4 April (Friday) FESTIVAL OF PURE BRIGHTNESS/TOMB SWEEPING DAY / QINGMINGJIE / CH’ING MING/ Chinese

The first occasion in the year when family graves are visited. Many families cleanse and sweep them, offer food to the spirits, and picnic/feast by the grave with their ancestors.

6 April (Sunday) RAMA NAVAMI Hindu

Rama Navami is a spring Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of the Hindu God Lord Rama. He is particularly important to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, as the seventh avatar of the God Vishnu. The festival celebrates the descent of Vishnu in the Rama avatar, through his birth to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya in Ayodhya. The festival is a part of the spring Navarti, and falls on the ninth day of the bright half Shulka Paksha in the Hindu calendar month of Chaitra.

6 April (Sunday) PASSION SUNDAY Christian

Passion Sunday is the fifth Sunday in Lent marking the beginning of  Passiontide. In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed Passiontide from the litergical year but it is still observed by some and also by some Anglicans and Lutherans.

8 April (Tuesday) HANAMATSURI Buddhist (Japanese)

Mahayana flower festival to celebrate the Buddha Shakyamuni’s birthday. Shrines are erected and an image of the infant Buddha is bathed. Theravadins celebrate Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing away later in the year, at the full moon in May.

10 April (Thursday) MAHAVIRA JAYANTI (599 BCE) Jain

The birthday of the last Tirthankara, or great teacher and model of the Jainas. His birth and the events surrounding it are re-enacted.  Monks or nuns read from the scriptures and teach about the rest of Mahavira’s life. Lay people then return home to a celebratory feast.

12 April (Saturday) HANUMAN JAYANTI Hindu

This Hindu festival recalls the birth of Lord Rama’s supreme devotee, the monkey-headed Hanuman, whose feats figure in the Ramayana epic.  Hanuman’s birth is celebrated at sunrise on the full-moon day of the lunar month of Chaitra

13 April (Sunday) to 20 April (Sunday) PESACH Jewish

Passover, also called Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring.

13 April (Sunday) PALM SUNDAY Christian

First day of Holy Week, when Christians remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In many churches the entry is commemorated by processions, with the congregation carrying symbolic branches of trees, or palm leaves folded in the form of a cross.

14 April (Monday) TAMIL NEW YEAR Hindu

Tamil New Year also known as Puthandu is the first day of year on the Tamil calendar that is traditionally celebrated as a festival by Tamils in Sri Lanka - the festival date is set with the solar cycle of the solar Hindi calendar as the first day of the month of Chittirai.

14 April (Monday) VAISAKHI/BAISAKHI – The Sikh New Year Festival Sikh

In 1699, on Vaisakhi, the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, founded  the Order of the Khalsa. Five men (Five Beloved Ones), offered their lives when the Guru asked for volunteers. The ‘Five Ks’, the outward signs of Sikhism, were made obligatory and Sikh men took the name ‘Singh’ (lion) and women ‘Kaur’ (princess). The initiation ceremony, amrit, was introduced.

14 April (Monday) to 19 April (Saturday) HOLY WEEK Christian

The most solemn week of the Christian year, in which Christians recall the events of the week in which Jesus was crucified.

17 April (Thursday) MAUNDY THURSDAY Christian (Western Churches)

Christians remember the Last Supper when Jesus blessed bread and wine and commanded his disciples to remember him whenever they did this.  The name ‘maundy’ comes from a Latin term ‘mandatum’ (‘commandment’), signifying Jesus' new commandment to his disciples, as recorded in John 15:17.

18 April (Friday) GOOD FRIDAY Christian (Western Churches)

This day commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. Meditative services are held in church to mark the time that Jesus spent on the cross.

19 April (Saturday) HOLY SATURDAY (Easter Eve) Christian

This is the last day of Lent. Special services involving the lighting of the Paschal Candle and the renewal of baptismal vows take place in the evening in preparation for Easter.

20 April (Sunday) EASTER DAY Christian (Western Churches)

Easter Day is the most important festival of the Christian year, as it is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Many Easter traditions, such as the giving of chocolate Easter eggs symbolise the gift of new life.
Matthew 28:1-11, Mark 16:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10.

20 April (Sunday) EASTER DAY / PASCHA Christian (Orthodox)

Easter Day, the most important festival of the Christian year, is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A vigil is kept during the preceding night and the resurrection is greeted with the lighting of candles and the glad affirmation, ‘Christ is risen’.

20 April (Sunday) - 1 May (Thursday) RIDVAN Baha’i

The most important Baha’i festival.  In these 12 days, in the garden outside Baghdad after which the festival is named, Baha’u’llah declared himself the Promised One, prophesied by the Bab. The first, ninth and twelfth days are especially significant and are holy days, when no work is done.   It is during this period that Baha’is elect all their governing bodies.

20 April (Sunday) ADAR MAH PARAB Zoroastrian (Shenshai - Parsi)

On the ninth day of Adar, the 9th month, Zoroastrians celebrate the birthday of fire. They pay visits to the fire temple to make offerings of sandalwood or incense, and to thank the holy fire for the warmth and light it has given throughout the year. Traditionally on this day food is not cooked in the house as the fire is given a rest and the Atash Niyayeesh or litany to the fire is recited in honour of the house fire or the ceremonial oil lamp.

20 April (Sunday) EASTER DAY Rastafarian

Easter Day is the most important festival of the Christian year, as it is when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Many Easter traditions, such as the giving of chocolate Easter eggs symbolise the gift of new life.
Matthew 28:1-11, Mark 16:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10.

23 April (Wednesday) ST GEORGE’S DAY National / Christian

St George is the patron saint of England. He lived and died in the Middle East, but his popularity grew after the Crusades, when his red cross on a white background became the symbol of the English Crusaders.

24 April (Thursday) YOM HA-SHOAH (Holocaust Day) Jewish

A day of remembrance for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Memorial candles are lit and special services are held.

30 April (Wednesday) BELTAINE EVE/MAY EVE Pagan