Remembrance of the Dead

Until 1961, the Kingdom of the Netherlands recognized May 4th as a day to honor those who died for their country during World War II and titled it as "Remembrance of the Dead" day. After 1961 it was decided that all those who had died since the the outbreak of the war should be honored as well. Now no matter where the member of the armed forces may have died, if it was a war or peace keeping mission is remembered at 8:00 p.m. on the 4th of May.

Throughout the country as well as in other parts of the world, such as Saint Martin, people will gather at monuments or watch on tv the ceremonies. The largest of which is at the National Monument on the Dam, where 15,000 people will gather and over 3 million people will watch via television a program starting at 7:50 pm this year with the traditional 2 minutes of silence at 8:00 pm. During the day flags will have flown at half staff until after this time and will then be raised to the full height of the flag pole to the music of the Dutch national anthem. At the Dam a parade will begin at 8:18.

I was unable to find why this day and time have been chosen, the only clue I have is that the liberation of the Netherlands is the 5th of May which would make sense to me but I can not be sure if this is the reason or not.

Links:
Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_of_the_Dead

General
Officile site (translated from Google)
http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.4en5mei.nl%2F4en5mei&langpair=

nl%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&langpair=nl%7Cen&u=

http://www.4en5mei.nl/herdenken/nationale_herdenking/de_dam

http://sxmislandtime.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=969%3Ast-maarten-

to-join-national-remembrance-of-the-dead-on-may-4th&catid=31%3Ageneral&Itemid=75

World Press Freedom Day

The United Nations established May 3rd as World Press Freedom Day.  This is to help keep the ideals of a free press in the minds of the people of the world and why this is important.  The date was chosen due to the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek a statement of principles by African newspapers in 1991.  The UN designated the World Press Freedom Day in 1993.  Along with other activities the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize prize was established to be given to a group, individual or organization who has furthered the establishment of freedom of the press especially in a dangerous situation.  The prize was named in honor of the director of "El Espector" who was gunned down in front of the offices by the drug cartels.  In 2007, on the tenth anniversary of the murder, the prize was awarded in the town where he was killed, Medellin, Columbia.

Links:
Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Day

General
http://www.worldpressfreedomday.org/
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/press/
http://www.un.org/events/pressday/2006/

Indonesia National Education Day

The 2nd of May, as the birth day of Ki Hajar Dewantara, is known as Indonesia National Education Day. Born to a wealthy family with the name Raden Mas Soerjadi Soerjaningrat, he felt so strongly about the importance of being able to be amongst the rest of the population he dropped off the royal part of his name. When he was born, Indonesia was under the control of the Dutch who allowed education to only those who where of Dutch birth or from very wealthy families. For his out spoken criticism related to the treatment of the people of Indonesia he was exiled and stayed out of the country until 1918 when he and others returned to establish an institute for education. After Indonesia gained their independence he was named Minister of Education and since his death in 1959 the day has been marked to remember him and his contribution to the education of the people of his country.

Links:
Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia_National_Education_Day

General
http://djohar1962.blogspot.com/2008/04/span-stylefont-weightboldindonesias.html

May Day

The 1st of May has it's fair share of celebrations associated with it from the well known Worker's Day which saw the former Soviet Union parading their military might through Red Square to the lesser known counter holiday established in the United States as Loyalty Day. Of course people have celebrated May 1st for much a longer time then either of these countries have had a history.

I will be concentrating on the celebrations found in England though there are similar events that take place in many other areas including Scotland, Wales, areas of the United States. The history of the May Day celebrations go back to at least the Roman empire and perhaps the Celts of England. The time of year when the cold gives way to the warmth of summer the Romans held the festival to honor Flora, the goddess of flowers and fruit.

Many traditions have developed through the years most of which have their origins in pagan rites associated with coming of summer and everything that that indicates, such as fertility and the blooming of the plants. Early on the morning of the 1st children would head out to the woods to "go a-Maying" to collect flowers which they would use to decorate the houses and village. Another early morning ritual was for young girls to bath their faces in the morning dew to ensure that they would be beautiful for the following year. Revelry would fill the rest of the day including May Day Lift, the Crowning of the May Day Queen, parading around with May Day Garlands and of course the most famous tradition the Dancing of the May Poll.

The May Pole dance would be practiced for weeks before the festival around poles that would, in some cases, stand taller then the village church steeple. The tallest known was one in London in the Strand in 1661 when Charles II restored the tradition of the May Poll after the Puritans had banned the practice during their rule. The pole was 134 feet tall and lasted for 40 years before Sir Newton used it in the construction of observation equipment.

Links:
Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day#England

General
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/mayday.htm
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/year/may.htm
http://homepages.tesco.net/~derek.berger/holidays/mayday.html
http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/MayDay.htm
http://www.enjoyengland.com/attractions/events/calendar/may/spring-bank-holiday.aspx

Walpurgis Night

The night of April the 30th is known as Walpurgis Night in many parts of Europe but I will be focusing on Sweden's celebration of the night.  Origans of the celebration are traced back to the days of the Vikings and the welcoming of spring in the land long before the name Walpurgis which comes from an abbes born in 710 and became a Saint.

Throughout the country people celebrate in different ways but there are some similarities, such as bon fires being light on top of hills and mountains.  This was done for three reasons; to frighten away predators as livestock where put out to pasture for the first time of the year, to welcome spring and to scare away witches and demons as the night was known for being a time when the lines between the living and dead where very thin.  Another tradition is for those who are graduating or have graduated wear the traditional hat, white with a black.  I found indications that schools are closed this day and champagne is drank in the morning in celebration as well.  In university towns there are marches of the graduates as well. 

A personal account of the day talked of boat races down the local river in Uppsala where the winner is determined by the funniest boat (1).

There is much singing of traditional Swedish songs around the bon fire welcoming the spring, which as the official website of Sweden pointed out was ironic as there is often snow and sleet coming down trying to put out the fire.

As a side note, the birth of The King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf is April 30th(2) and from some sources indicated this was one of the official flag days of the country.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find documentation per the government's or embassy's websites to collaborate this.

Links:
Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night#Sweden

General
http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/Event____17130.aspx (Official Sweden website)
(1) http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/MCC/mcc0404.html
http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/fwe/fwe13.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_days_in_Sweden
(2)http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9020338/Carl-XVI-Gustaf