LUU Cultural Calendar
Welcome to our LUU Cultural Calendar, which includes key international and national events alongside LUU staff events and dates for your diaries. We'll be adding new events regularly, so don't forget to check back.
Is there something you'd like to see added? Get in touch with the People Team via unihr@leeds.ac.uk.
April 2024
Tuesday 2 April
World Autism Awareness Day
The UN General Assembly declared this day to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society.
Find out more: World Autism Awareness Day
Tuesday 9 April - Friday 12 April
Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr is the earlier of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam. The religious holiday is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.
Thursday 11 April
World Parkinson's Day
#StartAConversation Every April, the Parkinson's Foundation engages the global Parkinson's community to support Parkinson's Awareness Month.
Find out more: World Parkinson's Day
Saturday 13 April
Vaisakhi
Vaisakhi (also known as Baisakhi) is a festival that signifies the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founding the Khalsa Panth in 1699. It also coincides with the traditional Punjabi festival that celebrates the start of the harvest season.
Sunday 13 April - Monday 15 April
Songkran
Songkran is an annual Thai festival. Events during the festival include water throwing, the ritual bathing of Buddha images, processions and performances. The final day of Songkran marks Thai new years day.
Find out more: Songkran
Monday 22 April
Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
Find out more: Earth Day
Monday 22 April
Stephen Lawrence Day
The Stephen Lawrence Trust wants young people to have a strong voice in building a fairer and more inclusive society. The aim of the day is for events to take place that inspire young people about what they can achieve in their own lives.
Visit: Stephen Lawrence Day
Monday 22 April - Sunday 28 May
MS Awareness Week
MS is unpredictable and different for everybody. Symptoms can come and go and change over time, and it’s difficult to know how your condition might progress. MS Awareness Week helps to raise awareness of the uncertainty of MS.
Monday 22 April - Tuesday 30 April
Passover (Pesach)
A major Jewish spring festival, celebrating freedom and family. The Passover story is of Moses and The Ten Plagues, you can read a summary here - The Passover Story in a Nutshell.
If you want to find out more visit - Everything you need to know about Passover.
May 2024
Monday 29 April - Sunday 5 May
Time for a Cuppa
Time for a Cuppa is Dementia UK’s annual tea party event that aims to raise funds for families facing dementia.
Wednesday 1 May
Beltane
Beltane is a pagan celebration that marks the return of summer. Like Samhain, which lies directly opposite from Beltane on the Wheel of the Year, this was seen as a time when the veil between worlds was at its thinnest.
Wednesday 1 May - Tuesday 7 May
Deaf Awareness Week
This year's Deaf Awareness Week theme is “Access to Communication''. The aim of this year's Deaf Awareness Week is to promote greater awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by the deaf community in accessing communication.
Monday 13 May- Sunday 19 May
Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week is an opportunity to come together to focus on mental health, tackling stigma and helping people understand and prioritise their and others' mental health.
Monday 13 May- Sunday 19 May
Learning at Work Week
Learning at Work Week is an annual event that promotes lifelong learning at work and aims to build learning cultures. This year's theme is 'Learning power'.
Wednesday 15 May
Buddha Day
Also known as "Buddha's Birthday", it is a Buddhist and Hindu festival that is celebrated in Nepal, in India, and in most of South and East Asia, commemorating the birth of the prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism.
Find out more: Nan Tien Temple
Friday 17 May
Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia
Founded in 2004, this aims to raise awareness of violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people to drive positive change.
Sunday 21 May
UN Cultural Diversity Day
UNESCO leads the celebration of World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development highlighting not only the richness of the world's cultures, but also the essential role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development.
Thursday 23 May
Vesak
A Theravada Buddhist festival that observes the birth, death, and enlightenment of the Buddha. Vesak, also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, Buddha Day, and Phật Đản, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as Tibet and Mongolia.
Find out more: Behind the News
June 2024
Saturday 8 June
World Oceans Day
On World Ocean Day, people around our blue planet celebrate and honour our one shared ocean, that connects us all.
Find out more: World Ocean Day
Monday 10 June
Dragon Boat Festival
A celebration of a Chinese poet named Qu Yuan for his patriotism and contributions to poetry. His remorse for the violence in China's capital led him to disappear into the Mi Lo River where today, partakers in the festival race boats and eat rice dumplings.
Find out more here.
Tuesday 11 June - Thursday 13 June
Shavuot
Shavuot is a Jewish celebration known as the "Feast of Weeks". It takes place seven weeks after Passover and commemorates the spring harvest and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Find out more: Shavuot
Friday 14 June
Remembering Grenfell Tower
Today marks seven years since the fire which destroyed Grenfell Tower, taking the lives of 72 people.
Friday 14 June - Wednesday 19 June
Hajj
The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims.
Read: What is Hajj?
Sunday 16 June
Fathers Day
Father's Day is a holiday of honouring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society.
Sunday 16 June
Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib
The day commemorates the anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh guru. Approximately 30 million Sikhs around the world celebrate and remember the religious figure that gave up his life for the Sikh people.
Sunday 16 June -Tuesday 18 June
Eid al-Adha
Eid al-Adha is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam. It honours the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to Allah's command.
Read: What is Eid al-Adha?
Thursday 20 June
World Refugee Day
This day celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.
Find out more: UNHCR
Thursday 20 June
Litha
Otherwise known as Summer Solstice or Midsummer- the day celebrates the beginning of summer and is the loggest day of the year.
Find out more: English Heritage
Saturday 22 June
Windrush Day
It's been 76 years since the Empire Windrush ship docked at the port of Tilbury bringing the first of the Windrush Generation to the UK. This day celebrates the people of the Windrush Generation and their descendants in the UK.
Watch: Windrush Generation