Festivities

THE UK

EASTER

The name Easter comes from the name of Saxon goddess of Spring, Eostre, but today Easter is a Christian festival. The date of Easter changes every year, but it is always in March or April. On Easter Day people give chocolate Easter eggs to their friends and family. Eggs represent spring and new life, sometimes children have on Easter egg hunt. They try to find chocolate eggs in the garden. They say that the Easter Bunny puts the eggs there! British families sometimes have a big lunch on Easter sunday. They often eat lamb.

Elisa R.

PANCAKE DAY

Pancake Day, is on Shrove Tuesday. It's a fun day in Britain, like carnival in other countries.

It is a way to use up all the eggs in your house the day before the 40 days of Lent starts.

You can have lots of different fillings in your pancakes. Lemon, chocolate, banana and honey are popular sweet fillings. Or how about savoury things like cheese and ham?

Of course, people don't just eat pancakes. Some people run with them! People race with their pans and and toss their pancakes at the same time. Sometimes they wear silly hats or costumes, too

MAY DAY

May Day is a public holiday on 1st May in Europe and North America. In the past, people celebrated May Day because they believed it was the first day of summer.

In the UK, there are festivals on May Day on village greens or on the street. There are performances from special dancers, called Morris Dancers, who wear bells on their legs. People also dance around a maypole.

In Oxford, people get up early on May Day and go to Magdalen College. At 6 a.m., the choir sings from the top of the college tower. People stand at the bottom of the tower and listen.

RIccardo O.

BONFIRE NIGHT

The 5th November 1605 is an important date in British history. On that day Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. He wanted to kill the King and the members of his government because King James Ist was a Protestant and there were religious tensions between the Protestants and the Catholics. The King’s men arrested Guy Fawkes in a basement room under the Houses of Parliament on 5th November. British people remember the event today with a festival called Bonfire Night. On the evening of that day they make bonfires, they have parties and they watch fireworks displays. People sometimes put out a model of Guy Fawkes on the bonfires!

Aurora Ma.

NEW YEAR'S EVE

New Year’s Eve is on the 31th December. People all around the UK celebrate it. They have parties to say ‘goodbye’ to the old year and to say ‘welcome’ to the new year.

In London they go to the city centre to celebrate New Year’s Eve. There are thousands of people in the streets around the River Thames and the London Eye. They count down the seconds to midnight and sing Auld Lang Syne, a traditional Scottish song.

In Scotland New Year’s Eve is the most important winter festival and they celebrate it for four days. The celebrations they have in Edinburgh are very famous. There’s traditional bagpipe music and there are also rock and pop concerts. There’s usually a cèilidh, a traditional Scottish dance party.

Aurora Ma.

NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL

Every year, on the last Sunday and Monday in August, the streets of West London vibrate to the music of Europe’s biggest street festival, the Notting Hill Carnival. The Carnival is a celebration of the afro-caribbean communities in London, but everybody is welcome to come and dance, listen to music, at Caribbean food and have fun! The origins of the Notting Hill Carnival come from the Island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. At the parties they sang, danced ad wore elaborate costumes. In 1964 a group of immigrants decided to organise a parade with music in the streets of Notting Hill. The first day of the Carnival is Children’s day, a special parade for children. The second day is for adults, it’s usually louder. You can also eat Caribbean food like papaya, coconut milk and chicken with rice and peas.

Giulia P.

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