Talk:Holidays of the United States

Images

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Brycehughes (talk) 13:59, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

I like the first one better. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:21, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

I made the second one the banner img. First one is free to use. Brycehughes (talk) 22:25, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

A good banner at that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:35, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Mardi Gras

We should add that, and any other really notable regional holiday. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:14, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

This is a pretty exhaustive list. Brycehughes (talk) 22:24, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

Too exhaustive! Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:34, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

@Ikan Kekek: I guess Mardi Gras is more of a regional event that varies by city and would be better off listed in the individual city articles (tho I'll admit I don't really attend Mardi Gras events as I'm not a huge party person and find the large crowds intimidating). --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 06:20, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Mardi Gras is a Louisiana holiday, but it's a huge event that foreigners as well as Americans from other parts of the country would want to know about. I think part of the point of this kind of article is to give pointers to articles about particular states, cities and regions that may have more detailed information. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:24, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

I agree. My city is pretty huge on Mardi Gras, too, which draws travelers from around the country (and in some years, from overseas) though we don't get a public holiday :-(. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 06:36, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Organization

I'm wondering about the best way to organize this. I'm not sure the bullet points are best... with the amount of info it's a bit of an eyesore. I suppose we'd want thing to be roughly chronological, but I'm not sure it's strictly necessary – we could have say some organization by type and then chronological within those sections. Also, if we have enough info per holiday, they could be small sections themselves. Just throwing out ideas here. Brycehughes (talk) 22:23, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

Chronological seems most useful to me. Agreed on sections. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:33, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

In the Talk:United States of America#More trimming thread, Powers criticized the usefulness of this article because the holidays are not listed on a single chronological list. I think he's right. Yes, I know, we have Wikivoyage:Avoid long lists, but as this is a reference article, I think that guideline does not apply to what I'd call an index. I'd suggest putting a section called "Index" either right after the lede or right after "The holiday season." It should list every holiday in chronological order, as much as possible (we have to make a judgment call for holidays tied to lunar calendars) and then "See [link to section]." We could even use a table, if someone wants to create one. What do you think, Brycehughes, Powers and everyone else? Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:17, 10 August 2024 (UTC)

I think that's a good solution, because there are many ways too cut the cake: geographic, cultural, religious, etc. Another possibility is a right-aligned infobox, but I suppose that depends on how long it would end up being. Brycehughes (talk) 23:48, 10 August 2024 (UTC)

I created an Index, but it's not beautiful. If anyone would like to turn it into a table, that would be great. Ikan Kekek (talk) 19:25, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

Done. Brycehughes (talk) 20:20, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

Thank you! It's pretty, and I think it greatly improves the utility of the article. Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:47, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

That is an improvement. Powers ^(talk) 01:46, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Date format

I don't see anything on this at wv:dates but perhaps I'm missing it. I believe the U.S. would write dates like "July 4" instead of "4 July" as we have it here. Any reason not to change it? Brycehughes (talk) 15:25, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

You didn't see the first line of "Dates"? "Use the date format of dd Mmm yyyy, e.g., 10 Jan 2003." This article is looking very good! I unfortunately had to remove the thumbnail of the SF Chinese New Year's Parade, as it had a watermark, which is not allowed under Wikivoyage:Image policy. Ikan Kekek (talk) 17:35, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Oh I didn't think that applied to just Day/Month. No worries re the image. Brycehughes (talk) 17:41, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Any possibility of a crop (though this treads on legal boundaries, it should be fine as it's CC-licensed)? SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 09:20, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Sure, if someone wants to do it. Or we could doubtless find another photo. Ikan Kekek (talk) 13:39, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

There is a watermark on the Fourth of July image, which we also use on the USA article. I'm not clever enough with computers to remove the watermark. Brycehughes (talk) 02:22, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Heh, I'm sure we can perfectly add more watermarks like on this image (the story behind that is wild, though). --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 02:35, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

What makes that so good is that the link for "there was community consensus to add the watermark" leads to a block request. Brycehughes (talk) 02:40, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

And the fact that the user in question sought US$150,000 for each photo. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 07:02, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

"Clear your calendar for Flag Day" caption

If that's supposed to be a joke, it wouldn't be clear to non-Americans, and it's probably not a great idea to joke about the flag. Flag Day is a minor holiday. I'll edit the caption. Ikan Kekek (talk) 17:16, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, I have no idea what that means. But then again, I come from a place where the flag is (to an extent) unfortunately associated with white supremacy, so, yeah, the concept of flags having a lot of national significance is quite a foreign concept to me. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 06:58, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

In the U.S., the flag is the main symbol of the country and its people and is not necessarily associated with white supremacy but embraced by a large majority of the population. However, Flag Day is not a major holiday. July 4th is. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:43, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

It was a stupid image I added as a joke. Brycehughes (talk) 02:16, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Oh, right. I'm a dumbass for not realizing. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 02:21, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Part of keeping this website fun is occasionally inserting dumb little jokes for myself but I don't expect anyone else to get them and I'm fine with a revert. That image though... Brycehughes (talk) 02:30, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Mexican independence day

Should it be listed here? I know it's technically a Mexican and not American holiday, but in Chicago you'll see the local Mexican community driving down the street in their pickup trucks tooting their horns and waving huge Mexican flags. The dog2 (talk) 19:49, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

I don't know. I've thought of adding Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist holidays because they're increasingly observed in cities like New York. Is there much to see and do other than what you mentioned? Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:10, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

You might be invited to parties if you have Mexican friends. But otherwise, you'll just see them driving past you in their pickup trucks as you walk down the street. In Chicago, you are more or less guaranteed to see that because there is such a huge Mexican community. However, the police will block off the roads into the downtown areas to control traffic volume, so that could cause major inconvenience if you are driving. The dog2 (talk) 20:23, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

So I think it's worth a mention. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:35, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Then again, I'm not sure, because there are scads of parades in New York that affect traffic, and we wouldn't list them all as holidays. Should we list Puerto Rican Day, the Salute to Israel Parade, Dominican Day, etc.? Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:36, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Puerto Rican Day is also a big deal in Chicago, and the experience is similar to Mexica independence day. You'll see the Puerto Ricans driving down their streets in their pickup trucks and waving large Puerto Rican flags out of them. There's no official parade for either Mexican independence day or Puerto Rican Day though. It's just the local Mexicans and Puerto Ricans coming out to celebrate and have a good time. The dog2 (talk) 20:38, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

We'll have to make a decision about which of these celebrations to list or not list. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:45, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Single-state holidays

I don't think single-state holidays belong here. That'd be Alaska Day, Emancipation Day, and Pioneer Day. (I'd even consider removing Patriots' Day, but that's less egregious.) I'm sure they're nice celebrations, but including them opens a can of worms because there are many others not listed. And they're best covered in the state articles anyway. The chances that they're relevant to a random U.S. tourist are very slim. Powers ^(talk) 01:50, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Disagree. If I was planning a trip around the U.S., I would want to know if one of the states I was planning on visiting was having a holiday. I don't think it's a can of worms that others are not listed, as we could always list them (or not list them – up to us). Brycehughes (talk) 01:56, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Point taken. Maybe they belong only in the relevant state articles. Which other ones that are not listed are significant and should be mentioned in state articles? Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:56, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

The kind of logic Bryce suggests could be extended to local holidays as well, and I don't think anyone would suggest we put those in. The article on holidays in the U.S. should be for nationwide holidays; we have state articles to cover state holidays. If you're traveling to Alaska, you should read the Alaska article. As for other states, I don't have an easy list top of mind. Powers ^(talk) 23:45, 14 August 2024 (UTC)

We don't need to extend logic; this is a travel guide, not a science project. We do include local holidays – Emancipation Day in D.C., for example. This article is not subservient to the scope of the United States article; it is a distinct article on holidays of the United States, targeted toward users who are interested in holidays of the United States, whether it be because they want to join along in festivities as they travel, avoid traffic, or plan a rest day when attractions are closed, among many other reasons. Alaska Day, Emancipation Day, and Pioneer Day are holidays of the United States, because they are celebrated within the United States, and they are useful to include for travelers who will be visiting Alaska, Washington D.C. or Utah (and Massachusetts, Maine, Wisconsin, Connecticut or North Dakota for Patriots' Day), which I assume would be a significant number of them. Brycehughes (talk) 23:59, 14 August 2024 (UTC)