Introduction to Important Festivals in America _ Important Festivals in Each Month (2)

April 1st is a traditional folk festival in the West and the United States & mdash; & mdash; April Fool's Day. April Fool's Day originated in France. In 1564, France first adopted the newly reformed chronology, that is, the current Gregorian calendar, with January 1 as the beginning of the year. But some conformists still stubbornly celebrate the New Year on April 1st according to the old calendar. Those who advocate reform make a mockery of these old-timers. Send them fake gifts on April 1st, invite them to a fake reception, and call the deceived conservatives "April fools". Since then, people have fooled each other on April 1st, which has become a popular custom in France. At the beginning of the 18th century, the April Fool's Day custom spread to Britain, and then it was brought to the United States by early British immigrants.

On April Fool's Day, people often organize family gatherings and decorate their rooms with daffodils and daisies. The typical traditional practice is to decorate a fake environment, such as making the room look like a New Year, and wishing the guests "Happy New Year" when they arrive, which makes people feel chic and interesting.

However, the most typical April Fool's Day activity is that everyone plays jokes on each other and plays tricks on each other. For example, children will tell their parents that there is a hole in their schoolbag or a black spot on their face. When adults lean over to look at it, they will shout "April Fool" and run away with a smile.

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

Easter (generally the first Sunday after the full moon at the vernal equinox)

Easter is a religious festival to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. Every year, the vernal equinox passes, and the first Sunday after the first full moon is Easter. The date varies from year to year, usually between March 22nd and April 25th.

There are many traditional customs in Easter, and the most typical one is Easter eggs. The ancients often regarded eggs as a symbol of having many children and grandchildren and resurrection. Later, the disciples gave the egg a new meaning, thinking that it was a symbol of the tomb of Jesus, from which the future life was born. At Easter, people dye eggs red, which represents the blood shed by Jesus during his crucifixion and also symbolizes the happiness after his resurrection. There is also an ancient custom of giving boiled eggs to street children to play games. They roll the eggs forward, and whoever breaks the eggs last wins, and all the eggs belong to him.

The rabbit is also a symbol of Easter. Because the rabbit is very fertile, people regard it as the expression of new life. Adults often tell children vividly that Easter eggs were laid by rabbits, and put them in the garden for children to play egg-finding games.

Now every Easter, American candy stores always sell Easter bunnies and eggs made of chocolate. These eggs are as small as eggs, but as big as melons. Children naturally like them and give them to relatives and friends, which is also a good gift. Arbor Day, an important holiday in May in the United States, is the second Friday in May. Arbor Day is a national holiday, and there is no uniform date in the United States. But every April and May, every state in the United States organizes Arbor Day activities. For example, Rhode Island stipulates that the second Friday of May every year is Arbor Day, and there is one day off. Other states have fixed dates, and some decide dates temporarily. Whenever this day comes, people from all walks of life, mainly students, will form a mighty army of tree planting and invest in tree planting activities.

Arbor Day was initiated by Nebraska. Before the 19th century, Nebraska was a bare wasteland, with strong winds and yellow sand all over the sky, and people suffered greatly. In 1872, the famous American agronomist Milton proposed to establish Arbor Day in Nebraska to mobilize people to plant trees in a planned way. At that time, the state agricultural bureau adopted this proposal through a resolution, and the governor stipulated that the third Wednesday of April every year should be Arbor Day. After this decision was made, millions of trees were planted that year. In the next 16 years, another 6 million trees were planted, which finally turned Nebraska's 1, hectares of wilderness into dense forests. In recognition of Multon's achievements, in 1885, the state legislature officially stipulated that Multon's birthday on April 22 should be the annual Arbor Day, and there would be one day off.

Mother's Day (the second Sunday in May)

Mother's Day in the United States began in May 197, and the initiative to establish Mother's Day was Anna &: bull; Jarvis proposed it. She personally arranged ceremonies and organized activities in the church, requiring participants to wear white carnation on their chests. This activity attracted a lot of people's attention and interest, and more churches organized the same activities in succession the following year. People unanimously decided to designate the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day every year.

In 1911, the activities to celebrate Mother's Day had been widely carried out, not only sweeping all states in the United States, but also some countries in Canada, Mexico and South America began to celebrate this festival. In the following years, the craze for celebrating Mother's Day increased.

In 1912, the United States established the International Mother's Day Association. In May 1913, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution calling on the President and all officials of the Cabinet, the Senate and the House of Representatives and the federal government to wear white carnation on Mother's Day. In 1914, the US Congress officially named the second Tuesday in May as Mother's Day. Then, President Wilson told citizens all over the country to hang the national flag on their homes to show their love and respect for all American mothers. Since then, the president of the United States has issued a declaration with the same content every year.

Wear carnation on your chest, and the color is exquisite. At first, it was all white, but later, those whose mothers had died wore white carnations, while those whose mothers were still alive wore red carnations. On this day, people always try their best to make their mothers spend the holiday happily and thank them for their hard work for a year. The most common way is to give mother's day cards or gifts, and some families have husbands and children do all the housework.

Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

Memorial Day is a holiday to be commemorated in most states in the United States, originally on May 3th. Since 1971, in order to ensure that all federal employees can enjoy this rest day, many states changed it to the last Monday in May.

in the American civil war, countless soldiers were killed in the war. After the war, many families in the south began to pay homage to the soldiers killed in the war. In the spring, they offered flowers to the graves of the dead on both sides, regardless of the north and the south. Northerners were deeply moved by this and regarded this move as a symbol of national unity. In 1868, May 3th was officially approved as a day to offer flowers to the soldiers who died heroically defending the motherland.

After the First World War, people began to pay homage to all the war victims on Memorial Day, and later it gradually developed into a general family to pay homage to their deceased relatives. Today has become a universal sweeping day, which is very similar to the Qingming Festival in China.

On Memorial Day, American servicemen and veterans line up in a long line to go to the cemetery, firing guns to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers, and blowing the lights out to let the fallen soldiers rest in peace. Flag Day, an important festival in the United States in June, commemorates the adoption of the first official flag of the United States by the Continental Congress on June 14th, 1777. At present, on this day, the American flag can be seen everywhere flying in the wind, and commemorative activities are held all over the country to show respect for the flag.

The first large-scale national flag commemoration in the United States was held in 1876 to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the 199s, many public schools proposed to hold national flag commemoration activities on June 14th every year, which quickly received a wide response. In 1893, Philadelphia first recognized June 14th as the National Flag Memorial Day, and in 1897, New York State also recognized this festival, requiring that the national flag must be hung on all buildings on this day. After entering the 2th century, the American Flag Association launched a commemorative activity again. In response to their initiative, Congress officially confirmed June 14th as American Flag Day in 1949.

Fathers' Day (the third Sunday in June)

While celebrating Mother's Day, people have not forgotten their father's achievements. In 199, it was suggested that Father's Day should be decided. It is said that John &; bull; Mrs. Dodd. Mrs. Dodd's mother died early, and her father took on the heavy responsibility of raising and educating the children alone, < P > bringing them all up. In 199, Mrs. Dodd felt grateful for her father's upbringing and prepared to hold activities for him. At the same time, she thought of all fathers' contributions to the family and society, so she wrote to a local clergy association and suggested that the third Sunday in June be designated as Father's Day. The association submitted the proposal to its members for discussion and it was approved. In June 191, people celebrated the first Father's Day here. At that time, everyone whose father was dead wore a white rose, while those whose father was alive wore a red rose. This custom has been passed down to this day.

At first, the date of Father's Day was different in different places. Moreover, some places use dandelion as the symbol of Father's Day, while others use white lilac lined with a green leaf as the symbol of Father's Day. In 1916, Father's Day was approved by Wilson, the 28th president of the United States. In 1924, Coolidge, the 3th president of the United States, suggested making it a national holiday. In June, 1934, the United States Congress stipulated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. > > > On the next page, there will be more exciting "American important festivals in July"