Праздники

Many holidays we have now come from the ancient Roman celebrations. Everything began with respect to gods and goddesses, nature and other things which human life depended on. There were many pagan holidays some of which we are going to learn about.

There was a holiday which influenced Christmas and it was called Yule. Back then people believed that the Sun was a kind of a wheel which encouraged the change of seasons. The holiday was celebrated in the middle of winter when people could see the north-lights. People lit special logs, drank ale and told different tales. The lights were to win the devil and daemons. (далее…)

All of us love holidays and most of us are used to celebrating Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, Easter, New Year and other traditional holidays. However, there are many celebrations which we have never heard of and which are unusual for us.

For example, in Thailand, there is Lopburi Monkey Buffet. This holiday is celebrated on the last weekend of November and yes, there are monkeys there! Every year residents of Lopburi bring food to this festival to treat primates with various delicious snacks. This is not just an unusual party, but the way villagers deal with monkeys who have always been greedy for food and have stolen some treats from people. (далее…)

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Spring is full of public holidays. Easter is followed by May Day. The 1^st day of May is also an official holiday. The celebration of this day comes originally from the Roman festivals of Flora, goddess of flowers. The time when it's getting warmer and warmer day by day and flowers and trees start to blossom. People commonly love to spend this day on their first picnics in parks and countrysides. (далее…)

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Good Friday, also known as Black Friday or Easter Friday, is an official public holiday. On this day Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and attend the special services in churches, which last much longer than usual. The main service starts at midday till 3 pm because According to the New Testament Jesus Christ died on the cross at 3pm. Traditionally people eat hot cross buns -  little buns marked with a white cross. Catholics prefer to eat fish instead of meat on Good Friday. (далее…)

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There are only 8 public holidays in Great Britain. The days when most of the offices, shops and banks are closed. These days are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter with Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday, Summer Bank Holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. All of these holidays, except New Year’s Day, Christmas and Boxing Day, are movable, it means they don't fall on the same day every year. (далее…)

Halloween is a holiday that takes place on the last October day, 31st. The word “Halloween” means “hallowed evening". The tradition of celebrating this day began in the 5th century when the Irish Celts marked this day as a day of transition from one year to the next one. It was the time when “the season of the sun” was over, and “the season of darkness and cold” began.

Nowadays Halloween is a very famous American and European holiday with its own traditions of celebration, especially among young people. (далее…)

India is a unique country with a thousand years of history and culture. Homeland to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and four religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism are originally from India. One of the most colorful and happiest festival Diwali takes part in India every autumn.

Diwali is an important festival that is celebrated by the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and some Buddhists. It's also known as the festival of light. Every autumn the date of this holiday is calculated by the Hindu  Luni-solar  calendar.

There are so many curious facts about Diwali. Here are some of them. (далее…)

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Spring starts with Women's Day, which takes part on 8th of March, when men are assumed to do all house work and cook all the meals. The most popular gifts for women are flowers, perfume and jewelries.

The next official spring holiday is Easter, it's a movable religious holiday, the first Sunday after the 1st full-moon from the beginning of spring. Easter has many long standing traditions such as coloring Easter eggs and baking special cake «Kulich». (далее…)

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Holidays are important part of people's life, we love to celebrate different dates.

Some of them are more popular, some are less, but there are many national holidays and all of us are eagerly looking forward to them. People don't work on these official days off.

Most holidays fall on the same date every year and some other ones are movable. (далее…)

As we get older we learn that this story about pilgrims and Native Americans is a bit of a fable, but the idea behind Thanksgiving remains the same: it’s a wonderful tradition of sharing a grand feast with new friends and old friends, and expressing thanks for our good fortune and for each other. This is America’s favorite holiday (next to Christmas) and we love to introduce recent immigrants to this tradition. If there are new colleagues or neighbors who don’t live close to their family, they will always receive many invitations from acquaintances. (далее…)