17th March - St Patrick’s Day

This day is often now celebrated by many nationalities, not only the Irish. Nowadays people celebrate St Patrick’s Day by dressing up in green clothes, as a leprechaun or other Irish symbols and drink lots of Irish beer, such as Guinness.

22nd March - Mothering Sunday/Mother’s Day

A day to celebrate mothers! Although the roots of this day come from a time when people used to return to the mother church (the church where they were baptised or the local cathedral), the two celebrations are on the same day. A traditional food for this day is simnel cake but usually children cook lunch for their mothers and give them presents such as pampering products, chocolates and flowers.

1st April - April Fools’ Day

On April Fools’ Day, you have to watch out! On this day, people like to play practical jokes on each other. Even the most serious newspapers play jokes on their readers by publishing surprising (and false!) stories.

12th April (2009) – Easter

This religious holiday is associated with eggs which symbolise new birth and new life. Even for those who aren’t religious, Easter is celebrated by the giving of chocolate eggs which are scattered around the garden (or house) by the Easter Bunny. Chocolate is eaten for weeks and weeks afterwards! This is also a long holiday of 2-4 weeks for schools and universities.

23rd April - St George’s Day

Nowadays, the traditional celebrations are not so common but in some smaller towns, they are still carried out. Some re-enact the story of St George killing the dragon, some organise a fête, and some simply go to the pub for a drink of traditional English ale or cider!

1st May - May Day

A traditional festival in Britain. Usual festivities including a village fête which stalls selling cakes, raffles, and games. It is also traditional to have a maypole, which is a long stick with many different

ribbons tied to the top. Children hold a ribbon each and are instructed on a traditional dance to perform to music. They dance around until the pole is wrapped with ribbons in a pattern. The children do the dance backwards to untie the pole and perform a different dance.

Morris dancing is an old traditional form of dancing. The dancers wear old costumes, carry sticks and have bells tied to their legs. They perform traditional dances to traditional music.

13th June - Trooping the colour

The Queen has two birthdays. Trooping the colour is the Queen’s official birthday and represents parading the flag through the streets. This is an old tradition dating back to the reign of Charles II in the 17th century so that troops would recognise their own colours. Today, over 1400 officers and men are on parade, together with two hundred horses; over four hundred musicians from ten

bands and corps of drums march and play as one. trooping-the-colour

21st June - Father’s Day

This is a relatively new holiday where children buy gifts for their dads and let them relax!

22nd-5th July – Wimbledon

World famous tennis tournament held every year at the end of June. During this time the weather is normally pleasant with occasional rain stopping play! Other traditions associated with summer, and particularly Wimbledon and June are:

Pimm’s – Pimm’s No.1 is a gin-based alcoholic drink, traditionally served at this time of year with lemonade, fresh fruit (such as cucumber, strawberries, oranges, mint), and ice.

Strawberries and cream - Every year about 27000 kilos of strawberries are eaten during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, together with 7000 litres of cream.

www.wimbledon.org/

23rd-24th August - Notting Hill Carnival

The second largest carnival in the world. Every year since 1965, more than two million people enjoy the Notting Hill Carnival in London. The roots of the carnival came with immigrants, mainly from Trinidad who suffered in bad living and working conditions. Today it is a celebration of cultures living in the UK.

www.nottinghillcarnival.biz

www.nottinghillcarnival.org.uk

September: Harvest Festival

This celebration dates back to pagan times. It was and is a time when people give thanks to the harvest that year. People often bring food to school or to church which is then distributed amongst the poor or donated to homeless shelters.

31st October – Halloween

This is a very old celebration. The Celts believed that ghosts came back to earth on this day and people dressed up so that the ghosts would recognise them as one of their own. Nowadays people celebrate this day with parties, fancy dress, trick or treating and lots of games.

5th November - Bonfire Night

This is when English people celebrate the night that a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament was foiled in 1605. People gather to have a bonfire and burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes and enjoy watching fireworks.

11th November - Remembrance Day

On this day people remember the day that the armistice was signed to mark the end of World War One in 1918. People wear poppies and

donate money to charities which support war veterans, such as the Royal British Legion. On the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour a two minute silence is held all over Britain. Special church services and sombre local events are held on Remembrance Sunday to remember all those who have died in wars.

30th November - St Andrew’s Day

This is Patron Saint of Scotland’s Day and Scotland’s National Day. While very few people celebrate in traditional ways, it is a bank holiday.

1st-24th December – Advent
During the 24 days before Christmas many people celebrate Advent. People, especially children open one window on their advent calendar each day revealing a picture and sometimes a chocolate for them to eat! More religious families may also burn an advent candle each day and light a red candle each Sunday of Advent until Christmas.

25th December – Christmas Day

Religious people celebrate the day that Jesus was born. People exchange gifts and good children find presents in their stocking from Father Christmas! Some people go to church the night before for Midnight Mass, or in the morning on Christmas Day to watch a Nativity Play. In the afternoon, people eat a HUGE amount of food and spend time with family.

31st December – New Year’s Eve

People gather with friends and family at a party to celebrate the new year coming in. At midnight everyone wishes each other a happy new year, drink champagne and sing Auld Lang Syne.