From cruises to festivals, this year is abounding in celebrations for the community of “Leap Day Babies.”
Raenell Dawn suffers from what she ’s coined EBS , or “ Empty Box Syndrome”—that is , the painful sensation of having a natal day you ca n’t stigmatize on a calendar square . The chances that someone is born on February 29 is 1 in 1,461 , and with that uncommon differentiation can come feelings of isolation , as well as more routine struggle . But Dawn also sees her position as providing correspondence and concordance . “ It ’s the appointment that keeps all the other date in line with the seasons , ” she says . “ It ’s because of my birthday that your birthday happens in the same season every twelvemonth . ”
It take planet Earth just slightly more than 365 solar day to orbit the sun , and that extra 6 time of day or so require to be account for in the Gregorian calendar . A single leap day in February earn up for those miss quarter days of the last four years , allowing for equinoxes and solstices to delay aligned with the seasons . During non - leap age , Leap Day Babies like Dawn incline to celebrate their birthday on either February 28 or March 1 . “ I do both , ” she joke . “ Because I can . ”
In 1988 , Dawn jell up a birthday club called “ Leap Year Babies Limited , The Limited Edition to the Human Race . ” She contacted as many radio stations as she could in her hometown of Los Angeles , sat down for a few audience , and invited Leap Day Babies to come to her star sign for a communal birthday party . Four hoi polloi showed up that year — a emblematic number , she notice — though the lodge would eventually grow to include more than 12,000 member in 126 countries .
“Leap Day Babies” celebrating their birthdays in Anthony, Texas.|Town of Anthony, Texas
There exists a kind of poetic comradeliness among the Leap Day Baby community . For one , they ’ve developed their own patois . Aleaplingis a new-sprung Leap Day Baby;Leapest Regards , is like “ Deepest Regards , ” but deeper;Leapificationis the process by which someone or something is made aware of the importance of Leap Day . But as is the case in any radical , there is a hierarchy . Leapyearbabies — those who were born at any meter during a historic leap twelvemonth — are an alone dissimilar category .
And then there ’s a sense of divvy up suffering . “ One of the members of the club say at midnight [ on February 28 ] he jump up , and when he lands , says that was his natal day , while he was up in the air , ” Dawn says . “ There are Leap Day Babies with alarm story about their parents enjoin thing like , ‘ If you do n’t clean your elbow room , I ’m take your birthday off the calendar . ’ And they show the minor the calendar next yr saying , ‘ Look , birthday ’s locomote . ’ ” Some members have cover medico lawlessly changing their birthdays to February 28 or March 1 , to save them the inevitable fuss .
Dawn ’s golf-club , which is now pronounce the “ Honor Society of Leap Day Babies ” and run mostly on Facebook , tries to focus on the positive . It ’s write of member who are eager to plan meet - ups around the world . “ Hi fellow Leap Year Day babies , ” one post reads . “ Our natal day is make closer and I am look for fellow leaplings to spend our special day with . ” They were look for someone near Hermiston , Oregon , though they would have also had their selection of consequence taking position inboth Disneys , Vegas , and New York City ( not to mention Australia , Europe , the UK , and Canada . )
Anthony, Texas was declared the “Leap Year Capital of the World” in 1988.|Leap Year Capital of the World
But perhaps the most important meeting place for Leap Day babies around the earth is Anthony , Texas . The slight town , which sit on the border of Texas andNew Mexico , is regarded as the “ Leap Year Capital of the World ” for no material reason , other than the fact that Anthony resident and a Leap Day Baby named Mary Ann Brown think it was a skillful idea and asked .
In 1988 , Brown and her neighbour , Birdie Lewis , also a Leap Day Baby by miraculous fate , approached the Chamber of Commerce with the mind of a leap class fete to give the town local recognition and drive tax revenue . Perhaps because it had not yet been claim , the governors of both New Mexico and Texas thought , Why not?and impart the town its current title . Pete Domenici , senator of New Mexico at the clock time , inscribe the request into the Congressional Record of the United States , whereby Congress and the president joined in on the annunciation .
The historical Worldwide Leap Year Festival drew in visitant from around the world who came to take in parades , birthday dinners , and even hot air balloon rides . Rockstar Graham Nash compensate the town a visit in 2000 , with his Leap Day Baby wife , Susan , and performed a concert for all attendees . For cause that are unreadable but some say involve funding yield , the town stopped throwing the fete in 2016 . But this year , under the steering of Anthony ’s mayor — aptly discover Anthony Turner — it ’s getting uprise .
Margaret Evaro, Joe Vialpando, Mary Ann Brown, and Birdie Lewis posing for a newspaper article in 2011.|Leap Year Capital of the World
“ There ’s always unlike ideas as to why one particular thing did n’t stay on , ” says Turner . “ But as for myself , I believe it ’s a in effect thing to bring the festival back so the citizens of Anthony have something to look forward to and to be proud of — not just the simple fact that we are the gateway to Texas , but that wondrous face that we are Leap Year Capital . ”
This year’sLeap Year Festivalwill commence with a complimentaryRollin ’ Smoke BBQ dinnerfor Leap Day babe on the freehanded Clarence Day , February 29th . The event will then open up to the public , with performances bySonora SkandaloandSonora Dinamita , a chip of Lucha Libre wrestling , carnival games , and intellectual nourishment and trade marketer all throughout the weekend . Mayor Turner hopes the festival will bring in some foreign visitant , too . “ I have it away in the past there has been a expectant number of international individuals , peculiarly England and the likes of the domain , ” he order .
Meanwhile , for those who ’d rather party out on the high ocean , there ’s theLeap Day Birthday Bash , onboardRoyal Caribbean’sFreedom of the Seas to CocoCay andNassau , Bahamas(Feb 26 to March 1 ) . This will be Karen Tinsley - Sroka ’s second go at organizing the epic meet - up . “ I always require to forgather others who portion out my natal day , but the means to do so just did n’t exist , ” she read . “ I had get a line that the Anthony fete was not cash in one’s chips to happen in 2020 because the original personal organiser was ill . So in 2020 , I organized our first Leap Day Birthday sail . ” Out of 217 attendees , 78 were Leap Day Babies — a ratio that has pretty much hold since .
“Leap Day Babies” from around the world gathered for a cruise in 2020.|Photo courtesy of Karen Tinsley-Sroka
Through this cruise , Tinsley - Sroka hopes to make the Guinness World Record for the most Leap Day Babies lionize their natal day together . “ Us Leap Day Babies have LeapBrothers and LeapSisters all over the cosmos , ” she says . “ While the average individual probably knows a fistful or fewer people born on the same day as them , Tinsley - Sroka sent out 85 " Happy Birthday " Facebook posts on her special day last year .
While Dawn , the Facebook group organizer , is often invited to take part in such IRL festivities , she choose to spend the months lead up to the day at domicile . “ My goal is not to party like it ’s 1999 , ” she says . “ My goal here is to get the watchword out , and this is my window . ”
She ’s made it her charge to raise awareness about all thing leap day , advocating for the date to be recognized in dictionary and calendars , just like Groundhog Day . She also want to call attention to the battle Leap Day Babies present with regard to birth certificates , insurance form , and other politics documents that do n’t adapt those born on February 29 .
As a silver liner , these thwarting also allow Leap Day Babies to be loose with their math . They sometimes lay claim both their actual age and their factual years divided by four , which is conveniently younger . This year , Dawn ’s turn 16 at 64 . “ My perfumed 16 , ” she say . “ Andthis time , I ’ve been kissed . ”
