How I celebrate

'How I celebrate' is a project that showcases significant cultural events and acknowledges the cultural diversity of UTS.

Purpose 

HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE?

Share your story

We want to empower people to feel proud of their cultural backgrounds and learn more about different cultural celebrations observed within the UTS community and around the world.  To learn more, check out our booklets below. 

 

Lunar New Year 

People walk the street celebrating Lunar New Year under red lanterns

Lunar New Year is celebrated by many people, including (but not limited to) those with Chinese, Vietnamese, South Korean, Singaporean, Malaysian, Filipino and Indonesian heritage. Tied to the lunar calendar, the holiday began as a time for feasting and to honour household and heavenly deities, as well as ancestors. 

Hear more stories from our UTS community. Download our Lunar New Year booklet

Lent and Easter 

Looking up at a man at the altar giving an Easter service

Lent is the Christian season of spiritual preparation before Easter. It includes fasting, penance, almsgiving, self-denial and prayer that begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts 40 days as it leads up to Easter. Easter is the celebration of Jesus Christ's resurrection. It is recognised as the holiest day in the Christian calendar. 

Hear more stories from our UTS community. Download our Lent and Easter booklet

Holi 

Hands in a heart shape covered in coloured powder for Holi celebrations

Holi celebrates the eternal and divine love of Hindu God, Radha Krishna, and marks the beginning of spring after a long winter, symbolic of the triumph of good over evil. It is celebrated in March, corresponding to the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna. 

Hear more stories from our UTS community. Download our Holi booklet

Nowruz 

Various items on a decorative cloth to celebrate Nowruz

Nowruz means ‘new day’ and celebrates the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Nowruz has been celebrated in Iran and the Persian diaspora for more than 3,000 years. It is also celebrated around the world in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, and other regions. 

Hear more stories from our UTS community. Download our Nowruz booklet

Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 

Three women pray before breaking their fast for Ramadan

Ramadan is observed on the 9th and holiest month of the Islamic year and is a time when Muslims from all over the world dedicate themselves to working on their spirituality. Muslims worldwide fast during daylight hours (consuming no food or water) as a form of worship to bring them closer to God.  

Hear more stories from our UTS community. Download our Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr booklet

Songkran and Sinhalese and Tamil New Year

Hands pouring water over a statue of Buddha

Songkran marks the beginning of the traditional Thai new year and is an important event on the Buddhist calendar. Songkran has become arguably the biggest water fight in the world, with act of throwing water symbolising a purification rite, in both a physical and spiritual sense.

In Sri Lanka and its diaspora, the Sinhalese and Tamil communities celebrate New Year when the Sun enters the zodiac of Aries, which falls in April. The holiday is unique in the way the two cultures celebrate it together and at the same time.

Hear more stories from our UTS community. Download our Songkran and Sinhalese and Tamil New Year booklet

Passover  

A jar of lavender in the foreground of a table laid out for Passover celebrations

Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is a Jewish holiday is centred around the retelling of the Biblical story of when God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It is often celebrated for eight days (seven in Israel), and incorporates themes of springtime, a Jewish homeland, family, remembrance of Jewish history, social justice and freedom. 

Hear more from our UTS community. Download our Passover booklet  

 

Eid al-Adha

Photo Of Crowd Of People Gathering Near Jama Masjid, Delhi

Eid al-Adha, also known as the 'Feast of the Sacrifice, is the second-most important event on the Islamic calendar. Muslim families from around the world come together to honour Prophet Ibrahim's devotion to Allah with gifts and feasting. The occasion also marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which. one of the five pillars of Islam.

Hear more from our UTS community. Download our Eid al-Adha booklet

 

Raksha Bandhan

Image of siblings celebrating Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan is an ancient Hindu festival which symbolises the eternal love of brother-sister relationships. It is also celebrated among cousins, sister and sister-in-law (Bhabhi), fraternal aunt (Bua) and nephew (Bhatija) and other such relations.

Hear more from our UTS community. Download our Raksha Bandhan booklet

Diwali

Lit up candle in clay pot for Diwali

Diwali is a predominantly Hindu festival celebrated by many people over the world. The festival symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. 

Hear more from our UTS community. Download our Diwali booklet

Christmas

Christmas tree in front of a fireplace

Christmas is an annual Christian festival celebrated on the 25 December which commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is celebrated across many different cultures around the globe. 

Hear more from our UTS community. Download our Christmas booklet

 

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.