Fiestas del Pilar

 

This is Zaragoza's largest and most famous festival and has been declared a festival of National Tourist Interest by the Spanish government. Starting around the second week of October with the opening ceremonY called " el pregón" the party goes on for nine more, authentically Spanish, festive-filled days. 

Highlights of the week, like most festivals here, come from a strong religious tradition. The first is "La ofrenda de flores" (the flower offering) to the Virgin on the 12th. This offering of thousands of flowers from people all over the world is definitely a sight not to be missed. Don't worry, you'll have lots of time, as the procession itself takes about 10 hours all together. Different groups gather near Plaza España, where they start their march towards the basilica. Donning traditonal regional costumes, they line the streets holding elaborate, carefully crafted bouquets made especially for this day. They slowly make their way towards Pilar Square. Once in the plaza, they patiently await their turn to lay their offering in front of the Virgin, the patron saint of both Zaragoza and Spain. The flowers are then taken to be woven into a beautiful, colorful and extremely fragrant cloak for the statue of the Virgin. The other two processions are the Offering of Fruits and the Glass Rosary, which is held on the evening of the 13th. 

Before, during and after these processions, the city hosts a number of concerts, theater performances, exhibitions, markets, contests, sporting competitions, bull chasing, bullfighting and much more. Jotas and traditional Aragonese folklore performances can be seen in Plaza Pilar and in other important squares of the city, such as Los Sitios Square. For more modern music, check out what's on at Espacio Zity. The most anticipated and probably most dangerous event is the famous "Vaquillas", where people chase, or are chased by, bulls in the ring. 

If you still have energy after all that, you may find it fun to be chased by the "gigantes" and "cabezudos", papier-mache giants and big heads , a favourite event among Zaragoza's children. They made their first official appearance around the year 1659, and have been running the streets, shaking sticks and taunting children, ever since.

Again, like almost all Spanish festivals, the action of the week would not be complete without an enormous display of fireworks.  Get to the stone bridge early for a good spot to watch this amazing end to a fantastic festival.

 

Easter in the UK

The Friday before Easter Sunday and the Monday after are a bank holiday in the UK. Over Easter schools in the UK close for two weeks, just enough time to digest all the chocolate.


Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter. Christians remember it as the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and established the ceremony known as the Eucharist. The word Maundy" comes from the French word, "Mande," meaning "command" or "mandate” and is taken from the command given by Christ at the Last Supper, "love one another as I have loved you.”

In Britain, the Queen takes part in the Ceremony of the Royal Maundy, which dates back to Edward I. This involves the distribution of Maundy Money to deserving senior citizens (one man and one woman for each year of the sovereign's age), usually chosen for having done service to their community. They receive ceremonial red and white purses which contain coins made especially for the occasion. The white purse contains one coin for each year of the monarch's reign. The red purse contains money in place of other gifts that used to be given to the poor.

In the 17th century, and earlier, the King or Queen would wash the feet of the selected poor people as a gesture of humility, and in remembrance of Jesus's washing the feet of the disciples. Suffice to say that doesn't happen any more, in fact the last monarch to do this was James II.


Easter Eggs


Easter eggs are a very old tradition going to a time before Christianity. Eggs after all are a symbol of spring and new life.

Exchanging and eating Easter eggs is a popular custom in many countries. In the UK before they were replaced by chocolate Easter eggs real eggs were used, in most cases, chicken eggs. The eggs were hard-boiled and dyed in various colors and patterns. The traditionally bright colours represented spring and light. Sadly, nowadays if you gave a child in Britain a hard-boiled egg on Easter Sunday, you would probably end up wearing it!

An older more traditional game is one in which real eggs are rolled against one another or down a hill. The owner of the egg that stayed uncracked the longest won. Even today in the north of England, for example as at Preston in Lancashire, they still carry out the custom of egg rolling. Hard boiled eggs are rolled down slopes to see whose egg goes furthest. In other places another game is played. You hold an egg in the palm of the hand and bang against your opponent's egg. The loser is the one whose egg breaks first.

Nowadays people give each other Easter eggs made of chocolate, usually hollow and filled with sweets. On TV you will see adverts for Cadbury's Creme Eggs, a very sweet confectionery. The catchphrase for the adverts is "How do you eat yours?" And Britain children hunt for (chocolate) Easter eggs hidden about the home or garden by the Easter bunny.

The Easter Bunny

Rabbits, due to their fecund nature, have always been a symbol of fertility.The Easter bunny (rabbit) however may actually be an Easter hare. The hare was allegedly a companion of the ancient Moon goddess and of Eostre.

Strangely the bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 16th Century. The first edible Easter bunnies appeared in Germany during the early 1800s, they were made of pastry and sugar.

In the UK children believe that if they are good the "Easter Bunny " will leave (chocolate) eggs for them.

Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns, now eaten throughout the Easter season, were first baked in England to be served on Good Friday. These small, lightly sweet yeast buns contain raisins or currants and sometimes chopped candied fruit. Before baking, a cross is slashed in the top of the bun. After baking, a confectioners' sugar icing is used to fill the cross.
An old rhyme was often sung by children awaiting their sugary treat:
"Hot cross buns,

hot cross buns,

one a penny, two a penny,

hot cross buns.

If you do not like them,

give them to your sons,

one a penny, two a penny,

hot cross buns."

 

ONLINE EXERCISES 

ONE
TWO (EXPLANATION + EXERCISES)
THREE 

April Fool

 

April Fools' Day is celebrated all around the world on April 1. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, it is a day where everyone plays all kinds of jokes and foolishness on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc.

Traditionally, in some countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, Australia, and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool".
The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392).

WELL-KNOWN PRANKS BY TV CHANNELS:

• The BBC reported on a newly discovered colony of flying penguins. An elaborate video segment was even produced, featuring Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) walking with the penguins in Antarctica, and following their flight to the Amazon rainforest.

• Pinanas: British supermarket chain Waitrose placed ads in newspapers announcing the availability of a new fruit, the pinana (a combination of pineapple and banana).

• The BBC ran a story on an earthquake in Blackpool on both radio and the bbc news website.

If you want to talk about ALL FOOL'S DAY make sure you know the meaning of words such as HOAXES or PRANKS and some useful collocations: TO PLAY A TRICK ON somebody.

Stereotypes

 

 NATIONAL STEREOTYPES THAT TURN OUT TO BE TRUE HERE


AUDIOBOOK  HOW TO BE AN ALIEN (on the topic of English clichés from the point of view of a foreign person)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

 

What does St. Patrick's Day mean to you? For many, it means being Irish for a day. It means a large parade with marching bands, floats, and folk dressed in green top hats and tails. It means green beer, and a lot of it. In Chicago, the river is dyed green. In New York, 150,000 marchers participate in the parade. And in Dublin, the party lasts for five days! The holiday honors St. Patrick, who is the patron saint of Ireland and believed to have died on March 17th. He lived in the 6th century A.D., and came to Ireland to convert its people to Christianity. Much of his real life has been mixed with legend and stories, though, and scholars disagree on many points. For example, some say that Irish pirates captured and enslaved Patrick as a boy. Or, according to legend, he herded all the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea, even if scientists now know that Ireland has never had any snakes. In fact, some historians boldly state that the St. Patrick we know today is actually the composite of two people who lived in the 5th and 6th centuries. Besides Ireland, in countries where the holiday is celebrated, many people of Irish descent usual live. In the U.S., for example, New York, Boston, and Chicago all have very large Irish communities, and so the cities have a long tradition of festivities. But Munich in Germany, Birmingham in England, and even Moscow in Russia celebrate the day, too, as the holiday has become more and more commercialized and common. It's in Dublin nowadays that you can find the largest goings on. Not too long ago, the Irish celebrated St. Patrick's Day as a religious holiday only. In fact, all the pubs were closed on March 17th in observance of the day, which didn't change until the 1970s. Since the mid- 1990s, though, the Irish government has used the holiday as an opportunity to display Ireland and Irish culture to the world. Specifically, they wanted a festival that equaled the best celebrations anywhere in the world, provided motivation for people of Irish descent, and portrayed a positive and accurate image of the country. What began as a one day festival in 1996, became a three day festival the next year. In 2006, it lasted five days! And green is the theme of the day, of course. The nickname of Ireland is the "Emerald Isle," due to the rich green of the countryside. People often wear a shamrock in their lapel or cap, as well as a green, white, and orange badge in honor of the Irish flag. Let's not also forget the beer, an important tradition to any St. Patrick's Day celebration, which gets a squire of green dye. So now, what does St. Patrick's Day mean to you? And do you have any plans

Happy Halloween

 

The Story of Halloween

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.

Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their favourite.

The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold."

On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin.

When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits.

The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first Halloween.

During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought with them many of their festivals and customs. One of these was the festival known as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and gardens. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed becoming 1 major fall holiday.

The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church would make November 1st a church holiday to honour all the saints. This day was called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows. Years later the Church would make November 2nd a holy day. It was called All Souls Day and was to honour the dead. It was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up as saints, angels and devils.

But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their early customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued to celebrate the festivals of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years the customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallows' Eve, Hallowe'en, and then - Halloween.

The Halloween we celebrate today includes all of these influences, Pomona Day's apples, nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Samhain's black cats, magic, evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day.

LISTEN TO SOME PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

HALLOWEEN SCENES: LINK 1
LINK 2