Puerto Rico Fireworks Page 8.

Celebrate Your Holidays with Fireworks of Puerto Rico Town Festivals (Puerto Rico) Each town celebrates an annual festival to honor its patron saint. The festivities usually last as week and features dances, food, parades and religious processions. There are also other holidays, sometimes called carnivals, that have been adopted from Catholic or pagan traditions. Special folk festivals, usually featuring an important product to the region, also take place, such as Yauco's "Festival Nacional del Café". San Sebastian Street Festival (Puerto Rico) The street of San Sebastián in Old San Juan is the focus for a big festival every year in January. A carnival atmosphere pervades the block as fairground rides, food stalls and live music take over the area.By day, locals parade in processions of traditional Puerto Rican masks (vejigantes) which are vibrantly coloured in red, yellow and blue and carved into grotesque and comical shapes. As dusk falls, the live music and sound systems gear up to provide a party in which young and old gyrate to salsa, merengue and Puerto Rican classic tunes. Ponce Carnival The Ponce Carnival is Puerto Rico's Caribbean shout-out to Mardi Gras and its more famous cousin in Rio de Janeiro. A festival that has been held for over 200 years, it's the epitome of all things boricua, and an annual testament to Puerto Ricans' capacity for whimsy and revelry. The carnival dominates the historic downtown area in the city of Ponce. The celebration takes place in February, in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, Spring Festival or Lunar New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival It isn’t certain if The Chinese New Year started before or after the Qin Dynasty, but it has been determined to be about 2,638 years older than our calendar. Legend has it that Buddha summoned all the animals, but only 12 arrived before he died and he rewarded them by having a year named after them in the order they arrived. Christmas Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and has been celebrated on December 25, since 354 A.D It refers to the day celebrating his birth, as well as to the season which concludes with the Feast of the Epiphany. The date of December 25 is traditional, and is not considered to be Christ’s actual birth, which was more likely to be between March and May, but it is impossible to know for sure. Three King’s Day Three Kings Day is celebrated on January 6th, twelve days after Christmas. It is often viewed as the last day of the Christmas season (the end of the 12 days of Christmas). Cinco de Mayo May 5th or Cinco de Mayo, celebrates the victory against French forces in the city of Puebla, on May 5, 1862. It is also widely celebrated in the United States. For many years, Cinco de Mayo was promoted in the US as Mexican Independence Day, which is actually September 16. Although Mexican citizens feel very proud of the meaning of Cinco de Mayo it is not a national holiday in Mexico, but it is an official holiday in the State of Puebla where the mentioned battle took place. Columbus Day Columbus Day is celebrated in the Western Hemisphere and honors the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which happened on the October 12, 1492 on the Julian calendar, or October 21, 1492 on the Gregorian calendar. Easter Easter was first celebrated by the pagans around the spring equinox. The word Easter is derived from Eastre, the goddess of spring. Eastre represents morning, spring, and fertility. She was worshipped during this time of the year. Christians attached their religion to this pagan tradition. The celebration of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection occurs on this day. Father's Day Father's Day is a secular celebration, non-religious and non-government, now celebrated around the world, but inaugurated in the early twentieth century in Spokane, Washington to complement Mother's Day. The suggested Father’s Day to be on June 5th. Halloween The modern holiday of Halloween may have its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of harvest. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the alive and the deceased would merge and the dead would become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. That day represented the last day of summer to the Celts. On this day when the spirits gathered, they would decide whose body it would infiltrate for the next year. Supposedly, that was a prerequisite for a peaceful entrance into heaven occupying another living body for a year penance. The Celts would dress up as witches, ghosts, and demons to scare these spirits away. They went around their dark houses making as much noise possible to scare the spirits as well. They took these acts to the streets with big bon fires and burn those they thought were already possessed. Independence Day Independence Day is the birthday of the United States of America and is celebrated on the Fourth of July every year. Independence Day is the anniversary of the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. It is a day to celebrate of the separation of the United States from Britain to form a land of the free. John Adams, one of the founders of our new nation, said, "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It out to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore." Independence Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. Labor Day Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September. It's a day dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday contributes the working class contributions to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. Labor Day became an official national holiday in 1894. This holiday is usually celebrated with summer activities like swimming, camping, picnics, etc. Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer in the Northern part of the U.S. Schools usually start back sometime during the week after Labor Day. Mardi Gras Also known as "Fat Tuesday," this Pre-Lent festival is celebrated in Roman Catholic countries and communities all over the world. In a strict sense, Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, is celebrated by the French as the last of the three days of Shrovetide, and is a time of preparation immediately before Ash Wednesday and the start of the fast of Lent. Mardi Gras is thus, the last opportunity for merrymaking and indulgence in food and drink. In practice, the festival is generally celebrated for one full week before Lent. Mardi Gras is marked by spectacular parades featuring floats, pageants, elaborate costumes, masked balls, and people dancing in the streets. Memorial Day Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May. While we do not know when Memorial Day first started, we do know it began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War and there is evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War. In May of 1966 President Lyndon Johnson officially claimed Waterloo, New York as the birthplace and though some people think it's a day to honor any and all dead, this holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. Mother's Day Mother's Day is intended to be a day to celebrate motherhood. Many churches and families in the United States recognize the second Sunday in May to honor mothers. Many years ago, England observed a day to honor mothers in mid-Lent that was called Mothering Sunday. In the United Kingdom, Mothers' Day is celebrated in March. The first known suggestion of Mother's Day in the United States was in 1872, by Julia Ward Howe. She suggested that people observe the day on June 2nd as a day dedicated to peace. Others around the country campaigned for a Mother's Day including Mary Towles Sasseen, Frank E. Hering, and Anna Jarvis. In 1908, Anna Jarvis of West Virginia began a campaign for a nationwide observance of Mother's Day. She chose the second Sunday in May and started the custom of wearing a carnation New Year's Eve The New Year's Eve is when we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations. Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew, "beginning of the year"), the Jewish New Year, is celebrated on the first and second days of the Jewish month of Tishri (falling in September or October) by Orthodox and Conservative Jews and on the first day alone by Reform Jews. It begins the observance of the Ten Penitential Days, a period ending with Yom Kippur that is the most solemn of the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the High Holy Days. Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, also know as St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick, who’s real name was Maewyn Succat (385–461 AD), of Ireland one of the world's most popular saints. He is best known as the patron saint of Ireland. He died on March 17th. Some bishops will grant an indult, or release, from the Friday no-meat observance when St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday. When 17 March falls on a Sunday, church calendars (though rarely secular ones) move Saint Patrick's Day to the following Monday—and when the 17th falls during Holy Week (very rarely, but it did happen 2008 and won’t be again until 2160), the observance will be moved to the next available date or, exceptionally, before holy week. Spring The seasons of the year are caused by the 23.5º tilt of the earth's axis. Because the earth is rotating, it points in a fixed direction continuously. The earth is also revolving around the sun. During half of the year, the southern hemisphere is more exposed to the sun than the northern hemisphere. During the rest of the year, the reverse is true. At noontime, during the summer, in the Northern Hemisphere the sun appears high in the sky and low in the sky during winter. The time of the year when the sun reaches its maximum elevation occurs on the day with the greatest number of daylight hours. This is called the summer solstice, and is typically June 21st, the first day of summer. Summer Solstice The word solstice derives from Latin and "sol" meaning sun and "stice" or in Latin "sisere" meaning to stand still. Solstices occur twice a year. It is when the tilt of the Earth's axis is directly towards the or away from the Sun which causes the Sun to appear to reach its northernmost and southernmost extremes. At the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination, which means its apparent movement to the north or south comes to a stand still. The solstices are connected with the seasons. They are considered to start or separate the seasons, according to some cultures. Some cultures, such as the English, considered midpoints. Midsummer's day is June 24th about 3 days after the Summer solstice Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday and is also a form of harvest festival. In the United States, Thanksgiving is usually a day celebrated with big dinners and family reunions. Thanksgiving is also a time for religious reflection, church services and prayer. The last Thursday in November was proclaimed the National Thanksgiving holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 Valentine's Day Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is an American and European holiday celebrated each year on February 14. Traditionally it is a day on which lovers express their love for each other by exchanging Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, offering candies or other gifts. Veteran's Day Veterans Day is an American holiday commemorating the courage and patriotism of all men and women who have served in the United States military and is recognized as both a federal holiday and state holiday in all 50 states. It is celebrated on Monday the week of November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I.