Holidays

There are a lot of holidays and celebrations in our lives. There are family celebrations and public holidays.
The family celebrations are birthdays, namedays, christenings, weddings, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mothers' Day, Christmas and New Year's Eve. In English-speaking countries people celebrate Halloween, and American people celebrate Thanksgiving.
We celebrate birthdays with a party where we invite our family membert and friends. We serve a delicious birthday cake, sandwiches and other kinds of desserts, mineral water and soft drinks, while people bring flowers and presents to us. We dance, play games and have fun.
On Valentine's Day lovers celebrate their love. They plan a romantic date, they go to a restaurant, have a lovely meal, and they each other presents. In English-speaking countries people send Valentine's card to the person they fancy - without writing their signature on the card.
At Easter we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is the rising of Jesus from the tomb three days after his Crucifixion.
On Easter Sunday people have traditional Easter breakfast: ham, hard-boiled eggs, bun and horseradish. On Easter Monday boys visit their female relatives and friends and sprinkle them with perfume or water. The girls give chocolate eggs or hand-painted eggs in return, and they offer them home-made cakes and drinks.
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men.
On Christmas Eve, on 24th December, we decorate a pine tree, the Christmas tree with candles, golden or silver or other colourful Christmas decorations like small balls or figures. In the afternoon or in the evening that day everyone receives and gives presents to their loved ones, a Christmas dinner is taken place with delicious meals. Some people eat stuffed cabbage, fish or turkey at Christmas. After dinner, the family members talk, play games or watch TV together. At midnight a lot of families go to church to attend the midnight service.
On New Year's Eve people go to parties (or stay at home and watch TV programmes) to celebrate the new year. They dance and sing, and at midnight they sing the national anthem and drink champagne.

Halloween is on 31st October. Children put on costumes like ghosts, pirates, fairies or princesses, they go from house to house to ask people for sweets. In the garden there are a lot of pumpkins lamps (carved pumpkins with a candle inside).
Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday of November when families gather and they have a huge delicious meal with a big roast turkey, mashes potatoes and other delicious dishes and desserts - to give thanks for happiness and the wealth of the year.

There are public holidays in every country. In Hungary we celebrate
- 15th March
- 20th August
- 23rd October

On 15th March we commemorate the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848-49.
On 20th August we celebrate the day of King Stephen I. (and the day of the new bread). On this day we commemorate the founding of our state a thousand year ago.
On 23rd October we celebrate the declaration of the Hungarian Republic and commemorate the revolution of 1956.