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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.
I love this kind of stories, I really enjoy to read, hear and know about the origin of a celebration, tradition or myth, it always comes with historical context and sometimes with a lesson. I like history and paranormal stories so I've been reading a lot of stories around the world and it's so cool to lern about differents traditions.
I really liked the post about Guy Fawkes Night it sounds very interesting and also a little scary. The story behind it is intense and I didn’t know all those details before,the part about building and burning a figure of Guy Fawkes is surprising.
I’m from Mexico and here we have traditions where we celebrate saints with big parties,we use a lot of fireworks too, so in that way it feels a bit similar. The atmosphere is very festive and full of music and mexican food that is so delicious like mole,pozole and tamales.I think traditions like this are important because they help people remember history and bring people together.
Do people in England still celebrate it a lot today? And do children enjoy it, or is it more for adults?
Hello Ann Torres,
I think a lot of the traditions have become less popular, such as making a guy and going round houses with it. However, people still enjoy making bonfires and setting off fireworks, eating toffee and toffee apples and so on. In fact, many people call it 'Bonfire Night' nowadays and the association with Guy Fawkes is not so strong.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
It’s cool to read everyone traditional I have been live in UAE for 10 years and I am from Egypt in holiday we go to beach or park we take some sweets or cake like basbosa or konafa then I play football because in Egypt most the people play football so I like playing football
What tradition do you like best from your country?
Well, i'm from Colombia and my favorite tradition is the candles day that is on 7 December. It's a beatiful day beacause all people, come out their homes and light candles on the street. In my case, my family and my neighbors light candles and we play music, we drink alcohol and we dance all night. its a great day where everyone have at nigth very fun and greatfull.
I've had an amazing time reading some of the posts about the traditions of different countries. I am from Honduras, which is a small country in Central America. We celebrate Independence Day on September 15. It is a national holiday, and the tradition is to march on parades remembering our independence from Spain.
Mainly it´s students who march, from a young age of five to teenagers age 18. Also the Army participate, and the parades are televised. It is kind of boring, though, that every year the activities are repeated. But patriotism is really important to us hondurans, so we enjoy the festivities.
What tradition do you like best from your country?
There are some traditions that we celebrate on Novruz holiday. Every year on march we celebrate Novruz holiday due to spring coming. Then we color boiled eggs and grow grass which is called Samani. It shows spring is coming. And we make delitios meals and desserts. The best tradition about Novruz is that in the eveing the door is knoked and in front of it is filled with empty hats. I know it is interesting for readers who threw all the hats.? The children did it because in my country on Novruz holiday we put some desserts and nuts in the hats. It makes happy both children and homeowner
I definitely agree, that it is interesting to read other comments about the tradition in their countries. Just like the others, Indonesia also have many traditions, but the most exiting for me is our Independence's Day on August 17th. There are many competitions happening like Panjat Pinang, Makan Kerupuk, Tangkap Belu, etc. Totally entertaining to see those competitions, especially Panjat Pinang.
Panjat Pinang is the competition among adults, mostly grown-up man, when they have to climb the big-high-pole with prizes at the top, the pole is covered by the mud or lubricant oil, so it's not easy for them to climb it. It's hilarious that they are keep falling to the ground and they're covered by the mud, even if you're good climber, you'll still gonna be fall on that competition. I've been watching it every year since I was a kid, i guess its the tradition i will never found in anywhere else but here. Independence's Day is the best celebration and the way we celebrated it is the most authentic tradition in Indonesia.
Read the different traditions that people have around the world is really interesting, it makes me want to visit many countries and cities that I had never thought of.
I am from Medellin, Colombia, in my country we celebrate something called "La feria de las flores" on August, it is about a runway where peasants show their art in different categories with silletas (wood structures decorated with flowers that they go on the back), in order to symbolize th paisa culture, flower and agriculture tradition, the beauty of the region.
The silletas could weigh around 50-90kg, so it is a hard work for the people who carry them, but its a beauty tradition and the most beautiful silleta is premiated. The celebration also includes another activities like concerts, festival of the national flower (orchid), classic and antigue cars runway.
It was so cool to read all these articles and learn all this information about other countries' traditions.
I live in Syria, and we have a tradition called Secret Santa. Basically, my friends and I gather a couple of days before Christmas, and we make a lottery with our names. No one says what they got, and then everyone brings a gift for the person whose name they picked. On Christmas Eve, we give gifts to each other, and then everyone starts guessing who brought them their gift.
It's a very lovely and fun thing to do on Christmas Eve.
Thank you for listening.