Holidays, feasts and festivals

Each nation has its own traditions, customs, holidays, feasts and festivals. Many of them were established for historical, religious or cultural events. People welcome all these Mary makings because they bring a change in every-day life. Some holidays are celebrated by many people and many nations while others are typical only for one country or one nation.
    The best loved holidays are Christmas and Easter which are celebrated by people both in English speaking countries and by people in the Czech Republic.

CHRISTMAS
    Christmas are celebrated from religious reason, we celebrate a birth of Jesus Christ.
    In Christian calendar it takes three days.
It starts on the twenty-fourth of December which is called as Christmas Eve. This day is still a working day only in the evening people prepare Christmas stockings and hang them on their beds. After midnight Christmas father in England and Santa Claus in USA came home through the chimney and put the presents into the stockings. It was Christmas Eve in English speaking countries.
Now I will describe the Czech one. In the morning we decorated Christmas tree. We usually stay at home, watch fairy-tales, sing or listen to carols, eat Christmas cookies and enjoy us together. During the whole day we shouldn’t eat any meat to see a gold pick in the evening. In the evening we have traditional supper which is consist of fish soup, fried carp and potato salad. After the dinner we unwrap our presents under the Christmas tree.
In England and USA people unwrap their presents in the morning of Christmas Day on the twenty-five of December. They enjoy their presents the whole day. At noon they have Christmas dinner which is consist of roast turkey with chestnut stuffing and roast potatoes in Britain and mashed potatoes in USA. As a desert British eat Christmas pudding with a coin hidden in it. Against it Americans have Plum pudding.
The last day of Christmas is called Boxing Day it is on the twenty-six of December. The name of this day comes from a custom when people gave small boxes (usually with money) to their servants and trade men.
    He traditional plants of Christmas are Christmas tree and mistletoe. Mistletoe is usually hanged in the door and people kiss under it.

    The first holiday after Christmas NEW  YEAR’S  DAY when we celebrate a coming of new year. It is celebrated from the last of December. We usually meet friends and stay up till midnight when we open a bottle of champagne and often celebrate to the morning.

SAINT  VALENTINE’S  DAY
    Saint Valentine’s Day is celebrated on the fourteenth of February. This day is also called as lover’s day. On this day especially young people send Valentine postcard to person of the opposite sex who they love. The symbols of this holiday are red heart and a sentence “I love you”.

EASTER
    Easter is celebrated in April. During this holiday we commemorate crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It takes a few days. The most interesting day for us is Easter Monday when girls wait for boys and give them paint eggs.

MAY  DAY
    May Day is celebrated on the first of May. It is a political day when are held processions and public meetings. 
HALLOWEEN
    It is celebrated on the thirty-first of October. This day was the last day in an old Celtic calendar and it means the end of the year and the beginning of winter.
    I think it is very popular especially for children – they dressed up in Halloween costumes it means mask of witches, ghost and goblins and they carry baskets or bags with a legend “trick or treat”. People give to children sweets or money to not children play trick on them.
    Typical custom of Halloween is making a jack- o’-lantern from a pumpkin. There are holes for mouth, eyes and nose in pumpkin and inside it there is a candle.
THANK’S  GIVING  DAY
    It is a national holiday in USA and it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. This holiday was first celebrated in 1624 by the Pilgrim settlers of Plymouth Colony on their first harvest.
Nowadays it is celebrated by a traditional dinner – roast turkey.


    Czech holidays are similar to British and Americans ones but from our holidays I would like to mention foundation of our republic on the twenty-eight of October.