I need to know the celebration of Halloween and thanksgiving in United Kingdom?

Answer 1

What's wrong with you? Thanksgiving is a commemoration of the first successful harvest of the Mayflower Pilgrims in New England. If you knew anything at all, you would know that they travelled to the New World to escape religious intolerance in England. But still you ask how we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK. The USA and UK may have the same language, but that does not mean that they will necessarily have the same traditions.

The nearest thing we have to the USA's Thanksgiving is Harvest Festival celebrated in churches, and usually in September. See this website for more details: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Harvest.html

Halloween was hardly celebrated in the UK before the 1980s. There were some kids' parties, with children dressed as witches, and apple bobbing. Swedes (Swedish turnips) were used for making lantern faces illuminated by a candle. Some older kids would remove garden gates from their hinges, and hide them - all trick and no treat. And that was about it.

The reason for that is that the UK has a more established celebration on November 5th - Guy Fawkes Night (aka Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night). See this website for further information: http://www.bonefire.org/guy/ . Furthermore children used to collect money in the street - see the "Penny for the guy" tradition as outlined in this webpage: http://homepages.tesco.net/~derek.berger/holidays/guyfawkes.html

However things changed in the 1980s following the release of the films E.T. and Halloween. As a result of the 1982 film, E.T., (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/) more children began dressing up in spooky costumes and knocking on doors for sweets. A consequence of the 1978 film, Halloween (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/), was that a public demand for pumpkins was created, and they are now used for making lantern faces. Adults also have costumed Halloween parties. Nowadays Halloween here is no different from the USA.

I hope this answers your query.

Answer 2

Thanksgiving is an easy one: it's not celebrated at all in the UK.

For Halloween, though, see this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween#England_and_Wales.