Christmas in the United Kingdom
Most families have a Christmas Tree in their house for Christmas.
Christmas Trees were first popularised in the UK by Prince Albert, the husband
of Queen Victoria. Prince Albert was German and thought that it would be good
to use one of his ways of celebrating Christmas in England.
Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe are also used to decorate homes.
Children believe that Father Christmas or Santa Claus leaves presents in stockings or pillow-cases. They are usually hung up by the fire or by the children's beds on Christmas Eve. Children sometimes leave out mince pies and brandy or milk for Father Christmas when he visits them.
Children write letters to Father Christmas with their requests, but
sometimes instead of putting them in the post, the letters are tossed into the
fireplace. The draught carries the letters up the chimney and Father Christmas
reads the smoke.
Boxing Day is a very
old custom that started in the UK and is now taken as a holiday in many
countries around the world. Boxing Day in the United Kingdom is the day after Christmas Day, December 26th. Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, clothes or other goods to their employees. In modern times, it is an important day for sporting events and the start of the post-Christmas sales.
In the UK, the main Christmas Meal is usually eaten at lunchtime or early afternoon on Christmas Day. It was traditionally roast beef or goose, although it's common to have turkey, roast vegetables and 'all the trimmings' which means stuffing and sometimes bacon and sausages.
Typical desserts are Christmas Pudding and mince
pies. The dinner table is decorated with a Christmas Cracker for each person
and sometimes flowers and candles.
Christmas Celebrations in the UK:
http://www.learnenglish.de/culture/christmas.html10 Ways to British Up Your Christmas Holiday:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/12/british-up-your-christmas-holiday/More British Christmas traditions:
http://usa.britishcouncil.org/british-christmas-traditions
Each Christmas Day the sovereign of the Commonwealth realms to the Commonwealth of Nations makes a speech. The tradition began in 1932 with a radio broadcast by King George V on the British Broadcasting Corporation Empire Service.
The foolowing is Queen Elisabeth II Christmas speech of December 25th, 2012.
Christmas 2011
How do you spend your Christmas holiday?
Talk about your Christmas traditions! 