JANUARY
New Year's Day – January 1
New Year’s Day is the first on the Russian
Holidays Calendar. This is the
most popular holiday among Russian people. It is as popular
here as
Christmas in the United States and Europe. Most people celebrate
this day with family or friends. Russian people believe that
it is very important how you welcome the New Year. It is believed
that one will spend the whole year the way he has welcomed
it.
Christmas, Russian Orthodox - January 7
Orthodox Christmas falls at the 7th of January,
13 days after Catholic Christmas. Christmas wasn’t widely
celebrated during the Soviet era and only at the end of the
1990s it was resurrected.
Old New Year - January 13
Before Russia switched to the western calendar
in 1917 it was 13 days behind the rest part of the world.
So the tradition to celebrate the Old New Year’s Day
by some people can be explained by that fact.
Students Day – January 25
FEBRUARY
St. Valentine’s Day - February 14
With constantly increasing Western influence,
the Russians started celebrating some Western holidays. St
Valentine’s Day is very popular in Russia, especially
among people in love.
Soldier's Day - February 23
The Shrovetide, Pancake Day
The Pancake Day in Russia is celebrated 7
weeks before Easter. It’s a day of farewell to the winter
and welcome to the spring.
MARCH
International Women's Day – March 8
The 8th of March in Russia is a very special
date. This day all the women
are treated like a Queen. They receive flowers and gifts from
their husbands, boyfriends, and co-workers. Flower shops are
just flooded with
men.
APRIL
Fool’s Day – April 1
Orthodox Easter
Orthodox Easter is a very popular holiday in the Resurrection
of Christ. It’s celebrated two weeks after Catholic Easter.
MAY
International Labor Day – May 1
May Day is also known in Russia as the Spring
and Labor Day.
Victory Day – May 9
It is a very important holiday for all the
Russians as it marks the great
victory of Russian army over the Nazis.
JUNE
Children’s Day – June 1
Day of Russia – June 12
Day of Russia, or the Independence Day, is
celebrated on the 12th of June. It commemorate the adoption
of the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Russian Federation
in 1991.
SEPTEMBER
The Day of Knowledge – September 1
OCTOBER
Teacher’s Day – October 5
NOVEMBER
Day of Accord and Conciliation – November 7
This holiday was formerly known as the Day
of Great October Revolution.
DECEMBER
Constitution Day – December 12
The new Constitution of the Russian Federation
was approved in December, 1993. Since then, this date is an
official Russian holiday.
Catholic Christmas – December 25
In spite of the fact that officially Christmas
in Russia falls at the 13th of January, some people celebrate
it on the 25th of December like most
people in the world.
