Campaign to Recognize the Vesak Holiday in Washington State

We’d like to share an exciting initiative to support Washington State recognition of the Buddhist holiday of Vesak. Links for you to participate in this campaign appear below.

Vesak is observed by many Buddhist countries on the full moon in the month of May to commemorate Buddha Shakyamuni’s birth, enlightenment, and death. Vesak has been a common holiday since at least the fifth century. In 1950 Vesak was adopted as a common observance by the World Fellowship of Buddhists in 1950. In 1999 the United Nations adopted a resolution recognizing the Day of Vesak to acknowledge the contribution that Buddhism has made for over two and a half millennia. And now there is a proposal to ask the State of Washington to recognize the Vesak holiday.

State of Washington non-legal state holidays commemorate specific events, groups of people, individuals, ideas, holidays, and federally recognized days. There are currently 22 non-legal state holidays. These days are separate from legal state holidays.

Northwest Dharma Association’s Steve Wilhelm and George Draffan have been talking with Rabbi Jason Levine, Associate Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Here is a recent message from Rabbi Levine:

In the upcoming 2026 Washington State legislative session, our Jewish community is building a coalition of faith communities to support legislation that declares a number of holidays celebrated by religious minorities to be recognized in the state calendar. This bill is being introduced by Sen. Cortes and co-sponsored by Sen. Braun and Sen. Dhingra.

Building upon bills in recent years that declared Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha as non-legal state holidays, this multifaith effort continues this momentum to celebrate and educate about the vibrant religious diversity of Washington State. You can read more about this coalition effort, including which holidays are being proposed, in this brief. It is Senate Bill 5950 if you want to see the specific text. Please note that this current version only includes Jewish and Sikh holidays but the bill will be amended to include Bahá’í and Buddhist communities.

We are asking you to join this coalition in support of this bill and recognition of these holidays. Please submit this form to join the coalition, and share in what ways you are able to support this effort. A multi-faith coalition is immensely important to encourage lawmakers to lift up this issue and pass this bill, so please join as soon as the legislative session begins next week, and we want to show our lawmakers that there is widespread support.

Please reach out with any questions and concerns, and you are encouraged to forward this note to other houses of worship, organizations, and faith communities who may also want to celebrate the diversity of Washingtonians.

With immense gratitude,
Rabbi Jason Levine
Associate Director, Jewish Community Relations Council
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle

The Northwest Dharma Association encourages you to support this initiative. Email NWDA executive director George Draffan if you have questions.

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