Презентация "Great Britain: A Country OF Traditions"

Great Britain: a Country of Traditions
Выполнила: Бахтина А.Г.

Introduction
Just like families have their own traditions so do countries. It’s common knowledge that the British are lovers of traditions. Each season in Britain is connected with various colourful traditions, customs and festivals.

SPRING
St David’s Day
March 1st is a very important day for Welsh people. It’s St David’s Day. He is the “patron” or national saint of Wales. On that day the Welsh wear daffodils in the buttonholes of their coats or jackets.

May Day
May 1st is the celebration of summer’s beginning. People used to put a striped maypole decorated with flowers and danced round it. Some English villages still have maypole dancing on May 1st.

SUMMER
The Trooping of the Colour
The Queen is the only person in Britain with two birthdays. She has a real birthday and an “official” birthday too. On the Queen’s official birthday, there is a traditional ceremony called the Trooping of the Colour. It’s a big parade with bass bands and hundreds of soldiers at Horse Guards’ Parade in London. The Guards are trooping the colour.

Swan Upping.
On the River Thames there are hundreds of swans. A lot of these beautiful white birds belong, traditionally, to the King or Queen. In July the Queen’s swan keeper goes in a boat from London Bridge to Henley(a town on the Thames) and marks the royal ones. The name of this custom is Swan Upping.

Highland Games.
In summer Scottish people traditionally meet together for competitions called Highland Games. Today thousands of visitors come to see sports like tossing the caber(бросать бревно) or throwing the hammer. The games always include Scottish dancing and bagpipe music.

autumn
The State Opening of Parliament.
Parliament controls modern Britain. But traditionally the Queen opens Parliament every autumn. She travels from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a gold carriage. She reads the Queen’s Speech.

Guy Fawkes Day
November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day (Night) in Britain. All over the country people build wood fires, or “bonfires”, in their gardens. On top of each bonfire is a guy. That is a figure of Guy Fawkes. He was one of a band of conspirators [kən'spɪrətəz] who wanted to kill the King. However, the plot failed, Fawkes was caught on the 5th of November. The conspirators were executed (казнены). Before November 5th, children stand in the streets and shout “Penny for the guy.Then they spend the money on fireworks.

winter
Up-Helly-Aa
In the ninth century the Vikings ['vaıkıŋz] from Norway came to the Shetlands. They came to Britain in ships and took away gold, animals and sometimes people. Now people in the Shetlands remember the Vikings with the festival which they call “Up-Helly-Aa”. They make a model of a Viking longship with the head of a dragon at the front. Then they dress in costumes and carry the ship through the town to the sea and burn it there.

Carol Singing.
Originally, carols were songs performed with dancing at Christmas and other festivals. They were often sung outside houses by fantastically-dressed actors called Mummers (ряженые). Many of today’s carols are Christmas hymns celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Questions
1.What is a very important day for Welsh people and why?
2.What holiday did people use to have on the 1st of May? Do they celebrate it now?
3.How is the official Queen’s birthday celebrated in Britain?
4.What is swan upping?
5.What is the most famous tradition in Scotland?
6.Who and how traditionally opens the Parliament?
7. Who was Guy Fawkes and how is his day celebrated?