CHRISTMAS is celebrated on the 6 and 7th of January. On the night of the 6, the
Coptic Christians go to the church around 10 o'clock for the holy mess
and at midnight they eat dinner which includes a turkey. On the morning
of the 7th gifts are exchanged and then the young children visit their
grandparents and have the Christmas lunch at their place.
Another special holiday is EID EL FETR which comes after Ramadan.. People eat special cookies. One of them is
posted in the recipes section. Also, there is Eid El Adha, this holiday
is also for the Muslim Egyptians. It is a four days holiday, on the first
day at dawn all men, (and women if they want to), go to the mosque to
pray. Every family slaughter a sheep, which they have already bought,
and take some of its meat and donate the majority of the meat to the poor.
Then they have a late breakfast which includes "Fata". "Fata"
is formed of meat, bread, rice and vinegar. Then the young families visit
the grandparents and relatives then they all gather at the eldest of the
family and have lunch.
The remaining three days, usually you are invited to lunch at uncles,
aunts, or friends.
SHAM EL NESSIM which comes immediately
after Easter; so, it always occurs on Monday. Egyptians have been celebrating
Sham El-Nessim (or Spring Day) for more than 4500 years. It is called
Sham El-Nessim because the harvest season in ancient Egypt was called
"Shamo". In Arabic, Sham means smell and El-Nessim means air.
In ancient Egypt, Egyptians used to offer salted fish, lettuce and onion
to Egyptian deities in this festivity. The same kinds of food are still
eaten in Egypt on this day, as a tradition giving the day a special taste.
Lettuce represents the feeling of hopefulness at the beginning of spring.
As for eggs, they symbolize the renewal of life in this season. Many people
dye eggs in delightful colors. It is believed that ancient Egyptians were
the first to practice this habit. Salted fishes are also eaten on this
day because they symbolize fertility and welfare.
ARMED FORCES DAY is on October 6.
It is the celebration of the Egyptian army's crossing into Sinai in 1973.
THE MULID EL NABWY is an Islamic holiday
which is celebrated according to the Islamic lunar calendar. Mulid El
Nabawy means the birthday of the prophet. It is celebrated by making special
candies and selling them in the streets and at candies stores. The candies
are pink and are usually under the shape of a horse or a doll. People
wear their best clothes and families get together to celebrate this day.
Decorations are found on the streets and on buildings. Mulid El Nabawy
is the equivalent of Christmas.
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Holidays
in Egypt