The Business of Celebrations

The Business of Celebrations

By Matt Cherry

Happy Solstice!

In the Northern Hemisphere today has the greatest number of daylight hours and the sun reaches its maximum elevation in the sky. Usually the solstice is on June 21 – the official first day of summer – but this is a rare year when it starts on the 20th.

OK, so only an astronomy geek like me would be excited by that. But most people get excited by holidays of one sort of another, whether its days that mark the changing seasons, or the anniversaries of historic events. In fact, holidays are so important in our lives, that business people can make a lot of money by catering to them.

Holidays abound. In fact there are more holidays than there are days in the year. Some holidays are national or international, while others are particular to specific religions and ethnicities. Some holidays bring the whole community together to celebrate common values – such as Independence Day in the USA. (In my home country of Britain, we celebrate July 4 as Good  Riddance Day – just kidding.) Some holiday focus on distinct communities, think of Black History Month in February. And some focus on a particular cause or issue: did you miss World Environment Day on June 5?

The two biggest holidays for dollars spent in stores are Christmas and Halloween. But if you are selling barbecue grills, it’s Independence Day when your sales rocket; and restaurants are busiest on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

I run a not-for-profit startup business for a community I identify with: non-religious Americans. So I recently developed an online resource for secular holidays and celebrations. Many of these are inclusive events that everyone can enjoy, whatever their religion or beliefs. Some are designed specifically for humanists, atheists, and other freethinking people who live without traditional religion. All of them provide positive opportunities for celebration for an increasingly diverse society. The website is called Secular Seasons and it has received nationwide media coverage – not only helping people but also getting them interested in my organization.

And if you go to Chase’s Calendar of Events – the reference book most journalists use to look up holidays – you’ll see that Shannon Cherry, the blogger behind StartUp Spark, has her very own holiday, called “Be Heard Day”, on March 7.

So if you are a business, think about how you can best celebrate a holiday: by using it to get more attention and customers.

Matt Cherry is executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies and co-author of Humanism in Business (Cambridge University Press, 2008.)

Photo courtesy of the Institute for Humanist Studies