30th November 2025
National
Andrew, the apostle, was brother of St Peter, and the first disciple to follow Jesus. He was crucified at Patras in Greece and has been patron saint of Scotland since the 8th century. In the Anglican communion he is associated with missionary activity.
30th November 2025
Christian (Western Churches)
Advent means ‘Coming’. It heralds the start of the Christian year, and commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. It is often celebrated by lighting the first candle in the advent crown – a circular wreath of greenery. A further three candles are lit on subsequent Sundays, culminating with the Christmas candle on the 25th of December. Together these signify the transition from darkness to light, the light of Jesus coming into the world.
The earliest celebration of Advent dates back to the year 567 CE when monks were ordered to fast during December, in preparation for Christmas. Some Christians fast during Advent to help them concentrate on their preparations for celebrating the coming of Jesus. In many Orthodox and Eastern Catholics Churches, Advent lasts for 40 days, starting on November 15th. It is also called the Nativity Fast. Orthodox Christians no meat or dairy foods during Advent, and they may also avoid olive oil, wine and fish.
There are some Christmas Carols that are really Advent Carols. These include ‘People Look East’, ‘Come, thou long expected Jesus’, ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending’ and, perhaps the most popular advent song, ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel!’.
There are several ways that Advent is counted down but the most common is by a calendar or candles. There are many types of calendars used in different countries. The most common ones in the UK and USA are made of paper or card with 24 or 25 little windows. One of these is opened each day in December and a Christmas picture is displayed underneath.
For Christians Advent is a time of preparation for and reflection on the mystery of the incarnation. It is observed through private prayer and self-discipline and its aim is to ready the believer for celebrating at Christmas the miracle of God’s taking human form.
6th November 2025
Buddhist
Loy Kratong is celebrated in most of the village and town temples in Thailand and often coincides with the local temple’s Kathina Day observance of Anapanasati. The festival takes place on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month when the water level is high and the climate is cooler. This is usually in November when the full-moon lights up the sky, at the end of the rainy season. The festival indicates a close bond between Thai culture and the creative use of the recent heavy rainfall.
Before the festival, small lotus shaped baskets are made out of bread or the bark of a banana tree or rubber plant leaves, all items that will degrade naturally in the water, and these are elaborately decorated with folded banana leaves or lotus flowers in intricate, towering designs. Into these are placed incense sticks, candles, betel nuts and sometimes a small coin. They are then launched on rivers, canals, ponds or the sea. The sight of thousands of krathongs with their flickering candles sending a thousand pinpoints of light far into the horizon is a truly magical sight.
With them goes a wish for good luck, offered to propitiate the spirits of the water. The floating of a krathong is intended to wash away ill fortune as well as to express apologies to Khongkha or Ganga, the River Goddess for misuse or pollution of her domain. Captive eels and turtles are frequently released into the water at this time in her honour.
Hundreds of krathongs are for sale around the main Loy Krathong festivity areas. Often children will make their own versions at school or with their family. They may share in contests in school to see who can craft the most beautiful and artistic float. If your candle stays alight until your krathong disappears out of sight, it is said to mean a year of good luck, and couples can get an insight into the future of their relationships by watching whether their krathongs float together or drift apart.
In recent years Thais have become more creative in their craft, and design the krathongs from coconut shells, flowers, baked bread, potato slices, some even breaking with the conventional lotus leaf shape in favour of turtles and other sea creatures. On the other hand the base of the krathong often tends currently to be made from synthetic materials and, despite efforts to ban environmentally unfriendly floats, rivers and waterways are often covered with unsightly pieces of styrofoam the next morning.
Loy Krathong vies for the title of most important Thai holiday festival with Songkran, which is held in April. The grandest Loy Krathong celebrations are held in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Large floats are drawn through the streets, fashioned as giant krathongs each with their own theme. Many of the celebrants on the floats dress in regal Thai costumes or as mythical Thai beings, and beauty queens sometimes wave to the crowds.
The history behind the festival is complex, and Thais celebrate for many reasons. The main rice harvest season has ended and it is time to thank the Water Goddess for a year’s worth of her abundant supply. Some believe that this is the time symbolically to ‘float away’ all the anger and grudges and ill fortune people have been holding inside themselves, and including a fingernail or a lock of hair is seen as a way of letting go of the dark side of oneself, to start a new year free of negative feelings.
9th – 16th November 2025
Inter-faith
Held in the second week of November, Inter Faith Week aims to strengthen good interfaith relations, increase awareness of the different and distinct faith communities, and increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs.
Central to these aims is celebrating and building on the contribution which members of different faith and non-faith communities make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society.
The Week, in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, was until 2023 supported by the Inter Faith Network for the UK but was community-led, with organisations of all types holding their own events.
In 2024 The closure of the Inter Faith Network for the UK resulted in the transfer of responsibility for Inter Faith Week 2024 to an ad hoc grouping of national inter-faith organisations including United Religions Initiative UK, the All Faiths Network, the Council of Christians and Jews, the Faith and Belief Forum, NASACRE and Religions for Peace. Together this group will ensure that the annual Week continues into the future, as a focus for inter-faith activities that bring together our communities divided by events abroad and tensions at home.