Festivals in Britain

festival in Britain, it is celebrated by druids (practitioners of

an ancient religion now virtually extinct) at the prehistoric stone circle of Stonehenge. In recent years, groups of travellers – caravan dwellers – and hippies have also tried to claim the right to enter the circle to see the sun rice on Midsummer’s Day, but they have generally not been allowed, largely because of fears of damage to the ancient monument.

times nowadays celebrated by Christians, Each October, the churches –

particularly in the countryside – are decorated with flowers, fruit, vegetables and other crops, and the local people come to give thanks for the successful completion of the harvest.

known in the Christian calendar as All Saints. According to

folklore, on this night – 31 October – witches and ghosts and have parties. Groups of children also play “trick-or-treat” on their neighbours, going from door to door and playing a harmless but slightly unpleasant trick on anyone who refuses to give them a sweet or other gift.

by Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Protestant Parliament

of King James I. They succeeded in hiding 30 barrels of gunpowder in the building, but on 5 November the so-called “Gunpowder Plot” was discovered. Fawkes and his associates were caught and later burned at the stake.

treason and plot!
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever

be forgot!
Children make a “guy” – an effigy of Guy Fawkes – and burn it on an bonfire, and let off fireworks. Because of recent concern about the dangers of bonfires and fireworks, most local communities now hold, large, organised parties, with the children being kept at a safe distance.

of the year – an occasion for parties, giving and

receiving gifts, eating and drinking, and generally having fun.

not very old, dating back only to the 19th century.

These are mostly for children. On Christmas Eve, children hang stockings at the end of their beds or over the fireplace. They are told that Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, arrives at night chimney and fills each stocking with presents. The children open their presents – put there secretly by their parents – on Christmas morning.

traditional lunch consists of roast turkey with vegetables, followed by

Christmas pudding, which is made with dried fruit and brandy. Sometimes a coin is put in the pudding as a surprise.

after the church alms box which was opened for the

poor on that day) and this too is a public holiday.
Religious observance has declined in Britain, but many people still go to church at Christmas – to a midnight mass on Christmas Eve or to a morning service on Christmas Day.

passing of the old year and the coming of the

new. In Scotland, Hogmanay – as it is called there – is a almost as important as Christmas.

unwise enough to try to sleep at midnight is likely

to be woken up by a band of “first footers”. First footers go from house to house after midnight carrying lumps of coal (seen as symbols of good luck) and they expect a glass of whisky in each house they visit!

on 31 October?
What is sometimes the surprise in a Christmas

pudding?
What is another name for Father Christmas?