Foreign languages

Official Holidays in Uzbekistan

Each year Uzbekistan celebrates seven public holidays:
1st of January – New Year;
8th of March – International Women’s Day;
21st of March – Navruz;
9th of May – Memorial Day;
1st of September – Independence Day;
1st of October – Teacher’s Day;
8th of December – Constitution Day;
Also Uzbekistan celebrates the Day of Defenders of Motherland on January 14;
The Day of Remembrance for the victims of political repressions, observed on August 31;
Two major Muslim holidays in Uzbekistan, Ramadan Khait and Kurban Khait, are days off and are celebrated each year according to the lunar calendar.

January, 14^th Day of Defenders of the Native Land
This holiday in independent Uzbekistan is celebrated in honor of creation of own Army forces. On 14th January, 1992, the parliament made a decision on transition of all parts and connections, military educational institutions and other military formations of the soviet army deployed in territory of the country under jurisdiction of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On the eve of the holiday, number of army personnel are nominated to governmental awards and some of them are awarded at Gala consert organized by the government. Holiday is celebrated in mainly military institutions and widely publicized in mass media.

March, 8^th International Womens' Day

Nowadays this is a major day of global celebration of women. This holiday was introduced to Uzbek people as a honor to working women during the soviet era. however, it is lost its to political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day that are celebrated in the West. 
On this day it is customary for men to give the women in their lives – mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, colleagues, etc. – flowers and small gifts. 

March, 21^stNavruz

Literally means New Day in Persian language. Although Navruz is not an islamic holiday, it was widely celebrated among locals (mainly muslims) as a beginning of the New Year before the Georgian calendar was intuduced. Celebrating navruz was prohibited in soviet times, but after the independence, the government declared it as a national holiday and symbol of spring.
In Navruz many Uzbek family prepare for national dishes such as: sumalak, halim, samsa from spring greens, palov and others. Preparation of sumalak, which is usually boiled in large pots and needs continuous mixing, takes approximatety 24 hours. Thus, people gather around the pots and spend the day and night singing and dancing national folclore.
People go out on navruz with family members or friends and attend Navruz celebrations, national dance and sporting shows, which are organized in city and town centers and parks.