21 December: what is celebrated today

World Meditation Day

Celebrated for the first time in 2024 following the UN proclamation, World Meditation Day invites a gesture as simple as it is revolutionary: stopping. On a planet that accelerates without respite, meditating is an act of resistance and tenderness towards oneself. It is a return to the present, to that small refuge where the mind ceases to be a whirlwind and silence becomes an ally.

Modern science has shown that this ancient practice reduces stress, improves mental health and strengthens attention. But beyond the data, meditating is also an ethical commitment: a way of reconnecting with empathy and collective consciousness. When we breathe calmly, the whole world breathes with us. Thus, this day becomes a metaphor for the balance humanity so greatly needs.

World Basketball Day

Born on an improvised court in 1891 by the Canadian James Naismith, basketball today celebrates its universal dimension. The UN recognises it as a vehicle for inclusion, respect and cooperation: a game that, rather than confrontations, creates bonds. Every pass, every jump, every basket is a team choreography that translates the values of equality and perseverance into movement.

In thousands of cities, from dusty streets to gleaming stadiums, the same hoops rise as symbols of opportunity and effort. This day recalls that sport shapes not only bodies, but also consciences. Basketball, with its rhythm and shared energy, teaches us that collective harmony always surpasses individualism.

Winter Solstice

The sun stops — that is literally what the word “solstice” means — and with it, time seems to stop too. In the northern hemisphere, winter opens with its longest night, the prelude to a rebirth that will arrive with spring. Ancient civilisations celebrated this moment as the return of light: bonfires, songs, dances and offerings to invoke the sleeping sun.

Each culture interprets it in its own way: in Iran, fruit and poetry are shared during Yalda Night; in Japan, fires are lit for the goddess Amaterasu; in Scandinavia, Saint Lucia is honoured with crowns of candles. At heart, all traditions tell the same story: the hope that, after darkness, brightness always returns. The solstice is not only an astronomical phenomenon, but a spiritual lesson about the cycles of the soul.

Summer Solstice

While the north gives itself over to the rest of cold weather, the southern hemisphere celebrates the fullness of the sun. The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year, a symbol of expansion, fertility and celebration. In South America, Indigenous peoples greet the sun king with rituals of fire and dance; in Cuzco, Inti Raymi revives the ancient Inca homage to the god of the Sun; in Bolivia, Willkakuti announces the rebirth of a new agricultural cycle.

The southern summer recalls that all abundance entails gratitude, and that light does not shine without its opposite shadow. Where the sun reaches its highest point, all humanity recognises the eternal wheel of time. In both hemispheres, December is the same song: bidding farewell to one cycle, receiving another.

International Short Film Day

Coinciding with the shortest day of the year, this celebration pays tribute to cinema's small great stories. Short films condense into a few minutes all the emotion, conflict and beauty that a life can contain. They are narrative flashes, exercises in synthesis and creative courage, where the limits of time become a space of freedom.

“The Shortest Day” is celebrated in different countries with screenings, festivals and meetings between filmmakers. Beyond the industry, it is a celebration of ingenuity and imagination, an invitation to look at the world from another angle. Because sometimes, a brief story can illuminate more than an endless speech.

World Snowboard Day

Born in the mountains of Michigan as a children's game, snowboarding became a form of art on snow. It is balance, speed and challenge. But it is also a dance with nature: whoever descends a white slope experiences a mixture of freedom and humility before the immensity of the landscape.

This day brings together athletes and dreamers beneath the same frozen horizon. Age and ability do not matter: the spirit of snowboarding lies in daring to glide, to fall, to get up. Like life itself, this sport teaches that control is an illusion and that what matters is to flow.

National Day of Mayan Culture (Mexico)

In Mexico, 21 December coincides with a sacred date in the Mayan calendar: the winter solstice. It is therefore dedicated to honouring one of the most brilliant civilisations of the American continent. The Maya, observers of the sky and guardians of time, understood the cosmos as a fabric in which every being had its function.

Celebrating their legacy means recalling the balance between humanity and nature, the wisdom of calendars, the poetry of carved stones and the profound spirituality of their rituals. In Yucatán and other regions, National Day of Mayan Culture is experienced as an encounter with one's roots, an opportunity to listen once again to the ancestral pulse of time.

National Day for Children with Cancer (Spain)

Behind this date lies a call for empathy. In Spain, National Day for Children with Cancer seeks to give visibility to a painful reality that is also full of hope. Every year, around 900 families face the diagnosis, and alongside treatments comes the need for faith, patience and unwavering love.

Thanks to medical advances, most childhood cases now have a favourable prognosis. But beyond the figures, this day recalls something essential: no child should go through their illness alone. Solidarity, research and emotional support are the true medicine that sustains life.