Egypt Marks Mother's Day

Today, March 21, Egypt marks Mother's Day, which is a global day honoring and celebrating the vital role of mothers in society.

On the most popular day around the world, Egyptians hold many huge events to celebrate mothers and honor them with the love they deserve.

Traditionally, Egyptian families come together to celebrate it with music, food, and flowers.

They play remarkable songs to serenade their mothers, even waking them up with a song to start the day.

One of the most popular choices of the song is Syrian star Fayza Ahmed's “Set El Habib”. The evenings are full of food, bringing plenty of Egyptian and Arab cousins to serve together or going out to eat.

Apart from food, the traditional celebrations also include gifts and card making and giving. Children and school students make, decorate, and write wish cards, which are hand-made cards with paper flowers. It's actually the busiest day of the year for malls in Cairo!

The modern Mother's Day, as many Egyptians and many people from all over the world know it, was actually originated in America by Anna Jarvis in 1907.

The American social activist campaigned for a day to celebrate mothers as a tribute to her own mother, who passed away in 1905.

Jarvis's campaign continued until 1911, when Mother's Day became a recognized holiday and was observed on this date every March across every state in the USA.

Mother's Day is growing in popularity. Soon, card firms created greeting cards and the tradition of buying flowers and presents became part of the norm. Carnation flowers also became associated with Mother's Day in particular, as they were Anna Jarvis' mother's favorite flower.

In the 1950s, Egypt celebrated it for the first time to highlight the significant role mothers and women play in society.