Welcome to TIO’s Religious Calendar
April-may 2026
For Native Americans, March marks Pooní, the Moon of Snow Blindness or Worm Moon, when the ground begins to soften and the first signs of renewal appear. It is the time when winter’s hold weakens and the people prepare for planting and new beginnings. Ceremonies of thanksgiving are held to honor the returning light, the flowing rivers, and the awakening Earth. Among the Plains and Woodland tribes, this is a season of cleansing, renewal, and gratitude for the balance between rest and rebirth.
For Native Americans, May marks the Moon of Flowers, when the Earth awakens in full bloom and life returns to balance. It is a time of planting, renewal, and thanksgiving for the gifts of the land. Many tribes hold spring ceremonies to honor the spirits of growth, the rains, and the fertility of the soil. Among Plains and Eastern Woodland peoples, dances and offerings express gratitude for harmony between humans and nature, celebrating the sacred cycle of life’s continual rebirth.Shape
April 2026
Wednesday, April 1
Passover [through April 9] – Sikhism
Passover (Pesach) commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. Pesach is observed by avoiding leaven and highlighted by the Seder meals that include four cups of wine, eating matzah and bitter herbs, and retelling the story of the Exodus, including readings from a book known as the Haggadah. Some Jews refrain from work on the first two and the last two days of this holiday.
Friday, April 3
Good Friday – Christian
Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, is the Christian day commemorating the Crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary. From the early days of Christianity, Good Friday was observed as a day of sorrow, repentance, and fasting, characteristics that are described in the German word Karfreitag (“Sorrowful Friday”).
Sunday, April 5
Easter – Christian
The word "Easter" comes from Old English, meaning simply the "East." The sun which rises in the East, bringing light, warmth, and hope, is a symbol for the Christian of the rising Christ, who is the true Light of the world. The season of Easter is the most important of all liturgical times, which Catholics celebrate as the Lord's resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. The octave of Easter comprises the eight days which stretch from the first to the second Sunday.
Wednesday, April 8
Jalál – Bahá’í
The beginning of the second month in the Bahá’í calendar, “Jalál” means “glory.”
Saturday, April 11
Orthodox Holy Sunday – Christianity (Eastern churches)
A celebration of the restoration of icons, which had been banned from Byzantine churches in the seventh century. The Christian empress Theodora ordered them restored in 843 C.E.
Sunday, April 12
Holy Pascha – Christianity (Eastern churches)
Celebrating God’s raising of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, this day is the oldest and most central festival in the Christian year and initiates the fifty-day period culminating in Pentecost.
Monday, April 13
Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day - Judaism
The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah. In the United States, Days of Remembrance runs from the Sunday before.
Theravada New Year [through April 26] – Buddhism
Theravada New Year is a Buddhist festival celebrated by followers of Theravada. It is celebrated for three days, from the first full moon day in April. Countries that have Theravada Buddhism as their dominant religion, celebrate the new year at this time. CEIE recognizes the importance of marking sacred time in a variety of ways.
Tuesday, April 14
Vaisakhi – Sikhism
Sikhs all over the world celebrate the festival of Vaisakhi, a holiday with a special religious significance, observed each year on April 13 or 14. Originally a spring harvest festival celebrated in the northern Indian state of Punjab, the festival gained religious significance for Sikhs when Guru Gobind Singh – the 10th and final living guru for Sikhs – created the Khalsa in 1699. The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement recognize the importance of religious festivals as they cultivate culture, community, and identity.
Tuesday, April 21
Ridvan [through May 2] - Bahá’í
The festival of Ridvan is a twelve-day period commemorating Bahá'u'lláh's announcement of his claim to prophethood and his departure from Baghdad in 1863, observed from sunset April 20th or 21st (depending on the date of the March equinox) to sunset on May 1st or 2nd. The first, ninth and twelfth days of Ridvan are major Bahá'í holy days on which work should be suspended. Bahá'í elections are normally held during Ridvan. The name derives from the Najibiyyih Garden in Baghdad where Bahá'u'lláh stayed during this period and to which he gave the name Ridvan (Paradise). The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement recognizes the importance of religious festivals as they cultivate culture, community, and identity.
Thursday, April 23
St. George’s Day – Christianity
The feast day of Saint George, notably England's patron saint, but celebrated also by Christian churches, countries, and regions of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Greece, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Syria, Lebanon, Catalonia, Alcoi, Aragon, and Rio de Janeiro
Friday, April 24
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
The Armenian Genocide first began on April 24, 1915, as the Ottoman government arrested and murdered hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, or modern-day Istanbul. The killing expanded into brutal massacres of the male Armenian population across Ottoman lands and the deportation of Armenian women, children, and the elderly into the Syrian Desert. More than one million Armenians were killed—roughly 70 percent of the total Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire.
Saturday, April 25
Feast of Saint Mark, Apostle and Evangelist – Christianity
St. Mark the Evangelist was born in the first century and is well known for being the author of the Gospel according to Mark and the founder and also bishop of the Church of Alexandria, Egypt. The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement recognize the importance of religious festivals as they cultivate culture, community, and identity.
may 2026
Friday, May 1
Beltane (also called Beltain or May Day) – Wicca
Celebration of the sacred marriage of the divine forces—and the conception of the sun-child—that are the basis of all creation.
Sunday, May 3
Feast of St. James and St. Phillip – Christianity
This day highlights Saint James the Lesser and Saint Phillip in the Christian faith.
Tuesday, May 5
Cinco De Mayo
This holiday celebrates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla, which took place on May 5, 1862.
Thursday, May 7
National Day of Prayer
The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.
Saturday, May 16
‘Azamat – Bahá’í
The beginning of the fourth month of the Bahá’í year, ‘Azamat means “grandeur.”
Tuesday, May 19
Malcom X’s Birthday
Born on May 19th, 1925, Malcom X was the nation’s most visible proponent of Black Nationalism. His challenge to the multiracial, nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King Jr., helped set the tone for the ideological and tactical conflicts that took place within the black freedom struggle of the 1960s. Given Malcolm X’s abrasive criticism of Dr. King and his advocacy of racial separatism, it is not surprising that Dr. King rejected the occasional overtures from one of his fiercest critics. However, after Malcolm’s assassination in 1965, King wrote to his widow.
Sunday, May 24
Declaration of the Báb – Bahá’í
The celebration of the day in 1844 C.E. when he announced his identity as the Gate or herald of the new age in Shiraz, Persia (modern-day Iran).
Friday, May 29
Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh – Bahá’í
The Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh commemorates the anniversary of the death of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith. Baha’u’llah was seventy-five years old when he passed away on May 29, 1892. CEIE recognizes the importance of religious festivals as they cultivate culture, community, and identity.
Sunday, May 31
Visakha Puja (Buddha Day) – Buddhism
Celebrated by Theravdin Buddhists on the full moon of the sixth lunar month, this is a triple commemoration of the historical Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death and entrance into nirvana.