British Holidays
A bank
holiday is an official holiday when all banks and post offices are closed. Most
factories, offices and shops are closed, too. Bank holidays in England are
Christmas and Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Easter Monday, Good Friday, Spring
Bank Holiday, August Bank Holiday. Most of bank holidays are religious
holidays. Now for most people they are simply days on which people don’t work. They eat,
rest and have fun.
Christmas Day is the most popular
bank holiday. It is celebrated on December 25. On this day many people go to
churches, open their Christmas presents, eat a Christmas dinner of roast
turkey and Christmas pudding. Many people watch the Queen’s Christmas broadcast
on TV. This day is a traditional family reunion day and a special day for children.
Christmas is
the most exciting time of the year for the children and the adults. Christmas
has three marvelous aspects — both giving and receiving presents, making beautiful
decorations and preparing the most wonderful food. The central decoration for Christmas
must be the tree. Prince Albert introduced the custom to England in the
nineteenth century. He brought cut fur trees from Germany. Of course, the
trees drop their needles in some days, but people all the same are fond of
them. Christmas tree production is today a booming business, and there are
varieties of trees that hold their needles for quite a long period of time. But
they are not as exciting as trees from the forest.
Boxing Day is on December 26.
People usually gave “Christmas boxes”, or gifts of money, to servants on this
day. Today many people still give a Christmas gift to paperboys and girls.
New Year’s Day is on January 1. It is
not marked with any custom in Great Britain. Traditional New Year parties and
dances are held on the New Year’s Eve. People see the old year out and the New
Year in.
Good Friday is the Friday before
Easter when the church marks the death of Christ.On this day
people eat hot-cross buns — buns marked on top with a cross.
Easter Monday is the day after Easter
Day. It is a traditional day for the start of the summer tourist season.
May Day Holiday is on the first Sunday
after the first of May. May Day, which is not a bank holiday, is a celebration
of the coming of spring. On May Day different outdoor events are held. Usually
May Queen, the most beautiful girl of
the celebration, is selected.
Spring Bank
Holiday falls on the last Monday in
May. August Bank Holiday is held on the last Monday in August.
People in
England also observe some traditional celebrations though they are not bank
holidays.
For example, St.
Valentine is the saint of people in love, and St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14. On that day, people
send Valentine cards and presents to their husbands, wives, boy-friends and
girlfriends. You can also send a card to a person you don’t know. But
traditionally you must never write your name on it. Some British newspapers
have a page for Valentine’s Day messages on February 14.
November 5 is
Guy Fawkes Day. All over the country
people build wood fires, or bonfires, in their gardens. On the top of each
bonfire is a guy, this is a figure of Guy Fawkes. On November 5, 1605, Guy
Fawkes tried to kill King James I. He and a group of his friends put a bomb
under the Houses of Parliament in London. But the king’s men found the bomb and
Guy Fawkes. They took him to the Tower of London, where his head was cut off.
Before November 5, children use “guys” to make money. They stand in the street
and shout: “Penny for the guy”.
Find out more, go to: English Class 101
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