Honoring the diversity of religious and cultural beliefs is part of creating an inclusive organization. Inclusivity results from building and maintaining a positive workplace environment and incorporating justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (JDEIB) into decision making, policies, practices, and programs.
Respecting religious holidays, significant events and celebrations, public holidays, and other important dates can help avoid conflicts and increase participation at events and activities. It also helps build understanding of when staff might choose to seek accommodations for religious observances. The calendars below highlight religious and cultural days of significance.
Interfaith Calendar – This website provides annual calendars of primary sacred times for world religions along with a definitions page that explains events. Explore dates into future years.
Multifaith Calendar – The Harvard Divinity School’s calendar provides dates with a description of the event. It includes events roughly nine months into the future.
Religious and Cultural Days of Significance – Prepared by the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, this spreadsheet outlines religious and cultural days of significance annually. This list is updated periodically.
Users of these calendars should note that:
- Islamic holidays are based on the lunar calendar and will be celebrated approximately around the dates listed.
- Dates listed with the word "evening" generally begin and end at sundown on the respective days.
- Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, is observed weekly from around sundown on Friday to around sundown on Saturday and is a time when one is to refrain from work and other activities.
To learn more about JDEIB,
- Consult VLCT’s Equity Toolkit.
- Learn about and adopt the Vermont Declaration of Inclusion.
- Learn about VLCT’s Welcoming and Engaging Communities Program. The program helps municipalities build better cultures from within by focusing on ethical performance improvement.
- Apply to participate in the State of Vermont’s IDEAL Vermont program. IDEAL is a coalition of municipalities dedicated to advancing racial and other forms of equity through shared learning and tangible actions.