[Photo from lyj.alt.gov.cn]

1. Eid al-Adha:

This is Arabic for “feat of the sacrifice” and is celebrated annually on the 10th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah of the Islamic lunar calendar, 70 days after the Rozah Festival. It is the most important festival of the Kazakhs and before the festival, each family prepares an assortment of food, including Baoersake (a kind of deep-fried dough), pancakes, fried dough twists, and pastries. On the day of the festival, a family will slaughter a sheep and invite guests. The celebration lasts three days and people dress in their best attire and visit each other’s home.

2. Aid-al-Fitr:

This is Arabic for “Festival of breaking the fast”, is an important feast for ethnic groups in Xinjiang that believe in Islam, including the Uighurs, Hui, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Tartar, Tajiks, and Uzbeks. In Islam, there is a month of fasting, as a religious obligation, where people cannot eat or drink before sunset. The fasting takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, the month of Ramadan. According to the Islamic calendar, the first day of the month is the day the moon appears. Odd months have 30 days, and even ones, 29 days. There are 354 days in the Islamic year and no leap year, and 10 or 11 days shorter than in the solar calendar. When the month of fasting ends, life returns to normal and Muslims worship and celebrate “Aid-al-Fitr” and break the fast.

3. Nowruz:

This is an ancient festival that comes from classical Persian but spread to other groups, such as the Kazakhs. The festival celebrates the first day of spring, the equinox, on the lunar calendar. The word in Persian means “new day” and refers to bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new (similar to the Han people’s Spring Festival), and marks the beginning of the new year. To celebrate it, each household tidies up the house, repairs livestock sheds, and prepare the appropriate food, which includes the congee made of wheat, beef, and cheese, and horse meat. The day of the festival, people visit each other’s homes and pray for a good life in the new year The festival has become especially popular in Altay .