Holidays in the U.K.

Let me tell you something about my topic “Holidays in the UK”.

Great Britain, one of the European states, is a nice and interesting country. It has an extensive history and a lot of interesting historical sites. Life in Britain is certainly different from life in our republic. Let me tell you something about life in Britain, concretely about the holidays in the UK.

People in Britain celebrate many interesting holidays.

St. Valentine´s Day is a lovers’ feast. It is celebrated on the 14^th of February. People send greeting cards called Valentines to people they like or admire. The day is named after an early Christian martyr.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on the 17^th of March by people of Irish origin (in GB, Ireland, and in the US). St. Patrick is the patron saint of the Irish. He was a monk who brought Christianity to Ireland. On the 17^th of March people wear green clothes and simply everything is green: you can buy green bread and even ice cream. The Americans celebrate festivals with much more fervor than the British who are known to be quite conservative. The Americans even dye rivers green. People wear green clothes on that day because the green color is the national color of the Irish. You can see shamrocks everywhere as well as the shamrock being the national plant of the Irish.

Easter is one of the greatest Christian festivals of the year. It is full of customs, folklore, and traditional food. It happens on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. This means that the festival can be on any Sunday between March 22^nd and April 25^th. People also decorate Easter eggs. Parents tell their children that the Easter rabbit brings the eggs and hides them in the garden. The kids then have to run around the garden with baskets looking for these eggs. Easter is not only the end of the winter, but it is also the end of Lent, a time of fasting in the Christian calendar.

Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic holiday at the end of the Celtic year. It started at sundown on October 31st and ended at sundown on November 1st. What is typical for Halloween? The most important symbol of Halloween is the jack-o’-lantern. It is a lantern made out of a turnip, gourd, or pumpkin. Pumpkins are traditionally carved with triangular noses. People put burning coal or candles inside for light. The typical colors are black and orange. Scary monsters, witches, spirits, or skeletons are typical for Halloween too. During Halloween children dress in costumes and go from house to house in small groups. They ask for sweets, candies, fruits, chocolate or money with the words: „Trick-or-treat.” It means that if you don’t give them a treat, they will play a trick on you. As a trick, children sometimes throw eggs at the house or put soap or toothpaste on the windows.

In our republic we don´t celebrate holidays as St. Patrick´s Day or Halloween. In my opinion they are a nice holidays, but I think that our country also has a lot of nice holidays which are not celebrated in the world.