Holidays And Festivals Of Britain

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Throughout the year the British celebrate many holidays which reflect the religious, historical, social and cultural diversity of their country. Some holidays are celebrated throughout the nation and mark important events in the Christian calendar. Other holidays are based on local customs and traditions. What almost all of the holidays have in common is that they provide an opportunity for families and friends to get together to exchange good wishes and enjoy each other's company.

Christmas, December 25th, is the biggest and best-loved British holiday, and commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. Schools close for the holiday period, as do shops and offices, so people can spend time at home with their families. Most British people celebrate it by exchanging gifts and Christmas cards, preparing holiday foods, and decorating homes and workplaces with colored lights, Christmas trees and ornaments.

There are three Christmas traditions which are particularly British: one is the Christmas pantomime, a comical, musical play. The pantomime is usually based on a version of a traditional children's story like Cinderella ...
... and is written to include songs and jokes which can be enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Another tradition is the Queen's Christmas Christmas pantomime message, broadcast on both television and radio. She usually talks about the year that is ending and expresses her hopes for the future. A third British tradition, celebrated in countries with a British heritage, is Boxing Day, which falls on the day after Christmas. This day is entirely unrelated to the sports from which its name comes.

Traditionally, it was on Boxing Day that people gave Christmas gifts or money to their staff or servants. Nowadays, Boxing Day is usually the day when members of the extended family come together if they spent Christmas Day in their own home. It is also customary to give small gifts or tips to regular service workers (the milkman, dustman, paperboy, and mail carrier) and for employers to give a Christmas bonus to employees; these gifts are still called "Christmas Boxes".

For church-goers it is Easter, not Christmas, which is the most important Christian festival. Easter commemorates the Resurrection (J$$fc3Ct§) of Jesus Christ three days after his Crucifixion. It falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25, depending on the date of the first full moon after the spring equinox . While Christians attend many church services over the Easter period, for most people the main symbol of Easter is the Easter egg. From earliest times the egg has been a symbol of rebirth. The Easter egg later became a religious symbol,Easter Egg representing the tomb from which Jesus broke forth and the new life within. Nowadays people give each other Easter eggs made of chocolate or candy which are often very large, elaborate and expensive.

One of Britain's most impressive and colorful festivals takes place on the second Saturday in June, when the Queen's official birthday is officially celebrated with "Trooping the Color"1 around Buckingham Palace in London, which is also known as the Queen's Birthday Parade. Britain, unlike most

Trooping the Color countries, does not have a national day, so the ceremony of the Queen inspecting her troops draws a great deal of people. The ceremony derives from old military traditions in which regimental colors, or flags, are used as rallying points and represent the regiment's direct link and service to the sovereign.

Early in Victoria's reign it was decided that this ceremony should only be held on the sovereign's birthday.

Bonfire Night—sometimes called Guy Fawkes Night, or Fireworks Night—is a national festival on November 5 which commemorates a historical event. On November 5, 1605, the conspirator Fawkes (one of the Royalists) put gunpowder in the House of Parliament to blow up the English Parliament. However, the plot was discovered and Guy Fawkes was arrested. Therefore, when the day arrives, children make "guys", life-sized men made of straw and other available materials, and beg for money to buy fireworks. On Bonfire Night, they let off fireworks and burn the guys in a big bonfire

There are also many other smaller festivals, such as Mother's Day, April Fools' Day, Remembrance Sunday1 and various saints' days. Among them, Remembrance Sunday is a singularly important demonstration of patriotism. It commemorates those who died in the two World Wars. This remembrance is coupled with a widespread plea that such horrors will never happen again.