Today is Koninkrijksdag, on this day in 1954 the Queen Juliana signed the charter that detailed the relationship between it's self and several of it's over seas territories. Since then several others have also been added to this charter.
In recognition of the day a concert is held each year with musicions from all over the kingdom. Many people consider today to be a flag day where it is appropriate to show pride in the Kingdom of the Netherlands by raising the flag and flying it today.
In 2008 Naturalisatiedag was moved from October 1 to December 15 bringing further significance to the day. This is the day when all naturalized individuals receive their office certificate showing they are Dutch citizens.
One of the most beloved stories of Japanese history is that of The Forty-Seven Loyal Retainers in Akoh".
The story goes that in 1703 forty-seven vassals of a lord who had been forced to commit suicide by Lord Kira raided his mansion and killed him. The vassals then committed suicide as well.
This story is retold in books, movies and traditional plays (Kabuki). There is even a museum dedicated to the event at the Sengaku-ji Temple in Tokyo where the bodies of the Lord and his retainers are buried. Every year, on the anniversary, there is a parade made up of 47 people dressed in the outfits of the retainers and many many people come to see the event.
This is one of my favorite holidays and one I could have been apart of it's celebration but unfortunately was not.
I am going to concentrate on the Swedish traditions since that is where half of my family comes from though the holiday is celebrated in many other countries.
First a little history to give context to where the celebration comes from. St Lucy or St Lucia depending on how you want to spell it is a martyr in the Christian faith and one of the only ones venerated by the protestant Scandinavian countries. There are at least two stories about her one where she would not burn and another were she needed both her hands so she made a wreath for her head and put candles in it so she could see. In both stories she is a young women or girl.
Tradition in Sweden now has it that the eldest daughter will wear a white robe with a red sash and wreath of candles in her hair and her younger sister would wear the same robe and sash but carry one candle. They will sing a traditional St. Lucy song while bringing their mother and father coffee and a special St. Lucia Bun (Lussekatt)
Though out the country now towns will appoint a St. Lucia to represent the whole population and there will be a procession in the street. Boys will even get involved dressing in several different outfits; ginger bread men, carrying lanterns, tomtenissar or stjärngossar (Star Boys, they dress in similar outfits but have a pointed hat instead). Schools will also elect a St. Lucia and her retainers and these will visit nursing homes and hand out sweets another thing they are known for.
Interestingly there has been some controversy in the past few years where males have been elected to be St. Lucia but many have opposed them being allowed to serve in the role.
I am not sure why my family never celebrated this even though we lived in Minnesota where I understand it is not unusual for it to be observed and my grandparents did recognize many traditional Swedish traditions, it may have been that they only had boys so had no one to pass this tradition on to but I feel it would have been a nice one to pass down.
Jamhuri means "republic" in Swahili and this is the day that independence and the republic was formed a year apart. The formation of the republic in 1964 on December 12th one year to the day after gaining it's independence from Great Britain.
It is considered to be the biggest holiday in the Kenya.
Normally I don't know that I would count this as a holiday since I try to stay away from things that are not "real" holidays but since I took up ballroom dancing a little over a year ago and this is my blog I figured I could get away with it. Then after looking into it more I probably would actually consider it a real celebration.
Commemorating the birth of two of Argentine Tango's leading personalities, Carlos Gardel (born in 1890) and Julio De Caro (born in 1899). The story goes that in 1965 Ben Molar was on his way to celebrate the birth of Julio while standing on the corner of Corrientes and Esmeralda, a center of the Tango scene, when he realized the coincident of the birthdays. He then proposed the idea for the national Tango day to Secretary of Culture but eleven years later he was still unable to get anyone to actually make the day official. Molar frustrated by not being able to get the government to act organized an event at Luna Park where an estimated 15,000 people attended. On November 29th 1977 a decree was finally passed making it official that December 11th would from then on be the National Tango Day.
In 2009 UNESCO designated Tango as Cultural Patrimony of Harmony.
I wish I could have found some street Tango to show you but I am running out of time, maybe next year (maybe even a video with me in it)
So if you get the chance, go out and Tango (remember it takes two;) and if you can't do that then at least dance!
Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 12:00PM 
Today is Koninkrijksdag, on this day in 1954 the Queen Juliana signed the charter that detailed the relationship between it's self and several of it's over seas territories. Since then several others have also been added to this charter.
