BRITISH AND AMERICAN FESTIVALS
OCTOBER
* HALLOWEEN : October 31st
Related to ancient times (The Celts). It is celebrated all over the world. Have you ever played "trick or treat"? Try it and have some fun with your friends. If you want to know more about it, click on the following: Bites and bits of Halloween
NOVEMBER
* GUY FAWKES´NIGHT (BONFIRE NIGHT) U.K : November 5th
It is also callled "The Gunpowder plot" Do you want to know more, click on the following: Bites and bits of Bonfire Night
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| Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), was an English soldier and member of a group of Roman Catholics who attempted to carry out the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605. "The Gunpowder Plot" was a plan to assassinate the Protestant King James I (James VI of Scotland) and the members of both houses of the Parliament of England, by blowing up Westminster Palace during the formal opening session of the 1605 Parliament, in which the king addressed a joint assembly of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Fawkes was in large part responsible for the later stages of the plan's execution. His activities were detected before the plan's completion, and following a severe interrogation involving the use of torture and a trial in Westminster Hall before Judge John Popham, he and his co-conspirators were executed for treason and attempted murder. They were hung, drawn and quartered. Fawkes's failure (or the attempt) is remembered by Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night) on 5th November. |
 | * THANKSGIVING DAY ( USA) : The fourth Thrusday of november
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 | * REMEMBRANCE DAY (UK and Commonwealth countries) : November 11th It's a day to remember all the soldiers who died in the First World War and other wars around the world. Read more in this site |
ST ANDREW´S DAY : November 30th : Patron Saint of Scotland 
He is thought to have been the younger brother of Simon Peter i.e. Saint Peter and both men became apostles of Jesus Christ. he was crucified by the Romans, the diagonal shape of this cross being the basis for the Cross of St. Andrew which appears on the Scottish Flag.
As legend would have it, a Greek Monk called St. Rule had a dream telling of the removal of St. Andrew's remains to Constantinople by Constantine The Great, and was instructed by an angel to find them and take as much of them as he could to the "ends of the earth" for safe-keeping. St. Rule took various body parts from St. Andrew's tomb and followed the instructions he had been given in his dream. However, on his journey he was shipwrecked off the east coast of Scotland. The relics were housed for a while in the Cathedral of St. Andrews in 1160, however they are now lost, probably destroyed during the Scottish Reformation
DECEMBER
* CHRISTMAS DAY: December 25th
Do you want to try a Cristmas crossword or a Christmas recipe, maybe sing a Christmas carol? Check the links on the right or go to the following pages:
* BOXING DAY : December 26th
There are many theories about the name of this day, but one of them is as follows:Because the staff had to work on such an important day as Christmas by serving the master of the house and their family, they were given the following day off. As servants were kept away from their own families to work on a traditional religious holiday and were not able to celebrate Christmas Dinner, the customary benefit was to "box" up the leftover food from Christmas Day and send it away with the servants and their families. (Similarly, as the servants had the 26th off, the owners of the manor may have had to serve themselves pre-prepared, boxed food for that one day.) Hence the "boxing" of food became "Boxing Day".
JANUARY
* NEW YEARS EVE
A Typical day to make the so- called "New Year Resolutions" ( propósitos para el año nuevo ) How many times are we going to give up smoking, going to the gym, study more or learn English at last?
FEBRUARY
* ST VALENTINE´S DAY: February 14th 
Would you like to send or make an original Valentine card? Check the links on the right
This celebration dates back to Roman Lupercalia. St Valentine was a priest who married couples without permission, he was beheaded by Claudius in AD 270. The first Valentine card was sent in 1415.
MARCH
SAINT PATRICK: March 17th: Patron Saint of Ireland
It´s not only celebrated in Ireland, but also in all Irish pubs and taverns all around the world including Madrid.
St Patrick was born in Wales in AD 385, he was a pagan who discovered Christianity when he was a slave, he became Bishop of Ireland and converted pagans ( druids) into Christianity. He died in AD 461.
The traditional icon of the day is the three-leafed shamrock, which was used by St Patrick to explain Trinity.
If you want to know more, you can research about him doing this WEBQUEST
APRIL
APRIL´S FOOL DAY : April 1st ( similar to "dia de los santos inocentes")
A tradition that came from France (1582), It´s a day for prank-playing.
" Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them, the rest of us could not succeed" Mark Twain
* CARNIVAL ( MARDI GRASS is the original one celebrated in New Orleans, USA)
* MAUNDY THURSDAY (Jueves Santo) also called Holy Thursday
The name "Maundy Thursday" would have arisen in England because of the custom whereby each year on this day the sovereign gives alms to selected poor people in a container also called a "maund" or "maundy purse".
* GOOD FRIDAY ( Viernes santo)
* ST GEORGE´S DAY : April 23rd
Patron Saint of England, who died this day in 303. He is normally represented killing a dragon. The Normans "saw him" in a vision in the crusades, his emblem ( a red cross on a white background ) was worn by crusaders to be recognised. King Richard, The Lion Heart, brought it to England in the 12th century.
A traditional custom on this day is to wear a red rose ( national flower of England) in the buttom hole.
It is also the International Day of the book , since 23 April 1616 was also the date of the death of the English playwright William Shakespeare (according to the Julian calendar) and the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes (according to the Gregorian calendar). Shakespeare died on his birthday, meaning the date was of double-barrelled significance.
JULY
* INDEPENDENCE DAY : July 4th , USA . (DÍa de la Independencia americana)
On July 4th, 1776 a group of colonists signed the Declaration of Independence from England. The British Colonies in America became an independent country. Nowadays it´s a national holiday and people celebrate it with big parades in the streets.
