british_culture

BRITISH CULTURE – HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS

Easter, Halloween, Guy Fawkes night, Christmas Day, St. Valentine´s Day…these days are celebrated in Britain.
Christmas
Christmas is the biggest festival of the year in most of Britain. Celebrations start properly on 24th December, Christmas Eve, although there have been several weeks of preparation beforehand.
Christmas is a family celebration and many of the customs centre on children. When they go to bed on Christmas Eve, they hang up a stocking on the fireplace. When children are asleep, so the custom goes, Father Christmas comes. He travels from the North Pole in a sleigh which is pulled by reindeer. On Christmas Day morning children open the presents that were in their stocking.
Their traditional Christmas dinner consists of roast turkey with potatoes and vegetables. This is followed by Christmas pudding. Before the dinner people usually pull crackers. How the rest of the day is spent varies a lot from family to family and may include opening the rest of the presents that are under the tree, playing games, going for a walk…
26th December is called Boxing Day. On Boxing Day most people go out to see friends, watch sports events, go to the theatre to see a pantomime….During Christmas time people sing carols and songs.
Halloween (31th October)
In Britain is celebrated only in the North of England and Scotland, but is generally celebrated in the USA and Canada. On 31th October is the day when children are dressed in costumes (witches, ghosts). They have baskets or bags and they go to their friends and neighbors to get some sweets. They knock at the doors and say "trick or treat". When they get nothing they go away and are very noisy or they spill flour on the front of doorsteps. Symbols of Halloween are ghostly pumpkins.
Easter
The date of Easter is different every year. It’s celebrated after the first full moon in spring. It is a Christian festival which commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Many people go to church. Children wake up early on Easter Sunday and they find candy and decorative eggs which The Easter Bunny has hid for them in the house and the garden. The symbols of Easter are eggs and rabbits. They symbolize the fertility and rebirth.
Guy Fawkes Day (5th November)
This tradition is celebrated on 5th November. Children make a dummy of straw and old clothes. A dummy called "Guy" (like Guy Fawkes, one of the plotters who wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5th November in 1605) is burned on a fire.
Valentine’s Day (14th February)
It is celebrated on 14th February. It is the day to show your love to the ones that you care about.
One of the symbols for this day is Cupid, the Roman god of love. This day has roots in several legends that have been passed from one generation to another.
For example the legend about Christian priest Valentine who was thrown in prison for his faith and for spreading it among people. He loved the jailer’s daughter and before he was beheaded he had written a farewell letter to her signing it "From Your Valentine"
Every part of Britain has its own holiday:
St.David’s Day – March 1st (Wales)
St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th (Ireland)
St. George’s Day – April 23rd (England)
St. Andrew’s Day – November 30th (Scotland)