Family Day

Family Day is a public holiday in South Africa, and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and soon New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in the American states of Arizona and Nevada, in Uruguay, in Vanuatu, in Vietnam, in the Australian Capital Territory, and as the second day of Songkran in Thailand.

Australia

Australian Capital Territory

Family and Community Day was celebrated on the first Tuesday of November from 2007–2009, coinciding with the Melbourne Cup. This public holiday was declared in 2007. Andrew Barr, then ACT Minister for Industrial Relations, stated the purpose of the new public holiday was:

"...to enable workers to take a break from their hectic work and to spend some quality time with their family and friends. ... Australians do work the longest hours of any country in the western world. We do deserve a break."[1]

In the years 2010–2016, the date was moved to the first Monday of the September/October school holidays. Where the first Monday of the school holidays falls on the ACT Labour Day public holiday (first Monday in October), the holiday is moved to the second Monday of the ACT school holidays.[2][3]

In 2018, Family and Community Day will no longer be a public holiday in the ACT. Replacing it is Reconciliation Day, held on the first Monday on or after May 27.[4]

Angola

Celebrated on December 25.[5]

Canada
Main article: Family Day (Canada)

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians reside in a province that observes a statutory holiday on the third Monday of February. The holiday is called Family Day in five provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan), Louis Riel Day in Manitoba, and Islander Day in Prince Edward Island. There is no federally established Family Day.

This holiday was first observed in Alberta in 1990, followed by Saskatchewan in 2007 and Ontario in 2008. On May 28, 2012, the BC government announced that Family Day would be observed on the second Monday in February each year, starting February 11, 2013. https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/post-secondary_education_training_and_labour/news/news_release.2017.04.0568.html The week of its observance was changed from the second Monday of February to the third Monday starting in 2019. In April 2017, the NB government announced the family statutory holiday to begin in February 2018.[6] In February 2018, the BC government announced that Family Day would move to the third Monday in February from 2019 onward, aligning the holiday with other Canadian provinces.[7]

As a new holiday, there are no traditional activities that are associated with the day. Canadians use the long weekend for whatever purpose they like. In at least British Columbia, the decision to add this public holiday is due to the lack of any public holiday between lengthy gap between the New Year's day and Good Friday public holidays. Otherwise, Canadian provinces have a public holiday at least every other month.

Family Day is unrelated to National Family Week, a campaign put on each October by the Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs.

South Africa

After 1995, Easter Monday was renamed Family Day.[8][9]

United States

Family Day is a state holiday in Nevada, celebrated on the day after Thanksgiving, i.e. the Friday following the fourth Thursday in November.[10]

American Family Day is a state holiday in Arizona and has been celebrated on the first Sunday in August since 1978.[11]

Uruguay

In Uruguay, the public holiday on December 25 is officially known as Family Day (Día de la Familia) rather than Christmas, for the sake of secularism.

Vanuatu

Family Day in Vanuatu is celebrated annually on December 26, traditionally Boxing Day, as a day on which school and work are suspended in order to spend the day giving thanks for and enjoying time with one's family, often by engaging in civic and religious events and a festive meal.

Vietnam

Vietnamese Family Day (Vietnamese: Ngày gia đình Việt Nam) occurs on the 28th of June each year, having been established in 2001.[12] Family-oriented activities and events are organised throughout the country, though it is not a public holiday.[13]

References
  1. "Hansard, Legislative Assembly for the ACT". 25 September 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  2. "Daylight Saving and Public Holidays in the ACT". Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate. Australian Capital Territory Government. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  3. "Term Dates and Public Holidays". Education and Training Directorate. Australian Capital Territory Government. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  4. "This year will be the last Family and Community public holiday". Canberra Times. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  5. "National Holidays in Angola in 2021". Office Holidays. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  6. "Government of BC Blog - About BC Family Day". 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  7. "Government of BC News Release". 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  8. "Public Holidays Act, 1994 (36)" (PDF). 1994-12-07. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-21. Retrieved 2006-04-05.
  9. "About SA - Public Holidays". 2006-03-28. Archived from the original on 2008-11-01. Retrieved 2006-04-05.
  10. "Chapter 236 - Holidays and Periods of Observance". Nevada Revised Statutes. Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
  11. "American Family Day". Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  12. "Quyết định về Ngày Gia đình Việt Nam" [Decision on Vietnamese Family Day]. GiadinhNet (in Vietnamese). General Department of Population and Family Planning (Ministry of Health). Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  13. "Family Day in Vietnam". Giadinhlavogia. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
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