Calendar of Religious Events

Keen to explore religious festivals in school? Our at-a-glance calendar might help!

Christianity

  • Advent (4 weeks leading to Christmas Day) – the season in which Christians prepare for the coming of Christ.
  • Christmas Day (December 25th) – the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ
  • Lent (approx. 7 weeks before Easter) – Shrove Tuesday / Ash Wednesday mark the beginning of the season which precedes the celebration of Easter. 
  • Good Friday / Easter Sunday (sometime between March / April, depending on the moon) – the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Islam

  • Eid-ul-Adha – The Festival of Sacrifice, honouring Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to Allah.
  • Ramadhan – The holy month of fasting.
  • Eid-ul-fitr – The conclusion of Ramadhan.

These festivals fall on different days each year, depending on the lunar calendar.

Ramadan guide for schools (2024) Produced by Lewisham Islamic Centre & Lewisham SACREDownload
Bristol SACRE guidance for Schools about RamadanDownload
Ramadan during Covid 19Download

Judaism

  • Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Sept or Oct) – Jewish New Year holidays. 
  • Passover (March or April) – Festival commemorating the exodus from Egypt.
  • Chanukah – The Festival of Lights (December)

Sikhism

  • Baisakhi (April 13th) – Festival celebrating the birth of the Khalsa and the Sikh new year.
  • Diwali (October / November) – Festival of Lights
  • Birth of Guru Nanak (November)

Hinduism

  • Diwali (October / November) – The festival of lights, commemorating the victory of light over darkness.

Buddhism

  • Vesak / Visakah Puja / ‘Buddha Day’ (May) – Festival celebrating the life, enlightenment and death of the Buddha.

Other / Non-religious worldviews

  • Darwin Day (Humanism, February 12th) – Commemorating the contributions of naturalist and evolutionary theorist, Charles Darwin.

For more information…

For a comprehensive guide to major festivals and notable dates for a variety of world faiths, cultures and non-religious belief systems, we thoroughly recommend the Shap Calendar of Religious Festivals. Visit their website here.

Inter Faith Week

Inter Faith Week happens every year. Its aims are to strengthen interfaith relations, increase awareness of different faith communities in the UK and increase understanding between people of different religious and non-religious beliefs.

For more information on Inter Faith Week, visit the website here.

Inter Faith Week is run by the Inter Faith Network. They produce a range of educational resources for schools, aimed at supporting and encouraging positive interfaith relations. For more information on their work and to browse their resources, visit their website here.