It may seem strange, but in Britain more holidays
than in many other countries. Some of them are public holidays. In
England and Wales currently only five holidays (New Year, Easter Monday,
in spring and late summer, Boxing Day), they are also common to have
two holidays (Good Friday and Christmas Day). In Scotland and Northern
Ireland, they have six holidays, as well as two other public holiday.
Dates of the holidays are set annually.
Public and Bank
Holidays England and Wales
New
Year's Day 1 Jan
Holiday 2 Jan
Good Friday 14 Apr
Easter Monday
17 Apr
May Day holiday lMay
Spring holiday 29 May
Late Summer
Holiday 28 Aug
Christmas Day 25 Dec
Boxing Day 26 Dec
Religious
festivals Christian Festivals
Ash
Wednesday 1 Mar
Palm Sunday 9 Apr
Good Friday 14 Apr
EasterDay
16Apr
Ascension Day25 May
Whit Sunday 4Jun
Trinity
Sunday 11Jun
Advent Sunday 3Dec
Christmas Day25Dec
Notable Dates
St. Andrew's Day (Scotland)
30 Nov
St. David's Day (Wales) 1 Mar
St.George's Day (England) 23
Apr
St Patrick's Day (Ireland) 17 Mar
Pancake Day 28 Feb
Halloween
31 Oct
Mothering Sunday 26 Mar
Father's Day 18 Jun
British
Summer Time begins 26 Mar
British Summer Time ends 29 Oct
Remembrance
Sunday 12 Nov
January, 1. New Year's
Day
It is a bank holiday though many Britons do not
celebrate on New Year's Eve. In Scotland New Year's Eve is called
Hogmanay and is an occasion for joyous celebrations. In London Scottish
people gather on steps of St. Paul's Cathedral and sing "Auld Lang Syne"
at midnight.
February', 14, St.
Valentine's Day
February 14th is the day on which young lovers
in England send each other anonymous Valentines—bright, lacy, colourful
cards, with loving emblems and amorous doggerel. The shops are full of
these cards.
The message the Valentine conveys is simple. Love's
message has always been so. Here are some examples'.
February the
fourteenth day, It's Valentine, they say, I choose you
from among the rest, The reason was I loved you best.
Sure
as the grape grows on the vine, So sure you are my Valentine. The
rose is red, the violet blue, Lilies are fair and so are you.
Round
is the ring that has no end, So is my love for you, my friend, Again
do take this in good part, Along with it you have my heart. But
if you do the same refuse, Pray burn this paper and me excuse.
Pancake Races on Shrove Tuesday
In England,
Shrove Tuesday is the day for pancakes. At home, families have pancakes
to dinner. At school, the children and teachers have pancakes for school
dinner, and in restaurants customers often ask for pancakes on Shrove
Tuesday.
Everyone knows that pancakes are delicious to eat, but do
you know that in England, on Shrove Tuesday, people race with them,
fight for them? At Westminster School, in London, the boys have pancakes
for dinner on Shrove Tuesday. But before dinner there is the pancake
fight. The school cook tosses a pancake high into the air. The boys (one
from each class) fight for the pancake. The winner of the fight is the
boy who gets the biggest piece of pancake. He wins a guinea (£1.05). And
the boys who don't win? Well, at least they get a pancake for dinner!
April. 3. Easter
The word Easter owes its
name and many of its customs to a pageant festival hold eostre which is
the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring time. Every spring
European peoples celebrated the festival to honour the awakening of new
life in nature.
Christians related the rising of the sun to the
resurrection of Jesus and their old spiritual rebirth. This "holy" day
is celebrated in many countries of the world.
Egg-rolling is a
traditional Easter pastime which still flourishes in northern England,
Scotland, Ulster, the Isle of Man, and Switzerland. It takes place on
Easter Sunday or Monday, and consists of rolling coloured, hard-boiled
eggs down a slope until they are cracked and broken after which they are
eaten by their owners. In some districts, this is a competitive game,
the winner being the player whose egg remains longest undamaged, but
more usually, the fun consists simply of the rolling and eating.
Spring and Summer Bank Holidays
The Summer
Bank Holiday is the most popular holiday, because it comes at a time
when children are not at school. Many families try to go away to the
seaside or the country as they may indeed have done at Easter or in
spring.
Merry England and London May
Queen Festival
Visitors from many parts of the world are
among the thousands of people who gather on the Common at Hayes, near
Bromley, Kent, to witness the crowning of London's May Queen. It is the
largest May Queen Festival in Britain and over a thousand children take
part. The date is the second Saturday in May. The procession forms up in
the village about 1.30 p.m. and makes its way to the common by way of
the village church. The actual crowning takes place about 3 p.m. As many
as forty May Queens from different parts of the country are present and
with their attendants present a colourful spectacle. Their dresses are
beautifully made, with a distinctive colour scheme for almost all the
different "Realms". The Festival has been held since 1880. The Fifth of November—Guy Fawkes Day
There
is a special day in England which is called Guy Fawkes Day. On the
fifth of November every year English boys and girls carry funny figures
about the streets. These figures are mad of straw and dressed in an old
coat and a hat, with a mask for a face. The children knock at the doors
and sing; "Remember, remember,
The fifth of November,
Gunpowder,
Treason and Plot.
I don't see no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should
ever be forgot."
The children expect people to give them some money
which is spent on fireworks. In the evening a bonfire is made, and the
figures are burnt on it. Each of the figures is called Guy Fawkes. You
want to know, of course, who Guy Fawkes was and what he did.
On
November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes and some other people planned to blow up
the English Parliament. The plot was discovered and Guy Fawkes was
hanged. At the moment of his arrest he wore a mask on his face.
So
ever since, as November 5th approaches, children let off fireworks and
burn straw figures on a big bonfire.
November.
11, Remembrance Day
This day is observed throughout
the Commonwealth and dates back to November 11, 1918 when all fighting
in the First World War ended. It now commemorates British soldiers,
sailors and airmen who gave their lives in the two World Wars. Special
services are held and wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph, a war memorial
at Whitehall, where thousands of Londoners observe the two-minute
silence and participate in the remembrance ceremony. Similar ceremonies
are held throughout the country.
December.
25. Christmas
In England Christmas is the most important of
all the bank holidays of the year. It is celebrated much the same way as
in the United States of America. On December 26, the Boxing Day,
traditionally people give each other Christmas presents, which used to
come in boxes. It is a very pleasant custom indeed.
Christmas Day,
December 25th, is probably the most exciting day of the year for most
English children. They know that they will get presents, just as they do
on their birthdays, but on Christmas Day most of them will also see
what their brothers and sisters have received. They also have the
pleasure of giving presents, which is often as satisfying as receiving
them.
Traditionally, English children hang a stocking at the end of
the bed on Christmas Eve. In the morning they check whether the stocking
has been filled with small toys, fruit and sweets. Larger toys will be
nearby.
The morning will be spent playing with new toys, then comes
lunch, often with the turkey or goose as the main dish. Afterwards there
is Christmas pudding to be eaten. Usually a coin or two will have been
hidden inside it, and part of the fun is to see who finds it. No doubt
English hospitals receive urgent telephone calls every year from parents
whose children noticed the coins only as they were swallowing them.
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