May Day The holiday of the coming of spring

1.

2. May Day The holiday of the coming of spring

• 1st May is a traditional celebration of
the coming of spring, when many
outdoor events are held, and at
which a May Queen may be elected.
The girl chosen as the most beautiful
on May Day is usually crowned with
a garland of flowers and often driven
in procession through the streets.
An open-air sale of goods, many of
them home made, is held, and it is
usually accompanied by sports
contests, children’s entertainments
and games.
Some villages have a maypole. This
is a tall pole with ribbons hanging
from the top. Children dance round
it, holding the ribbons.
There are still a good many
maypoles today; people maintain
traditions.

3. St. Valentine’s Day The holiday of love

• February 14 is the day for lovers!
Boys and girls, sweethearts and
lovers, husbands and wives,
friends and neighbours, and even
the office staff exchange greetings
of affection. Valentine’s Day is a
whirl of hearts, candy and good
wishes in the form of bright, lacy,
colourful cards, with loving
emblems and amorous doggerel,
saying, ‘Be my Valentine’.

4. Cruft’s Dog Show The holiday of the dog

Britain is a nation of animal
lovers. No wonder that dog
shows always attract a lot of
enthusiasts. Cruft’s Dog Show
at Earls Court, London, is
internationally known. It has
about 15000 entrants. Dog
breeders from all over the
world bring their dogs to take
part in it. The winning
ceremony is shown on
television and reported on the
news.

5. Pancake Day The holiday with the cake

• Pancake Day is the popular name for
Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent (the
forty days before Easter). People
traditionally eat pancakes on Pancake Day
which are made from eggs, flour and milk,
fried on both sides in fat on a pan and
eaten with lemon juice and sugar. In many
towns pancakes races are held on Shrove
Tuesday in which women run with pan.
Each runner has a pancake in the pan. As
she runs, she tosses the pancake up and
over in the air and catches it again in the
pan. It is not all easy to toss and catch a
pancake when running a race!
The most famous race takes place at Olney,
Buckinghamshire, and it is said to date
from 1445. The Pancake Bell is rung to
summon competitors, and starting time is
five minutes before noon. The participants
wear an apron and head-covering. The
course is over a distance of 415 yard,
during which the pancake must be tossed
three times.

6. April Fools' Day Fun holiday

• This is the funniest day of year,
when, traditionally, practical jokes
are played. People take them in
good part and laugh heartily even
if some tricks or jokes have made
April fools of them.

7.

Easter
Holiday with the Easter eggs
Easter is the most important
Christmas religious festival. It is
traditionally associated with Easter eggs
and with coming of spring, and most
churches are specially decorated with
flowers for the services held on Easter
Day.
In many towns there are funfairs
with roundabouts, coconut shies,
switchbacks and other amusements.
People who live in London can see the
Easter Parade in Battersea Park. There
are lorries covered in flowers, beauty
queens at the Easter Parade – and lots
of people! At the rear of the parade is
usually a very beautiful floral float,
created from thousands of lovely spring
blooms and bearing the Easter Princess
and her attendant. It is an afternoon to
remember.
The Friday before Easter is called
Good Friday, and it is a bank holiday in
Britain.

8. Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebration The holiday of William Shakespeare

The 23rd of April, the birthday
of the greatest literary genius, is
always marked at Stratford. A long
procession of flower-carriers walks
from the Shakespeare Memorial
Theater, through the streets to the
parish church where everyone in
the procession lays a wreath or
bouquet, or a small bunch of
flowers at the poet’s grave. In the
evening there is a performance of
the chosen ‘Birthday Play’ in the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre

9. York Art Festival The holiday of art and music

Every summer there is a
festival of music and the arts in
York which includes performances
of the famous Mystery plays. They
originated more than 500 year
ago, and are based on Bible
stories. Ordinary people from York
play all the parts, except for that
of Jesus Christ, which is always
played by a professional actor. The
Miracle Plays used to be
performed in the city streets in
medieval York. Now they are
staged in the Museum Gardens,
and they are still greatly enjoyed.

10. Burns Night The holiday of reading Burn's poems

This celebration is held on the
25th of January, the anniversary
of the birth of Robert Burns,
Scotland’s greatest national poet.
It usually takes the form of a
supper at which traditional
Scottish dishes are eaten,
including haggis, and during which
a Scottish piper plays, wearing
traditional Highland dress. Some
of Burns’ most popular poems are
recited and there may be Scottish
dancing after the meal is finished.
Burns Night celebrations are held
not only in Scotland, but also
amongst Scots living in other
countries.

11. Christmas Most important public holiday

The proverb says, “Christmas comes but once a
year”. There is once a year a buzz in the air as
Christmas approaches. Fairy lights and brightly
decorated trees illuminated the streets, carols ring
out from cathedrals and churches, and children
anxiously await the arrival of the most enjoyable
holiday.
Christmas is a traditional family reunion day. On
this day, many people attend a church service, open
their presents, eat a Christmas dinner and watch
the Sovereign’s annual Christmas broadcast on
television.
Preparations for Christmas are always pleasant:
buying gifts, sending Christmas cards and
decorating the Christmas tree with small, brightlycoloured lights and small coloured glass ornaments.
In Britain, Christmas is the most important public
holiday of the year. It combines the custom of
giving gifts with the tradition of spending this day
with the family. Every year a huge Christmas tree,
the gift of Norwegian people in thanks for Britain’s
support during the second World War, graces
Trafalgar Square.

12. Boxing Day Bank holiday

Boxing Day comes right after
Christmas and is celebrated as a
bank holiday in Britain (a ‘Bank’
holiday is an official public holiday
when all banks, post offices, most
factories, offices and shops are
closed). It was formerly the
custom to give ‘Christmas boxes’,
or gifts or money, to servants and
tradesmen on this day. The
custom gave a name to the
holiday.
This is the day when one visits
friends or relatives, goes for a
drive or a long walk or just stays
at home. In big cities and towns,
many people go out to see a
pantomime – a traditional English
entertainment at Christmas.

13.

Roayl's Traditions
OPENING OF PARLIAMENT Queen officially opens new session of parliament every year, is usual in
October or November. She together with Duke Edinburgh is sent from the Buckingham palace in
Westminsters in the state carriage (State Coach). Before queen and her environment come into a building of
parliament, palace guards (the Yeomen of the Guard) search cellars of a building. This tradition is observed
since 1605 when the group of conspirators tried to blow up a building of parliament. Today in searches of an
explosive palace guards are helped by officers of police.
REWARDINGS (Investitures) Rewardings are carried out in the Buckingham palace of 20 times in one
year. Sometimes they also are carried out in the Edinburgh palace and outside United Kingdom. Each
ceremony of rewarding visit up to 150 candidates, each of which can invite up to three visitors. At this
ceremony queen also devotes in knights.
RECEPTIONS IN THE ROYAL GARDEN More than 30 thousand person visit receptions in the Royal garden
every year. Every summer it is carried out at least three receptions in the Buckingham palace and one in
Palace Holirudhouse (the Palace of Holyroodhouse) in Edinburgh.
OFFICIAL VISITS Queen is the official head of United Kingdom, and also British Commonwealth of the
Nations. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Great Britain dispatches invitations to heads of other states.
Usually in one year queen accepts representatives of two foreign states. Each of such visits proceeds from
Tuesday till Friday during which the head of the foreign state not only has time to meet queen, the prime
minister, ministers, leaders of political parties and heads of diplomatic missions in London, but also to visit
on the state banquet in its honour, to give a reciprocal banquet and to lead day outside of London and
Edinburgh during which he or she gets acquainted with other aspects of a life of British.

14. 1.Which holiday correlates with the picture?

1. May Day
2. Halloween
3. New Year

15.

2. Say where these national saints’ days are
celebrated.
1. St. Andrew’s Day
- England
2. St. David’s Day
- Wales
3. St. George’s Day
- Ireland
4. St. Patrick’s Day
- Scotland

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5
4
5
2
1
3
4
2
3

17. Вопросы к кроссворду.

По горизонтали: 1)The most
enjoyable and funniest time in
the year.2) This is read during
Burns Night. 3) It is the
popular name for Shrove
Tuesday. 4) It is decorated
during Christmas. 5) In this
month Fun holiday is
celebrated.
По вертикали: 1) On this holiday
witches and monsters appear.
2) These shows always attract
a lot of enthusiasts. 3) The
forty days before Easter. 4)
This is held during Easter in
Battersea Park.5) The holiday
of the coming of spring.