Comprehensive list of Western festivals in 2016, what are the Western festivals?

The first section of the New Year (New Year)

1. Calendar

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

2. Wishes:Happy New Year.Happy New Year to you. wish a happy New Year.Thank you, the same to you. May you get rich, good health and all the best.

3. CelebrationsDue to differences in culture and customs, there are certain differences in the ways and forms of people in various countries celebrating New Year's Day and New Year.

In Western countries, although Christmas is the biggest holiday, New Year still occupies an irreplaceable and important position in people's minds. The New Year's Day party is an essential event to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. People in various Western countries like to spend the last night of the year joyfully amidst cheerful music and brilliant brilliance. At this time, costume parties are particularly popular. The guests hid their dignity and caution behind masks and dressed up in strange and weird ways. Everyone was free and having fun, which was very different from their usual behavior. In Britain and the United States, when the clock strikes midnight, people attending the party hold hands and sing "Auld Lang Syne," the famous Scottish folk song.

Section 2 Christmas (Christmas)

Christmas is a day when Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. The generally recognized date is December 25th. Christmas was originally a religious festival, but later it gradually evolved into a national-style national festival. It is very popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia and other Western countries, and even in some countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Christmas refers to Christmas Day or Christmas tide, that is, the period from December 24 to January 6 of the following year. In addition, people regard the night of December 24th as Christmas Eve (Christmas Eve).

1． Jesus Christmas

Jesus is the founder of Christianity and the son of God. About 6 BC, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit by the Virgin Mary (St. Mary) 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 believed that in order to save mankind on earth, it was necessary to reform Judaism at that time, so he put forward a series of religious propositions of his own. However, because his words and actions conflicted with the Jewish rulers and social authorities at the time, Jesus was One of the disciples, Judas, was betrayed and later crucified. Jesus ascended to heaven three days after his death. His disciples continued his missionary work.

2. Christmas tree

The Christmas tree can be said to be the most important decoration of Christmas. Christmas trees usually use a whole tower-shaped evergreen tree (such as cypress, cypress, etc.), or use pine and cypress branches to form a tower-shaped Christmas tree. The tree is hung with glittering gold and silver paper, snowflakes made of cotton, and colorful lights, candles, toys, gifts and other decorations. There is also a big star on the top of the tree. The colored lights or candles on the tree symbolize Jesus as the light of the world, and the big star represents the star that led the three Eastern wise men to Bethlehem after Jesus was born.

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

3． Santa Claus/ Father Christmas

Santa Claus is a typical image known to both young and old in the West. He is a combination of saints and gods, and is synonymous with benevolence and generosity. Santa Claus is generally believed to be an amiable old man with a silver beard. He wore a red pointed hat, a red robe with a white leather collar, and a wide cloth belt around his waist. Legend has it that Santa Claus drives a sleigh loaded with gifts pulled by eight deer on Christmas Eve from the northern snow country to every home. He comes down the chimney, passes through the fireplace and enters the room. He loads candies, toys and other gifts into the house and the children hang them in the fireplace. And in the socks on the bedside.

According to legend, Santa Claus is the incarnation of Saint Nicholas, the bishop of Myra in Asia Minor in the eastern part of the Roman Empire (now in Turkey). Dutch immigrants brought the legend of Santa Claus to the United States in the 17th century. Santa Claus in American English is "Santa Claus", which was originally "Saint Nicholas" in Dutch. During his lifetime, Bishop Saint Nicholas was very charitable and secretly gave gold to a farmer's three daughters as dowries. He threw a bag of gold down the chimney and it happened to fall into a stocking on the fireplace.

So now on Christmas Eve, many innocent children carefully hang their socks by the fireplace or by the bedside, expecting Santa Claus to deliver gifts.

In modern countries such as Britain and the United States, many department stores will send people to dress up as Santa Claus during the Christmas period in order to attract and attract customers. Customers who come to the store to shop (especially the children brought by the customers) Hand out candy and gifts.

4． Christmas cards and Christmas presents

According to custom, people give each other Christmas cards and Christmas gifts during Christmas. Greeting cards can be bought in the store or you can make your own. Just write a congratulatory message and your name. Giving greeting cards should generally be based on the other person's interests and hobbies as well as their relationship with you. Not only do colleagues, classmates, and friends give each other greeting cards and gifts, but family members also have the habit of giving each other greeting cards and gifts. This is the most common way to celebrate Christmas.

5. Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner is the main meal on Christmas Day. Some families arrange it as lunch, and some arrange it as dinner. This meal is mainly a family dinner, and guests are generally not invited. The main foods for Christmas meals are: turkey or roast goose, puddings, and various cookies (such as golden butter cookies, fruit cookies), etc.

According to custom, when eating Christmas dinner, one often has to set up an extra seat and place an extra tableware. It is said that this is for the "messenger of the Lord", and some say it is for a passerby who needs help. Prepared by people.

6. Christmas carol

On Christmas Eve (the evening of December 24th to the morning of December 25th), Christians organize singing teams to sing Christmas carols at the homes of believers and spread the good news. It is said that this is imitating the angel who reported the good news of Christ's birth to the shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem on the night of Christ's birth. There are many carols, such as "Silent Night", "Jingle Bells", "Little Bethlehem", "The Three Wise Men of the East", etc., most of which are related to the birth of Jesus.

Section 3 Easter (Easter)

Easter (Easter) is a major Christian festival of the resurrection of Jesus. For Christians, Easter is second only to Christmas.

In 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea decided to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, the founder of Christianity, to the first Sunday following the first full moon after March 21. ) is designated as Easter, so the specific date of Easter each year is uncertain. And because Easter always falls on Sunday, its English name can be Easter/Easter Day or Easter Sunday. The week after Easter is called Easter Week, during which believers pray every day.

There is a Lent period 40 days before Easter called Lent, which is the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter. It is a hunger strike or repentance to commemorate Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. Lent provides believers with an opportunity for penance, fasting, self-denial and repentance, requiring believers to cleanse themselves of the bad deeds and sins of the past year.

According to Christian custom, believers hold night prayers on the day before Easter. That night, all the lights in the church went out, which meant that the world was dark. When the midnight bell rings, the priest holds a lit candle (symbolizing the light of Christ), walks into the church, and lights the candles in the hands of each believer. After a while, the entire church is illuminated by many candles, and prayers follow. Finish.

Religious ceremonies and activities are held on Easter Day, such as "Holy Communion", etc. The first words people say when they meet are "The Lord\'s risen". Then people gave each other Easter eggs, the children ate rabbit candies and told rabbit stories. According to the customs of Western countries, colored eggs and rabbits are the typical symbols and mascots of Easter.

Section 4 Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving)

Thanksgiving is a traditional American folk holiday. It is held on the 4th Thursday in November every year.

1． Origin

The origin of Thanksgiving has an interesting but complicated history, which starts with the religious history of England. Around the middle of the 16th century, the Reformists emerged within the Church of England (). They advocated the elimination of the remaining old Catholic institutions and cumbersome rituals in the church, canceled the gorgeous decorations in the church, opposed the arrogance and extravagance of the feudal princes and nobles, and advocated a simple life of diligence, thrift, cleanliness, and so they were called Puritans (). The Puritans were divided into moderates and radicals.

The moderates advocated a constitutional monarchy and represented the interests of the big bourgeoisie and the new upper class nobility. The radicals advocated democracy and political system, insisted on the separation of church and state, and advocated the use of elders to reorganize the Congress to represent the interests of the petty and middle-class bourgeoisie. Later, they were persecuted by the authorities, and some Puritans were forced to flee abroad. In September 1620, 102 British Puritans set out from Plymouth, England on the wooden ship "Mayflower". After nearly three months of wandering at sea, they arrived in the southeastern part of Massachusetts on December 23 of that year. They arrived at Plymouth Port in the east and unexpectedly found an Indian village nearby. They found that there was no one in the village and settled down. But it was winter, and they were unfamiliar with the place. They started from scratch, lacked food and clothing, and were attacked by diseases. By the end of the first winter, only about 50 people survived. But fortunately, in the spring of the next year, these surviving immigrants received enthusiastic help from the local Indians. The kind-hearted Indians gave them seeds, taught them to hunt, and taught them to grow crops according to the local climate characteristics. In this way, with the help of the Indians and the hard work of the immigrants, the great harvest of 1621 was finally ushered in.

In order to thank God for the great harvest, the immigrants decided to hold a grand celebration, and also to thank the Indians for their enthusiastic help. So they held a celebration on a Thursday in late November 1621 with the invited Indians who had helped them. They fired salutes at dawn, held religious ceremonies, and expressed their thanks to God devoutly. Then they celebrated God's gift with delicacies made from turkeys they hunted and pumpkins, sweet potatoes, corn, etc. they grew themselves. This was the beginning of Thanksgiving in American history. In 1789, Washington, the first president of the United States, officially declared November 26 as the day to celebrate Thanksgiving. But it was not until 1941 that Congress passed a resolution to celebrate the fourth Thursday of November each year as a day for national unity to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Section 5 April Fool's Day (April Fool's Day)

April Fool's Day/All Fool's Day is a rather special holiday. The time is April 1st every year. According to the custom of Western countries, on April Fool's Day, people can lie and deceive others at will. The higher the level of deceit, the more respected you will be. People who are fooled on April Fool's Day are called April Fools. According to their custom, when a person successfully fools someone else, he will smile and say, and then the person who was fooled suddenly realizes and laughs along with him. April Fool's Day activities can invigorate 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 done in moderation, and don't just blindly pursue the cleverness of deception, regardless of the tolerance of others, that is to say, don't base your temporary happiness on the pain of others.

However, the most typical activity of April Fool's Day is that everyone makes fun of each other and teases each other with lies. Some people leave their wallets tied with thin strings on the street and pull the other end of the string in the dark. Once someone picks up the wallet, they yank it away unexpectedly. Others put bricks under broken hats in the middle of the road, and then waited to see who would kick them. Children will tell their parents that there is a hole in their schoolbag or there is a black spot on their face. When the adults leaned over to take a look, they shouted "April Fool". He smiled and ran away. In short, every April Fool's Day, zoos and aquariums will receive many calls to Mr. Fish (fish) and Mr. Leon (lion), which often causes the staff to cut off the phone lines in order to reduce trouble. .

Today's April Fool's Day in the United States is mainly a holiday for naughty boys.

Section 6 Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a holiday established by countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States to express respect for mothers. The date is the 2nd Sunday in May every year.

Mother's Day originated in the United States in the 1860s. It is said that there was a small place in Philadelphia in the United States at that time, where people did not have very friendly relations with each other and often fought. At that time, a woman named Mrs. Jarvis hoped to change this situation, so she started a so-called "Mother's Friendship Day". On Mother's Friendship Day, I went to visit other mothers and advised them to reconcile as before. After passing away on May 9, 1905, her daughter Miss Anna Javis inherited her career, continued her efforts, and was determined to establish a festival in memory of her mother. So she began to write letters to influential people at the time and put forward her suggestions. Thanks to her efforts, Philadelphia celebrated Mother's Day for the first time on May 10, 1908.

Every Mother's Day, children will give their mothers Mother's Day Cards, flowers, and exquisite gifts that mothers like (presents). At the same time, here One day, the father will lead his children to do housework so that the mother can have a chance to rest.

Section 7 Father's Day

The 3rd Sunday in June every year. Mainly in the United States and Canada.

Father's Day originated in the United States in the early 20th century. It is said that there was a person named in Washington State at that time. She lost her mother when she was young, and her six brothers and sisters were raised by their father. Her father's spirit of self-sacrifice as both a father and a mother deeply moved her. When she grew up, she actively advocated Father's Day and persuaded the then-Ministerial Society of Spokane in Washington to hold a special liturgy to pay tribute to her fathers. Later in 1916 her advice was officially recognized by President Woodwork Wilson. Since then, Father's Day has become a traditional holiday in the United States.

According to custom, on Father's Day, children usually get up early in the morning to cook a hearty breakfast for their father, and bring it to their father's bedside to thank their father for his upbringing. In addition, on Father's Day, children also give gifts to their fathers, usually the clothes they like and the wine they like to drink.

Section 8 Saint Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day (Saint Valentine's Day) is a very important holiday in Britain and the United States. It falls on February 14th every year.

There are many different explanations for the origin of Valentine's Day, most of which cannot be verified now. The more popular theory is that it was established to commemorate the Roman Christian martyr St. Valentine. According to legend, before he was about to be beheaded on February 14, he used the magic of his persistent love to restore sight to his blind daughter.

It is worth noting that Valentine’s Day is not only a holiday for young people, but also a popular holiday. On Valentine's Day, not only do couples give each other cards and gifts, but people also give gifts and cards to their parents, elders, and other people who are respected and loved by them. Particularly fascinating is the masquerade party on Valentine's Day night. This was very popular decades ago. Everyone attending the ball painstakingly dressed up, some as medieval knights, some as Spanish pirates, and some as Eastern emperors. Wise ball hosts often give each guest a lacy Valentine card with someone's name written on it, and that person becomes your partner for the night. Therefore, at the ball, people can see Romeo and Cinderella dancing; Hamlet chatting and laughing with Carmen; and the Arab Princess having dinner with Charles II. They were so lifelike in disguise. It makes people feel as if a group of ancient people have been resurrected.

Section 9 Halloween

1. Halloween (All Saints' Day)

According to Christian custom, November 1st is Halloween every year, which is a day to commemorate all saints. Halloween Eve is the day before Halloween, October 31st. In medieval England, Halloween was called All Hallow. As we all know, the English word for "Eve" is eve, so Halloween + eve evolved into Halloween.

In the UK, Halloween can be said to be a ghost festival. Because most activities are related to "ghosts". Every night before Halloween, people sit around the fire and tell stories about ghosts, which sometimes make some of the children present sound very scared. Some people hollow out radish or beet heads to make a weird head-shaped thing, carve a mouth and eyes on it, put a lit candle inside, which looks weird and scary, and then put it Hanging them on branches or doors is said to drive away monsters and ghosts.

In the United States, people make "Jack-o'-lanterns" or "Jack-o'-lanterns". Children dressed in weird costumes and masks, dressed up as ghosts, holding a jack-o-lantern in their hands, walked from one house to another, shouting at the gate, "Are you treating us or do you want us to cause trouble?" Treat. At this time, if the host does not treat (treat), these naughty children will really make trouble (trick). Some will apply soap on the host's doorknob or sprinkle soapy water on the glass; some will simply They remove the host's door; some take away the daily necessities that the host puts at the door. But people generally welcome these innocent and cute little guests, and prepare candies or change in advance. When children arrive, they immediately greet them and distribute candy or change to them.

American Independence Day

American Independence Day is July 4th. Independence Day is a major legal holiday in the United States. one.

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