All festivals in western countries

Brief introduction of western festivals

(2006-0 1- 19 19:09:02)

Section 1 New Year (New Year)

1. Calendar

The first day of July in the Jewish calendar; The first day of the first month of the Islamic calendar; Gregorian calendar, solar calendar or solar calendar. It was named in memory of Pope Gregory XIII's adoption of this calendar in 1582. According to the solar or Gregorian calendar, the New Year begins at 1( 1 year 1 month). On New Year's Day, people bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

2. Wish: Happy New Year. I wish you a happy new year. Happy new year. Thank you. You too. Congratulations on getting rich, good health and all the best.

Due to different cultures and customs, people in different countries celebrate New Year's Day and New Year's Day in different ways and forms.

In western countries, although Christmas is the biggest festival, the New Year still plays an irreplaceable role in people's minds. The New Year's Eve party is an important activity to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. People in western countries like to spend the last night of the year happily in cheerful music and gorgeous brilliance. Masquerade balls are especially popular at this time. The guests hid their dignity and caution behind masks and dressed strangely. Everyone is very free, having a good time, and their behavior is very different from usual. In Britain and the United States, as soon as the midnight bell rings, people attending the party will hold hands and sing the famous Scottish folk song Auld Lang Syne.

Section 2 Christmas Day (Christmas Day)

Christmas is the day when Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, and the recognized date is 65438+February 25th. Originally a religious festival, Christmas has gradually evolved into a national festival with national style, which is very popular in the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia and other western countries, and even some countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Christmas refers to Christmas or Christmas tide, that is, 10 from February 24th to the following year1October 6th. In addition, people regard the night of 65438+February 24th as Christmas Eve.

1. Jesus Christmas

Jesus is the founder of Christianity and the son of God. About 6 BC, Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, who was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and was born in the stable of an inn in Bethlehem near Jerusalem. When Jesus grew up, he began to preach and gathered twelve disciples. He thought that to save the earth, Judaism must be reformed at that time, so he put forward a series of his own religious opinions. However, because his words and deeds clashed with the Jewish rulers and social authorities at that time, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of his disciples, and was crucified. Jesus ascended to heaven three days after his death. His disciples inherited his career and preached.

Step 2: Christmas tree

The Christmas tree can be said to be the most important decoration for Christmas. Christmas trees generally use a whole tower-shaped evergreen tree (such as shirts, cypresses, etc.). ), or tie a tower Christmas tree with pine and cypress branches. The trees are covered with glittering gold paper and silver paper, snowflakes made of cotton and colorful lanterns, candles, toys, gifts and other decorations. There is a big star at the top of the tree. Colored lights or candles on the tree symbolize that Jesus is the light of the world, and the big star represents the star that led three oriental sages to Bethlehem after Jesus was born.

There are different opinions about the origin of the Christmas tree.

3. Santa Claus/Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a typical image known to all ages in the west, a combination of saints and gods, and a synonym for kindness and generosity. It is generally believed that Santa Claus is an amiable old man with a silver beard. He is wearing a red pointed hat, a scarlet robe with a white leather collar and a wide cloth belt around his waist. Legend has it that on Christmas Eve, Santa Claus drove a sleigh full of gifts pulled by eight deer from the northern snow country, came down from the chimney, went through the fireplace and came to the room, and put candy, toys and other gifts into the socks that children hung on the fireplace and bedside.

According to legend, Santa Claus is the incarnation of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Mela in Asia Minor in the eastern part of the Roman Empire (present-day Turkey). Dutch immigrants brought the legend of Santa Claus to the United States in the17th century. Santa Claus in American English is Santa Claus? Santa Claus was originally called "Saint Nicholas" in Dutch. Bishop saint nicholas was charitable before his death. He secretly gave gold as a dowry to a farmer's three daughters to be married, and threw a bag of gold into the chimney, which happened to fall into a stocking on the fireplace. So now, on Christmas Eve, many naive children hang their socks carefully by the fireplace or bedside, expecting Santa Claus to send gifts.

In modern countries such as Britain and the United States, in order to attract and attract customers, many department stores will send people to dress up as Santa Claus during Christmas and distribute candy and gifts to customers (especially children brought by customers) who have been shopping in the store.

4. Christmas cards and presents

According to the custom, people give Christmas cards and gifts to each other at Christmas. Greeting cards can be bought in the store or made by yourself. Just write a congratulatory message and write your own name. Sending greeting cards is generally based on the other party's hobbies and their relationship with themselves for one year. Not only colleagues, classmates and friends exchange gifts, but also family members have the habit of exchanging greeting cards and gifts. This is the most common activity to celebrate Christmas.

5. Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner is the main meal of Christmas. Some families arrange Chinese food, while others arrange dinner. This meal is mainly a family dinner, and guests are generally not invited. The main foods of Christmas dinner are: turkey or roast goose, pudding and various biscuits (such as golden butter biscuits).

According to the custom, when eating Christmas dinner, one more seat and one more set of tableware are often needed. Some people say this is for the "angel of the Lord", while others say it is for a passerby who needs help.

6. Christmas carols

On Christmas Eve (from the evening of February 24th to the morning of February 25th, 65438+), Christians organized singing groups to sing Christmas carols in Christian homes and deliver good news. It is said that this is a good news that imitates angels to report the birth of Christ to shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem on the night of the birth of Christ. There are many carols, such as Silent Night, Jingle Bells, Little Bethlehem, The Magi and so on, most of which are related to the birth of Jesus.

The third quarter Easter (Easter)

Easter is an important festival for the resurrection of Christ Jesus. For Christians, Easter is second only to Christmas.

In 325 AD, the Nicaean Conference decided to designate the first Sunday after the first full moon in March of 2 1 year as Easter to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, the founder of Christianity. So the exact date of Easter every year is uncertain. Because Easter always falls on Sunday, its English expression can be Easter/Easter Day or Easter Sunday. The week after Easter is called Easter Week, during which Christians pray every day.

40 days before Easter, there is a Lent called Lent, which lasts for 40 days from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter. This is mainly to commemorate Jesus' fasting or repentance for 40 days in the wilderness. Lent provides an opportunity for believers to repent, fast, restrain themselves and repent, and requires them to clean up the evil deeds and sins of the past year.

According to Christian custom, on the day before Easter, Christians hold night prayers. That night, all the lights in the church went out, which meant that the world was dark. When the midnight bell rang, the priest walked into the church with a lighted candle (symbolizing the light of Christ) and lit the candles in the hands of all believers. Soon, the whole church was illuminated by many candles, and the prayer was over.

Easter will hold religious ceremonies and activities, such as "Eucharist". The first sentence when people meet is "The Lord has risen". Then people give Easter eggs to each other, and children eat rabbit candy and tell rabbit stories. According to the customs of western countries, eggs and rabbits are typical symbols and mascots of Easter.

Section 4 Thanksgiving Day (Thanksgiving Day)

Thanksgiving Day is a traditional American folk festival. The time is the 4th Thursday of1October every year 165438+.

1. Origin

The origin of Thanksgiving has an interesting but complicated history, which begins with the religious history of Britain. Around the middle of16th century, reformists appeared in the English church. They advocate the removal of the old Catholic system and cumbersome etiquette in the church, the abolition of gorgeous decorations in the church, the opposition to the arrogance and extravagance of feudal princes and nobles, and the advocacy of a frugal and clean simple living, so they are called Puritans (). Puritans are divided into moderates and radicals. Moderates advocate constitutional monarchy, representing the interests of the big bourgeoisie and upper new noble. Radicals advocate * * * and the political system, insist on the separation of church and state, and advocate the reorganization of parliament with Presbyterian system to represent the interests of the middle and small bourgeois nobles. Later, they were persecuted by the authorities and some Puritans were forced to flee abroad. In September, 1620, 102, the English Puritans set out from Plymouth, England on the wooden boat Mayflower. After nearly three months of drifting at sea, they arrived at Plymouth Port in southeastern Massachusetts on February 23 of that year and accidentally found an Indian nearby. But it was winter, and a stranger, starting from scratch, lacked clothes and food, and was attacked by disease. By the end of the first winter, only 50 people had survived. Fortunately, the following spring, these surviving immigrants received enthusiastic help from local Indians. Kind Indians give them seeds, teach them to hunt, and teach them to grow crops according to the local climate characteristics. In this way, with the help of Indians and the efforts of immigrants, a bumper harvest of 162 1 was finally ushered in.

In order to thank God for the bumper harvest, the immigrants decided to hold a grand celebration, and also to thank the Indians for their warm help. So they held a celebration with the invited Indians who had helped them on a Thursday in the last ten days of 162 1 year1month. They salute at dawn and hold religious ceremonies to express their sincere thanks to God. Then they celebrate the gift of God with the turkey they hunted and the delicious food they planted, such as pumpkin, sweet potato and corn. This is the beginning of Thanksgiving in American history. 1789 Washington, the first president of the United States, officially declared1October 26th as Thanksgiving Day. However, it was not until 194 1 that Congress passed a resolution to make the fourth Thursday of June every year as the day for the national unified celebration of Thanksgiving.

Section 5 April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day is a special festival. The time is April1(April 1st) every year. According to the custom in western countries, people can lie and fool others at will on April Fool's Day. The higher the degree of deception, the more respected it is. People who are fooled on April Fool's Day are called April Fools. According to their habit, when a person successfully fools others, he will say with a smile, and then the fooled person will suddenly realize and laugh with him. April Fool's Day activities enliven the atmosphere, relax the brain and add some fun to people's lives, which is not a bad thing. But joking or fooling people should be measured and enough is enough. Don't just pursue the cleverness of deception, regardless of the tolerance of others, that is, don't build your temporary happiness on the suffering of others.

However, the most typical activity of April Fool's Day is that everyone plays jokes on each other and plays tricks on each other with lies. Some people tie their wallets to the street with a thin thread and pull the other end in the dark. Once someone finds a wallet, they will suddenly drag it away. Others put bricks under the broken hat in the middle of the road, waiting to see who will kick them. Children will tell their parents that there is a hole in their schoolbags or a black spot on their faces. Adults will shout "Happy April Fool's Day" when they lean over to see it. Run away with a smile. In a word, on April Fool's Day, zoos and aquariums will also receive many phone calls to Mr. Yu and Mr. Cheng Leon, which often leads staff to cut off telephone lines in order to reduce trouble.

Today's April Fool's Day is mainly a festival for naughty boys in America.

Section 6 Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a festival set up by Britain, America and other countries to show their respect for their mothers. The date is the second Sunday in May every year.

Mother's Day originated in the United States from 65438 to the 1960s. It is said that there was a small place in Philadelphia, USA. People are not very friendly to each other and often fight. At that time, a lady named Jarvis wanted to change this situation, so she launched a so-called "Mother's Friendship Day". On Mother's Day, I visited other people's mothers and advised them to make up again. She died on 9 May 1905. Her daughter, Miss anna jarvis, inherited her career, continued her efforts and decided to establish a festival in memory of her mother. So she began to write to influential people at that time and put forward her own suggestions. Thanks to her efforts, Philadelphia celebrated Mother's Day for the first time in May 1908.

On Mother's Day, children will give their mothers Mother's Day cards, flowers and beautiful gifts that their mothers like. At the same time, fathers will lead their children to do housework on this day so that mothers can have a rest.

Section 7 Father's Day

The third Sunday in June every year. Mainly in the United States and Canada.

The origin of Father's Day and America in the early 20th century. It is said that there was a man named Wang in Washington state at that time. She lost her mother when she was young, and all six brothers and sisters were raised by her father. Her father's spirit of self-sacrifice as both father and mother greatly touched her. When she grew up, she actively advocated Father's Day and persuaded the ministerial society in Spokane, Washington at that time to make special services to pay tribute to her father. Later 19 16, her proposal was officially recognized by President Wilson of Woodworking. Since then, Father's Day has become a traditional American holiday.

According to custom, on Father's Day, children usually get up early in the morning to cook a big breakfast for their father and take it to his bedside to thank him for his kindness. In addition, on Father's Day, children will also give gifts to their fathers, usually clothes and wine that their fathers like.

Section 8 Valentine's Day

St. Valentine's Day is a very important festival in Britain, America and other countries, and the time is 14 every February.

There are many different explanations about the origin of Valentine's Day, but most of them can't be verified now. Among them, the popular saying is that it was established in memory of St. Valentine, a Roman Christian martyr. According to legend, before being beheaded in February of 14, he used his persistent magic of love to make his blind daughter see the light again.

It is worth noting that Valentine's Day is not only a festival for young people, but also a festival for the masses. On Valentine's Day, not only couples give cards and gifts to each other, but people also give gifts and cards to their parents, elders and other people they respect and love. Especially fascinating is the fancy dress ball on the eve of Valentine's Day. This was very popular decades ago. Everyone at the dance took pains to dress themselves up, some dressed as medieval knights, some as Spanish pirates, and some as eastern emperors. Smart dance hosts often send each guest a lace Valentine's Day card with someone's name on it, and this person will be your partner tonight. Therefore, at the ball, people can see Romeo and Cinderella dancing; Hamlet and Carmen are talking and laughing; The Arabian Princess has dinner with charles ii. They are dressed so vividly that people feel as if a group of ancient people have really come back to life.

Section 9 Halloween (Halloween)

1. Halloween

According to Christian custom, Halloween is celebrated every June 165438+ 10/0/day, which is a day to commemorate all saints. Halloween is the day before Halloween, which is 65438+1October 3 1. In medieval England, Halloween was called Halloween. As we all know, the English for "eve" is Eve, so Halloween has changed from Halloween +eve to Halloween.

In Britain, Halloween can be said to be Ghost Festival. Because most activities are related to ghosts. Every Halloween night, people sit around the fire and tell stories about ghosts, which sometimes makes some children present sound scared. Someone hollowed out a radish or beet head to make a grotesque head, carved a mouth and eyes on it, put a lighted candle on it, which looked scary, and then hung it on a branch or door. It is said that this can drive away monsters.

In America, people make Jack-o 'lanterns or Jack-o 'lanterns. Children dressed in strange costumes, masks, dressed as ghosts, carrying pumpkin lanterns, walked door to door, shouting "trick or treat" at the gate. At this time, if the host doesn't treat you, these naughty children will really make trouble, and some will paint soap on the host's door handle or sprinkle soapy water on the glass; Some simply demolished the owner's door; Others took away the daily necessities left by the owner at the door. But people usually welcome these innocent and lovely little guests and prepare candy or change in advance. When they heard the children coming, they greeted them immediately and distributed candy or change to the children.

Independence Day

American Independence Day July 4th, Independence Day is one of the major legal holidays in the United States.

1776 On July 4th, the Declaration of Independence drafted by Jefferson was formally adopted at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, solemnly declaring the independence of the United States of America from Britain. The Declaration of Independence is a great document with world historical significance. The day when the Declaration of Independence was adopted has also become a festival that the American people will always commemorate, and it has been designated as the American Independence Day.