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So cool to read about everyone's home tradition they miss the most! I'm from England but I've been living in the States for five years and the thing I miss the most is Bonfire Night on November 5th.
The best thing about Bonfire Night is the fireworks, oh, and the bonfires! … and the history behind it. Basically, Guy Fawkes and his friends tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. They nearly did it too – they hired a room under the House of Parliament and filled it with explosives. But someone told the royal palace. The authorities found Guy Fawkes in the room guarding the explosives, and he was sentenced to torture and death.
So it's a tradition that celebrates the fact that the king survived. It also means people don't forget what happens if you plot against your country. There's a kind of poem about it that starts 'Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot.' That's why we build a 'guy' – a life-size model of Guy Fawkes – and burn it on the bonfire. Pretty dark and horrible when you think about it!
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So cool to read about everyone's home tradition ... - Remember, in a forum you are part of a long conversation with a lot of other people so they might ask you questions.
Hello, everyone!
Actually, I haven't had a favorite festival since I grew up. But I liked the Spring Festival when I was a kid.
During the festival, we children could get lucky money from our elders, and we could always do things that we weren't usually allowed to do, like eating as many sweets and snacks as we wanted or watching TV for a long time.
The most important thing was that our parents weren't supposed to get angry with us or scold us if we did something wrong, because they believed that saying something bad during the festival would bring bad luck in the coming year. So we could get away with making trouble.
I liked it because we could get pocket money and we could do almost anything. As I grew older, I began to realize the meaning of the festival.
The Spring Festival falls on the first day of the first lunar month, but its date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year.
It is associated with a story about Nian, a scary and mythical monster who, according to legend, attacked and ate people during the Lunar New Year in ancient times. According to the legend, people in ancient times were scared of Nian. They found out that Nian was scared of loud noises and the color red. So they put up red paper-cut decorations on the windows and Spring Festival couplets beside the doors. They also made loud noises by setting off firecrackers to scare away Nian. Luckily, it worked. From then on, people have continued the tradition.
Also, elders give lucky money in red envelopes to younger family members to wish them luck in the coming year. In return, younger family members say something nice to their elders. For example, they might say, "We wish you prosperity and good health in the coming year."
Hi everyone!
My name is Mohammed Kamel, and I am from Egypt. Actually, we have many traditional holidays, but personally, I like Sham El-Nessim.
Sham El-Nessim is an Egyptian spring holiday celebrated on the Monday after Coptic Easter. Millions of Egyptians eat eggs, salted fish, and onions in gardens and parks while enjoying laughter and peace.
This holiday dates back to ancient Egypt, around 2700 BC. Our ancestors celebrated it because it was an important time for agriculture and their religious beliefs.
If you want to visit Egypt, I recommend coming during Sham El-Nessim to try feseekh, which is a traditional Egyptian salted fish.
Thank you for listening!
Hi Folks
I am from India.
Hi everyone,
I am Praveena. I am from Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, we mainly celebrate the New Year festival in April. In this month, most people clean their houses, buy some new furniture , and do some repairs. For those days, there are a lot of sweets and traditional foods made in every home. We called "Kavili". Many people visit their relatives and friends. There are lot of festivals which we can enjoy with lot of traditional games. The people give lot of gifts for their parents, relatives and friends.
Hi everyone, I am from Vietnam and I am a newbie here.
Thank you for your posts. I've really enjoyed reading them. I'd like to tell you about our traditional Lunar New Year - Tet holiday.
Tet usually takes place around Jan to Feb as it follows lunar calendar. During Tet, people usually go back to their hometown to get together with their families. We clean the house, prepare traditional food, visit relatives and friends, and adults usually give lucky money to the old people and children.
There is a traditional Vietnamese saying "The first day is for father's side in the family, the second day is for mother's side and the third day is for teachers. After these three day, people spend more time to their friends and other relatives.
I hope you can have a chance to experience Tet in Vietnam, someday!
I was really fascinated by other people's posts about their traditions. As a Vietnamese person, one tradition I really cherish is the tradition of commemorating our deceased loved ones. Once a year, family members get together to prepare the dishes that the deceased person used to enjoy the most. We share a meal, reminisce about the good times we had with them, and talk about how they enriched our lives and made a lasting impact on us.
Hi! I'm Mijoh from the Philippines.
What's cool about my country is that our National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal did not die in war to save our country but he saved us through writing a two novel that opens the eyes of Filipino People about the colonization and slavery of Spaniards. Using their lands and force labor. We celebrate his death every 31st of December. It is sad though, coz new generations does not celebrate this day. Patriotism in my country is fading. There are many contributions or factors why most filipinos now a days are not commemorating this day. Due to Politics and Poverty. we felt like it's not worth it because life is too hard. Corruption is evident. This is my country Philippines. Thank you
Hi, my name is Vanessa.
I think it's always important to know about history, because without it, we would be nothing.
We are history, without it we would be nothing and we wouldn't have the evolution we've had up until today.
Hello everyone! I don't know much about festivals in other countries, but as someone who has lived in India since birth, I can certainly tell you about the diverse traditions and festivals that we follow and celebrate.
One of the most eagerly awaited and joyful festivals, Deepawali, is celebrated every year in November. According to the story, on this day, an evil king named Ravana was defeated and killed by Lord Rama, who is considered an avatar of Lord Vishnu. On this day, people celebrate Rama's victory over Ravana by lighting lamps and setting off fireworks.
Reading about traditions from all over the world was very exciting! I am from Spain and we have many traditions during the year related with god and some certains dates like Christmas or Easter. But, my favourite traditions are the ones that are not subject to any specific date, for example spanish people we use to have lunch or have dinner in weird hours for other countries. For example, we have lunch at 14:00-15:00pm and we have dinner at 21:00-22:00pm.
Furthermore, i really enjoy one thing after meetings with family or friends, we ussually spend a lot of time while eating, we call that "Sobremesa". After everybody has end eating anyone move from their chair, we can keep speaking and spending our time arround the table sharing our knowledge, experiences or funny moments between eachothers. Basically speaking.
I really love spending time with my close family and friends.