American Civic Life

What Religious Holidays are in April and Why Does it Matter?

Becca Hartman-Pickerill and Kaitlyn Dalton

April 19, 2022

This year many religious and cultural holidays are converging in the month of April. This is not the case every April because depending on their origins, these holidays follow different calendars including Lunar, Gregorian and Julian. There are many reasons to pay attention to this convergence: K-12 administrators need to be aware of student absences; industries that rely on workers from specific ethnic communities need to be aware of workers’ need for time off; businesses will want to be prepared for the foods, gifts, and items for celebration that may be in high demand; and neighbors will want to greet one another in respectful ways around these important holidays.

April 24-30 is also the National Week of Conversation, in which hundreds of organizations across the country are leading efforts to bridge divides by creating spaces for deep listening, genuine sharing, and cultivating mutual understanding. At Interfaith Youth Core, we know that people often leave religious, spiritual and philosophical identity out of their conversations unless explicitly invited to share.

Here are a few reasons people say they’re reluctant to bring up religious observances: “I don’t want to appear foolish or ignorant by what I don’t know of my own tradition or someone else’s”; “I don’t want to offend someone”; “I don’t want people to make assumptions about me”; and “People just won’t understand me.” We understand these fears, yet we know that religion is important to 61-91% of Americans. If each of us isn’t cultivating the capacity to engage religious diversity with respect, we’re not only leaving out an important aspect of people’s motivation and meaning making, but we’re also leaving it to others to shape the conversation.

At IFYC, we regularly cultivate opportunities for people to engage their spiritual, religious and philosophical identities, and April 27 we have a virtual opportunity to do so. We hope you’ll join us! Read on to learn brief overviews of some of the holidays people are celebrating and honoring this month.

April’s Religious, Cultural, and Secular Holidays in Brief

While this list is not exhaustive, we hope it gives you a place to start to grow your religious literacy.

April 2: Ugadi (Hinduism)

Ugadi (meaning “beginning of a new age”) is celebrated as the New Year in the Hindu lunar calendar. According to traditional Hindu texts, Ugadi is the day that Brahma created the universe, the day Rama was crowned King of Ayodhya, and the day Krishna left the planet.

The holiday is a celebration of the new year, in addition to time for rest and reflection. It is centered around the idea of new beginnings, with time for prayer, drawing rangoli (colorful patterns of flowers, rice, or sand on the floor) and feasting on traditional dishes like Ugadi pachadi (a layered dish with sweet, salty, and bitter flavors).

Sundown on April 2-May 2: Ramadan (Islam)

Ramadan, the holy lunar month for Muslims, is believed to be the month that the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Prophet Mohammed over 1,400 years ago. Ramadan is observed by fasting from just before the sunrise prayer, Fajr, until the sunset prayer, Maghrib. At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Eid-al-Fitr, which translated from Arabic means “the festival of breaking the fast.”