May Day Celebrations

The beautiful springtime festival of May Day is observed in every nation, each according to its own customs and traditions. In most countries on May 1st a new life begins for both nature and man.

In Britain much of this celebrations is connected with dancing, which is performed to encourage life and growth and drive away harmful spirits. Children may be seen dancing round the Maypole on village greens, weaving their brightly coloured scarves into a beautiful pattern. Morris men dance all day long on May 1st waving their white handkerchiefs to drive away the evil spirits and welcome in the new ones.

British Festivals

British National Cuisine

The English have three main meals a day:

Breakfast - between 08:00 hrs and 09:00 hrs

Lunch (sometimes called dinner) - light meal or snack between 12:00 hrs and 13:30 hrs

Dinner (sometimes called supper or tea) - main meal of the day between 18:30 hrs and 20:00 hrs

On Sundays the main meal of the day is often eaten at around 13:00 hrs instead of in the evening. This meal usually consists of roast meat, Yorkshire pudding and two kinds of vegetables.

Breakfast

Most overseas visitors bracket English breakfast as the typical version of eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, mushrooms and baked beans, all accompanied with a cup of tea or coffee. Today, however, a typical English breakfast is normally a bowl of cereal, a slice of toast, orange juice and tea or coffee.

Lunch

During the week, due to a lifestyle of often working a long distance from home, many people have a "packed lunch" or sandwiches for lunch, with a packet of crisps, fruit and a drink.

Sunday Lunch is a different affair and is a time when the family sits together for a traditional Sunday roast. This consists of roast meat, two different kinds of vegetables, always including roast potatoes with Yorkshire Pudding. The most commonly eaten kinds of meat are beef, lamb or pork, while chicken is also popular.

Perhaps the most famous English food, after the Sunday Roast beef, is fish and chips.

Dinner

Traditionally dinner was similar to Sunday Lunch but today this is rarely eaten on ordinary days. Today most people in Britain prefer curry, rice or pasta for dinner. Fresh vegetables grown in England are also popular, such as peas, carrots, cabbage, onions and potatoes.

Between 15.00 and 18.00 they have tea, which is an English tradition. They drink traditional English tea in offices, at home, in cafe confectioner’s shops, and they always drink it with scones and muffins.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14