New Year’s Day, which is on January 1, marks

the start of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

New Year’s Day is less popular in Great Britain
than Christmas and it is not so widely
celebrated. Traditional New Year parties and
dances are held on New Year’s Eve. People see
the Old Year out and the New Year in.
 In Scotland they celebrate New Year, which is known as
Hogmanay. It is the biggest festival of the year. It is time for
merrymaking, the giving presents and observance of the old
customs. At midnight Scottish people hold their hands in a
large circle and sing the song
“Auld Lang Syne” by Robert Burns. There are some
traditions on New Year’s Day. One of them is called the
First Footing. The first man who come into the house is very
important because he brings luck. This man (not a woman)
must be healthy, young, pretty-looking. He brings presents –
bread, a piece of coal or a coin.
 Saint
Valentine's
It is a very sentimental unofficial
holiday, which is celebrated on the 14th
of February by those who believe in love
and friendship. On St Valentine`s Day

Day
people send a special valentine to those
who they love. Some people buy
presents for their sweethearts or give
them a red rose, a symbol of love.
 There is a beautiful legend behind St Valentine’s Day. Saint Valentine lived in Rome in
the third century AD. At that time the Emperor of Rome was Claudius who thought that
single men were better soldiers than married, so he passed a law which banned marriage.

Valentine was a Christian priest who didn’t like the new law. He secretly married people
who were in love. One night the Emperor’s soldiers caught him and put him in prison
.
Many people were sorry for Valentine and visited him in prison. One of them was a
daughter of a prison guard. On the day of his execution Valentine wrote a note to her and
signed it “Love from your Valentine”. This was on 14 February 269 AD.

Since then 14 February has been the Day of Love , when people send love letters and
presents to each other. They don’t sign the cards with their names , but write “Guess who”
or “Your Valentine”.
 Roses are red, Honeysuckle’s yellow
Violets are blue, And leaves are green,
Honey’s sweet You are the sweetest thing
And so are you I’ve ever seen.

I dream about you I’ll be your sweetheart,

Every night If you will be mine,
Be my Valentine All my life I’ll be
And hold me tight Your Valentine.
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17th. In
Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day is both a holy day and a national
holiday. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland as he was the
one who brought Christianity to the Irish.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock.
Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to
explain the Trinity, how the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate
elements of the same entity.
His followers adopted the custom of wearing a
shamrock on his feast day.
 April Fool’s Day is the first of April.
The fun of the holiday is to play silly but harmless jokes
on family members and friends. The victim of these
jokes is called an April fool.
This holiday first appeared in France when the French
began to use the Gregorian calendar, some people
continued to use the old calendar and to celebrate New
Year’s Day in April 1. These people were called April
fools. Today, April Fool’s jokes are played mostly by
children, who enjoy the holiday very much.
 In England tradition of celebrating Easter is deep-
rooted in the history of the nation. Easter is a church
holiday.
The main symbols of Easter and spring include
bunnies and rabbits.
Easter is a feast that is not always held on the same
date each year. Easter Day is celebrated on the first
Sunday following the first full moon after
the spring equino ster marks the end of the
forty-day long fasting of Lent.

The word Easter is thought to have derived

from the goddess Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon
Goddess.
Easter is the time for holidays, festivals and
time for giving chocolate Easter eggs, the
day of parties, and above all a celebration
that Jesus raised from the dead and lives
forever. Eggs play an important part in Easter
celebration; they are given to children. In
Christianity, egg represents rebirth and
symbolizes with the resurrection of the Lord.
Traditionally Easter parades of people in
bright new spring clothes are held on this
day.
 St George's Day in England remembers St
George, England's patron saint. The anniversary
of his death, which is on April 23, is seen as
England's national day. According to the
The most widely recognized symbol of St legend, he was a soldier in the Roman army
George's Day is St George's cross. This is who killed a dragon and saved a princess.
a red cross on a white background, which
is often displayed as a flag. It is used as
England's national flag, forming part of
the Union Flag, the national flag of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
It is a celebration of the coming of spring.On May Day
different outdoor events are held. Traditional English May
Day celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May
Queen and dancing around a Maypole.
Mother's Day is traditionally celebrated on the first
Sunday in Lent.
On this holiday mother is rewarded for all her work
about the house during the year.
Her husband and children give her presents and
traditionally bring her breakfast in bed.
All children despite their age return to their homes.
In June there is Father’s Day. On this day fathers get gift
cards and a lot of attention from their children.
It is celebrated to recognize the contribution that fathers
and father figures make to the lives of their children.
This day celebrates fatherhood and male parenting.
Although it is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide,
many countries observe this day on the third Sunday in
June.
 The Queen celebrates two
birthdays each year: her actual
birthday on 21 April 1926 and
her official birthday on a
Saturday in June.

Her father, grandfather and

Queen Victoria all had birthdays in
winter so the official Queen’s
birthday is celebrated in the UK in
June when the weather is warmer.
 The official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II is marked each year by a
military parade and march-past, known as Trooping the
Colour(Carrying of the Flag).The official name is “the Queen’s Birthday
Parade”. It is the biggest royal event of the year.
Each June, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family attend
the Trooping the Colour ceremony on Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall
in London. The Queen attends the ceremony to take the salute from
thousands of guardsmen who parade the Colour (their regiment’s
flag).The parade route goes from Buckingham Palace along The Mall to
Horseguards Parade, Whitehall and back again.
The celebrations in London are a wonderful
display of soldiers in red jackets, horses with
riders in yellow jackets and musicians marching
in a band.
The weather on this day is usually nice and
sunny. The royal family watch the Birthday
Parade from the balcony of Buckingham Palace
in London. The soldiers in beautiful uniforms
ride and march along the Mall - a street in
central London. You can see the Queen too. She
rides in front of the soldiers. You can hear
music and see bright flags, which fly high in the
air.
The parade is very beautiful and a lot of
people from all over the world come to watch it.
The parade has a name. The name is "Trooping
the Colour” because "trooping” means "walking
together” and "colour” means a flag.
HALLOWEEN
Halloween is a festival that takes place on
October 31. In Great Britain children wear
costumes and masks and go trick-or-
treating. A favourite Halloween custom is
to make a jack-o-lantern (the children
scrape our a pumpkin and cut the eyes,
nose and mouth). They light a candle
inside the pumpkin to scare their friends.
Fortunetelling and storytelling about ghosts Halloween developed from new year
and witches are popular activities. festivals and festivals of the dead.
Christian church established a festival
on November 1 called All Saints' Day so
that people could continue to celebrate
their festivals.
There is a special day in England which
is called Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes
Day. On that day, in 1605, Guy Fawkes
tried to blow up the Houses of
Parliament and kill King James I. He
didn't succeed. The King's men found
the bomb, took Guy Fawkes to the
Tower and cut off his head.
 Since that day the British celebrate the 5th of
November. They burn a dummy, made of straw
and old clothes, in a bonfire and let off
fireworks. This dummy is called a "guy" (like
Guy Fawkes).
Children use guys to make money. They stand
in the street and shout “ Penny for the guy”
If they collect enough money they can buy
some fireworks.
Remembrance
Day is on
11 November.
It is a special day set aside to remember all those men and
women who were killed during the two World Wars and other
conflicts.
Special services are held at war memorials and churches all over
Britain.
November is the time of the year when we wear a red poppy in
memory of those who sacrificed their lives for us during wars.
Wreaths are laid beside war memorials by companies, clubs and
societies.
People also leave small wooden crosses by the memorials in
remembrance of a family member who died in war.
 Christmas Day, December 25, is the most popular holiday in Great
Britain. Christmas symbolizes the birth of Jesus Christ. Every year the
people of Norway give the city of London a present. It’s a big
Christmas Tree and it stands in Trafalgar Square. Central streets are
beautifully decorated. Before Christmas, groups of singers go from
house to house, they sing Christmas carols and collect money for
charity.
People decorate their houses with holly and mistletoe.They
send Christmas cards to greet each other. Christmas trees
are set up in houses, in the streets and churches. They are
always decorated with lights, balls and small toys.
Christmas is a family holiday. The family usually meets for
a traditional dinner of turkey and Christmas pudding.
Everyone gives and receives presents. Boxing Day is
celebrated on December 26th. It comes straight away after
Christmas Day. This is an old tradition, when in old times
rich people used to give their servants money or
“Christmas boxes”. Now it is the day when people simply
have rest or visit their friends.
On the eve of Christmas children hang their
stockings at the end of their beds, hoping
that Santa Claus will come down the
chimney during the night and put presents
into them. If the child didn’t behave
properly Santa Claus can put there a piece
of coal as punishment. Santa Claus got his
name from a man known as St. Nicolas,
who lived in the fourth century. He gave his
wealth to the poor and often to children.
THE END