Heritage Day

Heritage Day may refer to:

Heritage Day (South Africa)

Heritage Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on 24 September. On this day, South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people.

History of Heritage Day before 1995

In KwaZulu-Natal, 24 September Heritage Day was known as Shaka Day, in commemoration of the Zulu King, Shaka. Shaka was the legendary Zulu King who played an important role in uniting disparate Zulu clans into a cohesive nation. Each year people gather at King Shaka's grave to honour him on this day. The Public Holidays Bill presented to the new democratic Parliament of South Africa in 1994 did not have 24 September included on the list of proposed public holidays. As a result of this exclusion, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a South African political party with a large Zulu membership, objected to the bill. Parliament and the IFP reached a compromise and the day was given its present title and seen as a public holiday.

Civic Holiday

Civic Holiday is the most widely used name for a public holiday celebrated in most of Canada on the first Monday in August, though it is only officially known by that term by the governments of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Prince Edward Island. The Civic holiday is recognized as a statutory holiday in those three provinces and territories.

The holiday is known by a variety of names in other provinces and municipalities, including British Columbia Day in British Columbia, New Brunswick Day in New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan Day in Saskatchewan. The holiday is celebrated as Natal Day in Nova Scotia and Terry Fox Day in Manitoba; however, though not a statutory holiday in Nova Scotia, it is in Manitoba.

In 1974 the Government of Alberta, acting through Minister of Culture Dr. Horst A. Schmid, declared the first Monday in August an annual holiday to recognize and celebrate the varied cultural heritage of Albertans, known as Heritage Day. This gave rise in 1976 to the Edmonton Heritage Festival, a three-day celebration of food, dance, and handicrafts of cultures from around the world. Heritage Day has been an "optional" civic holiday, having been downgraded from a statutory holiday following the introduction of Family Day in 1990.