Festivals

17. Festivals

Guy Fawkes day, also “Bonfire Night”

• 5th November

• English festival

• On this day people makes bonfires and fireworks

• History – Gunpowder plot

  • In 1605 on November 5th – Guy Fawkes with complicit tried to kill the King James I (the king of England) and blow up the Houses of Parliament

  • Why? – The King was a protestant, but mostly people were catholic, and they wanted a catholic king – Guy Fawkes was catholic

  • They put 36 boxes of gunpowder in the Houses of Parliament

  • One of the Guy’s friend sent a note about the plan

  • It didn’t work - He was arrested and executed in The Tower of London

  • In January 1606 – people heard the news that the plotters were dead – they made many fires in the street to celebrate

• Today

  • Very noisy, very huge celebration

  • Hundreds of thousands of pounds are spent every year on fireworks

  • Children – “Penny for the guy” – money spent on fireworks

  • People do guy’s effigy – looks like Guy Fawkes – is burned on a fire

• Special food

  • Bonfire baked potatoes

  • Apples covered in toffee

• Complaints

  • Children could buy fireworks – now you have to be over 18 to by a firework

  • Animals get injured

  • Fireworks makes a lot of noise

Christmas Day – 25th December

Boxing Day – 26th December

New Years Day- 1st January

St Patrick’s Day – 17th March

All Fools Day – 1st April

Pancake Day – spring, “pancake races” in the streets

The Queen’s Official Birthday – June, great ceremony with parade

Every part of Britain has its own holiday

• St David’s Day – Wales, 1st March

• St Patrick’s Day – Ireland, 17th March

• St George’s Day – England, 23rd April

• St Andrew’s Day – Scotland, 30th November

Halloween

• 31st October

• All Hallows’ Eve = the evening before All Saints’ Day (1st November)

• American holiday, also celebrated in the UK

• Symbol

  • Pumpkin, witches, ghosts, goblins, skeletons, spiders...

• Activities

  • Trick-or-treating – children in costumes go from house to house and ask for treats (candy and etc.) – if they don’t get the treat, they are ready to carry out a harmless trick

  • Carving pumpkins and making jack-o’-lanterns – a carved pumpkin with a candle inside

• History

  • From Irish myth

  • A man nicknamed “Stingy Jack”

  • He was a greedy man and is not allowed into either – haven or hell

  • He was given a lantern by the God – and starts wanders around the word