Local Holidays

In southern California, today is a holiday. Not in Northern California, and not anywhere else celebrates the same holiday. Local holidays are a nice tradition, and they remain non-commercial. Kids don't go to school, and lots of things are closed today. "Knowledge workers" it seems, don't celebrate the holiday by having a day off work, but the commute sure was faster. For more about Cesar Chavez day, see below.

My first exposure to the holiday was about 4 years ago when I was taking a bus to UCLA on a visit to SoCal. The bus was empty except for the prostitute, the drunk, and myself. At one particular stop, the bus was filled with people celebrating Cesar Chavez Day. There were flyers flitting around the bus like tickertape, and the whole atmosphere was very much like a carnival. For the duration of 2 bus stops it was a party, then it was vacated by the partiers, leaving only their fliers behind.

Feel free to mention some local or regional holidays you've become aware of in the comments.


Via Wikipedia: César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was a Mexican American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who with Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. Supporters say his work led to numerous improvements for union laborers. He is considered a hero for farm laborers, and opposed both legal and illegal immigration to help keep wages higher and improve work safety rules. He is hailed as one of the greatest American civil rights leaders...