2nd May 2026
Baha’i
The most important Baha’i festival. In these 12 days, in the garden outside Baghdad after which the festival is named, Baha’u’llah declared himself the Promised One, prophesied by the Bab. The first, ninth and twelfth days are especially significant and are holy days, when no work is done. It is during this period that Baha’is elect all their governing bodies.
24th May 2026
Buddhist
Buddha’s Birthday (also known as Buddha Jayanti, also known as his day of enlightenment – Buddha Purnima, Buddha Pournami) is a Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of East Asia and South Asia commemorating the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha, who was the founder of Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, Gautama Buddha was born c. 563-483 BCE in Lumbini, Nepal.
5th May 2026
Jewish
The Omer is a period of 49 days, lasting from Pesach to Shavuot. It is a time of sadness, relieved on this, the 33rd day, by a break in the days of mourning. Lag b’Omer recalls the end of a plague in Roman times during the lifetime of Rabbi Akiva, and is often celebrated by out of door, fresh air activities. A large number of weddings take place on this day, since they are not usually permitted during most of the rest of the Omer period.
1st May 2026
Wiccan/Pagan/ Druid
The wheel of the year continues to turn and spring gives way to summer’s full bloom and the fertility of the land is at its height. Many pagans celebrate Beltaine by lighting fires and leaping over them, or with maypole dances, symbolizing the mystery of the Sacred Marriage of Goddess and God.
Beltaine honours Life. It represents the peak of Spring and the beginning of Summer. Earth energies are at their strongest and most active. All of life is bursting with potent fertility and at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the potential becomes conception. On May Eve the sexuality of life and the earth is at its peak. Abundant fertility, on all levels, is the central theme. For this is the night of the Greenwood Marriage. It is about sexuality and sensuality, passion, vitality and joy. And about conception. A brilliant moment in the Wheel of the Year to bring ideas, hopes and dreams into action. And have some fun…..
Above all Beltaine is a Fire Festival. The word ‘Beltane’ originates from the Celtic God ‘Bel’, meaning ‘the bright one’ and the Gaelic word ‘teine’ meaning fire. Together they make ‘Bright Fire’, or ‘Goodly Fire’ and traditionally bonfires were lit to honour the Sun and encourage the support of Bel and the Sun’s light to nurture the emerging future harvest and protect the community. Bel had to be won over through human effort. Traditionally all fires in the community were put out and a special fire was kindled for Beltaine. This was the Tein-eigen, the need fire. People jumped the fire to purify, cleanse and to bring fertility. Couples jumped the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. Cattle and other animals were driven through the smoke as a protection from disease and to bring fertility. At the end of the evening, the villagers would take some of the Teineigen to start their fires anew.
As Beltane is the Great Wedding of the Goddess and the God, it is a popular time for pagan weddings or handfastings, a traditional betrothal for ‘a year and a day’ after which the couple would either choose to stay together or part without recrimination. Today, the length of commitment is a matter of choice for the couple, and can often be for life. Handfasting ceremonies are often unique to the couple, but include common elements, most importantly the exchange of vows and rings (or a token of their choice). The act of handfasting always involves tying the hands (‘tying the knot’) of the two people involved, in a figure of eight, at some point in the ceremony and then later unbinding them. This is done with a red cord or ribbon. Tying the hands together symbolises that the two people have come together and the untying means that they remain together of their own free will.
Another common element is ‘jumping the broomstick’ – this goes back to a time when two people who could not afford a church ceremony, or want one, would be accepted in the community as a married couple if they literally jumped over a broom laid on the floor. The broom marked a ‘threshold’, moving from an old life to a new one.
Mead and cakes are often shared in communion as part of the ceremony. Mead is known as the Brew of the Divine, made from honey which is appropriate for a love ceremony (and is the oldest alcoholic drink known to humankind).
There is a natural optimism and forward looking aspect to most pagan celebrations, and nowhere more so than in Spring and Summertime.
14th May 2026
Christian (40th day after Easter) Christian (Western Churches)
Ascension Day commemorates the last earthly appearance of the Risen Christ, who, according to Christian belief, ascended into heaven in the presence of many witnesses. It is one of the four most important dates in the Christian calendar. Observed generally by Catholics and Anglicans, it is also known as the Feast of Ascension, and occurs on the Thursday 40 days after Easter. It marks the end of the Easter season and falls ten days before Pentecost.
According to the accounts in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus appeared to many of his disciples during the 40 days following his resurrection to instruct them on how to carry out his teachings. On the 40th day, he came again to the Apostles and led them out to the Mount of Olives where he instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit. Then, as they were watching, he ascended into the clouds.
According to Augustine of Hippo, one of the early church fathers, the Feast of Ascension originated with the Apostles. John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nyssa, contemporaries of Augustine, refer to it as being one of the oldest feasts practised by the Church, possibly going as far back as AD 68. There is no written evidence, however, of the Church honoring Ascension Day until Augustine’s time in the fourth century.
As an Ecumenical feast, Ascension Day is one of the six holy days where attendance at Mass is mandatory for Roman Catholics and Anglicans. The event is generally a one-day public commemoration, although the Church, in keeping with earlier traditions regarding festivals, offers devotions for seven days. The night before the feast, priests and deacons attend a vigil of prayers and scripture readings. On the day of the feast, Mass is celebrated and the Paschal candle, which was lit on Easter Sunday, is extinguished. Liturgies proclaiming the finished work of salvation and the ascension of the glorified Christ into Heaven are recited, followed later by evening prayers. At the end of the seven-day devotion, two additional days are kept by the priests, making a total of nine days (a novena). The novena allows for the preparation of Pentecost, which takes place the next day.
For many Christians, Ascension Day’s meaning provides a sense of hope that the glorious and triumphant return of Jesus is near. It is a reminder of the ever-present Spirit of God, watching over and protecting them as they spread the light of Jesus’ truth throughout the world
Ascension Day is associated across Britain with various festivals ranging from Well Dressing in Derbyshire to the Planting of the ‘Penny Hedge’ (or ‘Horngarth’) in the harbour at Whitby, Yorkshire. It is also the day for Beating the Bounds, or Boundaries, of a church’s parish. The custom was once found in almost every English parish, but now is only carried out in a few places. In modern times, it involves people in the locality walking around their farm, manorial, church or civil boundaries, pausing as they pass certain trees, walls and hedges that denote the extent of the boundary to exclaim, pray and ritually ‘beat’ particular landmarks with sticks.
In England, eggs laid on Ascension Day are said to ‘never go bad’ and will guarantee good luck for a household if placed in the roof. In Devon, it was an ancient belief that the clouds always formed into the familiar Christian image of a lamb on Ascension Day. If the weather is sunny on Ascension Day, the summer will be long and hot. If it rains on the day, crops will do badly and livestock will suffer from disease. According to Welsh superstition, it is unlucky to do any work on Ascension Day.
Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts of the Apostles 1:9-11.
24th May 2026
Baha’i
The Bab heralded the arrival of Baha’ullah and was co-founder of the Baha’i faith. He first declared his mission in Persia in 1844. He inaugurated the Baha’i calendar which is numbered from the year of this declaration.
10th – 16th May 2026
Christian
Initiated in 1945, this week is devoted to fund raising by members of various churches, mainly through house to house collections and sales of goods of various kinds. The money given is for work with the needy throughout the world. Christian Aid works in nearly 60 countries, helping people, regardless of religion or race, to improve their own lives and tackle the causes of poverty and injustice.
22nd – 23rd May 2026
Jewish
Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks or the festival of First Fruits, is a two day festival which falls seven weeks after Pesach – a period of preparation marked by the Counting of the Omer. It celebrates the supreme gift of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai, and so to the people of Israel who covenanted to follow its teachings. It also marks the end of the spring barley crop and the time when the first wheat harvest was taken to the Temple by all male Jews, since like Pesach and Sukkot this is one of three times of year when pilgrimages to Jerusalem take place. Synagogues are decorated with greenery and flowers and for Orthodox Jews work is not permitted throughout the festival.
Dairy foods, such as blintzes and cheesecakes, are traditionally eaten for at least one meal during Shavuot. No-one is quite sure of the origin of this custom, though some have suggested it is as a reminder that the children of Israel were on their way to a land flowing with milk and honey, and that the gift of the Torah to them was the sweetest of gifts. It is also possible that after their journey through the wilderness no meat was available to them.
During the festival the book of Ruth is read, which records the non-Jewish Ruth’s enthusiastic commitment to throw in her lot with her mother-in-law, thus providing Jews with the prototype of possible conversion to Judaism, and notes that one of the significant descendants of this Moabite convert is King David.
Just as the Israelites spent three days cleansing themselves in preparation for the gift of the Torah (and then had to be awoken by Moses with the blowing of the shofar and a storm of thunder and lightning at the foot of Mount Sinai), so some Jews today ready themselves for this important gift by studying the Torah throughout the night. The threefold nature of scripture (Torah, Prophets and Writings) is also kept in mind at this time, and some welcome the symbolism of threes by eating three cornered ravioli and other dairy foods.
The psalm of praise (the Hallel) and the memorial service (Yizkor) are read on this day, as on all festivals, and the symbolism of the covenant of Marriage between the Almighty and His chosen people is often central to Jewish thought, from disaster. Many Liberal (and American Reform) communities celebrate confirmation for young people at this time, since it was traditionally the occasion when the Jewish People accepted the Torah, and stress the role of education as the foundation of all Jewish life.
Exodus 19 & 20, Leviticus 23:15-22, Deuteronomy 16:9-12.
24th May 2026
Christian (Western and Orthodox Churches)
As the second most important festival in the Christian year, Pentecost is often seen as the ‘birthday’ of the Church, since this is when the disciples of Jesus first proclaimed the Gospel after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is named after the Jewish festival (Shavuot) on which this event happened, which is celebrated 50 days after Passover. The name comes from the Greek pentekoste, “fiftieth”. Pentecost for Christians accordingly falls on the Sunday 50 days after Easter. The alternative name of Whitsuntide comes from the custom of converts presenting themselves for baptism on this day dressed in white.
Clergy in church often wear robes with red in their design as a symbol of the flames in which the Bible says the Holy Spirit came to the early disciples. The symbols of Pentecost are those of the Holy Spirit and include the dove, the wind, the breath of God and flames. The Acts of the Apostles tells how the followers of Jesus found themselves speaking in foreign languages, inspired by the Holy Spirit. People passing by at first thought that they must be drunk, but the apostle Peter told the crowd that he and the other apostles were full of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost is a special day for all Christian communities, but it is emphasised particularly by Pentecostal churches, which preach that the Holy Spirit is available to believers during all of their services.
The central Christian belief that God is three in one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is at the heart of Christian teaching about the nature of God and is central to preaching and teaching both at this time and on the following Sunday, Trinity Sunday. It is the belief in the divinity of Christ and the reality of the Holy Spirit which separates orthodox Christian faith from other monotheistic religions.
Acts of the Apostles 2:1-13.
31st May 2026
Buddhist
On Wesak Theravadin Buddhists celebrate the birth, the enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya in North India, and the final passing away of Gautama Buddha. Mahayanist Buddhists have separate days for each of these events but on Buddha Day they celebrate both the birth and the enlightenment of the Buddha. They also celebrate his enlightenment on Bodhi Day in December. It is common in almost all Buddhist traditions to decorate the houses where Buddhists live with lanterns and garlands, and the temples are ringed with little oil lamps, consisting of a simple cloth or cotton wick in a small clay vessel of oil. Many Buddhists also send ‘Wesak cards’ to their friends.
On this day particular stress is laid on the Buddha’s enlightenment and many lay people come together at monasteries for this, the biggest of all the Buddhist festivals. No matter how important the Dharma and the Sangha may be in Buddhist belief and practice, it is the Buddha himself who is the central figure and originator of Buddhist teaching, and the celebration at this festival of his enlightenment is of central importance to all Buddhist communities.