The April Calendar of Celebrations, Part 2

Welcome to the second part of my April calendar of celebrations! Part one can be found here, if you haven't read it already. This part covers April 16th to 30th.

If you have read the first part already, I hope you've been enjoying your weird and wonderful celebrations. Why not write about what you got up to for Vocal? The world wants to know what you did for Safety Pin Day or World Art Day!

Without further ado, here's the rest of the list, so you can keep on celebrating for the rest of April. As with the first part, I've kept them as international as possible, and they're all immovable dates. The same list will hold true for next year, and all the other years, in case you don't get to celebrate them all!

April 16th

World Voice Day has its own website, with details of each year's theme. In 2021, the theme is 'One World, Many Voices'.

The day itself originated as a Brazilian national day, to raise awareness of the importance of the voice. Just think about all the things you need your voice for - singing, giving presentations, telling people you love them and ordering at the bar, to name just a few. Given how often you use your voice, it should be easy to celebrate this day.

For the competitive among you, the website also features data on which countries hosted the most events to celebrate the day. In 2018, it was topped by Russia, Brazil and Argentina. Who knows, if you really go all out, you could push your entire country further up the list! Unless you're Russian, in which case, well done. The rest of us shoud serenade you!

April 17th

The Haiku Foundation's website is an incredible resource to help you celebrate International Haiku Day. As well as educational resources for children and teenagers, there's a whole forum where you can share your poetry with other enthusiasts. There are monthly events and competitions; you could celebrate haiku all year if you wanted to!

In case you don't remember from primary school, a haiku follows a standard format of 5 syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five more in the last line. The original Japanese form has a much stricter set of rules, some of which don't really translate into other languages - in fact, the Japanese 'chunks' that we call syllables aren't really the same as English syllables either, but let's not go there. We've only got one day to figure this out!

One that does is that each poem has include a reference to a season; it doesn't have to be as blatant as

It is spring, thank God

No more bloody snow; now where

Are my tea dresses?

Instead, it can be something more subtle that merely suggests a time of year.

Lambs bouncing around,

Sadly, most people are not

vegetarian.

Sure, my collection won't be published any time soon - I'm just getting started!

April 18th

The International Day for Monuments and Sites sounds really difficult to celebrate, right? Wrong!

It's super easy - all you have to do is visit a monument near you! No dusty lecture halls required (even if we were allowed in them these days). Personally, I'm going to visit a cool pagan neolithic stone circle and ponder the mysteries of why it was built.

If you do want to attend an official event, that'll be online again this year. You can find out what's going on here.

April 19th

Tragically, I couldn't find a proper international day for April the 19th, so I had to poach one from a specific country. It came down to the day of the Akhal-Teke Horse, which is celebrated in Turkmenistan, and National Amaretto Day, from the US. On the basis that most people reading this article wouldn't recognise an Akhal-Teke horse if it came right up and neighed at them, I've chosen Amaretto Day, which I propose that we make international immediately. Pass it over, America.

To celebrate, you can try one (or several) of these eighteen Amaretto Sour cocktails. Probably trying all eighteen is too much, but you do you! If you're more of a sweets-and-desserts type of person, or don't drink, you can imitate the classic flavour with a cherry almond sharing cake or raspberry and almond cupcakes. For baking beginners, the second recipe will definitely be easier.

April 20th

This is International Cli-Fi Day; a day devoted to the celebration of a whole new genre of fiction, inspired by climate change. If you're as unfamiliar with the genre as I am, you might like to start with this list of seven acclaimed cli-fi novels. I'm looking forward to reading 'Memory of Water' before it becomes a film, which is due to happen later this year.

April 21st

World Creativity and Innovation Day is the culmination of World Creativity and Innovation Week and the two events have their own website. This year will be ultra-special, as it's the 20th anniversary of the founding of the day, and the 15th anniversay of its expansion into a week.

The aim is to encourage people to use their creativity in to make the world a better place. This year's focus is on education, and there are several global webinars planned to discuss how creativity can advance education around the world. You can register your own celebrations online to become part of the global movement.

The video below is the creative manifesto of World Creativity and Innovation Day. Go forth and create!

April 22nd

Earth Day has been going since 1970, so it's a pretty big day. Schools often use it as a springboard to educate children about nature and the environment, and its official website is packed with resources to help with just that.

The official schedule for 2021 involves three days of climate action featuring leading youth activists like Greta Thunberg, a multilingual online summit and many workshops. You can register your own event online.

If you haven't got the skills to register an international event, there are still a tonne of awareness-raising activities you can participate in. Make your enviromental pledge on socal media, and then settle into some crafts or baking. I can't wait to make this cute salt dough Earth Day necklace I found on Pinterest, courtesy of Kitchen Counter Chronicle.

April 23rd

Confession time - I nearly gave you the wrong special day for this one. I thought it was World Book Day; it's actually World Book and Copyright Day! Imagine getting those two mixed up, huh? Ridiculous.

The bookworms sure do get a lot of holidays, huh? In the first list, we had Edible Book Day and Children's Book Day. On the 20th it was Cli-Fi Day. Well, I hope you've finished your climate-change based dystopian fiction, because now it's World Book Day! World Book and Copyright Day!

The date is April the 23rd because it is the anniversary of the deaths of several prominant writers: William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all passed away on this day. The UN uses the day as a launching pad for initiatives to improve education and access to books. You can participate by sharing messages about the importance of books and reading on the day. On top of that, each year a World Book Capital City is chosen; a city which commits to celebrate books for the whole year. For 2021, it is Tblisi, Georgia.

World Book Day, which was on March 3rd (just so you're ready for next year), is a charity funded by booksellers and publishers in the UK. As well as publishing a fun selection of short £1 books every year, often specially written for the occasion by beloved children's authors, they offer a selection of free audio books. There's even an official song! Most importantably, they work to enable children all over the developing world to access books and education.

Crack open another tome; it's all in a good cause!

April 24th

Fashion Revolution is actually now a week - heaven knows the abuses of the fashion industry need all the attention they can get - but it always takes place in the week surrounding the 24th of April. The organisation was founded after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, when a factory collapsed and more than 1,100 garment workers died; more than 2500 were injured. You can read and sign Fashion Revolution's 10-point manifesto here. The goals are to create a fashion industry which celebrates and respects people and the environment, rather than subjugating workers and damaging the environment. You can share your support on social media with the message "Who made my clothes?".

Fashion should be an exciting, life-affirming endeavour. To celebrate it, you can try a new look, a clothes-swap party or sharing your favourite confidence-boosting outfits online. I've written before about why I'm not buying new clothes in 2021 but there are still plenty of options for updating your wardrobe. Your local charity shop or thrift store is probably overflowing!

April 25th

World Penguin Day is here to celebrate everyone's favourite funny-looking birds! There are so many cute penguin-related activities to get up to. You can start with watching a classic film about penguins, like Happy Feet, March of the Penguins or Mr Popper's Penguins. If you've got kids, or you're just a bit on the childish side yourself, you could go for Pingu. Who needs words, anyway?

Everybody loves penguins, which is why there are also thousands of Penguin crafts to choose from. I want to try these Penguin Poppers, but I seriously doubt I'll have the heart to actually pop them. You can try some super-easy but adorable Penguin Oreo Cookies if you prefer.

April 26th

It's World Intellectual Property Day! Who knew there were so many days devoted to copyright? Not me! It might sound a little dry - who are we kidding, a lot dry - but WIPD is actually all about celebrating ideas!

The day serves to spread awareness among small and medium enterprises, or SMEs, about how to protect their rights to their ideas. If you run your own business or are a creative, it's definitely worth taking some time to educate yourself using the resources available on their website.

If you have no plans to invent anything, don't despair; remember the essential message of World Creativity and Innovation Day, all the way back on April the 21st. Everyone is creative! If you're looking for inspiration from some of the greatest, check out this list of the top 20 innovations in human history from the Big Think.

April 27th

Today is World Tapir Day, which has been celebrated on April the 27th since 2008. What's a tapir, I hear you ask? Never fear, you're going to find out all about them today! They have their own webpage, and they fully deserve it. It has all the details for their social media, as well as facts, craft ideas and educational resources.

Look at that cutie! How could you refuse to help conserve them?

As well as being lookers, tapirs play a crucial role in maintaning their rainforest homes. They help disperse seeds, so that plants can reproduce, and their presence in a forested area is considered a sign of the environmental well-being of their range.

April 28th

Do you remember the lovely film Pay It Forward, from all the way back in the year 2000? Did you know there was a day? Now you do!

Pay It Forward Day is celebrated every year on the 28th of April. The premise is exactly the same as the movie: we should do acts of kindness towards others, with the aim of creating a ripple effect and making the world a better place. If you've been celebrating some of these holidays, you've already done a bit of that this month by baking for your family and friends, raising awareness about special animals, or using your creativity for good. The ways you can continue to do it are limitless. You can start with these suggestions. Let's make the world a happier place!

April 29th

Now we come to the easiest one to celebrate on this list - International Dance Day. The goals of the day include the promotion of dance, encouraging governments and institutions to embrace dance, and enjoying dance for its own sake. You know what to do!

If you're a dancer yourself, this would be a great day to share your work or announce a new project. The amateurs among us can try a new style; there are thousands of tutorials on Youtube. If you're already nursing a dance-related ankle injury or can't-won't dance for any other reason, you could watch a classic dance-themed film. I'm not mentioning anything about babies and corners.

April 30th

This is your last excuse for a party in April, so listen up.

It's International Jazz Day! Actually, apparently all of April was Jazz Appreciation Month, but we missed it. Oops! To make up for the omission, visit Jazz Day's official website to learn all about the history and transformative power of jazz music. You can still watch 2020's virtual concert, to get an idea of what's in store.

There's an impressive world map of planned events; Europe is nearly covered in blue dots, while the USA, Central and South America aren't lagging far behind. Most countries have at least one or two. If you're in Canada, though, you better hurry up and organise something!

Here is a potted history of jazz for the true beginner:

What has been your favourite celebration so far? I have to admit I haven't partied quite as hard as I'd have liked, but I did manage a really delicious cake for World Carrot Day. You can read about my baking adventure here. If you've been up to something fun for one of these special days, please do write about it for Vocal. I for one would love to read about your celebrations!