First Contact Day is a holiday celebrated in the Federation on April 5, marking the anniversaries of the flight of the Phoenix and of first contact between Humans and Vulcans on April 5th, 2063 in Bozeman, Montana.

The holiday also shares the same date as the Day of Honor in the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Republic’s Republic Day. While not a major holiday, Naomi Wildman and Neelix planned an elaborate celebration aboard the USS Voyager in 2377, including cheese pierogies, rock and roll music, and a reenactment of the historic first contact by Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. The day often meant a day off from school for Federation youth. (VOY episode: “Homestead”, ST website: Startrek.com). In 2381, Admiral Leonard James Akaar planned to have the USS Titan relaunched on First Contact Day, as part of a morale-boosting effort following the Borg Invasion earlier that year. (TNG novel: Losing the Peace). First Contact Day was a holiday celebrated to honor both the warp 1 flight of the Phoenix and first open contact between Humans and Vulcans (Star Trek: First Contact). On Earth, children were given a day off from school, a fact that Captain Kathryn Janeway remembered was really the only way it was celebrated.

Naomi Wildman and Neelix planned the 315th observation of the event aboard the USS Voyager. The festivities included Zefram Cochrane’s favorite food, cheese pierogies, and rock and roll music on Tom Paris’s jukebox. At Neelix’s insistence, Tuvok gave the Vulcan salute while reciting the greeting given by the Vulcans during first contact: “Live long and prosper.” He did not see the point of it, but everyone in attendance applauded. (VOY: “Homestead”). Star Trek: First Contact co-writer Ronald D. Moore chose the date for first contact in honor of his son, Jonathan, whose birthday is April 5th. First Contact Day was also cited in the first draft of the script for ENT: “Fusion” (which had the working title “Equilibrium”). In that script, Trip Tucker told Fraht about this holiday, commenting about it, “‘That’s kind of dull… just an excuse for kids to get the day off from school.”

Links:
Federation, Earth celebrations – First Contact Day

First Contact Day

Origin Of First Contact Day Explained