Manuh Bihu

The 15th of April marks the start of the Hindu calander and is known as Manuh Bihu.

Links

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihu#Rongali_Bihu

Black Day

In South Korea on April 14th a response to the couple related holidays is celebrated as Black Day.  People who have not found a special someone celebrate by wearing dark colors and eating black noodle dishes.  As with many holidays like this it was created by marketers but has taken off and celebrated by many.

Links

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Day

General

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080414/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_korea_blackday

http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/holidays/valentines/celebrating-korea.htm

http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/Korean-Culture.html

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/11/korea-black-singles-day-oped-cx_hra_0411singles.html

Araw ng Kagitingan

April 9th the Philippines commemorates Araw ng Kagitingan ("Day of Valor" in Filipino) or Bataan Day the fall of the Philippines. This signaled the start of what is known Bataan Death March.

I was unable to find anything that actually said how it was commemorated and I do not want to go into a lot of detail about what happened but will say there is much more to read about the soldiers who lost their lives during this ordeal.

So it would be nice to take a few minutes to remember those who suffered during war and gave their lives.

Links:

Wike http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araw_ng_Kagitingan

General

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/festivals/bataan_day.htm

International Day of the Roma

April 8th has been designated as International Day of the Roma. The Roma people (Gypsies) held the first world congress just outside London in 1971 where the official flag of the Roma people as a separate ethnic group was adopted as was the term Roma as the accepted name for their people. Representatives from many different countries attended including those of the former Soviet block. Six more conferences have been held since, not always having delegates from all the lands represented due to government interference, even so they have received formal recognition from the United Nations. It was at the conference held in 1990 that International Day of the Roma was adopted.

It appears that many of the Roma people do not know of this day but there are those in high positions who have come to support the people including Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama. The United Nations has upheld that the discrimination of these people must be recognized and combated. This has been so wide spread that there are no accurate statistics of the number of Roma as many chose to hide their ethnicity but it is well known that they live through out the world.

I was not able to find any real celebrations as such or traditions but I do hope that this changes in the future.

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

General
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=servis/z_en_2006_0107
http://www.dzeno.cz/?c_id=6818

Qingming Festival

On the 104th day after the winter solstice, which corresponds with the 5th of April, is the Qingming Festival in China.  This festival is a day to pay respect to a persons ancestors, known in English as Clear Brightness festival or Tomb Sweeping Day.  People will go to the grave site of their ancestors to clean and offer sacrifices.  The actual process of doing this has changed over time but the general idea remains the same, taking care of those who have passed.

The history of the festival seems to be intertwined with another festival that was a day or two before Qingmin Festival, the Cold Food Festival.  I was unable to find much about the history of Qingmin, but Cold Food Festival does have an interesting history and as it is tied to Qingmin thought it would be appropriate to talk about it's history.

In the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) a lord accidentally killed a very loyal servant while trying to reward him for his services.  The servant had left to live in solitude in the mountains (depending on which story, either because he had been forgotten by the lord or because he refused the post that he had been given).  To try and flush out the man it was suggested to the lord that the mountain be set a fire and then the servant would leave and could be rewarded.  Surprisingly this did not work as planned and the servant died.  To commemorate the servant he declared that on that day from hence forth no fire could be used to cook food, Cold Food Festival was born.  Eventually these day festivals combined to one.

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

General
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa031201a.htm
http://www.nychinatown.com/qing_ming_festival.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01780/festivals/qingming-festival.htm
http://www.city.china.com.cn/english/features/Festivals/78319.htm