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7 December: what is celebrated today
7 December is a day of contrasts, from the roar of engines to the whisper of spinning sugar. On this date, the sky, art, and the senses come together: civil aviation is honoured, the sweetness of candyfloss is celebrated, the exuberance of the baroque is exalted, and in Colombia, thousands of candles are lit to welcome Christmas.
International Civil Aviation Day
The UN established 7 December as a global day to recognise the work of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), created in 1944, and the importance of air transport in connecting peoples.
Every flight is a small conquest of the sky, a demonstration of technical cooperation and mutual trust between nations. Under the current motto “Safe Skies. Sustainable Future: Together for the Next 80 Years”, we are reminded that flying is not only a technological achievement, but a commitment to sustainability and reducing emissions.
Over these 80 years, aviation has gone from being a dream of pioneers to becoming a pillar of globalisation. Thousands of aircraft cross the skies every day, carrying ideas, humanitarian aid and dreams. Civil Aviation Day celebrates that invisible network that links continents and people.
World Cotton Candy Day
The same 7 December celebrates the sweet that brightens parks, fairs and festivities: World Cotton Candy Day. Born in fifteenth-century Italy and perfected by American inventors in 1899, cotton candy is pure alchemy: melted sugar transformed into edible clouds.
Light, fleeting and colourful, this sweet evokes childhood and shared joy. In many countries, it remains a symbol of popular celebration. Its scent of freshly made caramel takes us back to days when happiness could fit into a simple pink spiral.
Baroque Pride Day
Since 2017, 7 December has also been Baroque Pride Day, a celebration born on social media that pays tribute to the ornate and theatrical beauty of Baroque art.
The date recalls the birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598), the sculptor and architect who turned Rome into a stage of moving marble. In museums and on digital platforms, artists and art lovers share images, quotations and Baroque details: a style that sought to astonish, move and show the greatness of the human spirit.
#OrgulloBarroco asserts the right to emotion in the face of uniformity: a call to celebrate the overflowing creativity that brings together art, faith and spectacle.
Day of the Little Candles (Colombia)
In Colombia, thousands of lights and lanterns are lit on 7 December to celebrate the Day of the Little Candles, one of the country’s most cherished traditions. On the night before the Immaculate Conception, entire families light streets, balconies and parks with small flames that announce the arrival of Christmas.
More than a religious celebration, it is a ritual of union and hope. Each lit candle symbolises a wish or gratitude, a way of driving away darkness and reminding us that light — like faith and joy — is shared.