Category: Brazil

Tiradentes Day: Independence for Brazil

Published April 18, 2007 in Brazil, CULTURES, CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS, Independence, Portuguese | Comments [0]
April 21 is a national holiday in Brazil known as Tiradentes Day, which honors Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (1746 to April 21, 1792), a Brazilian revolutionary who fought for Brazilian independence and freedom from Portuguese taxation as part of the movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira. He was a dentist, and his nickname, “Tiradentes,” [...] Read More »

Kite Flying and Basant

Published March 26, 2007 in Afghani, American, Brazil, CULTURES, CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS, Cuban, HOLIDAYS, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Pakistani, Parades, Spring, Thai | Comments [4]
Picture: Kites over Pakistan, posted on Pakistani Pictures, originally uploaded by Manitoon. The Basant festival, celebrated in Pakistan and parts of India, welcomes the beginning of spring. In most places it is a one-day festival, strongly associated with kite flying. In Lahore, Pakistan, capital of the agriculture-based province of Punjab, Basant is [...] Read More »

All Souls’ Day (Defuncts’ Day)

Published November 2, 2006 in Autumn, Belgian, Bolivian, Brazil, CULTURES, CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS, Death, Ecuadorean, European, French, German, HOLIDAYS, Haitian, LEGENDS, Lanterns and Lights, Latin American, Mexican, Nicaraguan, Parades, Salvadorean, Uruguayan | Comments [7]
All Souls’ Day is a Roman Catholic holiday celebrated on November 2nd. (If that day falls on a Sunday, then All Souls’ Day is moved to November 3rd, since it is not permitted to wear black clothing on Sundays.) Like All Saints’ Day (November 1st), it is celebrated in many countries, including Belgium, [...] Read More »