TOPIC 1: CELEBRATIONS..

FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

• JANUARY- New Year

• FEBRUARY- St Valentin's Day 

• Pancake Day. On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Tradition: pancake race

• MARCH- Easter. Celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Tradition: hot cross buns,

         Easter eggs, Easter bunny./  St Patricks Day. On the 17th (Ireland).

• APRIL- April's fool Day. 1st .Similar to 'Día de los inocentes'

• MAY- Mother's Day

• JUNE- Father's Day

• JULY- 4th Indepence Day (United States)

• AUGUST- Carnival of Notting Hill (London)

• OCTOBER- Halloween.31st 

• NOVEMBER- Guy fawke's Night. 5th (United Kingdom)./ Thanksgiving Day. 4th Thursday. (United States)

• DECEMBER- Christmas

VIDEOS

ARTS & CRAFTS

GAMES

TRADITIONAL SONGS FOR CELEBRATIONS

FOOD AND CELEBRATIONS

Learn about typical food related to celebrations in other countries.

Food is an important part of any celebration. Countries celebrate special occasions in a different way:

Christmas

Some examples include:

• United kingdom -Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom is usually eaten in the afternoon on 25 December. The dinner usually consists of roast turkey, with dessert of Christmas pudding (or plum pudding), sometimes mince pies.
• France - black and white pudding, which is sausage containing blood
• French Canada - desserts like doughnuts and sugar pie
• Germany - gingerbread biscuits and liqueur chocolates
• Nicaragua - chicken with a stuffing made from a range of fruits and vegetables including tomato, onion and papaya
• Russia - a feast of 12 different dishes, representing Christ’s disciples.

New Year

Traditional New Year foods around the world include:

• Greece - a special sweet pasty baked with a coin inside it
• Japan - up to 20 dishes cooked and prepared one week earlier. Each food represents a New Year’s wish; for example, seaweed asks for happiness in the year ahead
• Scotland - haggis (sheep’s stomach stuffed with oatmeal and offal), gingerbread biscuits and scones
• Spain - 12 grapes, meant to be put into the mouth one at a time at each chime of the clock at midnight.

In many Asian countries, the New Year doesn’t start on January 1, but with the first full moon in the first Chinese lunar month. Traditional New Year food includes:

• China - fish, chestnuts and fried foods
• Korea - dumpling soup
• Vietnam - meat-filled rice cakes and shark fin soup.

Weddings

The typical wedding is a joint celebration for the families that involves a wedding cake and traditional foods. Foods that feature prominently in weddings include:

• China - roast suckling pig, fish, pigeon, chicken, lobster and a type of bun stuffed with lotus seeds are commonly served. It is especially important to offer both lobster and chicken: the lobster represents the dragon and the chicken the phoenix, so including both on the menu is thought to harmonise the Yin and Yang of the newly joined families.
• Indonesia - foods served depend on the region and religion, but could include spicy rice dishes like nasi goreng, dim sum, sushi or even Western recipes like beef wellington.
• Italy - food is a very important part of an Italian wedding. Bow tie-shaped twists of fried dough, sprinkled in sugar, represent good luck. A roast suckling pig or roast lamb is often the main dish, accompanied by pastas and fruits. The traditional Italian wedding cake is made from biscuits.
• Korea - noodles are served, because they represent longevity.
• Norway - the traditional wedding cake is made from bread topped with cream, cheese and syrup.
• Britain - the honeymoon has been said to originate from a time when the father of the bride gave the groom a moon’s (month’s) worth of mead (alcoholic beverage made from honey) before the bride and groom left after the ceremony.

Birthdays

 Traditional birthday foods from around the world include:

• Australia - birthdays are often celebrated by sharing a decorated birthday cake with lit candles, which the person celebrating the birthday blows out while making a wish.
• England - a cake may be baked containing symbolic objects that foretell the future. If your piece of cake has a coin, for example, you will one day be wealthy.
• Ghana - the child’s birthday breakfast is a fried patty made from mashed sweet potato and eggs. Traditional birthday party fare includes a dish made from fried plantain (a kind of banana).
• Mexico - a papier-mâché container in the shape of an animal (piñata) is filled with lollies and other treats. The blindfolded child hits at the piñata until it breaks. The treats are shared amongst the guests.
• Western Russia - the birthday boy or girl is given a fruit pie instead of a cake.

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