Multicultural Calendar for August

Multicultural Calendar - August 2008

Select a Month:

August: Hopi Snake Dance - This dance requires two weeks of ritual preparation, and snakes are gathered and monitored by children. The dancers then take an emetic and dance with the snakes in their mouths, with an antelope priest in attendance. After the dance, the snakes are released to carry their prayers.

August: Native Wild Rice Harvest - Northern Cree, Ojibwa, Algonkians. Its is celebrated during the last full moon in August.

August 1:

Emancipation Day (Jamaica, West Indies) - Commemorates the day in 1838 when enslaved West Indians were emancipated from slavery and apprenticeship.

August 5:

Caribana (Canada) - This cultural festival is held in Toronto and showcases Caribbean music, dance, arts and crafts, fashion and food. The highlight is a parade featuring thousands of brilliantly costumed masqueraders and live bands.

August 6:

Independence Day (Jamaica) - Commemorates the raising of the Jamaican flag signifying the birth of the nation.

Hiroshima Day (Canada, USA) - This solemn day commemorates the day the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. People unite on this day to declare their commitment to never let another nuclear bomb be used.

August 14:

Independence Day (Pakistan) - On this day in 1947, Pakistan became an independent state.

August 15:

Independence Day (India) - On this day in 1947, India gained independence from British rule after years of struggle.

Korea Liberation Day (Korea) - North Korea claimed independence from Japan in 1945, and South Korea in 1948 created an independent government.

Mid-Autumn Festival (China) - A day celebrated by families getting together and eating moon cake and dishes with duck.

Thanksgiving (Chu’sok) (Korea) - A time when Koreans gather to pay homage to their ancestors by honoring their memories and being with family.

August 17:

Independence Day (Indonesia) - On this day in 1945, Indonesia declared its independence after 300 years of Dutch occupation followed by Japanese occupation.

Carlos Aguilar is a
Facilities Technician I
in Glen Allen, Va.
(Click image to enlarge)

Spotlight: Carlos Aguilar, El Salvador

As an 18-year-old, Carlos Aguilar was looking for something new when he left his family’s dairy farm in rural El Salvador. Aguilar, a Facilities Technician I, Electric Delivery at Innsbrook, found what he was seeking in Richmond, Virginia, his home of nearly 30 years.

“In 1978, I came to the United States with my Granddaddy,” Aguilar recalls. “We had relatives in Long Island, New York.”

After two weeks, Aguilar came to Virginia to visit a friend. “I came to Richmond looking for something different.”

Aguilar made a new life in Richmond, eventually joining Dominion 20 years ago. He is now in the process of obtaining American citizenship.

Every five years, Aguilar travels to El Salvador to visit his mother and other family members. “There’s a huge difference between the United States and El Salvador,” he says, pointing to such major differences as climate and economic opportunities. “The number one difference is the weather. In El Salvador, it never gets cold. We never saw snow.”

El Salvador, located in Central America between Guatemala and Honduras, is one of the most densely populated nations in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly 7 million people, roughly the same population as Virginia, live in El Salvador’s 8,125 square miles, roughly a fifth of Virginia’s nearly 43,000 square miles.

El Salvadoran culture is a mixture of Pipil, the country’s indigenous people, and Spanish. Spanish is the official language.

Along with Christmas, New Year’s Day and Easter, major El Salvadoran holidays include:

Peace Accords Day, January 16, which celebrates the 1992 peace agreements that ended a 12-year civil war.
August Festivals, celebrated August 1-7. The weeklong festival celebrates El Salvador del Mundo (Savior of the World, the country’s patron saint.)
Independence Day, September 15, which commemorates El Salvador’s independence from Spain in 1821.
Day of the Indians, October 12, a celebration dedicated to El Salvador’s indigenous peoples.
Day of the Dead, November 2 (All Souls Day), a day on which many El Salvadorans visit the tombs of deceased loved ones.

August 25:

Notting Hill Carnival (England) - Held during the last weekend in August, this is a West Indian Street carnival with floats, bands and stalls.

August 26:

Women’s Equality Day (USA) - In 1974, this day was set aside to commemorate the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.

August 30:

La Tomatina Festival (Spain) - Every year around 30,00 people descend on the Spanish town of Buñol (in the Valencia region of Spain) to throw more than 240,000 pounds of tomatoes at each other.

Chung Yuan Festival (China, Taiwan, Japan) - Known as Feast of Lanterns by Japanese Buddhists. In China and Taiwan, prayer services are held to remember their ancestors. In Japan, food is offered to them and all houses are lit with lanterns floated down rivers or the sea to guide their spirits back to the other world.

Vu Lan (Vietnam) - Known as Wandering Souls Day, offerings of food are prepared and shoes and dresses made of paper, along with votive papers, are burned in homes and pagodas for the dead and for wandering souls who have no families.

August 31:

Independence Day (Malaysia) - On this day in 1957, Malaysia gained independence from the United Kingdom.

Shab-e-Miraj (Islamic) - Commemorates the ascension of Muhammad. Continues until the next day's sunset.

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