A visit to Greenland when the country is plunged in a festive mood will help a foreigner to experience the spirit of the nation.
Holidays in Greenland include
religious holidays, bank holidays, national holidays and
festive holidays. It is during these holidays when the countrymen, carried away by the festive atmosphere, get together and enjoy.
Most of the festivals are observed by paying a visit to the church. The Christmas and New Year eves are colored by the music of nights when the young people, following the traditional custom, sing carols outside houses. Thereafter they are invited into the houses and offered food and drinks.
January 6th is "Mitaartut" in Greenlandic. On this day the children disguise themselves as witches and go around dancing and making noises. They are invited into the houses on the doors of which they knock.
The Bank holidays include: January 1, January 6, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, 'Great Prayer day', Whit Monday and December 24, 25, 26 and 31.
The table below gives the names and dates of the public holidays in Greenland:
| HOLIDAY NAME |
DATE |
| New Year's Day |
January 1 |
| Epiphany |
January 6 |
| Maundy Thursday |
April 5 |
| Good Friday |
April 6 |
| Easter |
April 8 |
| Easter Monday |
April 9 |
| Prayer Day |
May 4 |
| Ascension Day |
May 17 |
| Whit Sunday (Pentecost) |
May 27 |
| Whit Monday |
May 28 |
| Ullortuneq (National Day) |
June 21 |
| Christmas Eve |
December 24 |
| Christmas Day |
December 25 |
| Second Day of Christmas |
December 26 |
| New Year's Eve |
December 31 |
The holidays in Greenland are like glittering droplets of rain that break the monotony of the routined life of the nationals. A sense of unity and solidarity is created by these holidays in Greenland as they bring together the people of the country and instills in them the realization that they all are the children of the same land.
