SUMMER SEASON is coming! Holidays, vacations, swimming pools, cookouts, and picnics are all common this time of year. And “those days of soda, pretzels, and beer!” as Nat King Cole immortalized in song.
The Holidays of Summer Season
Summer season is normally a most welcome time of year for those who live north of latitude 30 or so, as it follows the chill of winter.
- Memorial Day – It is a federal holiday in dedication to all those who served and died and for families to remember lost loved ones. It also marks the unofficial beginning of the summer season.
- Father’s Day – It’s not a federal holiday, but it’s always on a weekend and it’s in the summer!
- Independence Day – It’s the grand-daddy of summer holidays, complete with fireworks, picnics, and revelry of all kinds.
- Labor Day – It’s a day to celebrate the working people, and it marks the unofficial end of the summer vacation season.
What holidays are during the summer season?
- Calan Mai: Celebrated om Wales on May 1 for the first day of summer. Celebrations start on the evening before, known as May Eve, with bonfires; as with Calan Gaeaf, the night before (Nos Calan Mai) is an Ysbrydnos, or “spirit night,” when spirits are out and about and divination is possible.
- Victoria Day: Canadian holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on May 24 in honor of both Queen Victoria’s birthday and the current reigning Canadian sovereign’s birthday.
- Festa della Repubblica: Republic Day celebrated in Italy on June 2.
- Canadian Forces Day: Celebrated in Canada on June 7.
- Father’s Day: Third Sunday of June.
- Bonfires of Saint John: Celebrated in June, from the 19th to the 24th in Spain. The festival is celebrated throughout many cities and towns; however, the largest is in Alicante, where it is considered the most important festival in the city.
- Midsummer Festivals: Celebrates the summer solstice on the 24th of June and the preceding evening in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Great Britain, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, the Ukraine, Canada, United States and Puerto Rico.
- Jani: Latvian festival held from night of June 23 through June 24 to celebrate the summer solstice.
- Saint Jonas’ Festival: Lithuanian festival held from night of June 23 through June 24 to celebrate the summer solstice.
- Sânziana: Romanian festival held on June 24 to celebrate the summer solstice.
- Independence Day: Also known as the Fourth of July commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 declaring the United States of America’s independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
- Ivan Kupala Day: John the Baptist Day celebrated in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine on July 7.
- Bastille Day: French national holiday commemorates the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
- Lughnasadh: Gaelic holiday traditionally associated with the first of August.
- Hoya Hoye: Hoya Hoye night is an Ethopian children’s holiday, usually celebrated on August 21. Kids travel door to door in groups singing this traditional call and response. They pound walking sticks to the beat and take turns singing praises in rhyme to earn coins and dough.
- Labor Day: United States holiday observed on the first Monday in September. Originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create “a day off for the working citizens”.
The Start of Summer Season
When does summer season start? It all depends on who you ask. An astronomer will inform you that it starts on or around June 21st each year, when the sun is centered over the Tropic of Cancer as seen from Earth. It is referred to as the summer solstice.
The term solstice refers to a time when the sun does not appear to travel northward or southward in its annual bob up and down the ecliptic. The Cancer Tropic is located at 23.5 degrees north latitude, just south of Key West, Florida. As a result, citizens of southern Florida see the sun almost directly overhead at noon in late June.
While June 21 is the official astronomical start of summer season, most meteorologists consider June, July, and August to be the summer months. So June 1 is the first day of meteorological season.
And Memorial Day Weekend, the last weekend in May, is the typical, unofficial start of the summer season for most people in the United States. This is the season for most public swimming pools in the northern and central sections of the United States to open. It is the start of summer vacation for traditional calendar colleges.
Summertime Trivia
- Dog Days of Summer is the period between July 3 and August 11, usually considered to be the hottest time of summer, when the Dog Star, Sirius, is in conjunction with the sun. Read more about Dog Days.
- The first day of summer season is the longest day of the year in terms of the amount of daylight.
- The earth is actually farthest away from the sun when it is summer in the northern hemisphere.
- In Australia, New Zealand, and southern South America, summer takes place during December, January, and February.
- The number one grilled food of summer season is the hamburger. Steaks are number two and the hot dog is number three.
- Eighty-two percent of households in America own a grill or smoker.
- Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is held every July 4 and has been since 1916. The record for the most hog dogs eaten in 10 minutes is 68, set by Joey Chestnut in 2009.
- There are 14 movies with the title, “Summer.”
- The U.S. city with the highest average summertime temperature is Lake Havasu City, Arizona, with an average temperature in July of 111 degrees F.
10 Summer Blockbuster Movies of All Time
- Spider Man
- Terminator 2
- Independence Day
- Jurassic Park
- Star Wars
- E.T.
- Forrest Gump
- Batman
- Transformers
- Jaws
Best USA Family Vacation Spots
Where should you go on holiday in the summer in USA? Here are some vacation spots for you and your family:
- Orlando, Florida
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, VA
- Holiday World – Santa Claus, IN
- Myrtle Beach – South Carolina
- Yellowstone National Park
- Hershey, PA
- Lego Land California – Carlsbad, CA
- Oahu, Hawaii
- New York City
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