Holidays in the united kingdom

HOLIDAYS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

PLAN

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  About The UNITED KINGDOM
  
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  About holidays in UK
  
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  Christmas day
  

1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly know as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain is an island country in Northwestern Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises four countries – England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.  It includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 93,628 square miles (242,495 km²), with an estimated 2022 population of nearly 67 million people.
The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 resulted in their unification to become the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted its name in 1927. The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies, but the British government is responsible for their defence and international representation.
The UK became the first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the "Pax Britannica" between 1815 and 1914.  The British Empire, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the largest empire in history; however, its involvement in the First World War and the Second World War damaged Britain's economic power and a global wave of decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies. British influence can be observed in the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies, and the UK's culture remains globally influential, particularly in literature, music and sport.
2.There are many holidays in Great Britain. They are Christmas day, Boxing Day, 
New Year's day, Easter, May Day, Spring bank holiday and Summer bank holiday. Public holidays in Great Britain are called bank holidays because the banks as well as most of the offices and shops are closed. The most popular holiday is Xmas. Every year the people of Norway make a present to the city of London. It is a big Xmas tree which is placed on Trufalger square. Central streets are beautifully decorated. During Xmas groups of singers go from house to house. They collect money for charity and sing carols, traditional Christmas songs. Many churches hold carol services on the Sunday before Xmas. The fun starts the night before, on the 24 of December. This is the day when people decorate their trees. Children hang stockings above their beds, hoping that Santa Claus will come at night and fill them with toys and sweets. Xmas is a family holiday. Relatives prepare for the big Xmas dinner of turkey and Xmas pudding and everyone makes and receives presents. The 26th of December, Boxing Day, is an extra holiday after Xmas. This is the time to meet friends or sit at home and watch TV. New Year's day is less popular in Britain then Xmas. Besides public holidays there are some special holidays in Britain. One of them takes place on the 5th of November. On that day in 1605 Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Parliament and to kill King James I. But he didn't succeed. The King's men found the bomb and took Guy Fawkes to the Tower. Since that day the British celebrate the 5th of November.There are also some smaller and lesser known holidays in Great Britain. Full-time employees working five days a week will get the standard UK holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks of annual leave every year. In other words, they have 28 days they can take as paid leave, at a minimum. In the UK, we refer to vacations as holidays. This is because a holiday is traditionally seen as a time of rest and relaxation away from work or school. We use the word vacation when referring to taking an extended period of time off for leisure activities such as travelling abroad or visiting family and friends.
Some of the ideas of different holiday types that you could choose when you go away include:

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  Party holiday.
  
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  Skiing and snowboarding.
  
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  Backpacking.
  
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  Family holiday.
  
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  Beach holiday.
  
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  Music festivals.
  
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  Adventure holidays.
  
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  City break
  

While the British celebrate Christmas Day on December 25, you may be shocked to learn that a lot of nations celebrate the day before, on Christmas Eve. Presents are customarily exchanged on the evening of December 24 in most regions of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. The feast, usually on the night of the 24th and lunch on the 25th, is a big one. The family gets together at both meals, and some have the leftovers from the dinner prior to the lunch the next day. The traditional offering for Christmas is sugar-coated almonds. Christmas is certainly the most wonderful time of the year for retailers! The days and weeks before Christmas are characterised by frantic shopping for presents. Many groups of friends or workmates take part in a 'Secret Santa' group. This is where each person buys a small present for one other person in the group, but the identity of the giver is never revealed. In many countries, Christmas Eve is a night for kids to go to bed early before their house is visited by Santa Claus, a magic man in a red suit who leaves presents for all the kids in the house. Apart from dinner at home with family or friends, Christmas is also a time for parties. At school, children often do a Christmas theatre performance or sing Christmas carols in a concert, then have a party with sweets and cakes. For adults, most workplaces usually have their Christmas 'do'. This can be a dinner in a restaurant or just a few drinks in a bar. At workplace parties, many romances have started under the mistletoe, a special plant which people hang from the ceiling. If you meet somebody under the mistletoe, the tradition is to kiss that person. However you celebrate Christmas, for many it's a time for having fun and spending time with the people you love. Plastic decorations and neon Santa Claus faces might be considered to be in bad taste by some people, but without them, it simply wouldn't be Christmas. From huge cities to tiny villages, the month of December sees buildings and streets covered in coloured lights, red ribbons and smiling Santa Claus faces. People also decorate their houses (and sometimes their gardens) for the Christmas period. The most famous decoration is, of course, the Christmas tree – a pine tree covered in little shiny decorations and fairy lights. Some people put a nativity scene in their house. This is a collection of little figures who represent the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem

3. Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December).^[1] Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to poor people, today, Boxing Day forms part of Christmas celebrations, with many people choosing to take advantage of Boxing Day sales. It originated in Great Britain and is celebrated in several countries that previously formed part of the British Empire. The attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place on 28 December if necessary to ensure it falls on a weekday. Boxing Day is also concurrent with the Christian festival Saint Stephen's Day.

In parts of Europe, such as several regions of Spain,^[2][3] the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia,^[4] Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, and Ireland, 26 December is Saint Stephen's Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas.
Unlike the contemporary understanding of Boxing Day itself, the bank holiday or public holiday associated with the observance always falls on a weekday. Where 25 December falls on a Saturday and 26 December falls on a Sunday, the Christmas Day substitute holiday always takes place on Monday 27 December, while the Boxing Day substitute holiday always takes place on Tuesday 28 December. When Christmas Day is a Sunday, the Boxing Day holiday is still on the 26th, while Tuesday 27 December is the substitute holiday for Christmas Day.