Posted by Today 15 August is a national holiday in Belgium, coincidentally, it also has quite some other significance in different other countries.
Assumption of Mary (European countries)
The Assumption of Mary into Heaven (often shortened to the Assumption) is, according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy,[3] the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.
Assumption Day is a public holiday in countries such as Austria, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, France, parts of Germany, Guatemala, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland (the holiday may be regional or limited to certain groups in Switzerland).
Independence Day (India)
At work, our project team is composed of colleagues in Belgium and India, it is a coincidence that everyone is off on this day, Belgium and India are both on vacation for different reasons.
On 15 August 1947, the UK Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act 1947 transferring legislative sovereignty to the Indian Constituent Assembly. Then came the partition of India, where British India was divided along religious lines into the Dominions of India and Pakistan, resulted in displacement of nearly 15 million people due to religious casualties.
Independence Day is annually celebrated throughout India with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades and cultural events, it is a national public holiday.
Ghost Festival (Asian countries 2019)
Ghost festival is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in certain Asian countries (Japan, China, Vietnam…). It happens on the 15 days of 7th lunar month, each years the actual day differs, in 2019, it happens to be at 15th August.
When I was young, our family always celebrated ghost festival, actually the whole month is called ghost month, where the dead ancestors are said to visiting the families. Our family would cook a large table of meal, serve it on the table, but wait for the dead to eat first, after 10 minutes, convinced that they finished, we started to enjoy.
At the end of the month, there would be a drop off party, where we took a bowl of food, and walk 5 minutes away from our house, put it on the street, believing that the dead would finish and go back to the heaven.
There were some taboos during the ghost month, like you should not have a wedding, or move, or stay at other people’s place. On the drop off day, after it gets dark, do not walk alone on the street.
It was fun memory.
End of world war II in Asia
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Hirohito on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close.
It also ended 8 years of continuous battle between Japan and China.
History memorises all the painful moments, the past is an invaluable lesson to teach us not to repeat the mistakes we had. Holding the grudge is not healthy, people should move on and focus on the future.
Related movie – Coco (2017)
In Mexico, there is also a festival called Day of the Dead from Mexico, or ghost festival. I very good movie Coco is based on this day in Mexico, it tells a great story about a boy and his passion about music. I don’t want to spoil too much info here, check it out yourself!
Is there any other significance for 15th August in your country? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment!