British celebrations

British festivals and celebrations

Index

1. Maypole

8. Best gurner competition

2. Cheese rolling

3. Notting hill carnival

9. Boat race

4. Pancake race

5. Up Helly Aa

6. Snail race

7. Burning of the clocks

Maypole dance ( May Day 1 st May)

Folk dance around a tall pole decorated with flowers and ribbons. People celebrate the beginning of spring.

Cheese rolling in Gloucester

• The event leader rolls the "cheese" down the hill. People chase after them, and the first to capture one of the discs receives a small prize. The game is quite tricky, because the hill is very steep.

Notting Hill CarnivalAnnual event in London held in August. It is led by people who are of African or Carribean origin and is one of the world's largest street festivals. Its aim is to show that London is multicultural and to fight racial prejudice.

Pancake race

It's celebrated on Ash Wednesday. Housewives dressed in aprons and a hat run down the street tossing pancakes . The first woman who gets to church and serve the pancake to the bellringer is the winner.

Up Helly Aa

An annual fire festival in Scotland organized to mark the end of Christmas season. A procession of dressed up people with torches goes down the streets and burn the Viking ship.

Snail race

The annual "World Snail Racing Championships" started in Congham, Norfolk in the 1960s after founder Tom Elwes witnessed the event in France.Snails go around the circle and the winner gets some letttuce.

Burning of the clocks

The celebration started in 1993 in Brighton. A procession of people dressed in costumes and carrying lanterns go to the beach and make a bonfire to mark the end of the year.

World gurning competition

• ‘Gurning’ means to make a strange facial expression – or ‘pull a face’. Contestants put their heads through a horse collar, and ‘snarl like a dog, look savage, and distort their faces’.

Boat race

It takes palce every year in March or April on the River Thames. Students form Oxford and Cambridge University compete in the race. The first race took place in 1829.

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