Good Friday National Holiday, Canada

About Good Friday Festival : Good Friday is one of the national holiday and is celebrated in almost every country in the month of April. It occurs just two days before the Easter Sunday and is done in the memory of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ who is the prominent God in Christian faith. The holiday is observed as a statutory one and is found to be celebrated all over the Canadian provinces along with Quebec where it is partially observed. Most of the schools and businesses take a holiday and people attend special church services even if they do not attend the church regularly. The Good Friday is considered a day of mourning and the quiet prayers are observed among all Christians. The custom is to extinguish the Candles and the Christ made in Statues, paintings and crosses get draped in Black with purple of gray cloth. Some of the Catholics observe a partial fast on the Good Friday and do not eat any meat while the hot cross buns are a great way to treat or feast with each other. They are small bread like buns which contain raisins made from dough and are currants with other dried fruits added to it. The top of the hot cross buns is made from the bun with a cross and covered all over with sugar glaze.

Good Friday Festival Celebration: For all those Canadians who are not Christians, Good Friday is the start of a three or four-day weekend with a welcome spring break and some of the people visit the family or friends giving the popular time to take a short vacation from the mundane activities. The Good Friday, since is a public holiday in Canada and the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island along with Newfoundland and Labrador have many Public Transport services which run to the usual or restricted timetables to suit the needs of public but in rural areas it may close down completely and people mostly use their own transportation.

Since, it is the day of mourning people do keep observance and no music or feasting is done at large scale but the people wear black veil and spend hours by doing mourning in the Church. Also, the clergy or the Father in the Church does not strip the altar and there is no sacrifice of bread and wine with the clergies not wearing Purple or Red but they put in the black robe with black cap to give the meaning of the Christ being crucified and how the world changed after that particular event as the Christ rise back two days after on the Day of Easter. The Church hangings are also changed to black with the Divine Liturgy on Great Saturday to be observed and the faithful revisit the events which occurred long back before the foundation of Christianity as a religion got laid. People sing hymns along with specific Psalms and Gospels about the Christ who was crucified and after which he was considered a saviour till date and times to continue.

Good Friday Festival Date and Day:-

2025 Festival Date: Friday, 18 April

2024 Festival Date: Friday, 29 March

2023 Festival Date: Friday, 7 April

2022 Festival Date: Friday, 15 April

2021 Festival Date: Friday, 2 April

2020 Festival Date: Friday, 10 April

2019 Festival Date: Friday, 19 April

Type : Cultural

Frequency: Annual