Festivals and Customs

Prof ADama

New Year’s Day (1 January)

The year should begin happily, so that it will end happily

Children in Scotland, Wales and the English border countries rise early so that they may make the round of their friends and neighbours

They do not always get money, sometimes have mince pies or apples.

Gifting must be finished by midday.  

St Valentine’s Day (14 February)Every year about 7 million pounds worth of flowers are deliveredAn extra 40 million chocolates are soldGreetings-card manufacturers collect 25 million poundsThousands of people travel to a tiny village on Scotland’s border with England (Gretna Green)In this small place, at least one couple gets married, on average, every day of the yearWeddings for St Valentine’s Day have to be booked three months in advance

Shrove Tuesday (Forty-seven days before Easter)Also known as Pancake DayIn the past and nowadays it is a special day for children in some parts of England where it is kept as a school holiday Pancake Bells are rung in some regions of BritainAll the streets are crowded with children running, skipping, and jumping Events assosiated with Shrove Tuesday:

- pancake tossing contest – how many pancakes can you throw into the air and catch within a certain time?

- pancake race – contestants have to run while continuosly tossing a pancake

St Patrick’s Day (17 March)Ireland’s greatest national holiday which celebrates Saint Patrick - one of the patron saints of IrelandThe St. Patrick's Day parade was first held in Boston in 1761, organized by the Charitable Irish Society. Green is the colour of the day with thousands of little cloth shamrocks worn by peopleBoth Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green or orange, eating Irish food and/or green food, drinking Irish drink (such as Guiness or Baileys Irish Cream) and attending parades. parade in Dublin, Ireland is part of a five-day festival Over 500,000 people attended the 2006 parade in DublinThe largest Saint Patrick's Day parade in Britain is held in Birmingham (claimed to be the third biggest parade in the world after Dublin and New York

Mother’s Day (the fourth Sunday in Lent)

50 million pounds worth of flowers are bought for this day

Cards are also sent

April Fools’Day (1 April)

It is traditional for people to play tricks or practical jokes on each other on this dayChildren are the most enthusiastic about this customEven BBC and serious newspapers sometimes have „joke” features on this dayIn Scotland the day is generally known as

”Huntigowk Day”

Good Friday

The strange name in English for the day commemorating Christ’s crucifixion

Some people preserve the tradition of eating hot cross buns on Good Friday

Easter

Far less important than Christmas to most people in Britain although it involves a four – day

”weekend”It includes the consumption of mountains of chocolate Easter eggs by childrenThe idea of Easter eggs coloured or otherwise decorated in a wide variety of techniques, including dyeing, painting and etching Quite a lot of people go away on holiday

at that time

May Day (the first Monday in May)

Associated with ancient folklore‘Kissing the dew‘ - young maidens rise early and go out into the dawn, as they have done for centuries, to wash their faces in the May dewThe girls do so to ensure that they shall have a beautiful complexion for the rest of the year It is believed that if, on the first of May, a girl washes her face in the morning dew she will marry the first man she meets thereafter Little groups of children are formed and a May Queen is chosen The custom of dancing round the maypole is acted out in some villages

Father’s Day (the third Sunday in June)

Probably just a commercial invention – and not very successful eitherMillions of British fathers don’t even know they have a special dayChildren use it to give their fathers a chance to rest and relax, and to do things they enjoy, such as fishing, golf, etc. Usually family buy Dad a card, take him to eat and play.

Guy Fawkes’ Day (5 November)

Traditionally this is done to remember the time when Guy Fawkes (Catholic) tried (but failed) to destroy the British Houses of Parliament with gunpowder in the 17th centuryThe failure of the gunpowder plot was celebrated as a victory for British Protestantism over rebel CatholicismNowadays, it has lost its religious and patriotic connotationIn Britain, people light bonfires and let off fireworksSome children make a ”guy” out of old clothes stuffed with newspaperThere are ”bonfire parties” troughout the country, at which the ”guy” is burntEvery year, accidents with fireworks injure or even kill several people (because of it some local authorities arrange public firework displays)

Halloween (31 October)

In the past, people believed that the spirits of dead people appeared on this day Today children celebrate Halloween by dressing up as witches and ghosts and going 'trick or treating' They go out in groups and knock on people's doors, shouting 'Trick or treat!'   People usually give them sweets or small presents as a treat. Many children attend Halloween parties. ‘The best thing about the party,’ says one girl, ‘is that you should go in fancy dress. The games traditionally played at Halloween are mostly peculiar (special) to this night.

Remembrance Sunday(second Sunday in November)

Commemorates the dead of both World Wars and of more recent conflictsOn and before this day, money is collected in the street on behalf of charities for ex-serviceman and women.The people who donate money are given paper poppies to pin to their clothesNo politician would be seen on this day without a poppy!

Christmas

The fact that Christmas in modern times is as much a secular feast as a religious one, has had little effect on these traditionsEven people who consider themselves to be antireligious quite happily wish each other a ”Happy Christmas” or a ”Merry Christmas”„Commertialisation” of Christmas has itself become part of traditionMost people buy presents for the other members of their household especially children and even close friendsPeople send Christmas cardsAlmost every household has a tree decorated in a different wayThere are other decorations around the house and inside the house as well (bits of the holly, mistletoe plants, a crib)Carols are sung in churches and schools, often at special concertsThe role of Father Christmas (or Santa Claus) and the customs associated with the giving of gifts is presentThe eating of Christmas dinner and listenning to the Queen’s Christmas message

Boxing Day (26 December)

Explanations for the origin of this name:- it was the day on which landowners and householders would present their

tenants and servants with gifts (in boxes)- It was the day on which the collecting boxes in churches were opened and

the contents distributed to the poorBoxing Day is a public holiday in the United KingdomMasters, visitors, customers, and others would put donations of money into the box situated in the shop and then, after Christmas, all the contents of the box would be shared among the workers of the shopThe term "Christmas box" now refers generally to a gift or pay bonus given to workers Boxing Day is a day when stores launch one of the year's biggest sales periods Boxing Day in the UK is traditionally a day for sporting activity: originally fox hunting (now banned), nowadays football, horse racing and rugby

New Year’s Eve (31 December)

In Wales and in the north of Britain almost all children are allowed to stay up until midnight, or are woken up then, so that they can watch the customs which let the Old Year out and bring the New Year in Just before midnight, the ashes are cleaned from the fireplace so that the year will be begun afresh silver money, bread and a piece of coal are placed outside as well to ensure health, wealth, and happiness to the household In many English homes, as well as Scottish, they await the ”first-footer” who, when he arrives, is welcomed with the warmest hospitality A few minutes before twelve o’clock all the doors of the houses are opened to allow the spirit of the old year to depart When the clock strikes twelve, the church bells ring and everyone wishes everyone else ”A Guid New Year". Then toasts, kisses, handshakes and usually ”Auld Lang Syn” is sung The rest of the night is spent in eating, drinking. singing, and dancing

In the 1970s, hundreds of thousands of people would gather for a weekend in a park or country setting to listen to contemporary rock musicians In the past these festivals were seen as a sign of the decadence of youth by many older people in Britain, are now accepted as a natural part of the British summer Today thousands of  young people attend rock festivals at  Reading, Cambridge and Glastonbury They camp out in all weathers to enjoy a holiday, good music, and the company of friends The original idea has developed and  includes all musical genres (reggae, country and western music, jazz, folk, bluegrass)

Summer Music Festivals

The Glastonbury Festival

It first took place in 1970

1,500 people met in a large field in the South West of England to listen to rock music, enjoy themselves, and spend time together in the countryside

In its early days it was seen as a festival for hippies, but now it attracts people of many types and ages who come to listen to different kinds of music

In 2000, the Glastonbury Festival was attended

by over 100,000 people.

Edinburgh’s Festivals

Edinburgh is the Festival City It’s where people come together to share their passion for arts, culture and ideas With 12 festivals throughout the year there’s a phenomenal number of events, performances and spectacles to choose from.With the hectic summer season behind it the world's leading Festival city is gearing up for winter, and another of it's legendary Festivals Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is home to the world's largest New Year's Eve street party