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<title> Serbia holiday celebrations </title>


<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Serbia has several national holidays that are celebrated each year.  The number is smaller than is common in many other countries.  There are no celebrations dedicated to individual national leaders.  As in most countries, New Years is a holiday.  In Serbia Nova Godina is a 2-day holiday (January 1-2).  If January 2 is a Sunday than Januaey 3 becomes a holiday (no-work day).  Orthodox Christmas or Božić is based on the Old Julian calendar is celebrated after New Years (Janyary 7).  Serbian Serbia National Day or Dan državnosti Srbije is the principal nationasl celevration (February 15).  It is the anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 and the first Serbian Constitution in 1835.  Easter celebration because of the importance of the Orthodox Church are very important in Serbia.   Orthodox Good Friday or Veliki petak, Orthodox Easter or Vaskrs, and Orthodox Easter Monday or Vaskrsni ponedeljak are all national  holidays.  The dates vary and are calculated by the Serbian Orthodox Church using Orthodox Computus.  They are usually celebrated in April.  Another important holiday is May Day / International Workers' Day or Praznik rada  (May 1).  Serbia as part of Yugoslavia was for nearly half a century a Communist country.  This has colored May Day celebrations.  Curiously there are no Serbian holidays celebrated during the second half of the year.  In addition to these national (bank) holidays, the different religious minorities have their own celebrations.  And their are a number of working holidays which are celebrated but people and school chuldren do not get the day off. With photos and text. ">

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<center><h1>Serbian Holiday Celebrations </h1></center>

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<i>Figure 1.--Easter is one of the most important Sebian holidays. Here is part of the celebration of Lazarus Saturday duruing 2007.  This is the  Serbian Orthodox celebrations for the Saturday before Easter.  Photiographer:  William Ferguson.</i>
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<p> Serbia has several national holidays that are celebrated each year.  The number is smaller than is common in many other countries.  There are no celebrations dedicated to individual national leaders.  As in most countries, New Years is a holiday.  In Serbia Nova Godina is a 2-day holiday (January 1-2).  If January 2 is a Sunday than Januaey 3 becomes a holiday (no-work day).  Orthodox Christmas or Božić is based on the Old Julian calendar is celebrated after New Years (Janyary 7).  Serbian Serbia National Day or Dan državnosti Srbije is the principal nationasl celevration (February 15).  It is the anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 and the first Serbian Constitution in 1835.  Easter celebration because of the importance of the Orthodox Church are very important in Serbia.   Orthodox Good Friday or Veliki petak, Orthodox Easter or Vaskrs, and Orthodox Easter Monday or Vaskrsni ponedeljak are all national  holidays.  The dates vary and are calculated by the Serbian Orthodox Church using Orthodox Computus.  They are usually celebrated in April.  Another important holiday is May Day / International Workers' Day or Praznik rada  (May 1).  Serbia as part of Yugoslavia was for nearly half a century a Communist country.  This has colored May Day celebrations.  Curiously there are no Serbian holidays celebrated during the second half of the year.  In addition to these national (bank) holidays, the different religious minorities have their own celebrations.  And their are a number of working holidays which are celebrated but people and school chuldren do not get the day off.
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<h2>New Year</h2>
<p> As in most countries, New Years is a holiday.  In Serbia Nova Godina is a 2-day holiday (January 1-2).  If January 2 is a Sunday than Januaey 3 becomes a holiday (no-work day). 
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<h2>Christmas</h2>
<p> Orthodox Christmas or Božić is based on the Old Julian calendar is celebrated after New Years (Janyary 7).
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<h2>Serbian National Day</h2>
<p> Serbian Serbia National Day or Dan državnosti Srbije is the principal nationasl celevration (February 15).  It is the anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 and the first Serbian Constitution in 1835. 
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<h2>Easter</a></h2>
<p> Easter celebration because of the importance of the Orthodox Church are very important in Serbia.   Easter for Orthodox like Western Christians is the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Orthodox Good Friday or Veliki petak, Orthodox Easter or Vaskrs, and Orthodox Easter Monday or Vaskrsni ponedeljak are all national  holidays.  The dates vary and are calculated by the Serbian Orthodox Church using Orthodox Computus.  They are usually celebrated in April.  Orthodox Christians observe a 46-day Lenten fast.  This is a little different than Roman (Western) Christians for whom Sundays are exempt meaning 40 days.  Serbs abstained from meat and meat oproducrts as well as eggs and dairy products also.  Thus they eat vgetarian sarma and other special Lent dishes.    A reader has provided us information on <a href="east/se-laz.html">Lazarus Saturday</a>.  This is the  Serbian Orthodox celebrations for the Saturday before Easter. Easter Day is the opportunity to break the long Lenten fast with sumptuous feasts.  great quantities of food.
Easter Sunday church services are followed by families having the baskets of hard-boiled eggs they have colored and brought to church blessed by the parish priest.  Serbs commonly color the eggs red which is seen as a symbol of a range of ideas--happiness, joy, rebirth and the blood of Christ.  Families engage in an exchange of the eggs they have colored.  They say to each other, "Hristos Voskrese" (Christ is risen) and respomd "Voistinu Voskrese" (Indeed He is risen).  Then after Church, the festivities and eating commence.



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Families have their favorite dishes but, traditionally, the meal begins with hors d'oeuvres of smoked meats and cheeses, avjar (roasted eggplant-pepper spread), boiled eggs and red wine.

Then, the dinner is laid on a table set with the finest hand-crocheted tablecloth, china, crystal and silver, and with a candelabra of three beeswax candles representing the Holy Trinity.

The meal usually starts with chicken noodle soup or chorba od janjetina (lamb vegetable soup), followed by spit-roasted lamb. Many Serbian Orthodox churches have a community spit where each family has its spring lamb cooked.

The offerings are rounded out by meat sarma, numerous salads, vegetables, bread, gibanica (a savory strudel sometimes made with aged kajmak), and pastries and tortes of all types for dessert. See these Serbian Easter recipes.

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<h2>May Day</h2>
<p> Another important holiday is May Day / International Workers' Day or Praznik rada  (May 1).  Serbia as part of Yugoslavia was for nearly half a century a Communist country.  This has colored May Day celebrations.
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<h2>Other Celebrations</h2>
<p>  Curiously there are no Serbian holidays celebrated during the second half of the year.  In addition to these national (bank) holidays, the different religious minorities have their own celebrations.  And their are a number of working holidays which are celebrated but people and school chuldren do not get the day off.  There are also family saints days.  This is tied in with birthdays which are linked to a saint.  The whole family gather and have a church celebration followed by a family banquet.  On that day a child taking part in this celebration will not be in class.  A teacher writes, Throughout the year this occurs to the different children in my class."
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Created:  9:44 PM 4/20/2011<br>
Last updated:  6:21 AM 4/21/2011
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