June 24 Holidays

June 24 is the 175th day of the year. More than 15 holidays and observances fall on the date. Farmer Day was established to recognize the agricultural workers whose labor feeds the nation — a profession that has declined from 35 percent of the U.S. workforce in the 1930s to less than 2 percent today. Inti Raymi is the Inca festival of the sun, observed on June 24 at Sacsayhuamán near Cusco, Peru, reconstructed since 1944 as a civic celebration of Andean heritage. Jani is the Latvian midsummer festival, a night of bonfires, flowers, cheese, and singing tied to the summer solstice — Latvia’s most beloved holiday. National Handshake Day celebrates the handshake as a symbol of trust and goodwill whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia as a signal of peaceful intent. This page is refreshed each year as new observances are added.