Навчальний посібник для студентів ос «Бакалавр» галузі знань 03 «Гуманітарні науки»

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Chapter 7 
Traditions, customs and public holidays
 
There are lots of events you can get involved with in the UK, from 
street parties to traditional festivals! 
On ‘bank holidays’, most shops, businesses and institutions are closed. 
Some of the events below are bank holidays, but not all – and there are 
different dates in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Please visit 
the gov.uk website for a list of all bank holidays. 
There are many more events across the UK, throughout the year. You 
can find out more at Visit Britain and Discover Northern Ireland, or browse 
our Holidays, festivals and events section for even more ideas – and to read 
about other international students' experiences! 
So what's going on in 2016? Scroll down or jump straight to: 
January 
1st – New Year’s Day. On New Year’s Eve (31 December), it is 
traditional to celebrate midnight with your friends or family and to sing ‘Auld 
lang syne’, a folk song with words by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The 
party can last well into New Year’s Day! Many people make ‘New Year’s 
resolutions’, promising to achieve a goal or break a bad habit in the coming 
year. 
In Scotland, the celebration of the new year is called Hogmanay. There 
are big parties across the country – expect lots of music, dancing, food and 
fireworks – but Edinburgh hosts some of the biggest. 
25th – Burns’ Night (Scotland). Many Scottish people hold a special 
supper (dinner) on Burns’ Night, a celebration of Robert Burns, with toasts 
and readings of his poetry. Men might wear kilts, there may be bagpipe 
music, and people will almost certainly eat haggis (the traditional Scottish 

dish of sheeps’ heart, liver and lungs) with neeps (turnips) and tatties 
(potatoes). 
February 
8th – Chinese New Year. Outside Asia, the world’s biggest celebration 
of Chinese New Year is in London – each year there is a parade through 
Chinatown in the West End, with free performances of music, dance and 
acrobatics, a feast of food and fireworks. There are many more events around 
the UK, so find out what's on in your area – cities including Manchester, 
Nottingham, Liverpool and Birmingham usually host colourful street parties. 
Find out more in Chinese New Year. 
9th – Shrove Tuesday or ‘Pancake Day’. Lent is the traditional 
Christian period of fasting, which lasts for 40 days. Shrove Tuesday is the day 
before Lent, when households would traditionally use up their eggs, milk and 
sugar by making pancakes. Nowadays, even if they are not religious, many 
people still make and eat pancakes on this day. 
Some towns in the UK also hold ‘pancake races’, where contestants 
toss pancakes in a frying pan while running for the finish line. One of the 
most famous is in Olney, Buckinghamshire, where it’s believed the first 
Pancake Day race took place in 1445. Find out more about Shrove Tuesday 
traditions in How to celebrate Pancake Day. 
14th – Valentine’s Day. Love is in the air! Historically the Feast of St 
Valentine, nowadays this is a celebration of romance. Many people in the UK 
go out for dinner with their sweethearts, and give them a Valentine’s card, 
chocolate or flowers. If you’re single, you might receive an anonymous card 
from a ‘secret admirer’! Find out how students mark the event in our 
Valentine's Day article. 
March 
1st – St David’s Day (Wales). St David is the patron saint of Wales, 
and March 1 is a celebration of Welsh culture. People in Wales might wear a 

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daffodil and eat cawl, a soup of seasonal vegetables and lamb or bacon. 
Events are held across Wales, including a large parade in Cardiff. 
6th – Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate motherhood, 
and to thank mothers for everything they do throughout the year. Many 
people give their mothers a card or gift, treat them to a day out or cook a 
meal. 
17th – St Patrick’s Day (Northern Ireland). The Feast of St Patrick is a 
national holiday in Ireland, and is now celebrated by Irish communities all 
around the world. In the UK, there are St Patrick’s Day events in cities 
including Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester and London, as well as 
Belfast. Many people go out with friends, wearing green or a shamrock 
symbol (the lucky clover) and drinking Guinness, the Irish dark beer. Get top 
tips with our feature How to celebrate St Patrick's Day in style. 
23rd – Holi Day. The 'festival of colours', the end of the winter season 
in the Hindu calendar, falls on this day in 2016. In several places in the UK, 
including London, Manchester, Bristol and Belfast, people celebrate the event 
by running through the streets and throwing coloured paint all over each 
other! Check out Celebrating Holi in the UK to find out more. 
25th–28th – Easter weekend. Easter is a Christian holiday celebrating 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is always on a Sunday in March or April 
(called Easter Sunday), and the previous Friday (Good Friday) and following 
Monday (Easter Monday) are bank holidays. People celebrate Easter in 
different ways, but many give each other chocolate eggs and eat ‘hot cross 
buns’ (sweet buns with a cross design), while children decorate eggs or take 

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