Festivals, traditions, customs and habits in the UK, the USA and the ČR

Sr. Patrick’s Day - 17th March - the patron of Ireland

St. George’s Day - 23rd April - the patron of England

The Queen’s Official Birthday - Saturday after 9th June

St. Andrew’s Day - 30th November - the patron of Scotland

1. USA

Habits in USA came from UK so they are in some things similar, but the most of people in USA celebrate all festivals in private in their homes. Each of holidays is in American opportunity for inviting a lot of friends, but also strangers, to your hose, which undergoes26 a thorough cleaning and is decorated, before the party, in keeping with the celebration. At the party, people leave behind their feeling of loneliness and forget about the usual worries, however boring party may be.

Here is the list of holidays, that are different from celebration in UK and some holidays, that are originally American.

1. New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day

almost the same, but no swimming in fountains on Trafalgar square

1. Lent

is not usually held

1. Remembrance Sunday

in USA is this called Veterans Day

1. Christmas

in America Christmas are more commercial than all over the world

Santa Claus is modern - so he can use a helicopter and land before supermarket

small children can carry cans27 of food to the zoo, for a change, which advertised a project “Christmas Also for Animals”

the fairy-tale atmosphere which all Americans, irrespective of age, love so much is created by thousand of electric lights - people use them to decorate houses on the outside. They make glittering coloured gables28, paths and streets

1. Special American holidays

In the USA there are some holidays, that are only “American”

1. Independence Day

celebrated till Declaration of Independence on 4th July 1776

marks the birth of a free and independent United States of America

each city organises its own ceremony - parades and festivals of all kinds - outdoor stage shows, boat races, various funny competitions (three-legged races - a race between pairs in which each contestant has 1 leg tied to 1 of his/her partner’s leg, water-melon eating contests, etc.), folk dancing and lively music everywhere

in the evening, there are fireworks to illuminate the skies

1. Thanksgiving Day

first celebrated in 1621 by those of Pilgrim Fathers (English colonists who settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620), who survived hard winter of 1620-1621 and they wanted to thank the God

until 1863 celebrated irregularly and on the regional basis, but President Lincoln’s National Thanksgiving Proclamation made it a part of American tradition

today it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November

on this day is big family dinner consists of roast turkey with dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, milk and coffee

1. Other American holidays

Martin Luther King Day

President’s Day

Memorial Day

Labour Day - a first Monday in September observed as a public holiday

Columbus Day

1. ČR

Czech Republic has other traditions than GB or USA so some festivals are different or they are not celebrated, but nowadays some American traditions are used in our country. Before few years nobody knows what is Halloween, but today some families celebrate this.