France - is the most beautiful, romantic and mysterious country, to get to at least once in a lifetime everyone dreams. As it should be, many of its stories, traditions, holidays live here. The uniqueness of the festivities in France is in their variegated variety, collected from a multitude of provincial towns, the sources of which are still in antiquity.
Official Holidays in France
The official holidays include those that are adopted at the state level and are established as days off (non-working days). There are many such holidays in France. National and state holidays in France:
- The New Year - January 1, is celebrated on a grand scale, although it is not the main one in the year;
- Labor Day - May 1, it turns out, is celebrated not only in the territory of the post-Soviet space, but also in European countries;
- Victory Day - May 8, because on European time the capitulation was signed on May 8;
- The day of the Bastille - July 14, the main official holiday in France, is celebrated with great scope;
- Armistice Day - November 11, a celebration in honor of the end of the First World War.
Religious holidays in France include:
- Christmas - December 25, the main Catholic holiday, the analogue of our New Year;
- Easter - with a rolling date;
- Ascension - on the 39th day after Easter;
- The Trinity is the 50th day after Easter;
- Assumption of the Virgin - August 15;
- All Saints' Day - November 1, the famous Halloween.
Unofficial holidays in France
To widely celebrated, but not being days off, holidays it is possible to carry:
- Valentine's Day - February 14;
- Mardi Gras is an analog of the Orthodox Maslenitsa;
- The day of the neighbors is the last Tuesday of May, according to tradition, on that day one should visit neighbors and be reconciled if they were in a quarrel;
- Mother's Day is the last Sunday in May;
- Father's Day - the 3rd Sunday in June;
- Day of music - June 21, on this day across the country thunders many festivals;
- St. Jean's Day - June 24, the analogue of our Ivan Kupala;
- Family Day is the 1st Sunday in October.
Religious holidays that are not the entrance:
- Epiphany - January 6, the analog of our Christmas;
- Sfense - February 2, very much loved by the people, accompanied by bright and cheerful festivities;
- Ash Wednesday is the first day of fasting;
- Palm Sunday - a week before Easter;
- The day of commemoration is November 2, the parental day when it is customary to visit the cemeteries.
There are also very unusual holidays like Day of Smile (Day of Smile), Feast of Chestnuts, Cheese Day, Beaujolais Festival and other cheerful traditions and festivals of France.