Holidays in Great Britain

1.

2.

New Year’s Day, which is on January 1,
marks the start of the year in the Gregorian
calendar.
New Year’s Day is less popular in Great
Britain than Christmas and
it is not so widely celebrated.
Traditional New Year parties and dances are
held on New Year’s Eve.
People see the Old Year out and the New
Year in.

3.

In Scotland they celebrate New Year, which is known as Hogmanay.
It is the biggest festival of the year. It is time for merrymaking, the giving
presents and observance of the old customs. At midnight Scottish
people hold their hands in a large circle and sing the song
“Auld Lang Syne” by Robert Burns. There are some traditions on
New Year’s Day.
One of them is called the First Footing. The first man who come into
the house is very important because he brings luck.
This man (not a woman) must be healthy, young, pretty-looking.
He brings presents – bread, a piece of coal or a coin.

4.

It is a very sentimental unofficial
holiday, which is celebrated on the
14th of February by those who believe
in love and friendship.
On St Valentine`s Day people
send a special valentine to those who
they love.
Some people buy
presents for their sweethearts or
give them a red rose, a symbol
of love.

5.

There is a beautiful legend behind St Valentine’s Day. Saint Valentine lived in
Rome in the third century AD. At that time the Emperor of Rome was Claudius
who thought that single men were better soldiers than married, so he passed a
law which banned marriage.
Valentine was a Christian priest who didn’t like the new law. He
secretly married people who were in love. One night the Emperor’s
soldiers caught him and put him in prison.
Many people were sorry for Valentine and visited him in prison. One of
them was a daughter of a prison guard. On the day of his execution
Valentine wrote a note to her and signed it “Love from your Valentine”.
This was on 14 February 269 AD.
Since then 14 February has been the Day of Love,
when people send love letters and presents to each other.
They don’t sign the cards with their names,
but write “Guess who” or “Your Valentine”.

6.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Honey’s sweet
And so are you
I dream about you
Every night
Be my Valentine
And hold me tight
Honeysuckle’s yellow
And leaves are green,
You are the sweetest thing
I’ve ever seen.
I’ll be your sweetheart,
If you will be mine,
All my life I’ll be
Your Valentine.

7.

Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17th. In
Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day is both a holy day and a national
holiday. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland as he was the
one who brought Christianity to the Irish.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock.
Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to
explain the Trinity, how the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate
elements of the same entity.
His followers adopted the custom of wearing a
shamrock on his feast day.

8.

9.

In England tradition of
celebrating Easter is deeprooted in the history of the
nation. Easter is a church
holiday.
The main symbols of Easter
and spring include bunnies and
rabbits.
Easter is a feast that is not
always held on the same date
each year.
Easter Day is celebrated on the
first Sunday following the first
full moon after the spring
equinox
Easter marks the end of the
forty-day long fasting of Lent.
The word Easter is thought to
have derived from the goddess
Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon
Goddess.

10.

Easter is the time for holidays, festivals
and time for giving chocolate Easter eggs,
the day of parties, and above all a
celebration that Jesus raised from the
dead and lives forever. Eggs play an
important part in Easter celebration; they
are given to children. In Christianity, egg
represents rebirth and symbolizes with
the resurrection of the Lord. Traditionally
Easter parades of people in bright new
spring clothes are held on this day.

11.

St George's Day in England remembers
St George, England's patron saint. The
anniversary of his death, which is on April
23, is seen as England's national day.
According to the legend, he was a soldier in
the Roman army who killed a dragon and
saved a princess.
The most widely recognized symbol of
St George's Day is St George's cross.
This is a red cross on a white
background, which is often displayed as
a flag. It is used as England's national
flag, forming part of the Union Flag, the
national flag of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

12.

It is a celebration of the coming of spring.
On May Day different outdoor events are held.
Traditional English May Day celebrations
include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen
and dancing around a Maypole.

13.

Mother's Day is traditionally celebrated on
the first Sunday in Lent.
On this holiday mother is rewarded for all
her work about the house during the year.
Her husband and children give her
presents and traditionally bring her
breakfast in bed.
All children despite their age return to their
homes.

14.

In June there is Father’s Day. On this day fathers get gift cards and a
lot of attention from their children.
It is celebrated to recognize the contribution that fathers and father
figures make to the lives of their children.
This day celebrates fatherhood and male parenting.
Although it is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide, many
countries observe this day on the third Sunday in June.

15.

The Queen
celebrates two
birthdays each year:
her actual birthday
on 21 April 1926 and
her official birthday
on a Saturday in
June.
Her father,
grandfather and Queen
Victoria all had
birthdays in winter so
the official Queen’s
birthday is celebrated
in the UK in June when
the weather is warmer.

16.

The official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II is marked each year by a military parade
and march-past, known as Trooping the Colour (Carrying of the Flag).
The official name is “the Queen’s Birthday Parade”.
It is the biggest royal event of the year.
Each June, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family attend the Trooping the
Colour ceremony on Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall in London.
The Queen attends the ceremony to take the salute from thousands of guardsmen who
parade the Colour (their regiment’s flag).The parade route goes from Buckingham
Palace along The Mall to Horseguards Parade, Whitehall and back again.

17.

The celebrations in London are a
wonderful display of soldiers in red jackets,
horses with riders in yellow jackets and
musicians marching in a band.
The weather on this day is usually nice
and sunny. The royal family watch the
Birthday Parade from the balcony of
Buckingham Palace in London. The soldiers
in beautiful uniforms ride and march along
the Mall - a street in central London. You
can see the Queen too. She rides in front of
the soldiers. You can hear music and see
bright flags, which fly high in the air.
The parade is very beautiful and a lot of
people from all over the world come to
watch it. The parade has a name. The name
is "Trooping the Colour” because "trooping”
means "walking together” and "colour”
means a flag.

18.

Halloween is a festival that takes place on
October 31. In Great Britain children wear
costumes and masks and go trick-ortreating. A favourite Halloween custom is
to make a jack-o-lantern (the children
scrape our a pumpkin and cut the eyes,
nose and mouth). They light a candle
inside the pumpkin to scare their friends.
Fortunetelling and storytelling about ghosts
and witches are popular activities. Halloween developed from new
year festivals and festivals of
the dead. Christian church
established a festival on
November 1 called All Saints'
Day so that people could
continue to celebrate their
festivals.

19.

There is a special day in England
which is called Bonfire Night or
Guy Fawkes Day.
On that day, in 1605, Guy Fawkes
tried to blow up the Houses of
Parliament and kill King James I.
He didn't succeed. The King's men
found the bomb, took Guy Fawkes
to the Tower and cut off his head.

20.

Since that day the British celebrate the
5th of November. They burn a dummy,
made of straw and old clothes, in a
bonfire and let off fireworks. This dummy
is called a "guy" (like Guy Fawkes).
Children use guys to make money. They
stand in the street and shout “ Penny for
the guy”
If they collect enough money they can
buy some fireworks.

21.

Remembrance Day is on
11 November.
It is a special day set aside to remember all those
men and women who were killed during the two
World Wars and other conflicts.
Special services are held at war memorials and
churches all over Britain.
November is the time of the year when we wear a
red poppy in memory of those who sacrificed their
lives for us during wars.
Wreaths are laid beside war memorials by
companies, clubs and societies.
People also leave small wooden crosses by the
memorials in remembrance of a family member
who died in war.

22.

Christmas Day, December 25, is the most
popular holiday in Great Britain.
Christmas symbolizes the birth of Jesus Christ.
Every year the people of Norway give the city of
London a present. It’s a big Christmas Tree and
it stands in Trafalgar Square.
Central streets are beautifully decorated.
Before Christmas, groups of singers go from
house to house, they sing Christmas carols and
collect money for charity.

23.

People decorate their houses with holly and
mistletoe.
They send Christmas cards to greet each other.
Christmas trees are set up in houses, in the
streets and churches. They are always decorated
with lights, balls and small toys. Christmas is a
family holiday.
The family usually meets for a traditional dinner
of turkey and Christmas pudding. Everyone
gives and receives presents.
Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26th. It
comes straight away after Christmas Day. This is
an old tradition, when in old times rich people
used to give their servants money or “Christmas
boxes”. Now it is the day when people simply
have rest or visit their friends.

24.

On the eve of Christmas children hang their stockings at
the end of their beds, hoping that Santa Claus will come
down the chimney during the night and put presents
into them.
If the child didn’t behave properly Santa Claus can put
there a piece of coal as punishment.
Santa Claus got his name from a man known as St.
Nicolas, who lived in the fourth century. He gave his
wealth to the poor and often to children.

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