Is 1 September really Spring Day?
Today is the first day of Spring! But do any of us know why?
Flowers everywhere, the sun is shining, bees are buzzing, and birds are singing, which means one thing - Spring has finally arrived!
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Although it might be raining, we're not letting it stop us from celebrating the first day of the 'better' part of the year.
Most of us grow up just knowing that the 1st of September is Spring Day, we don't know how or why, but we do.
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This had us wondering: why exactly do we celebrate the first day of Spring?
Turns out that technically the first day of September isn't even the first natural day of spring.
That only happens later in the month, on the 22nd of September this year, and is determined by when the Earth's equator passes through the centre of the Sun.
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This leads to night and day being the same length once a year.
Now the reason 1 September is seen as the official Spring Day is because of astronomical reasons.
Way back in 1780, a group of international meteorologists decided they were going to break the calendar year into four quarters.
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Usually, South Africans celebrate Spring Day by traveling to the West Coast and viewing the wildflowers that have now begun to bloom.
Worldwide, people choose to celebrate Spring Day in different ways.
In the USA, they have the White House Easter Egg Roll, in Northern India, they have one of the most popular and colourful festivals in the world, Holi, and in Japan, they have their Cherry Blossoms Festival.
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So don't let the bad weather stop you from celebrating Spring!
Main image courtesy of East Coast Radio
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