Philippines Edition
World Careful Flame Day leads today's complete edition for Philippines.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
A day for cooking fires, candles, heaters, lamps, grills, ceremonies, workshops, and the respect every culture gives controlled fire.
A nine-day series of dawn masses that begins on December 16 and ends on December 24. The tradition is to attend all nine masses (the mass starts at 4:00 AM), and the belief is that if you complete all nine, your wish will come true. The churches are packed at 4:00 AM, and after the mass, families eat puto bumbong (purple rice cake with coconut and sugar) and bibingka (rice cake with salted egg and cheese) sold outside the church. The Simbang Gabi is the most important religious tradition in the Philippines, and it has been celebrated since the 1600s.
A day for the quick meal, the regular customer, the busy cook, and the food people rely on between obligations.
A day for making room at the table when one more person shows up.
You find Pitcairn parrots and endemic seabirds as the most distinctive wildlife native to the Pitcairn Islands. You notice that residents of Pitcairn Islands typically keep dogs, cats, and chickens as their most common pets. ACADA celebrates the world's pets, and helps assure better care.
You savor dried fish and fish products from the Faroe Islands, where traditional methods of wind-drying cod and other North Atlantic catches create distinctly flavored delicacies exported worldwide. You respect that this centuries-old practice defines Faroese culture, sustains the islands' economy, and represents a way of life intimately tied to the sea.