High Spirits 2: Festivals

1 Festivals Halloween 1 Scrivi le parole del riquadro sotto le figure corrispondenti. ghost lantern vampire witch 1 vampire 2 3 4 The origins of Halloween go back to Celtic times. The old Samhain (31st October) was called All The Celts divided the year into two seasons, Hallow’s Eve, the original name for Halloween. summer and winter. They celebrated the end People celebrated it in the same way, with of summer, on 31st October, with the festival of costumes and fires, and this tradition still Samhain. (Samhain means ‘summer’s end’.) exists today. On this day, they believed that the ghosts of the At Halloween, people make lanterns from dead came back to earth. The Celts lit fires to pumpkins to keep the bad spirits away. They cut frighten the bad spirits away. They danced, ate and a scary face in the pumpkin and put a candle drank, and wore costumes – usually animal heads inside it. Then they leave it in the window or and skins. The next day, 1st November, was the outside their house. beginning of the cold, dark winter. Many children go ‘trick or treating’ at When England became a Christian country in Halloween. They wear costumes (usually something AD 550, this pagan festival became a Christian scary: a witch, a ghost, a monster or a vampire) festival. On 1st November, Christians remember all and knock on neighbours’ doors. When they say, the saints. This day is called All Saints’ Day. On ‘Trick or treat?’ the neighbours usually give them 2nd November, All Souls’ Day, Christians remember sweets. all the dead. Glossary light (past lit) accendere scary spaventoso frighten spaventare trick scherzetto costume maschera / treat dolcetto costume neighbour vicino di casa 2 ES skin pelle Leggi il brano e rispondi alle domande. 1 Why was 1st November an important date for Celtic people? 3 Come si festeggia in Italia questo periodo dell’anno? Scrivi un breve paragrafo 2 What does Samhain mean? (35 – 50 parole). Prima di cominciare, prendi degli appunti usando le seguenti ES K 3 When is Halloween? domande per aiutarti. s What kind of things do you do? 4 When is All Saints’ Day? When is All Souls’ s Do you wear special clothes? What clothes? Day? s Do you have any special games? s Do you go ‘trick or treating’? Where? What do 5 Why do people have lanterns at Halloween? people give you? s Do you have any special food or drink? 6 What do people usually give to children at s What do people in your town usually do on Halloween? 1st and 2nd November? 12 Festivals 2 Thanksgiving 1 Osserva la figura e rispondi alle domande. 1 What is happening in the picture on the right? 2 When did this event occur? Choose one of the dates. 1500 / 1621 / 1756 2 Leggi il brano e controlla le risposte. Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the USA, on When they arrived, life was very hard. They didn’t know the fourth Thursday of November. Americans meet how to build houses or how to grow food, and many of up to have a traditional meal with their families and them died of the cold. However, in the autumn of 1621, say ‘thank you’ to God for the good things in their thanks to the help of the Native Americans, they had lives. Turkey, pumpkins and corn are traditional a very successful harvest. foods for the Thanksgiving meal. Pumpkin pie is the most popular traditional dessert. In some American Their leader, Governor William Bradford, decided to schools, children perform a Thanksgiving play. Read have a thanksgiving festival with the Native Americans, one student’s account of a play at her school. to thank God for their lives and their health. Governor Bradford asked some of the Pilgrims to hunt for turkey, geese and wild ducks. They celebrated for three days, My name’s Sarah. In my school this year we are with a big meal. doing a play about the first Thanksgiving. There are two groups of characters. The first are Pilgrim settlers in The second group are the Native Americans. At first North America. They came from England in 1620 on a the English settlers were afraid of them and they stayed ship called the Mayflower. away from them. Then the settlers had a terrible winter, and half of them died, so the Native Americans decided to help them. They shared their food with them and taught them how to hunt. The two groups lived in peace for many years. Glossary meet up incontrarsi turkey tacchino corn mais play (n) rappresentazione teatrale / recita settler colono harvest raccolto thanksgiving ringraziamento hunt cacciare geese oche 3 Scegli l’alternativa corretta. share dividere teach (past taught) insegnare Life was difficult / easy in that first winter for the English settlers in America. 4 1 In 1621, the Native Americans helped / Scrivi un breve paragrafo (35 – 50 parole) su didn’t help the settlers. una festività italiana. Prima di cominciare, 2 The first Thanksgiving celebrations were in prendi degli appunti usando le seguenti ES K 1620 / 1621. domande per aiutarti. 3 Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday / s When is the festival? Sunday. s Where is it? 4 Americans usually eat chicken / turkey at s What is the reason for the celebration? Thanksgiving. s How do people celebrate it? 5 The traditional dessert for Thanksgiving is s Do they have special food? apple pie / pumpkin pie. s Do they have special decorations? 13 3 Festivals London My name’s Jack and I live New York in Redhill in Surrey. On 31st December last year I’m Anna and I live in I went to London with my Rhode Island, in the USA. parents to celebrate New Year’s Eve. We went to see Big Ben, on the River Thames – Just before midnight on the main river through London. New Year’s Eve, most of the television channels here show the events Big Ben is the famous clock and bell tower at Times Square, in the centre of New York. of the Houses of Parliament. It was amazing. About half a million people go there to When midnight came, Big Ben struck 12 celebrate on New Year’s Eve. o’clock and everyone cheered and clapped. At one minute before midnight, an Then there was an incredible fireworks illuminated ball drops slowly down a flagpole display over the Thames, near the London on the roof of a building in Times Square. Eye. This is the big observation wheel near Big Ben. You can get an amazing view of While the ball drops, everybody counts down the whole city from the London Eye. It to midnight, together. The ball reaches the always looks great at New Year because they bottom of the pole at exactly midnight on the illuminate it. count of zero. At that moment, about 2,000 kilos of tiny pieces of coloured paper, called confetti, fall onto the crowd from the rooftops of 11 buildings – and the New Year begins. New Year 1 Leggi i brani e decidi se le frasi sono True (T) Glossary ES K o False (F). Correggi le frasi false. tower torre drop scendere observation wheel confetti coriandoli At midnight on 31st December, people in ruota panoramica rooftop tetto London watch and listen to the Queen. F – They watch and listen to Big Ben. 1 The London Eye is near the River Thames. 2 Scrivi un breve paragrafo (35 – 50 parole) su Capodanno in Italia. Prima di cominciare, 2 They illuminate the London Eye every night. prendi degli appunti usando le seguenti ES K domande per aiutarti. 3 About a thousand people go to Times Square s What Italian New Year traditions do you every New Year’s Eve. know about? s What do you and your family usually do on 4 The ball starts dropping at midnight. 31st December and 1st January? s Where do you go? 5 Confetti in English means small pieces of s What do you eat? coloured paper. s Do people wear any special clothes? s What happens in Italy on 6th January? 6 There are New Year fireworks displays in London and Times Square in New York. 14 Festivals 4 St Patrick’s Day 1 ES Leggi il brano e rispondi alle domande. 3 What is the symbol of Ireland? 1 Why do so many Americans celebrate St Patrick’s Day? 4 What is a ceilidh? 2 When is St Patrick’s Day? 5 Why is Saint Patrick so important to Ireland? Saint Patrick is very important in the USA Why is this? Well, there are more than 30 million families in America with Irish origins. For this reason, St Patrick’s Day, on 17th March, is a popular festival in America. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He died on 17th March. In many cities there is a big parade on St Patrick’s Day. People wear shamrocks and paint their faces green. (Green is the national colour of Ireland and the shamrock is the symbol of Ireland.) On St Patrick’s Day, many people dye their hair green. In Chicago, they even dye the river green! They also celebrate with green food and drink. In the evening you can often listen to Irish music at a ceilidh LF*MJ, a traditional Irish dance. It’s great fun! Who was Saint Patrick? Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the year AD 387. When he was sixteen, pirates kidnapped him and sold him as a slave in Ireland. He was there for about six years and he became very close to God.

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