NEWS AND EVENTS FROM AUSTRALIA
SPECIAL EVENTS IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY
NEW YEARS DAY IN AUSTRALIA
The first of January is the first day of a New Year, in the Gregorian calendar which is used in Australia and in many other countries. As Australia is so close to the International dateline, it is one of the first countries to welcome in the New Year.
New Years Eve, is celebrated widely with firework displays to herald the actual day. New Years Day itself is a public holiday.
AUSTRALIA DAY
The 26th of January is a day when Australia comes together as a nation to celebrate the spirit of nationhood and to reflect on its achievements. It is also an acknowledgement of the country’s historical roots marking the specific event of the landing of the First Fleet of convicts arriving from Britain and landing at Sydney Cove in 1788. This landing was marked by the raising of the Union Jack, by Captain Arthur Phillip, the Commander of the First Fleet and Australia’s first Governor.
(go to: http://www.australiaday.org.au/experience/page76.asp (by Dr E.Kwan) for a more detailed history on Australia’s development)
Most of Australia’s population of 21 million, celebrate the day in some special way, either by organized community events, or more quietly, with family and friends. It is also a day in which a Ceremony is held to welcomes new citizens who can now call themselves Australian.
THE LAST WEEK OF JANUARY
From Tuesday, January 27th, the long, summer, school vacation ends, and students throughout Australia begin the new school year.
FEBRUARY
Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14th, is a day celebrated in Australia as it is in other parts of the world. It is a day in which lovers express their love for each other, although its origins are thought to date back to any one of a number of Christian martyrs called Valentine who defied the pagan beliefs of the Romans. Since the nineteenth century, however, Valentine’s Day has come to be associated with the exchange of love messages and the sending of cards.
The Chinese New Year is celebrated in Australia by a large ethnic minority which historically, has immigrated to this continent since the Gold Rush period of the 1850s.
The Australia Postal service recognizes the significance of this traditional event and issues Chinese New Year stamps to celebrate the occasion. According to the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year falls on the same day as Valentines Day, being the 14th of February. This year is the year of the Tiger.
