Winter in America is full of religious and cultural celebrations that highlight the many heritages and interests of the American people.

The New Year represents new beginnings and the hope for better times.  Parties, concerts and events of all kind mark the end of the old year and the promise of fresh possibilities with the new.  Although many of these activities are private or require a paid ticket, others are open to all.

A relatively recent addition to heralding in the New Year is the “First Night” community celebration.  The city of Boston in Massachusetts takes the credit for launching the first First Night celebration in 1976.  Artists there sought an alternative way to party on New Year’s Eve – one that didn’t involve alcoholic drinks and rowdiness.   The idea was to bring in the New Year celebrating a community’s local culture via music, dance, comedy, art, fireworks, parades, etc.

First Night fireworks in Boston

First Night celebrations have become popular in cities all across the United States because they involve activities the entire family can safely enjoy.  And since most end at midnight on December 31, the whole family can get home in time to get enough sleep to greet January 1 fresh and minus a hangover.  These advantages even inspired the establishment of an organization to help guide communities in developing their own First Night celebrations – First Night USA.

Technically speaking, “First Night” isn’t really the first night of the New Year – that would be the night of January 1.  But, who cares?  First Night celebrations transcend individual differences and invite everyone to welcome the New Year by reconnecting with their communities and each other!

Winter in America is full of religious and cultural celebrations that highlight the many heritages and interests of the American people.

Epiphany, once a holiday of note, especially in the American South, is struggling to stay alive these days in most areas of the United States.

Epiphany always falls on January 6, the 12^th day after Christmas, and it celebrates the visit of the three kings or wise men to the Christ Child. Today, most Americans have their Christmas decorations packed away by January 6.  But when the United States was mostly agricultural, people had more time to celebrate throughout the 12 official days of the Christmas season, and weddings were common during this time frame.  George Washington, for example, married Martha Dandridge-Custis on January 6, 1759.

Hispanics in the United States continue to celebrate Epiphany with parties and parades in many areas of the country, since it is traditionally the Three Kings, not Santa Claus, who bring Christmas presents to their children.

But the stronghold for Three Kings Day celebrations is in New Orleans, Louisiana, because it is there that Epiphany kicks off carnival season, which culminates in the world-famous Mardi Gras parades on the Tuesday before the beginning of Lent.

King Cake, New Orleans-style

In a tradition that dates back to the 18^th Century, Epiphany is marked with the appearance of “King Cakes” – special cakes that contain a trinket or plastic baby representing the Baby Jesus.  Whoever gets the piece of cake with the token is required to supply the next King Cake.  King Cake parties are common throughout carnival season.

The cakes are decorated with sugars in the colors of Louisiana’s carnival season:  purple, representing justice; green, representing faith; and, gold, representing power.

Do you celebrate Three Kings Day where you live?

Winter in America is full of religious and cultural celebrations that highlight the many heritages and interests of the American people.

Hanukkah – known as “the festival of lights” – is a significant winter holiday for Jewish Americans. Based on the lunar cycle, Hanukkah can fall anywhere between November 28 and December 26.

Hanukkah marks the second century BCE victory of the Jews in Israel over their oppressors.  Lighting the eight candles of a menorah (candelabra) was an important part of services in the ancient holy temple in Jerusalem.  But when the Jews liberated their temple from the hands of their enemies, they found only enough pure oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, that oil burned for eight days and nights.

Today, Jews remember that victory and the miracle of the oil by eating traditional foods fried in oil during the eight days of the Hanukkah celebration.  And menorahs are lit in the privacy of homes across the United States as well as in public places.  For example, each year a huge National Menorah standing on the White House ellipse is lit with great ceremony.  It became an annual tradition starting in 1979 with President Jimmy Carter.

This year, in addition to lighting the National Menorah, a much smaller menorah – but one of especially poignant significance – was lit inside the White House.  Retrieved from the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina, it was donated for the annual White House Hanukkah ceremony by the Congregation Beth Israel in New Orleans – one of the very few items from the congregation that survived the 2005 devastation.

It seems the menorah continues to symbolize from century to century the perseverance of the Jewish faith over all adversity.  And to all Americans, the light of the menorah provides a reassuring symbol of hope in the dark days of winter.

Winter in America is full of religious and cultural celebrations that highlight the many heritages and interests of the American people.

Christmas – as the name implies – commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ and is an important holiday to all Christians.  In the United States, however, Christmas is a grand melding of the cultural traditions of every ethnic and religious group that settled here.

For example, the Mormon Temple in Washington D.C. welcomes all to see its spectacular Festival of Lights featuring some half-million sparkling Christmas lights and life-size Nativity scene.

The Washington National Cathedral (Episcopal) offers each year a display of hundreds of crèches from around the world.

The Christmas traditions of the Moravians, a Protestant sect that found refuge from persecution when they settled in North Carolina, attract many visitors to Old Salem Historic District, where samplings of special Moravian Christmas treats such as Moravian ginger cookies and Lovefeast buns can be had.

Each year there is a Russian Winter Festival – complete with Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden – held at the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C., renowned for its collection of Russian artwork.Norway shares its Christmas traditions with Norwegian Christmas at Union Station in Washington, D.C. with a gift of a Christmas tree and concert.

A look at Christmas past can be had at Monticello, President Thomas Jefferson’s home, which is located on a mountain top near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Christmas in the United States also offers many opportunities for many to reconnect with history.

At Mount Vernon in Virginia, President George Washington’s home, visitors can get a bit of a feeling for the holidays as the first president might have experienced them.  Monticello, the Virginia home of President Thomas Jefferson, also strives to give visitors a look at holidays past.

In Wisconsin, a state that welcomed many immigrants, especially in the 19^th Century, visitors can experience (weather permitting) the Christmas traditions of many different cultures, including the Bohemians, Irish, Finns, Germans, and Belgians at the outdoor museum known as Old World Wisconsin.

The list of historic and religious sites in the United States that offer some special Christmas display or event is endless.  And the best thing about it is that everyone is welcome to enjoy!

Winter in America is full of religious and cultural celebrations that highlight the many heritages and interests of the American people.

Perhaps no winter holiday celebrated in the United States is as quintessentially American as Kwanzaa, the first specifically African-American holiday.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett), an African-American author, political activist, and university professor in California. The holiday, celebrated December 26 through January 1, took root quickly during an era marked by the African-American struggle for full civil rights and equality.

A cultural but not a religious holiday, Kwanzaa – from the Swahili word for first fruits of the harvest – reaffirms the connectedness of all African Americans to their origins in Africa and celebrates family, community and African culture.

Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa, the family lights one candle to remember the following principles and goals: Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self-Determination); Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility); Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity); and Imani (Faith).

Kwanzaa is also celebrated on a national level. The American Museum of Natural History, for example, will hold a daylong event celebrating Kwanzaa. The Baltimore Museum of Art will give instructional classes on the principles of Kwanzaa and teach activities such as making an African headdress or fly whisk. And the Black History Museum in Alexandria, Virginia will offer instruction on how best to incorporate Kwanzaa into family holiday traditions

In 2008, a documentary film about Kwanzaa was released entitled The Black Candle. Featuring Maya Angelou, a renowned African-American poet, author and activist, the film attempts to raise awareness among all Americans regarding the impact of Kwanzaa on the African-American spirit.

Winter solstice – the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere – has been marked by celebrations for centuries as mankind anticipates a return of longer days, the warmth of spring and the new life it brings.

Astronomically, the “rebirth of the sun” occurs December 21 or 22. But this astronomical event has been layered with deep religious and cultural meanings.  Nowhere is the variety of heritages more evident than in the United States, a nation of immigrants.

Over the next few weeks, “By the People” will take a look at some of the ways in which mid-Winter is observed in the United States.

Learn more:  Winter Holidays Mirror America’s Diversity

Winter solstice is still celebrated at Stonehenge in England. Built thousands of years ago, Stonehenge may have helped ancient peoples predict solstice, equinox and other celestial events important to them.