Bank holidays are public (státní) holidays in Britain, originally (původně) called so as bank were closed on these special days.
Is Queen´s official birthday celebrated on 6th June (6. června). It takes place (koná se) at Whitehall with Horse Guard´s Parade. On that day and on New Year´s Day the Queen awards honours (uděluje tituly) to important people.
The Lord Mayor´s Show (Starostova show)
Takes places on 8th November. The Mayor drives throught (projíždí) the City in a two hundred-yar old golden coach (200 letý kočár).
Remembrance Day (Den válečných vysloužilců)
Is celebrated on 11th November or the nearest (nejbližší) Sunday. At the Cenotaph in London a ceremony (u Památníku padlých) is held and there is two-minute silence to remember those who were killed in the world wars.
Easter is celebrated on the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon in spring (první neděle po prvním jarním úplňku). The name Easter comes from Old English Eastru meaning goddess of the dawn (bohyně úsvitu).
It starts 24th December - on Christmas Eve (Štědrý večer) when families decorate their houses with brightly coloured paper, paper balls (řetězy). On the mantelpiece (krbová římsa) there are Christmas cards wishing Merry Christmas and happy New Year. Shops are open untill late in evening so the last minute shopping for presents can be done. Harrod´s is closed when the Queen does her shopping there. In every house there are nativity scene (jesličky) or the crib (Betlém). Children hope that at night Santa Claus or Father Christmas will come down the chimney and bring some presents for them. So there is X-mas stocking hanging from their beds and larger presents are under the tree. They also watch TV and sing Christmas carols (koledy). The Christmas tree usually keeps (vydrží) until the Twelfth Night (Večer tříkrálový) of 5th January. The name Christmas comes from the words Christ + mass (Kristus + mše).
On this day they have Christmas dinner usually at noon or in the evening. They have roast turkey (pečený krocan), potatoes and vegetables followed by Christmas pudding.
Boxing Day is the 26th of December - and it is the second Christmas holidays, named after the tradition of giving dustmen (popeláři), newspaper boys (kameloti), milkmen, postmen small sums (částky) of money in boxes.
On New Years´s Eve (Silvestr) people go to parties, they stay up (zůstat vzhůru) till midnight to see the old year out and drink a toast (připíjet) to the New Year, they gather (shromažďovat) in squares, link arms (držet se za ramena) and sing Auld Lang Syne. This song meaning old days gone is a popular Scottish song.
Is a day of bonfires and fireworks (ohně a ohňostroje) to remember the unsuccessful attempt (neúspěšný pokus) at blowing up (vyhodit do vzduchu) the parliament on 5th November 1605. Guy Fawkes and his conspirators (spiklenci) put 36 barrels of gunpowder (sudy se střelným prachem) in the cellar (do sklepa) beneath the House of Lord (Horní sněmovna). But one of the Lords was warned (varován) and the conspiracy (spiknutí) was foiled (prozrazeno).
Eisteddfod is rather a festival than holiday. It is celebrated in the first week of August in Wales. Originally it was a miner´s (cultural feast (hornický svátek). Now it is a festival of music and arts. A Bard, the winning poet (nejlepší básník), is crowned (je korunován).
Burn Night is celebrated on 25th January, on the birthday of the Scottish national poet (skotský národní básník), the author of the song Auld Lang Syne, Robert Burns, who was born in 1759. On that day Scots usually eat their typical dishes, the most important being haggis (tlačenka) made from sheeps´s organs (ovčí vnitřnosti) eaten with potatoes and swede turnip (brukve). There is usually bagpipe (dudák) music when serving the haggis played by a piper dressed in kilt. And then everybody dances.
The Edinburg International Festival is celebrated from 12th August to 2nd September. It is a festival of Scottish music and dancing. The Scots dress in tartan kilts (tartanové sukně) and compete (soutěží) in their typical sports - tossing the caber (hod kládou), throwing the hammer (hod kladivem) or a tug-of-war (přetahování).
Martin Luther King Day
Is celebrated on the third Monday in January to commemorate a black clergyman (černošský duchovník) who tried to fight (bojovat) for civil rights (občanská práva) of his people, the blacks, and who was assassinated (zavražděn) in 1968.
Is the official birthday of all American presidents since the first one – George Washington. The ceremonies take place every third Monday in February.
Memorial Day (Památka padlých)
Commemorates the dead in all wars on the fourth Monday in May.
Independence Day (Den nezávislosti)
Commemorates victory (vítězství) over (nad) the British in the American Civil War (Americká občanská válka) and the signing (podpis) of „Declaration of Independence (Prohlášení nezávislosti) in 1776. It is a day of picnics, parades (průvody) and flying the flag (vlajky), parties, barbecues (grilování), concerts and fireworks. It is celebrated on 4th July (července).
It is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Reminds (připomíná) Columbus´ landing (přistání) in the New World on 12th October in 1492. There are parades (průvody) in the streets but the Native Americans (američtí Indiáni) often protest against celebrating this day.
Is celebrated on the last Thursday of November and it is the second most important holiday of the year after Christmas. When Pilgrim Fathers (otcové poutníci) settled (se usadili) in America in 1620 they suffered (trpěli) a lot during the first winter and half of them died. The next year the Native Americans (Indiáni) taught them how to plant corn and other crops (plodiny) - pumpkins, barley (ječmen), beans (fazole) so in the autumn of 1621 they celebrated their Thanskgiving Day for the first time. They also invited local
Indians to the celebration. Nowadays, the Americans eat roast turkey (pečený krocan) and pumpkins pie (dýňový nákyp) and they wish one another (navzájem) „Happy Turkey Day“. This is the day of gifts (dárky), charity (dobročinnosti) and food for poor people.
The other and international holiday (ostatní a mezinárodní svátky)
It is a lovers´ feast named after an early (dávný) Christian martyr (křesťanský mučedník) who had to die bacause he had wedded (oddával) many couples (dvojice) in the times of war when marriages were forbidden (sňatky byly kvůli válce zakázány). On 14th February people give presents to the people they love, they send funny greeting cards also to friends. The cards are anonymous, often signed „Your Valentine“ or „Your secret admirer“ (tajný ctitel).
The festival is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, the tradition started in America where Anne Jarvis, the mother of 11 children, first marked the death (na počest úmrtí) of her own mother in 1906. In 1913, the Mother´s day was first celebrated in Europe – Great Britain. On Mother´s Day children give small gifts or cards to their mothers.
On May Day, 1st of May, people put a tall mayople (vztyčují dlouhou májku) in the centre of the town decorated with colourful ribbons (pentle) and flowers. The are carnival throught the streets.
April Fool´s Day is a very curious feast. It is celebrated on April 1st and on that day you are allowed (dovoleno) to pull jokes (žertovat) and pranks (dělat lumpárny). It is very popular among children.
It starts on 31st October, caleed All Hallows. It is associated with an old Celtic custom (starý keltský zvyk) of celebrating the end of the season of the sun, disappearance of the sun god and the start of the Celtic year. In the vening children light pumpkin lanterns called jack-o´-lanterns to chase (zahnat) away witches and evil spirits, they dress up (převléct) as saints (svatí), angels, devils, witches, goblins (skřítci) a nd ghosts (duchové). They knock on the door (zaklepou na dveře) and say: „Trick or treat (odměna nebo žertík) and if they are not given candies (cukrovinky), popcorn or cookies, they will play a trick (provedou neplechu). There is a tradition of bobbing for apples bitting apples that float in water (je zvykem kousání do jablka, které pluje na vodě). On that day people gives parties, decorate their houses with paper moons, witches, bats, ghost, black cats .. They eat toffee apples (jablka v karamelu). 1st Noovember is All Saints Day (Svátek všech svatých) and 2nd November All Souls Day (Památka zesnulých) when the Christian Church honours the dead (křesťanská církev připomíná mrtvé).
It is celebrated on 24th June (června). It is the longest day of the year – the summer solstice (letní slunovart).