Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday To Go

Day 9: White Sunday

Held on the second Sunday in October, this holiday is celebrated mostly in the Pacific. There is some debate as to its origins, as some tie it to a Christian adaptation of native harvest festivals, while other say it's a version of a family-based celebration that became widely significant after the influenza epidemic of 1918-19.

Or both could be wrong, as the first White Sunday celebrated by the The Congregational Christian Church in Samoa (former the London Missionary Society) happened in 1898 (albeit in June). Then as now it was a holiday honoring children, with church services focused on children and childhood. Kids also got presents and in a sort of Boxing Day twist, were granted special privileges usually held by adults only. There is also now a public holiday on the following Monday. In American Samoa, the holiday also causes traffic headaches and a shortage of cash at ATMs.

The name comes from the tradition of wearing white on the holiday, though some include red and blue elements to reflect the colors of the Samoan flag