Top 10 Most Popular Seasonal Holidays in the World: Celebration of festivals all around the world

So many different holidays are observed by people all around the world, giving them the opportunity to enjoy their day with friends and family. There are some holidays that are observed by millions and billions of people irrespective of the country or religion that they belong to. On the other hand, some holidays are specific and are celebrated with certain customs and traditions. In this article, you can find a list of the top 10 most popular seasonal holidays in the world along with some interesting details about them.

10 Most Popular Seasonal Holidays in the World

The table below presents the list of the 10 popular seasonal holidays in the world along with their date of celebration and the religion celebrating these holidays.

Holidays	Date of celebration
Christmas	December 25
Hanukkah	Movable date
New Year’s Day	January 1
Chinese New Year	Movable date
Easter	Movable date
Eid al-Fitr	Movable date
Diwali	Movable date
Thanksgiving	Fourth Thursday in November
Bodhi Day	December 8
Día de Los Muertos	November 1 and 2

World’s 10 Most Popular Seasonal Holidays

Check out some more details related to the top 10 seasonal holidays in the world:

1. Christmas

Christmas is observed every year by people around the world on December 25 and celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. While Christians celebrate this day religiously, a large number of non-Christian people celebrate this holiday culturally. Popular traditions of Christmas include exchanging gifts and cards, attending church services, decorating homes with Christmas trees, lights, mistletoe, etc., and enjoying dinner with family.

2. Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a festival of Jews that commemorates the re-dedication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Starting on the 25th day of Kislev as per the Hebrew calendar, Hanukkah is celebrated for eight nights and days by lighting the candles of a candelabrum. One candle is lit on the night branches of candelabrum every night and finally, all candles are lit on the last night.

3. New Year’s Day

New Year’s Day is observed on the 1^st of January every year and marks the beginning of the next calendar year. New Year is the first day of the Gregorian calendar and is celebrated by the majority of people all over the world, despite their religion and regional differences. The day is generally observed with fireworks, parties, social gatherings, etc. Other than January 1^st, many cultures observe their traditional New Year’s Day on their own specific day.

4. Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year celebrates the beginning of a new year according to the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is also known as the Spring Festival as it marks the beginning of the spring season. The festival is celebrated by honoring deities and ancestors, decorating houses with lanterns and ribbons, and lighting firecrackers. Red is the color related to this festival which forms a major part of the decoration and celebration observed on this day.

5. Easter

Easter is a Christian festival that marks the resurgence of Jesus from the dead. Also known as Resurrection Sunday, there is no fixed date to observe the festival. Easter date is calculated on the basis of the lunisolar calendar and is observed on the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon. A modern and very popular tradition of this festival include the Easter egg hunt in which eggs are dyed with beautiful colors and hidden at different places for people to search.

6. Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan and is celebrated by Muslims all over the world. Some Muslims do not consider Eid as a sacred holiday as the Quran does not mention its celebration. The festival falls on the first day of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar and the celebratory date is announced by local religious authorities based on the sighting of the new moon.

7. Diwali

Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is a festival of Hindus that celebrates the victory of good over evil. A festival of lights, Diwali is observed during the month of Kartika according to the Hindu calendar. To celebrate this day, people light up their homes with diyas and candles, decorate the floors with rangoli, and adorn their whole place with garlands and other decorative items. Fireworks are the most popular tradition of this festival.

8. Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a major festival observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. The holiday started as a day of being thankful for a good harvest and was celebrated with different religious and cultural traditions. It is now celebrated primarily with a Thanksgiving meal that includes turkey, potatoes, bread stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Other than the US, Thanksgiving is also observed in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, etc.

9. Bodhi Day

Bodhi Day is a Buddhist holiday that celebrates the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha. According to one popular tradition, Siddhartha entered in a deep state of meditation, and in the third watch of the night, he found the answers he sought thus becoming Enlightened. The day is celebrated via meditation, study of the Dharma, chanting of Buddhist texts, etc.

10. Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Día de Los Muertos is a holiday celebrated by Mexican people all around the world. Rather than mourning, it is a day of celebration rather than mourning. The holiday is observed in a traditional way with people honoring the deceased, building home altars with their favorite foods and beverages, visiting graves, etc.