HOLIDAYS IN GREAT BRITAIN
New Year’s Day
January 1st - Titles {název} and decorations are conferred {udělit} by the sovereign {panovník}.
On New Year’s Eve {31 December} people have parties and at midnight they sing “ Auld Lang Syne”. In London people go to Trafalgar Square. There is singing and dancing and some enthusiasts traditionally swim in the fountain.
St. Valentine’s Day
On 14th February young people send Valentine cards to a darling person, usually anonymously, and exchange {vyměnit} gifts {dar}. The cards have funny, loving or serious contents {mít spojení}. It is lover’s day.
On Pancake (palačinka) Day people eat lots of pancakes. Some towns also hold pancake races on that day. People run through the streets holding a frying pan and tossing the pancake in the air: if they drop the pancake (palačinka) they lose the race.
St. David’s Day
March 1st {the patron saint of Wales}
St. Patrick’s Day
March 17th {the patron saint of Ireland}. It is a public holiday in Ireland. People often wear shamrocks (jetel) on that day.
All Fool’s Day
April 1st - It is named after the custom of playing practical jokes and tricks (trik) on people and then you can shout “ April Fool”!
Easter
At Easter time, the British celebrate the idea of new birth by giving each other chocolate Easter eggs, which are opened and eaten on Eaters Sunday. On Good Friday bakers sell hot cross buns (bochánek, buchta), which are toasted and eaten with butter. Easter Monday is a holiday and many people travel to the seaside for the day or go and watch one of the many sporting events, such as football or horse - racing.
St. George’s Day
April 23rd {the patron saint of England}
May Day
May 1 - political parties of the left hold processions (průvod) and public meetings. On 1 May children may be seen dancing round the Maypole on village greens, weaving their brightly coloured ribbons (stuha, mašle) into a beautiful pattern (šablona, střih).
Mother’s Day
2nd Sunday in may - honours (vzdát čest, uctívat) all mothers
Spring Bank Holiday
Last Monday in May. Bank Holiday in England are also public holidays when banks and shops are closed. People spend Bank Holidays going for excursion, to the coast if possible. Londoners {real Cockneys} take their families to a big fair on Hampstead Heath.
The Queen’s Official Birthday
June {Saturday after June 9}. There are various ceremonies associated with it, such as the ceremony of Trooping the Colour {a ceremonial mounting /zahájení/ of the guard /stráž, průvodčí/ in the presence of the sovereign /panovník, vladař/} at the Horse Guards Parade in London.
Father's Day
3rd Sunday in June - honours all fathers
Summer Bank Holiday - last Monday in August
Halloween
Means the eve of All Saints’ Day or All Hallows Day and takes place on 31st October. At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretended (předstírat) they are witches (čaroděj, baba). They cut horrible faces in pumpkins (tykev) and other vegetables and put a candle (svíčka) inside, which shines through the eyes.
In recent years children dressed in white sheets (prostěradlo, pokrývka) knock (zaklepat) on doors at Halloween and ask if you would like a “trick” or “treat”. If you give them something nice, a “treat”, they go away. However, if you don’t, they play a “trick” on you, such as making a lot of noise or spilling (rozsypat, rozlít) flour on your front doorstep. This is an American tradition.
Guy (chlápek, chlap) Fawkes Day
On 5th November 1605 Guy Fawkes, a Yorkshire Catholic, with other conspirators (spiklenec), planned to blow up (vyhodit do povětří) the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. with gunpowder (střelný prach) placed in the cellars (sklep). Thos became known as the Gunpowder Plot. Guy Fawkes was arrested on November 4th, tortured (mučit) and executed by hanging (poprava, oběšení), after revealing (odhalující) the names of the other conspirators (spiklenec).
Since then, Guy Fawkes Day, has been celebrated in England with fireworks (ohňostroj) and bonfires (oheň).
English children make the Guy with old clothes, newspapers and a mask. Then they take their Guy round the street and ask passers - by (kolemjdoucí) from money to buy fireworks (ohňostroj) saying: “A penny for the Guy”
Remembrance Day
November 11. There is a ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, in which two minutes' silence honours those killed in the two world Wars.
St. Andrew's Day
November 30 (the patron saint of Scotland)
Christmas
On 24th December. The most important festival of the year is Christmas. Traditionally at this time of the year houses are gaily decorated with paper chins, ivy (břečťan), holly (cesmína), mistletoe (jmelí) and Christmas trees.
On Christmas Eve {on 25th December} children hang up (zavěsit) their stockings (punčocha) over the fireplace (krb, ohniště) or at the end of the bed and wait for Father Christmas {or Santa Claus as he is often called} to fill (naplnit) them with presents.
Almost every town in Britain has a Christmas tree: in London, in Trafalgar Square, a huge Christmas tree is decorated every year. It is a present from Norway and Londoners meet there to wish each other “ Merry Christmas”.
On Christmas Eve children and adults go from house to house singing carols at the doors. Sweets are given to the children and drinks are offered to the adults. The traditional Christmas dinner includes fish soup, roast goose with dumplings and cabbage, Wiener schnitzel (smažený řízek) or roast turkey (krůta, krocan) with chestnut (kaštan) stuffing (nádivka) and potatoes, as a dessert sweets, apple pie and Christmas pudding. This is a special rich pudding made with lots of dried fruit, eggs, suet and very little flour. Hogmanay (silvestr) - is the Scottish name for New Year’s Eve, which is more celebrated than Christmas.
The day after Christmas {on 26th December} is a national holiday called Boxing Day after the tradition of giving Christmas boxes to milkmen, postmen etc.
Carols: Good King Wenceslas, Silent Night, or Jingle Bells
AMERICAN HOLIDAY
Martin Luther King’s Day
3rd Monday in January. M. L. King {1929 - 1968} was a black leader and civil - rights campaigner. He demanded racial equality. As an advocate of non-violence he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1964. He was assassinated in 1968.
Lincoln’s birthday
February 12 - some states still celebrate it instead of the President’s Day
St. Valentine’s Day
February 14
Washington’s birthday
February 22 - commemorated by public ceremonies. Some states celebrate it instead of the President’s Day.
The President’s Day
3rd Monday in February - on this day all presidents of the USE are honoured.
Easter
is not a national holiday. Most Americans spend Easter Sunday with the family. Many people give children dyed eggs and sweets. In some families they organized an egg hunt - children look for eggs which the adults hid somewhere in the house, yard or garden. There is a traditional Easter Egg Roll in front of the White House in Washington on Easter Monday.
Mother’s Day
2nd Sunday in May
Memorial Day
4th Monday in May. It honours Americans killed in all the past wars and most recently all the dead. Flowers and flags are placed on the graves (hrob) of the {war} dead. It also marks the beginning of the summer season.
Father’s Day
3rd Sunday in June
Independence Day
July 4. Each city has own ceremony parades (přehlídka), band concerts and firework (ohňostrij) displays (podívaná) in the evening. This day commemorates the singing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, thus establishing USA.
Labour Day
1st Monday in September - honours all the working people. It is celebrated by a day of rest. It marks the end of the summer season.
Columbus Day
October 12th, the date of Christopher Columbus’ landing in the West Indies, is a legal holiday in most states of the United States.
Halloween - October 31
“Trick or treat” says the little witch who is at your door together with a plump - faced ghost (přízrak, duch). You give them candies (cukroví) and they leave for the next door.
It is the day all American children wait for. They dress up (obléci) in funny (legrační) clothes and masks and go round the houses asking for fruit, candies or money. If you don’t give anything to them, they play tricks on you, like taking the garbage (odpadky) bin (popelnice, koš) in front of your door or throwing flour at your windows.
Ghosts (přízrak, duch), witches and spirits are present in all Halloween celebrations and the symbol of Halloween is a ghostly figure called Jack O’Lantern - a hollowed pumpkin (tykev) which has holes (díra) cut in it to represent a human face.
Veteran’s Day
November 11 - honours the veterans (bývalý voják) of all wars
Thanksgiving
4th Thursday in November - national holiday in the USA and Canada, first celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrim settlers of Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, on the first harvest. Now it is an occasion for the whole family to be together. It is celebrated by a traditional dinner whose main course is roast turkey and pumpkin (tykev) pie.
Christmas
is not a national holiday in the USA but since most American are Christans, almost all shops are closed and people have a rest day on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Americans of British origin follow the same traditions as their ancestor. Unlike Christmas in our country, Christmas in the USA is not a family holiday, families invite friends to join them at Christmas dinner and often give parties at Christmas - time. On Boxing Day most shops are open although people have a day off. Besides the Christmas tree the Americans also decorate their houses with garlands (věnec, girlanda) and wreaths (věnec) and electric coloured lights inside and outside the house or on the trees in their gardens.
The January sales begin just after Christmas both in the USA and in Britain. Most large shops sell off (rozprodat, prodávat) their old stock (zcela, kompletně) at low or “bargain “ (výhodný) prices.
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