Myanmar (Chin) : public and bank holidays, closure of banks, stock exchanges, school vacations

Secular holiday : Chicago, Saturday May 1st, 1886: 350,000 workers go on strike to call for an 8-hour working day. Industries are paralyzed nationwide. On Monday, as demonstrations go on, the police open fire. On Tuesday, Chicago is again on strike. Following a bomb launched against them, the police shoot again. 12 dead, of which 7 policemen. 8 anarchists will be condemned and executed. In 1889, the Socialist International Movement met in Paris and declared this day international workers' day . The Soviets will follow suit, just as the Nazis. In France, under the Vichy regime (1940-1944), the celebration is renamed Labour Day .

Secular holiday : Kason is a local month falling in April-May

School holidays :

cards/flowers : The second main celebration of Islam. It cele ates A aham's willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. Muslims make their annual pilgrimage, or the Hajj , to Makkah (Mecca) in Saudi Arabia.

Secular holiday : Commemorates the assassination of independence leaders in 1947

Buddhism (Vajrayana) : Lasts 2 weeks

Buddhism (Theravada) :

Secular holiday : The Buddhist Lent comes to an end and all those couples who had been putting off marriage now rush into each other's arms. Monks are free to travel from kyaung to kyaung or to go on pilgrimage to holy spots such as Kyaiktiyo or Mt Popa. The Festival of Lights takes place during Thadingyut to celebrate Buddha's return from a period of preaching dhamma (Buddhist philosophy) in Tavatimsa (the highest deva realm), his way lit by devas who lined the route of his descent. For the three days of the festival all of Myanmar is lit by oil lamps, fire balloons, candles and even mundane electric lamps. Tadingyut is the name of a month falling in September-October.

Buddhism (Theravada) :

Secular holiday : The Buddhist Lent comes to an end and all those couples who had been putting off marriage now rush into each other's arms. Monks are free to travel from kyaung to kyaung or to go on pilgrimage to holy spots such as Kyaiktiyo or Mt Popa. The Festival of Lights takes place during Thadingyut to celebrate Buddha's return from a period of preaching dhamma (Buddhist philosophy) in Tavatimsa (the highest deva realm), his way lit by devas who lined the route of his descent. For the three days of the festival all of Myanmar is lit by oil lamps, fire balloons, candles and even mundane electric lamps. Tadingyut is the name of a month falling in September-October.

Secular holiday : The Buddhist Lent comes to an end and all those couples who had been putting off marriage now rush into each other's arms. Monks are free to travel from kyaung to kyaung or to go on pilgrimage to holy spots such as Kyaiktiyo or Mt Popa. The Festival of Lights takes place during Thadingyut to celebrate Buddha's return from a period of preaching dhamma (Buddhist philosophy) in Tavatimsa (the highest deva realm), his way lit by devas who lined the route of his descent. For the three days of the festival all of Myanmar is lit by oil lamps, fire balloons, candles and even mundane electric lamps. Tadingyut is the name of a month falling in September-October.

cards/flowers :

Secular holiday : The full-moon night of Tazaungmon is an Occasion for another `festival of lights', known properly as Tazaungdaing. It's particularly celebrated in the Shan State - in Taunggyi there are fire balloon competitions. In some areas there are also speed-weaving competitions during the night young Burmese women show their prowess at weaving by attempting to produce robes for Buddha images between dusk and dawn. The results, finished or not, are donated to the monks. The biggest weaving competitions take place at Shwedagon Paya in Yangon.

Secular holiday : The full-moon night of Tazaungmon is an Occasion for another `festival of lights', known properly as Tazaungdaing. It's particularly celebrated in the Shan State - in Taunggyi there are fire balloon competitions. In some areas there are also speed-weaving competitions during the night young Burmese women show their prowess at weaving by attempting to produce robes for Buddha images between dusk and dawn. The results, finished or not, are donated to the monks. The biggest weaving competitions take place at Shwedagon Paya in Yangon.