Religious Calendar 2016
We live in a beautiful, diverse world, and almost each day of the year is a sacred time for someone, somewhere.
HuffPost Religion presents our annual interfaith religious calendar for nine major world religions: the Baha'i faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, Islam, Paganism, Shinto and the Sikh faith. We hope you will come to this page regularly to learn about the festivals of these diverse traditions.
Please note that Jewish and Muslim holidays start at sunset the day before the date listed and continue until sunset of the next day. Also, due to Islam's use of the lunar calendar, some dates will be confirmed closer to the holiday. If this list does not include your sacred observance, please email religion@huffingtonpost.com with a brief description of the holiday so that we can add it here.
Baha'i Holidays 2016
Jan 17 - World Religion Day
Mar 1-19 - The Nineteen Day Fast
Mar 20 - Nowruz / Naw-Ruz (Baha'i, Zoroastrian, Iranian New Year)
Apr 20-May 1 - Ridván
May 23 - Declaration of the Bab
May 28 - Ascension of Baha'u'llah
July 9 - The Martyrdom of the Bab
Nov 1 - Birth of the Bab
Nov 2 - Birth of Baha'u'llah
Buddhist Holidays 2016
Jan 24 - Mahayana New Year
Feb 15 - Nirvana Day
Apr 22 - Theravada New Year
May 15 - Buddha Day (or Visakha Puja, Wesak)
July 19 - Asala - Dharma Day
Dec 8 - Bodhi Day
Christian Holidays 2016 (all denominations)
Jan 1 - Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Catholic)
Jan 6 - Epiphany
Jan 6 - Feast of Theophany (Orthodox Christian)
Jan 6 - Nativity of Jesus (Armenian Orthodox)
Jan 7 - Christmas Day (Orthodox Christian)
Jan 20 - Timket (Ethiopian Orthodox Christian)
Jan 25 - Conversion of St. Paul
Feb 2 - Candlemas
Feb 11 - Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes (Catholic)
Feb 9 - Shrove Tuesday
Feb 10 - Ash Wednesday
Feb 10 - March 24 - Lent
Mar 14 - Clean Monday (Orthodox Christian)
Mar 17 - St. Patrick's Day (Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran)
Mar 20 - Palm Sunday
Mar 24 - Maundy Thursday
Mar 25 - Good Friday
Mar 26 - Holy Saturday
Mar 27 - Easter Sunday
Apr 4 - Annunciation
May 1 - Easter Sunday (Orthodox Church)
May 5 - Ascension Day
May 15 - Pentecost
May 22 - Trinity Sunday
May 29 - Corpus Christi
June 29 - St. Peter and St. Paul's Day
July 22 - Feast of Mary Magdalene
Aug 6 - Transfiguration of Jesus
Aug 15 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Catholic)
Aug 15 - Dormition of the Theotokos (Orthodox Christian)
Sep 8 - Nativity of the Theotokos/Birth of Virgin Mary
Sep 29 - Michaelmas
Oct 31 - All Hallows' Eve
Nov 1 - All Saints Day / All Hallows' Day
Nov 2 - All Souls' Day
Nov 27 - Advent Sunday
Dec 8 - Feast of Immaculate Conception (Catholic)
Dec 12 - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Dec 24 - Christmas Eve (Western Churches)
Dec 25 - Christmas Day (Western Churches)
Hindu Holidays 2016
Jan 14 - Makar Sankranti/Pongal
Feb 12 - Saraswati Puja
Mar 7 - Shivratri
Mar 23 - Holi
Apr 15 - Rama Navami
Apr 22 - Hanuman Jayanti
July 6 - Ratha Yatra
Aug 18 - Raksha Bandhan
Aug 25 - Janmashthami
Sep 9 - Radha Asthami
Sep 13 - Onam
Oct 1-9 - Navratri
Oct 7-11 - Durga Puja
Oct 11 - Dussehra
Oct 30 - Diwali
Jain Holidays 2016
Apr 20 - Mahavir Jayanti
May 9 - Akshaya Tritiya
Aug 29-Sep 5 - Paryushan Parva
Sep 15 - Anant Chaturdashi
Sep 15 - Kshamavani
Oct 30 - Diwali
Jewish Holidays 2016
Jan 25 - Tu B'Shevat
Mar 24 - Purim
Apr 23-30 - Passover
June 12-13 - Shavuot
Aug 14 - Tisha B'Av
Oct 3-4 - Rosh Hashanah
Oct 12 - Yom Kippur
Oct 17-23 - Sukkot
Oct 25 - Simchat Torah
Dec 25-Jan 1, 2017 - Hanukkah
Muslim Holidays 2016
May 5 - Lailat al Miraj
May 21 - Lailat al Bara’a
June 6-Jul 5 - Ramadan
July 1 - Lailat al Qadr
July 5 - Eid-ul-Fitr
Sep 11 - Eid-ul-Adha
Oct 2 - Al-Hijira (Islamic New Year)
Oct 11 - Ashura
Dec 12 - Mawlid an Nabi
Pagan Holidays 2016
Feb 2 - Imbolc
Mar 20 - Spring Equinox (Ostara)
May 1 - Beltane
June 20 - Summer Solstice
Aug 1 - Lughnasadh (Lammas)
Sep 22 - Autumn Equinox (Mabon)
Oct 31 - Samhain
Dec 22 - Winter Solstice (Yule)
Shinto Holidays 2016
Jan 1 - Gantan-sai
Feb 3 - Setsubun
Nov 15 - Shichigosan
Nov 23 - Niinamesei
Sikh Holidays 2016
Jan 5 - Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti
Jan 13 - Lohri
Feb 12 - Vasant Panchami
Mar 24 - Hola Mohalla
Mar 14 - Nanakshahi New Year
Apr 14 - Vaisakhi
Oct 20 - Installation of Scriptures of Guru Granth Sahib
Oct 30 - Diwali
Oct 30 - Bandi Chhorh Divas
Nov 14 - Birthday of Guru Nanak
Nov 24 - Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur
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