, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. These simple foods recall the rustic virtues of the Pilgrims.Additionally, most of these foods are native to North America, emphasizing the natural bounty that greeted early settlers in their adopted homeland. Later groups of immigrants to North America often adapted the traditional holiday menu to fit their own tastes. For example, many Italian American Thanksgiving meals include Italian specialties, such as pasta and wine.Many Americans digest their holiday meal while watching football games on television.

Traditionally, two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, host games on Thanksgiving Day. High viewership of these holiday games has made football an American Thanksgiving tradition..

CONTEMPORARY CUSTOMS

Most Halloween festivities are based on folk beliefs concerning supernatural forces and spirits of the dead. Halloween decorations typically feature imagery associated with supernatural beings such as witches, werewolves, vampires, and ghosts. Images thought to symbolize bad omens—such as black cats, bats, and spiders—are also commonly featured in Halloween decorations.

The most celebrated Halloween decoration is the jack-o’-lantern, traditionally a hollowed-out pumpkin carved to resemble a grotesque face and illuminated by a candle placed inside. The jack-o’-lantern derives its name from a character in British folktales. According to these tales, the soul of a deceased person named Jack O’Lantern was barred from both heaven and hell and was condemned to wander the earth with his lantern. Orange and black, colors associated with pumpkins and darkness respectively, figure prominently in most Halloween decorations.

Dressing in costume is one of the most popular Halloween customs, especially among children. Traditional costumes usually represent witches, ghosts, and other supernatural beings. However, costumes inspired by contemporary popular culture, such as politicians or movie characters, have become increasingly common in recent years. Adults often favor costumes with satirical or humorous overtones.

Trick-or-treating is another Halloween tradition, in which costumed children go from house to house soliciting candy or other treats from their neighbors. According to this custom, children greet each homeowner with the cry “Trick or Treat,” suggesting that some sort of prank will be played unless treats are provided. Formerly, trick-or-treaters vandalized the house if no treats were produced or if the treats met with their disapproval. Since the early 20th century, however, the threat of tricks has been largely ceremonial. Beginning in the 1970s, the practice of trick-or-treating went into a sharp decline after unsubstantiated rumors spread about homeowners distributing poisoned Halloween candy to children. Many parents also became concerned about their children wandering through the neighborhood after dark. Today, many parents accompany children when they go trick-or-treating.

In some areas of the country, costume parties have replaced trick-or-treating as the favored form of Halloween entertainment. Hosts of these parties often hold contests to select the best costume among the guests. Traditional Halloween diversions have also enjoyed renewed popularity as party activities. For example, many Halloween parties feature contests of bobbing for apples, a centuries-old game in which contestants try to retrieve apples floating in a tub of water using only their mouth. While children’s Halloween parties are generally held in private homes, many bars and nightclubs sponsor modified versions of such festivities for adults.

Saint Valentine’s Day

Saint Valentine’s Day, a holiday honoring lovers. It is celebrated February 14 by the custom of sending greeting cards or gifts to express affection. The cards, known as valentines, are often designed with hearts to symbolize love. The holiday probably derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (February 15). The festival gradually became associated with the feast day (February 14) of two Roman martyrs, both named St. Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. St. Valentine has traditionally been regarded as the patron saint of lovers.

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