Content:
Time chart of seasons and special dates
"A calendar is the future divided into pigeonholes, where I shall be able to file my plans and hopes." Alain (a French philosopher)
Traditional festivals can be historical, national celebrations like July 14th and May 8th. Often, like Christmas, they are religious and sometimes, like New Year, cultural.
Most of them have a fixed date, others vary with each year.
Anything is a good excuse for a party. The nature and name of the celebration can vary from place to place: “carnaval” (carnival), “foire” (fair), “feria” (in the south), “kermesse”, “fest noz” (in Brittany). The French have adopted the English word "festival": “Festival de bande dessinée” (Comic Strip Book Festival), “Festival de cinéma” (Film Festival)....
Most places have a municipal or village hall. You can’t have a “fête” without a "festin", the celebration meal.
Every day of the year is someone’s name day. For Christians this is the name day of their patron saint. Each day’s name is announced in the papers and on TV after the weather forecast, like a tear-off calendar.
Florists advertize today’s name by their flower displays. It’s their way of reminding you that someone might be expecting you to give them a bunch of flowers.