Holidays & Celebrations Around the World Calendar 2024

Use this free, printable Holidays & Celebrations Around the World Calendar 2024 as a resource to learn more about international days including festivals, holidays and other celebrations from countries and cultures from all over the world. Great for classroom and activity planning for schools, preschools and community groups.

Printable Celebrations Around the World Calendar 2024

Our list of celebrations is sorted by month and includes 150 diverse holidays including cultural festivals, religious festivals, international days that raise awareness of social and environmental issues, and even a few just-for-fun days.

The choice of days is guided by those that are most likely to be of interest to children, which makes this list a great planning tool for teachers and educators across schools, daycare and homeschool settings, as well as community groups.

Each celebration is listed with the holiday date for 2024. For multi-day events, the date listed is the commencement date of festivities.

You can find the link and full printing instructions below for the calendar at the bottom of this article. 

Why include celebrations from around the world in your classroom or homeschool program?

Engaging students of all ages in learning about world holidays and celebrations is a fabulous way to help children expand their cultural understanding of the world beyond their own home, family and local community.

Through this exposure children gain greater respect for and acceptance of different cultures, and develop empathy for other people and their ideas, and a carefully planned program of learning activities can help students to see that no matter our differences, we also have much in common with people from different cultures.

Suggestions for how to use the world holidays calendar

• Choose the holidays that are most relevant to your students and engage students in researching the country, religion, culture or customs related to the celebration.

• Plan a fun day of learning activities inspired by a chosen celebration.

• Hang a printed copy of the calendar in your classroom or service to create awareness among the children and their families.

• Use the links beside selected calendar items in the list below for activities and booklists related to the specific holiday or celebration.

International Days & Celebrations Around the World 2024

January Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 New Year’s Day: Use our free printable to create a family bucket list for the year ahead or set some goals with tweens or teens and display them with this DIY goals board.
4 World Spaghetti Day: The perfect day for bolognaise! Or try this Cheese, Bacon & Spaghetti Pie for a new spaghetti day twist!
13 Lohri (India)
14 International Kite Festival (India)
17 Kid Inventor’s Day: The perfect day for your choice of these 5 Construction Challenges or why not try a Mystery Bag Challenge, or be sure to check out this list of 21 STEM Engineering Toys for Kid Inventors!
20 Take a Walk Outside Day: With a copy of this Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt for some extra fun!
21 International Playdate Day
24 Library Shelfie Day*: Pair your photo with a Library Scavenger Hunt.
26 Australia Day (Australia): Find out more about Australia with a book from our collections – 50 Best Australian Picture Books and 35 Books About Australian Animals.
28 International Lego Day: Try one of the ideas included in our 25 Lego Learning Activities post or get your Lego builder excited about building with one of these fun Lego Ideas Books.
29 Puzzle Day
30 Up-Helly Aa (Scotland)*

February Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 Black History Month begins (USA)
1 World Read Aloud Day: Check out our collection of tips for making read aloud time the BEST part of your day and our 50 Best Read Aloud Chapter Books for 6-12 Year Olds.
2 World Wetlands Day
5 World Nutella Day
6 Safer Internet Day*: Check out our booklists – 15 Picture Books About Responsible Digital Citizenship and 13 Coding Chapter Books for cool book suggestions for older kids who love to code.
6 Waitangi Day (New Zealand)
10 Chinese New Year*: Learn more about the holiday with our Chinese New Year activities.
13 Pancake Day
14 Valentine’s Day: Check out our complete collection of Valentine cards and crafts.
14 Library Lovers Day: Why not try a Library Scavenger Hunt on a visit to your local library.
17 Random Acts of Kindness Day: Be sure to consult our list of 24 Random Acts of Kindness Kids Can Do.
20 Love Your Pet Day
26 Tell a Fairytale Day: Then have a laugh with a game of Fairy Tale Charades – our printable charades cards make it super easy.
27 International Polar Bear Day

March Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 World Compliment Day
3 World Wildlife Day
3 Hinamatsuri (Japan)
7 World Book Day* (UK & Ireland): Why not read around the world with this collection of 75 Picture Books From Around the World.
8 International Women’s Day
10 Ramadam begins (Islamic)
14 Pi Day
17 St Patrick’s Day: Have a laugh with a game of St Patrick’s Day Charades.
20 International Day of Happiness
20 World Oral Health Day
21 World Poetry Day
25 Holi (Hindu)*
29 Good Friday (Christian)*
31 Easter Sunday (Christian)*: Click through to see our collection of fun Easter games, crafts and printables.

April Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 April Fool’s Day
2 International Children’s Book Day: How about a game of Book Bingo?
3 World Party Day: If it’s time for a party we have ALL of the party games for you! 100+ Kids Party Games.
10 International Day of Pink (Canada)
13 Songkran Water Festival begins (Thailand)
15 World Art Day
22 Earth Day: Click through for a list of 35 Earth Day Picture Books, a garden themed matching game or our big collection of 40+ Outdoor Science Experiments.
23 St George’s Day (Europe)
23 Çocuk Bayrami (Turkey)
25 Anzac Day (Australia & New Zealand)
27 King’s Day (Netherlands)
29 International Dance Day

May Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 Vappu (Finland)
4 Star Wars Day: You’ll love our intergalactic ideas for Star Wars fun.
5 Cinco de Mayo (Mexico)
5 Kodomo No Hi (Japan)
5 World Laughter Day*: And there is nothing like a game of Charades to get people laughing!
6 Screen Free Week begins*: This list of 45 Screen Free Activities is great for kids of all ages, or check out this list of 50 fun screen free ideas for tweens and teens.
12 Kattenstoet* (Belgium)
15 International Day of Families: Read about families of all shapes and sizes with the books in our list of 25 Books about Families.
18 International Museum Day
18 Outdoor Classroom Day: Take learning outdoors with this list of 101 Things to Do Outdoors.
20 World Bee Day
23 World Turtle Day
24 Scavenger Hunt Day: We share 7 Fun Outdoor Scavenger Hunts, or why not try an Adjectives Hunt or an arty Line Hunt.
27 Cheese-Rolling Festival (UK)*: We might not have ideas for cheese rolling but this Cheese Matching Game is also lots of fun.

June Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

3 World Bicycle Day
5 World Environment Day: Explore more about the environment with one of the ideas from this list of 40+ Backyard Science Experiments.
6 Gardening Exercise Day: Make DIY Seed Tape to encourage children and their families to get gardening.
7 Donut Day
8 World Oceans Day: Learn more about our oceans with these lists of book ideas – Ocean Books for Kids or 21 Books About Sharks.
10 Dragon Boat Festival* (China)
18 International Picnic Day
19 Juneteenth (USA)
20 World Refugee Day
21 World Music Day
21 International Day of Yoga: Be sure to check out our popular Yoga for Kids resources.
22 World Rainforest Day
29 International Mud Day: Click through to see our big list of mud play ideas.

July Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 Canada Day (Canada)
1 International Joke Day: Great for early readers, our Sight Word Chatterboxes are packed with funny jokes.
4 NAIDOC Week begins (Australia)*
4 Independence Day (USA)
7 World Chocolate Day
11 Naadam Festival begins (Mongolia)*
14 Bastille Day (France)
17 World Emoji Day: Craft some Emoji Painted Rocks or get talking about emotions with our free, printable Emoji Emotions cards.
26 Summer Olympic Games begin
28 Matariki (New Zealand)*
28 National Tree Day (Australia)*
30 International Day of Friendship: Read all about making and keeping friends with this list of 15 Books About Friendships.

August Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

3 Sandcastle Day*: Sandcastles are high on our list of 35 fun things to do at the beach.
9 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
12 World Elephant Day
12 International Youth Day
13 Left-Handers Day
17 CBCA Book Week begins* (Australia): Get ready for Book Week with these Book Week Costume Ideas and Book Inspired Snacks.
19 World Photography Day
21 World Senior Citizen’s Day
25 Banana Split Day
26 International Pet Day
28 La Tomatina (Spain)*

September Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 World Letter Writing Day
1 Pet Rock Day*
5 International Day of Charity
8 International Literacy Day: These Kids Writing Prompts have lots of ideas for engaging school age children with literacy.
9 International Sudoku Day
11 Make Your Bed Day
12 Mindfulness Day: Help children feel more focused and relaxed with these 7 Mindfulness Apps for Kids.
12 R U Ok? Day: The Game of Feelings is a great way to check in with children to get talking about big emotions.
16 Clean Up the World Weekend begins*
19 International Talk Like a Pirate Day: Aaargh! These 25 Pirate Picture Books will have you talking like a pirate in no time.
21 International Day of Peace
29 World Maritime Day

October Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

2 Rosh Hashanah begins (Jewish)*
2 International Walk to School Day*
4 World Space Week begins: Explore the outer limits of the universe with this collection of 50 Space Books for Kids.
4 World Animal Day
5 World Teacher’s Day
5 Albuquerque International Balloon Festival begins*
6 Mad Hatter Day
10 World Mental Health Day: Our big collection of Social Emotional Learning resources will help you to explore all areas of mental health with children of all ages.
12 Universal Music Day*
16 Dictionary Day (USA)
16 World Food Day
21 Reptile Awareness Day: Why not start with frogs! We share our favorite choices in this list of 25 Frog Books for Kids.
24 United Nations Day
25 World Pasta Day
31 Halloween: Click through to see our collection of fun Halloween activities and games.

November Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

1 Diwali (Hindu)*: Click through to see our set of six holidays around the world worksheets to find out more about Diwali.
2 Outdoor Classroom Day
5 Guy Fawkes Night (UK)
10 International Tongue Twister Day*
11 Remembrance Day
11 World Origami Day: These simple origami ideas are perfect for children.
13 World Kindness Day: Read all about being kind with this list of 15 Books About Kindness.
15 I Love to Write Day: Here are 30 Writing Prompts for Kids that will keep them writing.
20 Universal Children’s Day
27 Loy Krathong Lantern Festival (Thailand)*
28 Thanksgiving (USA)*

December Holidays, Festivals & Celebrations

6 St Nicholas’ Day (Europe)
7 Día de las Velitas (Colombia)
13 St Lucia Day (Europe): Explore our free, printable Holidays Around the World Interactive Notebook or Lapbook to take a closer look at six international holidays including Kwanzaa, Las Posadas and St. Lucia Day.
16 Las Posadas (Mexico): Check out our printable Holidays Around the World Interactive Notebook or Lapbook to take a closer look at six international holidays including Kwanzaa, Las Posadas and St. Lucia Day.
24 Jólabókaflóð (Iceland)
25 Christmas: Pair with our Christmas Around the World Worksheets to explore how Christmas is celebrated in a diverse selection of countries from across the globe and our big list of Books Celebrating Christmas Around the World for insight into how the Christmas holiday is celebrated in even more countries and cultures.
25 Hanukkah begins (Jewish)*: Click through to see our set of six holidays around the world worksheets to find out more about Hanukkah.
26 Kwaanza (USA): Our free, printable Holidays Around the World Interactive Notebook or Lapbook takes a closer look at six international holidays including Kwanzaa, Las Posadas and St. Lucia Day.
31 New Year’s Eve: Click through to see our collection of printable New Years games and resources.

Download Instructions: Celebrations Around the World Calendar

Click here to download: Holidays & Celebrations Around the World 2024 Calendar. Save the PDF to your computer. Open the PDF to print the pages you require. Please carefully read any printing instructions included within the document.
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