This document summarizes important UK bank holidays and festivals throughout the year. Some of the events discussed include Burns Night in January, which celebrates Scottish poet Robert Burns and Scottish culture; Valentine's Day in February, when couples express their love; and Easter in March/April, which commemorates Jesus' resurrection though now primarily associated with chocolate eggs and bunnies. Halloween in October sees the UK embrace spooky costumes, and Christmas in December is marked by religious celebrations, decorations, and a traditional meal of roast turkey followed by Christmas pudding.

1. UK Bank holidays and
festivals

2. Burns Night (January 25th)
Burns Night is celebration of the life and poetry of poet Robert Burns. It is
an important date on the calendar in Scotland and usually consists of a
supper celebrating everything Scottish. This usually includes eating
haggis, drinking lots of Scotch whisky and reciting Burns’ poetry

3. Valentine’s Day (February 14th)
Every February couples across Britain get all
loved up for Valentine's Day. On February 14 th
couples go out for romantic meals, give each
other gifts and cards and generally treat the day
like a second anniversary..

4. Mothering Sunday (Mother’s Day)
(Any Sunday from March 2nd to April
3rd)
A day all about saying thank you to Mums across the
country (and world). Sons and daughters buy their
mothers flowers and cards and cook for them or take
them for a meal out. Basically anything that makes mum
feel special

5. St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th)
This started as an traditional Irish celebration of
their patron saint - Patrick. These days it is
celebrated throughout the UK and across the
world wherever there is a large Irish population
(like many parts of the USA).

6. Easter Sunday (Any Sunday between March
22nd and April 25th)
Celebrated all over the world, traditionally Easter Sunday
is a Christian holiday to celebrate Jesus rising from the
dead. Though there are still strong religious ties for many
people, it is now also just as well known for the chocolate
eggs and Easter bunny in the UK.

7. April Fools’ Day (April 1st)
On April 1st each year everyone plays pranks (or
tricks/practical jokes) on each other until midday.
The pranks can vary in size and how complicated
they are, but they are always very funny. For just
a few hours the UK goes mad

8. Halloween (October 31st)
On Halloween the UK becomes a spooky, scary
place full of monsters, zombies, witches and
vampires. Everyone dresses up in monster
costumes and celebrates everything that is scary.

9. Bonfire Night (November 5th)
This night commemorates an attempt to blow up the
English Houses of Parliament hundreds of years ago by
a man called Guy Fawkes. Thankfully he wasn’t
successful and all that came out of it was a spectacular
evening of bonfires and fireworks each year

10. Christmas Day (December 25th)
The English Christmas celebrations include the beautiful
Christmas music, decorated Christmas Trees and hang up
evergreen branches. The English gift giver is called Father
Christmas and he wears a long red or green robe, and leaves
presents in stockings on Christmas Eve. However, the gifts
are not usually opened until the following afternoon.
In England the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with
vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas
pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a
mixture of chopped dried fruit

11. Boxing Day (December 26th)
Nothing actually to do with boxing, this is the day after
Christmas day and is all about recovering from the excesses
of the day before. It is a public holiday that these days most
people in the UK use to see family, go shopping (the post-
Christmas sales start on Boxing Day) or watch some of the
various sporting events that happen.

12. New Year’s Eve (December 31st)
New Year’s Eve is a big deal in the UK as it is in almost
every country around the world. The British have a very
particular way of celebrating the New Year that mainly
involves partying and getting very ‘jolly’ (that is code for
‘drunk’ in Britain).

13. The End