Father’s Day is a day set aside to honor and recognize our beloved fathers. Whether we are still fortunate enough to have our fathers with us or not, we still celebrate them on this special day. In the United States the day falls on the third Sunday in June. Americans celebrate Father’s Day in many ways like treating dad to dinner or giving gifts. In other countries there are different customs for honoring fathers, here are just a few.
In Russia they don’t actually have a “Father’s Day”, but some say the closest thing to it is what they call “Defender of the Fatherland Day” which commemorates the establishment of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. It is celebrated on February 23rd and honors men in general. So, on that day, men can expect gifts from their children and sometimes from female co-workers.
The country of Nepal has an interesting tradition called “Gokarna Aunsi” which translates to “cow eared no moon night”. It is celebrated in summer and only resembles what we think of as Father’s Day because fathers are honored and get gifts.
Father’s Day isn’t distinct in Romania, but it is unusual that they didn’t even have one until 2010. Romania was the last EU nation to have Father’s Day which was largely brought about through the efforts of an organization called “the Alliance Fighting Discrimination Against Fathers”.
In Italy, Spain and Portugal Father’s Day is a Catholic celebration which coincides with the Feast of St. Joseph. But there is no meat in this feast because it falls on March 19th, which is right in the middle of Lent.
In Germany Father’s Day is a federal holiday which in the old days was celebrated by men pulling wagons filled with beer and schnapps into the woods and getting drunk. Today it involves mostly pub crawls.
Interesting how differently fathers are honored around the world.
