An Interfaith Calendar Of The Religious Holidays In 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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