Holidays and customs
- 2. • Every nation and every country has its own traditions and customs. Traditions make a nation special. Some of them are very old and many people remember them, others are part of people’s life. Some British customs and traditions are known all over the world. From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions. A lot of them have a very long history. Some of them are funny and some are strange. But they all are interesting. They all are part of the British way of life. English traditions can be classified into several groups: traditions concerning the Englishmen’s private life (child’s birth, wedding, marriage, wedding anniversary); which are connected with families incomes; state traditions; national holidays, religious holidays, public festivals, traditional ceremonies.
- 4. • Halloween (a shortening of All Hallows’ Evening), also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day . Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, watching horror films, as well as the religious observances of praying, fasting and attending church services.
- 12. Christmas Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ , celebrated generally on December 25 as a religious and cultural holiday by billions of peoplearound the world. The original date of the celebration in Eastern Christianity was January 6, and that is still the date of the celebration for theArmenian Apostolic Church and in Armenia, where it is a public holiday.
- 13. Christmas (Surb Tsnund) Armenians celebrate this day as a major Christian religious holiday, together with the Epiphany (baptism) and attend church services in their neighborhoods. Part of the ritual is the “Blessing of Water, when water is blessed with the holy chrism symbolic of Christ’s baptism. The most beautiful and meaningful parts of the holiday occur at home and in church. Many families go to church on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Then they sit down to enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner. According to tradition, the main dish is fish and rice prepared with butter. Wine is served with dinner.
- 15. • Jesus was born to Mary, assisted by her husband Joseph, in the city of Bethlehem. • According to popular tradition, the birth took place in a stable, surrounded by farm animals. Mary wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them" . • Shepherds from the fields surrounding Bethlehem were told of the birth by an angel, and were the first to see the child.
- 22. • New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome. With most countries using the Gregorian calendar as their main calendar, New Year's Day is the closest thing to being the world's only truly global public holiday, often celebrated with fireworks at the stroke of midnightas the new year starts. All over the world, people welcome the new year for it is one of the oldest of all holidays. Most New Year celebrations focus on family and friends. It is a time to reflect on the past and envision a future, perhaps, in a world where people live together in harmony.
- 23. • For ages, New Year in Armenia is celebrated on the 21st of March. New Year in Armenia also marks the beginning of spring and the birthday of the mythical God Vahangn. Armenian New Year is characterized by huge feasts, merriment and also to celebrate the sweet season of spring. However, during the 18th Century in Armenia, January 1st was accepted as the beginning of the New Year. But many regions in Armenia like Suni, Artzah and Udik, continues to celebrate New Year on Navasardi . Gradually at the end of the 20th century all Armenians adopted the January 1 st as the official first day of the New Year.
- 25. • One of the most important Armenian New Year table "accessories" is the pork leg (Khozi bud, Խոզի բուդ), but some families also use turkey, little pig or some fish. • Other traditional things for the table are meat snacks (ershik, basturma, sujukh etc), various salads -"olivier", chicken breast with nuts or mushrooms and other), … On the table you can find pastry (mostly eastern ones - with sweet honey syrup and nuts, since they can stay eatable longer because there's no milk cream), fruits various nuts (pistachio, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, etc...), and the sweet sudjukh - walnuts, threaded and soaked in thick syrup of grape or mulberry juice. Dried sweet snacks from all kinds of fruits (sometimes also vegetables) is also a must-have for the table.
- 27. • Valentine's Day is celebrated in the memory of Saint Valentine, the Christian martyr who gave his life in the honor of love. King Claudius decapitated Saint Valentine in 269 A.D. for performing illegal marriages of Roman soldiers. Almost two centuries later, in 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius resolved to honor this sacrifice by observing February 14 as a feast day, without little thought or idea on the kind of consequence it would have on the entire world 1,500 years later. Today, Saint Valentine has come to be regarded as the patron of love, and Valentine's Day.
- 28. Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)
- 29. • Some town also hold pancake races on that day. The tradition is said to have originated when a housewife fromOlney was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service. She raced out of the house to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake. The pancake race remains a relatively common festive tradition in the UK, and England in particular, even today. Participants with frying pans race through the streets tossing pancakes into the air, catching them in the pan while running.
- 31. LENT • Lent is traditionally described as lasting for forty days, in commemoration of the forty days which Jesus spent fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer and self-denial. • During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxuries as a form of penitence. /ապաշխարանք /.Many Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches bare their altars of candles, flowers, and other devotional offerings.
- 34. • Easter is preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains Maundy Thursday, commemorating Maundy/ բարեգործություն / and the Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Je .
- 41. • The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit (sometimes Spring Bunny in the U.S. is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and sometimes also toys to the homes of children.
- 42. • Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes. Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red, the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed Christ (and, of the renewal of life in springtime).
- 45. • Easter (Zatik) is the favourite and the most anticipated holiday in the Christian world. Everybody greets each other on this day: “Christ has raisen"-“Blessed is the resurrection of Christ". During the Lenten fasting season of 40 days before Easter, Armenian families put lentils or other sprouting grains on a tray covered with a thin layer of cotton, and keep it in a light place of the house until Easter when sprouts appear. These green sprouts, symbolizing spring and awakening of nature, are the “grass" on which people place colored eggs to decorate the Easter table. “When Christ was crucified, his mother took some eggs and bread wrapped in the shawl. When the Mother saw her Son crucified and his arms bleeding, she cried. The Mother’s tears and Son’s blood dropping on the shawl colored the eggs and bread. Then the Mother put the shawl on her head. Since that day people began coloring eggs red on Easter day and women began wearing shawls when visiting church.
- 47. Easter feast
- 48. In Armenia the meals associated with Easter are fish, rice, verdures. Fish is usually whether fried or boiled. Rice is usually made with raisins and dried fruits and is served with fried lavish .Fried verdures are the necessary components of traditional table.They are called “Panjar” or “Jingyal”. They are served whether fried with eggs or in pastry, which is more common in Kharabakh and is called “Jingyalov huts”. It’s very tasty!!Eggs are eaten rolled in lavash with lots of verdures mainly tarragon, which is also an Armenian verdure with mild menthol taste. Red wine is the main beverage on Easter table.
- 49. APRIL FOOL’S DAY April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when people play practical jokes on each other.
- 51. MOTHER’S Day • Mother's Day is a celebration honouring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May.In the Great Britain it is celebrated on the Fourth Sunday in Lent .This year it was on the March 18.
- 53. • In the US, Mother's Day is not connected with any older celebrations of Motherhood. However, in some other countries and cultures, other celebrations of Motherhood have become known as Mother's Day (for example, in the UK flowers and gifts were traditionally brought to mothers onMothering Sunday, and this date is now called Mother's Day in the UK) or the date of Mother's.