Spring holidays move around. Many follow the moon, not the wall calendar. So check the date each year, and don’t trust last year’s.
Easter
What it is. The Christian celebration of Jesus rising from the dead. It ends Lent, a season of prayer and fasting.
What people do. Church, often at sunrise. Family dinners, lilies, egg hunts. Many Orthodox Christians figure the date using an older calendar, so their Easter often falls on a later Sunday.
What to say. “Happy Easter.” Many Orthodox Christians greet each other with “Christ is risen!” and answer “Truly he is risen!” It echoes Luke’s Gospel: “The Lord is risen indeed” (Luke 24:34, WEB).
Don’t. Don’t assume every Christian neighbor celebrates on the same Sunday.
Passover
What it is. The Jewish festival remembering how God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It lasts seven days in Israel and eight for many Jews elsewhere.
What people do. It starts with a seder, a ritual meal where families retell the story from a book called the Haggadah. Many Jews eat matzah, a flat unleavened bread, and avoid bread and other leavened foods all week.
What to say. “Happy Passover” or “Chag sameach” (happy holiday).
Don’t. Don’t bring a loaf of bread or a cake to a Passover meal. Ask your host what to bring.
Holi
What it is. A Hindu spring festival held on the full moon of the month of Phalguna, in February or March.
What people do. Throw colored powder and colored water at each other, laugh, eat sweets and visit friends. For one day, the usual rules about staying tidy are off.
What to say. “Happy Holi!”
Don’t. Don’t throw color on people who haven’t joined in. It’s a party, not an ambush.
Vaisakhi
What it is. Held on April 13 or 14. For Sikhs, it marks the founding of the Khalsa, the community of initiated Sikhs, by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. In Punjab it’s also a harvest festival, and many Hindus mark it as a solar new year.
What people do. Gurdwara services, free meals, and nagar kirtan, joyful street processions with hymns.
What to say. “Happy Vaisakhi!”
Don’t. Don’t treat a nagar kirtan as a traffic problem. It’s somebody’s holy day walking by.
Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr
What it is. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting. The Islamic calendar follows the moon, so Ramadan moves about 10 to 12 days earlier each year. It visits every season. The next one is expected to begin around Monday, February 8, 2027, subject to the moon.
What people do. Many Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, then break the fast at sunset with a meal called iftar. Eid al-Fitr, a joyful festival with prayers, new clothes and visiting, ends the month.
What to say. “Ramadan Mubarak” (blessed Ramadan) during the month. “Eid Mubarak” (blessed Eid) at the end.
Don’t. Don’t make a show of pitying a fasting coworker. Many say they don’t mind if you eat lunch. A heads-up before scheduling the office pizza party is kind.
Try it on
Pick one spring holiday you’ve never asked about. Did you see the neighbor celebrating it, or just the traffic?