Customs, festivals and traditions

Christmas: Britain's biggest midwinter festival

Christmas Day, 25 December, marks the birth of Jesus Christ and is the most widely celebrated festival in the UK, observed by Christians and non-Christians alike. Most people spend the day at home with family, sharing a special meal that traditionally includes roast turkey, Christmas pudding and mince pies. Households exchange gifts, send cards and decorate their homes, often with a Christmas tree.

Christmas is especially important for children. Younger children are often told that Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, brings presents while they sleep on the night before Christmas Day. Boxing Day, 26 December, follows immediately afterwards and is itself a public holiday, traditionally a day for visiting family or watching sport.

Easter: the death and resurrection of Christ

Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar, marking the death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday and his rising from the dead on Easter Sunday. Because its date depends on the lunar calendar rather than a fixed day, Easter falls in either March or April, and its date changes from year to year.

Both Good Friday and the following Monday, called Easter Monday, are public holidays in the UK, though Easter Monday is not a holiday in Scotland. Chocolate Easter eggs, symbolising new life, are widely given as presents at this time, and the festival is enjoyed by many people regardless of their religious belief.

Lent: forty days of reflection

Lent is the period of forty days before Easter, a time when Christians reflect and prepare for the festival. Traditionally people fasted throughout Lent, and today many still choose to give up a favourite food or habit for its duration.

The day before Lent begins is Shrove Tuesday, better known as Pancake Day. Pancakes were traditionally made to use up rich foods such as eggs, fat and milk before the fasting period started, and eating pancakes on this day remains a popular custom. Lent itself begins on Ash Wednesday, when some churches hold services in which Christians are marked with an ash cross on the forehead as a symbol of sorrow for sin.

Good Friday

Good Friday falls in March or April and marks the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion. It is the solemn day within the Christian festival of Easter, coming two days before Easter Sunday. Good Friday is a public holiday (a bank holiday) throughout the UK, along with the following Monday, known as Easter Monday.

Good Friday sits at the end of Lent, the 40-day period of reflection and preparation that precedes Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and the day before Lent starts is called Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, when people traditionally eat pancakes made from foods such as eggs, fat and milk before fasting begins.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday celebrates the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead, following his crucifixion on Good Friday. Together, Good Friday and Easter Sunday form the heart of Easter, the most important festival in the Christian calendar, which takes place in March or April.

Many non-religious people also mark Easter as a seasonal celebration. A well-known custom is giving chocolate Easter eggs as presents, a modern symbol of new life. Hot cross buns, marked with a cross and traditionally eaten around Good Friday, are another familiar Easter food, and their spices are said to recall those once used to prepare a body for burial.

Ramadan

Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting, observed by Muslims across the UK. During Ramadan, practising Muslims fast from dawn until sunset for a full month, abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours as an act of religious devotion and self-discipline.

The end of Ramadan is marked by Eid al-Fitr, a major festival of celebration. Muslims give thanks for having completed the fast and mark the occasion with morning prayers, family gatherings and festive meals. Giving to charity is also an important part of the festival, reflecting the emphasis Ramadan places on generosity and gratitude.

Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month during which Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the month that follows Ramadan in the Islamic calendar, and because that calendar is lunar, the date moves earlier by about eleven days each year in the Gregorian calendar.

Muslims mark the occasion with communal prayers, special services and festive meals with family and friends, giving thanks to Allah for the strength to complete the fast.

Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Adha, sometimes called the Festival of Sacrifice, recalls the moment when the prophet Ibrahim showed he was willing to sacrifice his son at God's command. Many Muslims mark the festival by sacrificing an animal, which is then eaten, and by attending prayers and sharing meals with family.

Like Eid al-Fitr, the date follows the Islamic lunar calendar and shifts each year against the Gregorian calendar. The festival reminds Muslims of their own commitment to God.

Diwali

Diwali, popularly known as the Festival of Lights, is celebrated mainly by Hindus and Sikhs, and it usually falls in October or November. It celebrates the victory of good over evil and the gaining of knowledge, though different communities tell different stories about how the festival began.

Celebrations in the UK include lighting lamps, sharing sweets and gathering with family. Leicester is known for holding a particularly famous Diwali celebration.

Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival celebrated to remember the Jews' struggle for religious freedom. It falls in November or December, since its date follows the Hebrew calendar rather than the Gregorian one, and it lasts for eight days. Jewish families mark each night of the festival by lighting a candle on a special nine-branched candle holder called a menorah, with one flame used to light the others, so that by the final night all eight candles are burning together.

The festival recalls a time when the Jewish people reclaimed their temple in Jerusalem and found only enough oil to keep its light burning for a single day, yet the oil lasted eight days, an event still marked as a small miracle. Traditional customs include eating food fried in oil, playing a spinning-top game, and giving gifts to children.

Vaisakhi, the Sikh festival of the Khalsa

Vaisakhi, sometimes spelled Baisakhi, is a Sikh festival which celebrates the founding of the Sikh community known as the Khalsa. It is celebrated on 14 April each year with parades, dancing and singing, and communities across the UK hold public processions and gatherings to mark the occasion.

New Year and Hogmanay

New Year's Day, 1 January, is a public holiday across the UK. Most people celebrate the evening before, 31 December, known as New Year's Eve, often with parties, fireworks and gatherings of friends and family to see in the new year at midnight.

In Scotland, New Year celebrations take on particular importance and 31 December is called Hogmanay. Scotland has an extra public holiday on 2 January, and for some Scottish people Hogmanay is regarded as a bigger celebration than Christmas itself.