Most of British holidays are of religious origin. Most of public holidays are movable, that means that they do not fall on the same day each year.
The British share some holidays such as Easter, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, St. Valentine's Day and Halloween with other countries of the world. But there are many holidays which are celebrated only by the British. They are Spring and Summer Bank Holidays, Remembrance Day, Good Friday and Guy Fawkes Night. Public holidays in Britain are called bank holidays because the banks as well as most of offices and shops are closed.
The first holiday of the year is New Year's Day. In England it is a family holiday. People in Scotland go outside and meet New Year in squares singing and dancing. The only tradition connected with this holiday is "firs foot." The first person who comes to your place in a new year bring you bad or good luck. A good luck is brought by a man with dark or fair hair, especially if he comes with a piece of bread and coal. Bread symbolizes wealth and coal symbolizes warmth. Bad luck is brought by a man with red hair or a woman.
St. Valentine's Day is the second holiday which is celebrated on the 14th of February. It is not a national holiday. Schools, offices and banks do not close. This holiday is celebrated by people of all ages. They exchange "valentines". A "valentine" may be a special greeting card or a small present.
The next holiday I want to speak about is Easter. It is a religious holiday celebrated in spring. Many churches have an outdoor sunrise service. Just before Easter the schools and colleges usually close. The pupils have a week or ten days of spring vacation. Easter marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. People celebrate the festival to honour the awakening of new life in nature and give each other presents of coloured or even decorated eggs.
In GB the 31st of October is traditionally marked as Halloween. It is the day or evening before All Saints' Day. On this day children dress up with special costumes and go out into the streets to beg. They go from house to house and say, "Treat or trick!" meaning "Give me a treat or T shall play a trick on you." People give them sweets, fruits and biscuits.
A favourite custom is to make a "jack-o'-lantern". Children scrape out a pumpkin and make holes for eyes, a nose and a mouth in it. They light a candle inside the pumpkin to scare their friends.
Besides public holidays, there are some special festivals in GB. One of them takes place on the 5th of November. On that day in 1605 Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. He did not 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, on a bonfire and let off fireworks.
November the 11-th is Remembrance Day. It commemorates British soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave their lives in the two World Wars. Special services are held and wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph. It is a war memorial at Whitehall. The members of Royal Family and the Queen, members of the government and guests from other countries take part in this ceremony. Thousands of tourists observe the two-minute silence and take part in the remembrance ceremony. Similar ceremonies are held throughout the country.
Christmas is a great British and American holiday, which is marked on the 25th of December. It is very rich in customs and traditions with Father Christmas, the decorating of the Christmas Tree, of card sending and gift giving. It is celebrated as the birthday of Christ. It is a family holiday. Everybody tries to come home for Christmas. Before this holiday groups of singers go from house to house to collect money for charity and sing carols, traditional Christmas songs. On Christmas day children hang stockings at the end of their beds, hoping that Father Christmas will come down the chimney during the night and fill them with toys and sweets.
As you know, the next day is Boxing Day. This is the time to visit friends and give presents. In big cities and towns there is a tradition to stage pantomime at the Cathedral (it is a traditional English entertainment). And that is why the holiday was named Boxing Day. When people went to a church, they had to put some money to a "poor box".
I think that holidays are very good and interesting days for everybody, because they give us rest, fun and happiness. Besides, they help us to meet our best friends and talk to them and so enjoy our life.
On the night of the 31 -St of December we are usually at home with our family or with some friends. At 12 o'clock we say to each other 'Happy New Year' and answer "Thanks, the same to you'. We give presents to our friends for the New Year, and in each family we have a New Year Tree with lights and decorations. The presents for all the family hang sometimes on the tree, and we receive our presents after 12 o'clock. In most families parents put the presents for their children under tree and when their children get up on the l-st of January, they hurry to the tree for the presents. They think that Father Frost brought those presents for them at night. That is a very merry and happy holiday for all the people.
The next holiday we celebrate in Russia is on the 23-rd of February. Now it is called the Defender's Day. It is the holiday of the officers and soldiers in the army and of all the people. On that day we usually congratulate all the men. On TV we can see concerts, different shows, military parades and other interesting and entertaining programmes. At schools they usually invite some officers or soldiers who tell the schoolchildren different stories about their service, what they usually do and how they can become officers and so on. Schoolchildren ask different questions and get answers. Besides giving the guests presents, the children organize special concerts and other entertaining programmes for them.
On the 8-th of March we celebrate the Women's Day. On that day we give presents to all our women, especially our mothers. The best presents for women are flowers, of Course, and on Women's Day we see many men who buy flowers to give to their wives. Usually on that day men try to do all the work about the house. They go shopping, do the flat, cook and do all kinds of work they never do on usual days.
We also celebrate May Day on the 1 -st of May. It is the holiday of all the working people. We usually celebrate it at home. But in Moscow demonstrations, salutes, illuminations take place.
Victory Day is one of the most important and great holidays in Russia. We celebrate it on the 9-th of May. It is the anniversary of the victory over fascist Germany. All the families in our country celebrate it. On that day we meet the veterans who tell us about the war, the heroes and other brave men and women, boys and girls. We usually organize concerts, shows and plays for them, In the evening we sit at the table and have our big holiday supper and watch interesting programmes on TV.
On the 7-th of January we celebrate Christmas Day. It is a religious holiday. It is the day of the birth of Christ. There are special church services in the churches and many people go and see them.
Besides, there are many other holidays that we celebrate. They are Teachers' Day, St. Valentine's Day, April Fool's Day and so on. But, of course, the most favourite holiday for everybody is our birthday.
I think that holidays are very good and interesting days for everybody because they give us rest, fun, happiness. Besides, they help us to meet our best friends, talk to them and enjoy the life.
My favourite holiday is my birthday and the birthdays of all the members of our family, because we are very friendly.
I'd like to speak about the way I usually celebrate my birthdays. Before that day we have to prepare everything: to do the flat, to dust the furniture, to do shopping, then to make dinner and to bake a birthday cake. Usually I invite my friends and relatives earlier. When my birthday comes all the family makes the preparation. We decorate the room, lay the table and wait for the guests.
My parents dress up in their best clothes, so do I. We have a big round table in the middle of the room. My mother puts the birthday cake on it, and we all bring dishes from the kitchen and put them on the table, too.
After that I put one candle for each year of my life on the birthday cake. When the guests come I meet them with great pleasure. They are eager to give me presents, of course. They congratulate me and wish many happy return of the day. I thank them all and ask them to the table. Everybody enjoys the party: some of us dance, others talk and laugh. When the weather is fine we all go for a walk on the bank of the river or in the park. We even sing songs while walking.
When the weather is nasty we stay at home or go to the cinema or to the theatre. If we stay at home we play different games, sing songs to the guitar, listen to the music, see video-films or just have a talk.
Every year not only friends make me presents on my birthday but I make small presents for each of them too. As a rule, it may be a small souvenir, a cassette or just a toy.
So I may say that everybody is usually glad with spending that day.
I think that everybody's birthday is a real and dear holiday for the whole family.