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In 2011, the UN General Assembly decided to establish a new memorable date – the International Day of Friendship. The great thinkers of the past argued that life without friendship is nothing, and excluding it from life is like depriving the world of sunlight, that friendship is valued on a par with wisdom and surpasses talent. Each of us – seven and a half billion people on the planet – has some kind of memory associated with this feeling. Friendship at all times was revered as the greatest moral measure and value. Examples of sincere emotional attachment can be found in any historical era; it adorned the lives of statesmen and military leaders, writers and artists. Often, friendship between two famous personalities, such as Catherine the Great and Princess Dashkova, contributed to the development of a vast country, served for the benefit of an entire people. And today, friendly feelings do not just unite people, they give us support and support, serve as a source of creative inspiration, and contribute to the birth of new works of art and literature.
When is the holiday celebrated
This friendly holiday is celebrated July 30. International Friendship Day in 2022 will be celebrated in dozens of countries around the world.
history of the holiday
The prerequisite for the emergence of a new date, the International Day of Friendship, was the Declaration and Program of Action in the field of a culture of peace and the international decade for a culture of peace and non-violence, covering the period from 2001 to 2010. Summing up the results of this full-scale action, the UN – at its 65th session in April 2011 – proposed to choose the appropriate day on the calendar – July 30, and at the same time states and international organizations should focus on holding all kinds of events aimed at developing dialogue and mutual understanding between countries. Humanity was asked to remember that we all, regardless of race, gender, religion, are a single family on our only planet…
The significance of the International Day of Friendship cannot be overestimated, since the modern world still faces a large number of challenges – hunger and poverty, violence, violation of human rights, intolerance of people towards each other. Friendship Day is aimed at reducing xenophobia in society, improving mutual understanding between representatives of various nationalities and religions.
Holiday traditions
Due to the fact that the holiday is celebrated in many countries of the world, the traditions associated with it in each state have developed different, depending on the customs of the local culture. In Our Country, for example, on Friendship Day, events are held to strengthen relations between nations. On city squares, on impromptu stages, young actors act out theatrical performances with national color, various competitions and quizzes are held. In some regions, dance battles are held on July 30th. Children are waiting for games and attractions, they are entertained by clowns and heroes of their favorite cartoons, the most popular of which is, of course, the cat Leopold.
One of the main goals of the holiday is to attract young people to social activities aimed at the perception of various cultural trends, views and lifestyles. Youth flash mobs and processions, specialized exhibitions and concerts are traditionally timed to the date of July 30th.
Postcrossing, an international online project for the exchange of postcards and stamps, has been successfully operating in the world for several years now. This is a hobby that unites thousands of people from different parts of the world.
Interesting Facts
International Friendship Day, established by the UN, is not the only holiday of its kind. June 9 is the International Day of Friends, June 25 is the Day of Friendship and Unity of the Slavs, July 3 is the Day of Secret Friendship. There is even a Day of meeting with old friends on the calendar – this is September 26 and the Friendship Day immediately following it. And, for example, in neighboring Belarus, on May 19, 80 percent of schoolchildren aged 7 to 17 celebrate Pioneer Friendship Day. You can still delve into the calendar and find other amazing dates, one way or another related to friendship. If in Moscow they managed to erect a monument to the legendary Druzhba cheese!
By the way, by the way, “warm” relations are really characteristic not only for people – horses, chimpanzees, elephants, sharks and dolphins are friends with their own kind.
And here are some more scientific facts about friendship – after all, scientists have devoted a lot of time to studying this phenomenon.
Thus, researchers argue that friendship prolongs life and protects a person from various diseases. This is probably why children begin to establish contact with their peers literally from the cradle.
Representatives of the beautiful half of humanity need friends much more than men.
And according to a recent sociological study, the Australian Sydney is the friendliest of the cities, Brazilians and Filipinos are recognized as the most sociable of nationalities.
Friendship in movies and books
The theme of friendship is widely represented in literary works, starting with the same myths of Ancient Greece. It served as an occasion for domestic classics to create genuine masterpieces: Tolstoy – “War and Peace”, Goncharov – “Oblomov”, Turgenev – “Fathers and Sons”. The Three Musketeers by Dumas and the Three Comrades by Remarque are also all about her, about friendship. And even Uspensky’s “Three from Prostokvashino” explore all shades of this feeling. From films on the theme of friendship, the old and good “Faithful Friends”, “Girls”, “Different Fates”, “Old Robbers”, “Mimino” and a lot of modern film stories are immediately remembered.