Public holidays and celebrations in Great Britain

Public holidays and celebrations in Great Britain 

     There are fewer public holidays in Great Britain than in other European countries. They are: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday and Summer Bank Holiday. All of them (except New Year's Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day) are movable. Good Friday and Easter Monday depend on Easter Sunday, which falls on the псы Sunday after a fool moon on or after March 21. May Day falls on the first Monday in May. The Spring Bank Holiday - on the last Monday of May, Late Summer Bank Holiday - on the last Monday of August.

     Most of them are of religious origin. But now they have lost their religious significance and are simply days on which people relax and visit their friends.

     Public holidays in Great Britain are called bank holidays, because the banks as well as most of the offices and shops are closed.

     Christmas day, December 25^th, is probably the most exciting day of the year. The fun starts the night before, on the 24^th of December. Traditionally this is the day when people decorate their Christmas trees and their houses with holly and a bunch of mistletoe. Children hang a stocking at the end of the bed on Christmas Eve, hoping that Father Christmas will come down the chimney with toys and sweets, having parked his reindeer on the roof. You should leave a carrot on the mantelpiece for the reindeer. Before Christmas, groups of singers go from house to house. They collect money for charity and sing carols, traditional Christmas songs. Many churches hold a carol service on the Sunday before Christmas.

     Christmas is a family holiday. Relatives usually meet for the big dinner of stuffed turkey and Christmas pudding. Usually a coin or two will have been hidden inside the pudding, and part of the fun is to see who finds it. Afterwards everyone gives and receives presents.

     The 26^th of December was traditionally known as St Stephen's Day, but is more commonly known as Boxing Day. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. This money was then distributed to the poor and needy after Christmas. This is also the traditional day when servants get off from work and open up their tip box. This tradition began in the 19'"' century and has developed into a charitable day. This is the day when one visits friends and relatives, goes for a drive or a long walk or just sits around recovering from too much food and watching sport on television.

     New Year's Day is not as widely and enthusiastically observed as Christmas. Some people ignore it completely. Many others, however, do celebrate it one way or other, the type of celebration varying very much according to the local custom, family tradition or personal taste.

     The common celebration is a New Year party. This usually begins at about 8 o'clock and goes on until the early hours of the morning. There is usually a buffet supper of cold meat, pies, sandwiches, savouries, cakes, biscuits and a lot of drinking. At midnight the wireless is turned on so that everyone can hear the chimes of Big Ben, and on the hour a toast is drunk to the New Year.

     The most famous celebration is in London round the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus where crowds gather and sing and welcome the New Year. Those who have no desire or no opportunity to celebrate the New Year can watch other people celebrating it.

     January 1^st, New Year's Day, is the traditional time for making 'New Year's resolutions', for example, to give up smoking, or to get up earlier. However, these are rarely put into practice.

     Though New Year's Day in England is not very popular, in Scotland Hogmanay (the name the Scots gave to the last day of the year) is the biggest festival of the year. At midnight everyone joins hands in a large circle and sing Auld Lang Syne (in memory of the past) composed to the words of Rober Burns. During the early hours of the morning neighbours go from house to house to wish each other a happy New Year. Good or bad luck depends on the first-footer, who is the first person to visit you in the morning. He brings symbolic gifts of food or fuel or money as token of prosperity. You will be lucky during the New Year if your first-footer is a dark-haired man.

     Easter is a Christian holy day in March or April. On Good Friday Christians remember the death of Christ on the cross and on Easter Sunday they celebrate Christ's rising from death and victory over death. Many Christians go to church on this day.

fairies and demons of all kinds. People used to believe that the souls of the dead revisited their homes on this day and they set huge bonfires on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. "Gradually, Halloween lost the original religious meaning and became a day for games played by children.

     Children have parties on this day and often make a pumpkin lantern. This symbol of Halloween is called jack-oMantern. A pumpkin is emptied out and cut to look like a fierce face, and a lighted candle is fixed inside.

     In the country some children still go from house to house, often in costumes, demanding 'trick ^^r treat'. They usually receive their treat, which is often some sweet, so they do not have to play the trick.

     Guy Fawkes Day takes place on the 5 ^th of November. On that day, in 1605, Guy Fawkes and some conspirators tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. He didn't succeed. The plot was discovered; Guy Fawkes was taken to the Tower to be executed.

     On this day English children carry dummies about the streets. These dummies are made of straw and dressed in an old coat and a hat, with a mask for a face and called 'guy'. Children knock at the doob and say, 'Penny for the guy'. If they collect enough money they can buy some fireworks. In the evening fireworks are let off, a bonfire is made, and the dummies are burnt in it. j fairies and demons of all kinds. People used to believe that the souls of the dead revisited their homes on this day and they set huge bonfires on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. "Gradually, Halloween lost the original religious meaning and became a day for games played by children.

     Children have parties on this day and often make a pumpkin lantern. This symbol of Halloween is called jack-oMantern. A pumpkin is emptied out and cut to look like a fierce face, and a lighted candle is fixed inside.

     In the country some children still go from house to house, often in costumes, demanding 'trick ^^r treat'. They usually receive their treat, which is often some sweet, so they do not have to play the trick.

     Guy Fawkes Day takes place on the 5 ^th of November. On that day, in 1605, Guy Fawkes and some-conspirators tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. He didn't succeed. The plot was discovered; Guy Fawkes was taken to the Tower to be executed.

     On this day English children carry dummies about the streets. These dummies are made of straw and dressed in an old coat and a hat, with a mask for a face and called 'guy'. Children knock at the doob and say, 'Penny for the guy'. If they collect enough money they can buy some fireworks. In the evening fireworks are let off, a bonfire is made, and the dummies are burnt in it. «