A Moveable Feast is a term used by Ernest Hemingway to describe the constant movement and glamor of Paris. It also refers to holidays that don’t fall on the same date every year, such as Easter and Passover, and those that occur on the same day of the week, like Thanksgiving. Some fixed holidays, like Christmas, occur on the same date each year.
Ernest Hemingway wrote his memoirs about his years in Paris in the 1920s, entitling the book A Moveable Feast. The term far predates Hemingway’s use of it, though no doubt it encountered its true meaning, especially in the strongly Catholic nation of France. Hemingway uses the term to describe the constant movement and glamor of Paris, instead of using it more accurately to refer to certain religious holidays.
A movable feast is best understood when one realizes that a feast day is often synonymous with a holy day or feast. In many religions, there are some holidays that don’t fall on the same date every year. In the Christian religion, for example, Easter is celebrated on different dates, and the formula for determining it is complex because it is not coherent. In Western Christianity, Easter tends to occur a week after the Easter celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. So not only is Easter a moveable holiday, occurring from early March to late April, there’s no consensus on when it should be celebrated.
There are many Jewish holidays that are also moveable holidays such as Passover, which can sometimes coincide with the commemoration of the Christian Last Supper, which is traditionally described as taking place during a Passover feast. This also varies, and the Jewish determination of any of its High Holy Days has nothing to do with Christian celebrations commemorating the life of Jesus. Chanukah is also a movable holiday, with a specific number of days ascribed to its celebration each year.
In contrast to movable feasts are those which are fixed. Christmas, for example, occurs the same year, December 25th. It is unclear why this is the date set for Christmas, since evidence suggests that Jesus was born in the spring. Christianity may have chosen this specific date to replace earlier holidays such as winter solstice celebrations which occur at around the same time, thus making Christianity more palatable to non-converts.
The definition of a movable holiday also includes the statement that the holiday must occur on the same day of the week, even if the date differs from year to year. This last part is sometimes ignored when people define a moveable holiday as flexible. One day that is not specifically a holy day, and is nevertheless a movable holiday is Thanksgiving. This is designated as the last Thursday of each November, but the actual date changes each year. Also, the date of Thanksgiving in Canada is different than in the United States.
In addition to movable holidays, there are many holidays that fall on the same day each year, but they may not buy you time off work when the holiday actually occurs. For example, Veterans Day is always November 11, but for added convenience, businesses or schools may choose to close the Monday before or Friday after Veteran’s Day to offer workers or students a three-day weekend .
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