Holidays Around the World ~ December

Who says, Christmas and New Year are only holidays, you would get this month. There are many festivals celebrated widely around the world this December. And Second Life is not behind in celebrating them. The following is the list of festivals:

·         Burning the Devil
·         Hogmanay Festival
·         Hot Air Balloon Festival
·         Junkanoo Festival
·         Winterfest Boat Parade
·         Whirling Dervishes Festival
·         Sunburn Festival Goa
·         Hannukah
·         Kwanzaa
·         Klausjagen
·         L’escalade
·         Reveillon

And many others. Look into references for the list at the bottom of this article for ore info. Well, now that we know a few, I would mention only those few in detail which have also found its place in Second Life.

Kwanzaa

It is a week-long celebration held in the United States and also celebrated in the Western African Diaspora in other nations of the Americas. The celebration honours African heritage in African-American culture, and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. According to Karenga, the name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits of the harvest". It celebrates the principles, each day dedicated to one principle.

1.      Umoja or Unity is celebrated on the first day to strive for and maintain the unity in the family, community, nation and race.

2.      Kujichagulia or Self Determination is celebrated on the second day to define, name, create for and speak for ourselves.

3.       Ujima or Collective work and Responsibility is celebrated on the third day to build our community together; make our brother’ and sister’ problems our problems and to solve them together.

4.      Ujamaa or Cooperative Economics is celebrated on the fourth day to build and main our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together

5.      Nia or Purpose is celebrated on the fifth to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

6.      Kuumba or Creativity on the sixth to do as always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited

7.      Imani or Faith on the seventh day to believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

In Second Life: A party at the Gallery, on Friday, December 26^th, 2014. Dj Voodoo and Dj Pike would be playing. This is a 4 hour event sponsored by Love Cats. Theme of the event is to wear best African inspired Outfit. The board would be set at L$ 300 plus a L$ 500 gift card for the winner and a L$ 150 gift card for everyone who stops by.

Landmark:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Gallery%20Isle/61/210/25

Hannukah

It is also called as Chanukah, the festival of lights is a Jewish holiday. It celebrates and commemorates events that took place over 2300 years ago in the land of Judea, Israel. Antiochus, the Syrian king commanded Jews to worship the Greek Gods, prohibiting them from the practice of their own religious beliefs. One man, Judah Maccabee defied the imperial dictator. He fought against the king along with his brothers for 3 years. The Syrians were driven out of Judea and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem reclaimed. The temple was cleaned and lit. It was dedicated to the N’er Tamid. There was barely enough oil to last a day, however, as if a miracle, the light burnt for 8 days. Since then, Hannukah is commemorated in triumph of faith by lighting candles in the menorah, one candle for each night, the center one to begin with. It begins on 25^th day of Hebrew month of Kislev.

In Second Life: The Grim's Domain Family Realm is presenting an off season Hanukkah special event for Relay for Life at the Chapel of Yeshua. They will be having 8 days of live music, DJ's and open mic for your entertainment to raise funds for Relay For Life. The singers are Emma Maria Bellisim, Gem Sunkiller, Hitomi Rosewood James and others.

Landmark: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Corsica%20Island/159/105/29

In Second Life: Olde Lapara Town celebrating Hannukah and Winterfest.

Landmark: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lapara/55/23/90/

In Second Life: On 19^th December, 2014 Dj Cherridwyn would play Christmas tunes, Blues, Hannukah and Yule tunes at Wharf Rat Blues

Landmark: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//Utopian%20Dream/69/22/23 

References:

·         http://www.lonelyplanet.com/themes/festive-travel/worlds-best-festivals-in-december/

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multinational_festivals_and_holidays#December

*Note: This was originally written for SL Enquirer.