It’s a working day in Europe: how women’s holiday is celebrated in different countries

In China, mothers and married ladies are congratulated on March 8

Few people remember the history of the holiday on March 8 with protests and slogans for equality, but the fact remains that International Women’s Day on March 8 was so loved by the people that it began to be widely celebrated without reference to the past – as the Day of Spring and Beauty. Today Women’s Day is celebrated in 32 countries around the world.

In general, organizing holidays for women is a long-standing tradition. Even in ancient Rome, there was a Women’s Day, when men gave gifts to their wives, and slaves could relax throughout the day.

On March 8, 1910, French aviator Elise de Laroche received the title of the first woman pilot in the world to receive a license to fly an airplane. The date was an accident, although the holiday was officially established in the same year.

Today in France, Italy, Spain and Germany, March 8 is a working day, but many women have bachelorette parties in the evenings and celebrate the holiday in clubs and restaurants.

In China, two days are dedicated to the fair sex – Day of Young Beauties on March 7 and March 8 – Day of Mothers and Married Women. Even the hieroglyph that denotes International Women’s Day can be literally translated as “homemaker” or “housewife.” On the eve of March 8, men buy their beloved women small souvenirs and flowers in pots.

In Japan, there are also two holidays for women in March: March 3 – Girls’ Day and March 14 – White Day, when women receive gifts from their husbands and lovers.

In Cuba, March 8 is celebrated vigorously and cheerfully. After Fidel Castro declared in 1959 that women fought as bravely and selflessly as men, large concerts and festivals began to be held in squares on this spring holiday. Women are given flowers, and promotions are organized in stores and restaurants in their honor.

In Vietnam, March 8 is also a patriotic holiday. On this day, women heroines are remembered and poems about love for their homeland are read.

South Africa holds its own Women’s Day celebration on August 9 to commemorate the struggle of local activists against the tyranny of the apartheid-era government.

In Russia, March 8 has long been an ordinary working day, but on May 8, 1965, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, International Women’s Day on March 8 was declared a holiday in the USSR.

We congratulate all charming girls, women, mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters and daughters on March 8! We wish you health, joy and spring in your soul!