Here’s something you don’t hear all the time. People celebrate holidays like Christmas, Easter, and even New Years on different days than most people celebrate them on. The Serbian holiday season differs from the American holiday season in the fact that they celebrate these holidays on totally different days. Most Eastern Orthodox people do this because they follow the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, as used in the United States. Traditions both contain similarities and differences in the ways they celebrate some of these big holidays.

In Serbia, the holiday season is highly influenced by the Serbian Orthodox Church. Christmas is celebrated on January 7th every year. In Serbian culture the Christmas holiday season begins with a 40-day fast that many participate in. Not every person participates in this fast; it’s just what the season starts off with. The fast consists of avoiding meat and dairy in preparation for the big Christmas holiday arriving. January 6th, also known as Badnje veče, is very important and meaningful. Families often go to church, and burn an oak tree branch called a badnjak. The badnjak symbolizes warmth, joy, and protection. 

Easter is another holiday that differentiates itself. Easter in the United States usually follows the Western Christian calendar, while Serbian Easter follows the Orthodox calendar. This usually can look like Easter, sometimes falling on the same day, or one to five weeks spread apart from each other. The same traditions are celebrated with Easter in the United States and Serbian Easter. Serbian Easter focuses mainly on family, tradition, and faith. One of the most distinct Serbian Easter traditions is egg dying, especially dying red eggs. This symbolizes the blood of Christ and new life. On Easter Serbians say “Hristos Vaskrese” (Christ is risen) to which one responds, “Vaistinu Vaskrese” (Indeed he is risen). 

Serbia also celebrates unique religious holidays such as Slava, which is a family-specific celebration honoring a family’s patron saint. Slava does not exist in American culture and takes place on different dates depending on the saint. On this day many different Serbian foods are made, friends and relatives visit the home of the Slava.