Holidays in Russia, Britain and the USA
    Feasts and festivals serve to meet specific social and psychological needs of the people of the country. Holidays can be religious and secular, national and local, official and unofficial. The dates that are memorable to every Russian citizen are Victory Day, May Day, Constitution Day, Women's Day, and the Day of Sovereignty of the Russian Federation. These are national holidays; people do not work on these days. The most important date in Russia is Victory Day. Observed on May 9, it commemorates the Victory of the Russian troops over the Nazi invaders. On that day the veterans meet in the parks and squares of the cities to recollect the days of war and exchange greetings. Wartime music is played everywhere. At night fireworks are let off. May Day is also very popular in our country. This is the day of friendship and support.
    One of the biggest festivals of the year is New Year. Peter I the Great decreed that New Year should be marked in Russia on January 1. The coming of New Year is celebrated with a New Year Tree, presents, Grandpa Frost, European Santa Claus, and a hearty meal. In our country New Year is toasted in champagne at family gatherings. New Year's feasts are widely covered by mass media.
    Recently new national holidays have been introduced in our country. These are Christmas and Easter. Christmas and Easter are both religious holidays. Now they are officially marked throughout our country. In Russia Christmas is celebrated on January 7. Easter is the most important holiday for the Orthodox. Besides the religious significance, these holidays have become the days of family reunion and happiness.
    The major holidays in Great Britain are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labour Day (May 1), Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Public holidays are called Bank Holidays, because on these days banks, most of the shops and offices are closed. The Bank Holidays were appointed by the Act of Parliament in 1871.
    Christmas is the festival that everyone celebrates on December 25. On Christmas people usually stay with their families. On Christmas Eve children hang stockings at the ends of their beds for Father Christmas to fill them with toys. Boxing Day, marked on December 26, is the day on which boxes of presents are given to the people who have given service during a year. New Year is marked in accordance with the family tradition and personal taste.
    Easter Peace Marches have become the feature of the epoch. They are held during Easter Holidays. The first Easter Peace March was held in 1958. The peak of the Easter Peace Marches was reached in the 1960s. These Marches bring together the people who are concerned with the global problems of the future of our planet. In Britain May Day, the day of the workers struggle and solidarity, is observed with marches and rallies. It marks a new stage in workers' efforts to win a better life.
    On Whit-Monday (last Monday in May) and the first Monday in August all parks and holiday-places are crowded. In London some people go to Hampton Court Palace, to the Tower of London or to the Zoo.
    But besides public holidays the British observe certain traditions on such days as Pancake Day, Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night, April Fool's Day, Mother's Day, which unless they fall on Sunday are ordinary working days. Carnival-like celebrations were held in England on Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, the day before the Lenten fast began, until the 19-th century. Feasts of pancakes and much drinking followed the contests; one of them was all-over-town ball game. Today the only regularly observed custom is pancake eating. This tradition of merrymaking and feasting continues also in the United States on Shrove Tuesday in Louisiana. The first of April is known as April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day. It is the day of jokes and any person can become a victim of traditional tricks of the undone shoelace or a crooked tie or a false invitation to a party. For three centuries Mother's Day has been the day of family reunion when adult children come back to their parents with boxes of presents. A typical British festival takes place on November 5. On that day in 1605 Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. He failed in doing so, but the children of Britain never forget him. Every year, on "Guy Fawkes Night" they make "guys" to burn on bonfires, and let off fireworks.
    There are local festivals all through the year. In spring, village children dance round the Maypole. Maypole is an ancient fertility emblem of the beginning of summer. In ancient times it was a pagan spring festival. It was celebrated with garlands and flowers, dancing and games on the village green. A tall pole decorated with flowers, maypole, was erected to which ribbons were attached and held by the dancers. In autumn, people take vegetables and fruit to church for the Harvest Festival, and once a year Lord Mayor of London puts on a show and rides through the streets in the golden coach.
    National festivals in the United States include Thanksgiving Day, Independence Day, St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day. Independence Day is observed on July 4. On this day, in 1776, America adopted the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, and started the fight for freedom from the British rule. The celebration of it began in the American Revolution. Since then it has been a patriotic holiday. People go out into the streets on July 4, dress up and take part in parades and open-air meetings. In the evening there are always parties and fireworks.
    Another big holiday in the USA is Thanksgiving Day. It commemorates colonial celebrations following the first successful harvests in 1621. ............