Whit Tuesday coincides with the Echternach dancing procession, which features on the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

According to parliament, starting in 2019, on this day pupils and students will work on educational materials structured around the country’s heritage. Cultural organisations may also host heritage events in relation to the date.

If the school chooses, youngsters can also take part in the Echternach procession as a whole. These activities will be organised in the years when Whit Tuesday does not fall during a school holiday, such as in 2019, as well as every four years.

The heritage day discussions took place on Wednesday, months after a petition garnered more than 4,500 signatures, prompting a discussion between committees representing education, culture and the economy. The petition was launched by Echternach mayor Jos Scheuer (LSAP), and focused on a call to make Whit Tuesday a public holiday so that teachers and pupils could participate in the dancing procession. MPs did not find consensus regarding granting a school holiday to coincide with the procession, despite the fact that around 2,400 pupils take this year.

Also on Wednesday, health and legal committee representatives considered the legalisation of recreational cannabis, after close to 7,500 people signed a petition in support and ministers debated it in parliament on 26 July. Members agreed to wait until the new government was in place before deciding on concrete action.