By far, winter easily has the most holidays in the year. The most famous and popular holiday is Christmas on December 25th, but what other holidays are there in winter?

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that’s a seven day long celebration which starts on December 18th and goes until the 26th. The holiday’s origin can be traced back to 2nd century BC to a time during the Maccabean revolt. After the revolt, the second temple was rededicated when a miracle occurred. For the ceremony, there were supposed to be lit candles but only enough oil for one night. Miraculously, the candles burned for eight days.

“I think that other holidays should get a chance to shine because their are definitely more holidays than Christmas,” Sophomore Haddi Niasse explained.

Kwanzaa is another holiday created to celebrate African heritage throughout the Black diaspora. The holiday is celebrated from December 26th till January 1st, each day dedicated to the seven principles of unity, self determination, responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and peace. Similar to Christmas, children receive gifts on the last day of Kwanzaa, usually the gifts are mostly something homemade. The holiday was created by Maulana Karenga; he was an African studies professor who taught at California State University. He created the holiday based on the culture of Swahili speakers from countries such as Kenya and Tanzania.

“I think more people should try to celebrate different holidays because it can show so much about other cultures around the world.” Sophomore Mckenzie Copeland stated.

Diwali is a Hindu festival celebrated for five days from the dark half of October to the light half of November. There are many ways to celebrate, but the most popular form is to celebrate Gods from Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Each day is focused on different task, such as cleaning the home on the first day, visiting temples, and worshiping gods on the fourth.The holiday was made to commemorate the God Krishna defeating Indra the King of Gods

There are plenty of holidays this winter from Kwanza to Valentine’s day. People around the world express cultural values through tradition and celebrations. What holiday will you celebrate this winter?