Gunnar Garfors. December events: Visit Hyde Park at Christmas and witness a Winter Wonderland. The townspeople resist and running battles ensue, with flour and eggs the weapons of choice, until a ceasefire is called for lunch. The celebration has its roots in pagan rituals and is still going strong despite a 1714 law that outlawed it as “superstitious, idolatrous and sinfule, an abominable heathenish practice”. At the end of the carnival, all floats and posters end up on a big bonfire, disturbingly close to a petrol station. Men wear kilts and people listen to traditional bagpipe music, they dance, read Burn’s poetry and share a meal of haggis (a traditional Scottish dish of sheep heart, liver and lungs) with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes). Darkness has reached its peak. Festival dates for 2020.Stay Hotel Posta (doubles from €74) offers traditional Alpine bed and breakfast in the centre of Sappada.Alex Sakalis, Kjippen is an odd carnival in Florø, the most westerly town in Norway. The Cologne Winter Carnival ‘s crazy events include ‘Fat Thursday’, involving women cutting off men’s ties and rewarding them with a kiss, and ‘Rose Monday’, which polishes off a weekend of drinking and fun with a day of marching bands, outrageous floats, and street parties. See Nottingham become filled with after dark illuminations and neon displays as it blinds the winter chill from the air with live music and street theatre. What to Expect: A four-day festival in a historic ski town, Winterskol celebrates Nordic culture, with highlights including a dog fashion show, WinterSculpt, WinterFest, and a grand-finale fireworks display. At Samhain we honour, celebrate and welcome the descent into, and return of, the dark - the beginning of the New Year, acknowledging that all beginnings emerge from darkness. Location: London The winter solstice celebrations at Newgrange in Ireland are among the most difficult to attend in the world. It has doubles from €78 that can be reserved at booking.com.Annette Pacey, Southern Germans are used to flamboyant Christmas characters, not least the terrifying half-goat, half-demon Krampus, who appears on Bavarian streets on Krampusnacht (5 December). Although the event itself is relatively new – 2020 will be the 25th anniversary – it brings together ancient midwinter customs. The Winter Solstice falls on the shortest day of the year (21st December) and was celebrated in Britain long before the arrival of Christianity. All over the world, people spend the colder months of the year celebrating a variety of holidays. Many British folklore customs are of Celtic origin. Grab a mulled wine or cup of grog and watch the laughter (and tears) unfold.Stay Close to the Old Town Square, Hotel Melantrich has doubles from €88 B&B.Mark Pickering, Els Enfarinats, Ibi, Alicante, 28 December, This riotous 200-year-old festival takes place on the Day of the Innocents – the Spanish equivalent of April Fools’ Day – and is a light-hearted dig at authority, though its precise origins have been forgotten. The tradition goes back to the 1800s in central Europe, where craftsmen in costumes created mayhem (or kjipp) in the streets to protest at low wages. They are here to chase away winter, but they are not alone. It is a holdover of ancient Slavic rites of spring, which were adapted into Christianity’s timeline, linking pagan spring rituals with Shrovetide and Lent. More information. A traditional Christmas-card scene is recreated in Nottingham's Old Market Square every winter – the perfect place to get into the festival spirit. Every year, more than 2 million people come to Sapporo to see a large number of splendid snow statues and ice sculptures which line Odori Park, the grounds at Community Dome Tsudome, and the main street in Susukino. A tradition in the area since the mid-19th century, but probably dating back far further, Tschäggättu culminates in a procession from Blatten to Ferden on the evening of 20 February, followed by an afternoon carnival parade in Wiler two days later.StayHotel Bietschhorn, in Kippel, has doubles from £86, though it can be busy in February; a good alternative is Hotel de Londres in Brig, which has doubles from £130.Caroline Bishop. The Celts divided their year by four great festivals, starting with Samhain, signifying the arrival of winter and the New Year, which fell on 1st November. The … Since ancient times, people all over the world have recognized this important astronomical occurrence and celebrated the subsequent “return” of the Sun in … The procession continues through Borough Market to the 17th-century George Inn for more singing, dancing, storytelling and a wishing tree – plus plenty of mulled wine and cider.Stay CitizenM Bankside (doubles from £119) is a stone’s throw from the action. Find event and ticket information. But that’s what awaits mischievous Czech children on St Mikuláš Day. The festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan, over seven days in February. However, it's believed that this date was chosen to offset pagan celebrations of Saturnalia and Natalis Invicti. Take a trip on Swanage Railway in the run up to Christmas and get the chance to meet Santa. Learn about the holidays that occur around the world during December and January. The Burning of the Clavie, 11 January Scotland’s fire festivals help bring cheer to dark winter nights, from the torchlight processions and fireworks at Hogmanay to the Viking-themed Up Helly Aa in Shetland. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. Kurent is the protagonist of Slovenia’s oldest holiday, Kurentovanje. Though it started out as a one-day celebration earlier in December, this pagan festival later expanded into a riotous weeklong party stretching from December 17 to 24. Yule/Winter Solstice December 21st. Immerse yourself in the gruesome world of the Vikings as the city of York celebrates its Norse past. Scotland's Winter Festivals celebrate our rich culture and heritage. It is a meditative ritual that honors the sun’s light as a reflection of the light that burns brightly within each one of … Whip cracks split the slate-cold February sky. The celebration has its roots in pagan rituals and is still going strong despite a 1714 law that outlawed it as “superstitious, idolatrous and sinfule, an abominable heathenish practice”. Locals go to great lengths in dressing up for the parade along cobbled streets lined with traditional wooden houses. They represent scary souls who have made a pact with the devil and are attempting redemption; they lead their followers, a mix of locals and visitors, to the city centre, where a straw doll representing evil is ritually burned.Stay Herzstück Waldkirchen (doubles from €164) has modern rooms and generous breakfasts.Paul Sullivan, Blowing the midwinter horn is a December tradition in the rural east and north of the Netherlands. Some believe that celebrating the birth of the “true light of the world” was set in synchronization with the December solstice because from that point onwards; the days began to have more dayl… They clear the path for a special sort of monster: a benevolent demon who strikes terror into the evil winter spirits and drives them away. It takes place on 11 January, New Year’s Eve according to the old Julian calendar, so residents celebrate Hogmanay twice. Burn’s night is a celebration of Robbie Burns, a celebrated Scottish poet. By Deena Wade | November/December 2004. Scotland has the best winter fire festivals in the UK. Enter the password that accompanies your e-mail. One of the biggest Twelfth Night celebrations in the UK takes place on 5 January at Bankside in London, a chance to bid farewell to Christmas and toast the new year. They have puffy white shirtsleeves, embroidered vests and leather britches, their bullwhips are in hand but there is an incongruous abundance of brightly coloured flowers bedecking their hats. Best for: a bookish weekend break in the UK. Then this monster parade leads to a street party involving homemade schnapps, mulled wine and giant doughnuts stuffed with apricot marmalade.Stay Muzikafe is a hostel that puts on live music, performances and workshops; double/twin from €47, room only.Noah Charney, Being accosted by the devil, bundled into his sack, then carried away to hell doesn’t sound like the most child-friendly festival jape. During this jolliest and most popular of Roman festivals, socia… While many associate December 21 with the solstice, in the pagan and druid communities the … • This article was amended on 2 and 6 December 2019 to: correct the dates for Kurentovanje in Putj, Slovenia, to 15-25 February 2020; and to change a photograph, which originally had shown an image of Kurentovanje taken in Ljubljana, not Ptuj as captioned. The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of Japan’s largest winter events. Bristol is brimming with free events, festivals and markets during the winter. Gather the family and get your skates on for the UK’s biggest outdoor ice rink at London’s Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Introduce and define key vocabulary: heritage, anticipation, Menorah, Kinara, Advent wreath, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas. If deemed naughty, however, the devil threatens to put them in his sack – often accessorised by fake kids’ legs sticking scarily out of the bottom. The fur-clad beasts – with fearsome expressions carved into oversize wooden masks and cow bells belted to their waists – might steal your woolly hat, push you to the ground and terrorise your children. These are festivals in which organizers embrace the snow, wind, and ice, making the most of the wintery landscape. But it’s all in the name of fun. Resembling a cross between man and bear, they wear hooded black pelts, stripey trousers, wooden masks and heavy bells. In old almanacs Yule was represented by the symbol of a wheel, conveying the idea of the year turning like a wheel, The … A curious mix of Santa’s grotto and Halloween, the event sees Mikuláš, a tall, white-bearded figure, accompanied around the square by an angel and a devil. Plan your visit at VisitEngland. The winter solstice, the longest night of the year, falls on December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 20 or 21 in the Southern. For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Early in the morning, a group of married men from the town – Els Enfarinats, “the floured ones” – stage a mock coup and set about imposing absurd new laws on the town’s inhabitants, demanding fines for disobedience. Location: North Yorkshire Coast & North York Moors. Grab your scarf and gloves and head outside for a packed programme of winter events in England, whether it’s sipping mulled wine whilst browsing through Christmas markets or enjoying evening winter Be the first to hear about our offers and competitions. These seasonal festivals can be large public events with hundreds of adults and children gathering at sacred sites, such as Stonehenge, Avebury, or Glastonbury in England, or at the other extreme, they can be very private events celebrated by a single Druid in their garden or living room, or by a small group of Druids and friends who have gathered together in a park or garden. Orthodox New Year Orthodox Christians in the United Kingdom mark the start of a new calendar year on either January 1 or 14 in the Gregorian calendar. Some historians say it used to be a pagan tradition to scare evil spirits away during the dark winter months, though the horn was also used as a means of communication between farmers – and to warn smugglers of the police. The “Clavie Crew” carry a flaming barrel full of staves around the town and up Doorie Hill, where it burns for hours. This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and St Andrew is Scotland's patron saint and on 30 November we celebrate St Andrew's Day with the rest of the world. Brighton marks the shortest day of the year with the Burning the Clocks winter solstice parade. It takes place on 11 January, New Year’s E… Be part of Scarborough’s three-day celebration of all things music, theatre, dance, film and art. Following them are villagers dressed as kurenti. Eventbrite - Jules Stapleton Barnes presents Winter Celebration - Sunday, 13 December 2020 at Online event. A belt of cowbells clangs as they dance, and they wield maces made of hedgehog spines. The winter solstice, hiemal solstice or hibernal solstice occurs when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt away from the Sun. Between Candlemas and Shrove Tuesday the four high villages in this alpine region in canton Valais are roamed by nightmarish-looking figures known as the Tschäggättä. The Holly Man (the winter incarnation of the Green Man) arrives over the Millennium Bridge, accompanied by wassailers and mummers who perform a play about St George. It's fun for all the family and each child gets their own present! The north-eastern town of Ptuj (puh-tooey) crowned by a castle and ringed with Roman ruins, hosts the most famous kurentovanje parade. The festival is a celebration of St Nicholas, patron saint of children, lardily embodied as Father Christmas in most countries. You hear their echo before you see the whippers themselves: a gaggle of men dressed in 19th-century costume. From food events to light shows and ice skating, there truly is something for any taste at these fantastic winter festivals. Annual Events. Midwinter horn demonstrations are given in many villages between the first Sunday of Advent and Epiphany (6 January). All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative. Under the old Julian Calendar, the winter solstice occurred on 25 December. Initially, they were used to scare children away from the carnival - historically reserved for adults. Cakes are given out and the pair who find a concealed pea and bean are crowned king and queen. The latest travel news, events and ideas for holidays and breaks in England. Fines and a revolutionary tax imposed on local businesses are donated to a local old people’s home, and the festival ends with a dance.Stay For a ringside seat, stay at Casa Rosalia in the town centre. Find out more here. The winter is full of highlights as venues in Scarborough, Whitby and Filey host a variety of shows; musicals, comedies, plays and dramas with a real flavour of Christmas with wassailing and traditional pantomimes. Live bands and hundreds of spectators add to the atmosphere. A chance to connect, uplift and celebrate your LGBTQ+ community in Scotland, as this challenging year draws to a close. Scotland’s fire festivals help bring cheer to dark winter nights, from the torchlight processions and fireworks at Hogmanay to the Viking-themed Up Helly Aa in Shetland. So get out and about in Scotland this winter – there's so much going on! At the Winter Solstice we reach the depth of that darkness with the longest night of the year. There are many other winter celebrations sacred to other cultures. A winter solstice advent spiral walk provides a lovely way to pay homage to the light and is a common feature at winter solstice festivals worldwide. Get in the festive spirit at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Wake up on Christmas morning and head down to Eastbourne's Bandstand for a festive live concert you won't forget. Stonehenge winter solstice, Wiltshire December 22 Solstice celebrations – marking the shortest day and longest night of the year – happen … Not so in the Czech Republic. These days, their main function is to steer along the festivities, which consist of locals dressed as peasants, paupers and aristocrats – a nod to the village’s social history. Witness a 16-hour football match in the streets of Ashbourne, an eccentric sporting event that’s been played since the 17th century. The festival is led by the Rollate. Winter Solstice – 21 December December 21 is the shortest day of the year, and the solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years. For example, on 15 December there is a midwinter hornwalk in Oud Avereest, a village in the province of Overijssel, starting from 10.30am at visitor’s centre De Wheem.Stay De Zilveren Maan (doubles from €105) is a farmhouse B&B in the village of Balkbrug, close to Oud Avereest.Renate van der Zee, The sleepy alpine village of Sappada abruptly awakens every winter for its raucous carnival, spread across the three Sundays leading up to Lent. Combine the primitive impulse to light up the long nights, the ancient idea that fire purifies and chases away evil spirits and the natural Scottish impulse to party to the wee small hours and you end up with some of the most dazzling and daring midwinter celebrations in Europe. New Year's Day (January 1) The night before New Year's Day, many British citizens watch as … St Andrew’s Day. With Ježíšek (baby Jesus) tasked with bringing the gifts on Christmas Day here, St Mikuláš gets his day of generosity on 5 December. Onlookers collect glowing pieces to light their first fire of the (old) new year, or send to loved ones for luck. Have students read the Winter Holidays Article individually or in pairs. One lesser-known event is the Burning of the Clavie in Burghead, a small town in Moray. The ritual looks primeval, tribal, eerie. Then, in another great British tradition, everyone goes to the pub …Stay The Moraybank B&B (doubles from £85) in nearby Elgin is a fine 1845 property with lots of period features. The best winter festivals in the UK Winter may be cold but it’s a beautiful time of the year to get out there and explore with the family. How is the Winter Solstice celebrated in the UK? The winter solstice is a surprisingly popular winter solstice experience: over 28,000 people applied for the lottery in 2018. The Exeter Christmas Market represents the best of what Britain, the South West and the rest of Europe has to offer – with a mix of great food, excellent crafts, unique gifts and decorations. Winter solstice is an important time for cultures across the globe. To be the target of caricature is, however, considered an honour. Additionally, only 60 people are able to enter each year for the winter solstice celebration. In Scotland people have a special dinner on Burns’ Night. The wooden horn is similar to an alpine horn and produces a low, melancholy sound. Starting in January and going all the way through December, this article lists many of the UK's most widely celebrated holidays, festivals, and special occasions. Looking for a holiday with a difference? makes a purchase. Every year hornblowers, dressed like farmers in blue smocks with clogs, play at various spots in the countryside and walkers are offered mulled wine or hot chocolate. Across Europe festivities and parades full of spirits and demons, dances and drinks bring cheer – and sometimes mayhem – to the winter months, Last modified on Fri 6 Dec 2019 17.06 GMT, Venturing out after dark in Switzerland’s Lötschental valley in February can be a hair-raising experience. Grab your scarf and gloves and head outside for a packed programme of winter events in England, whether it’s sipping mulled wine whilst browsing through Christmas markets or enjoying evening winter funfairs in the heart of the city. Browse Guardian Holidays to see a range of fantastic trips. One lesser-known event is the Burning of the Clavie in Burghead, a small town in Moray. Super furry animals … Tschäggättä roaming Switzerland’s Lötschental valley during the carnival. Climb aboard the family favourite 'Santa Express' which returns to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway this winter. So, mingle with ice anglers, participate on a snowball-fighting team, or watch a pond hockey game—these winter festivals may chill your nose, but they'll likely leave you with warm memories of traveling in the USA in winter. The Hopi people perform a purifying ritual to help the sun return from its winter slumber. The perfect musical accompaniment on a winter evening in Cambridge. Yule: Winter Solstice - Dec 21st/22nd. In modern times Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day, which falls on December 25. This year, let your winter solstice celebration be an occasion to look deeply at small things, to feel at home in the world and to be just where you belong. There are hundreds of beers, ales and ciders to test out as you watch the cyclists whizz by at the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival. Participants share satirical commentary on current (local) affairs through their costumes and amplify their messages with floats, street theatre and posters. It happens every New Year’s Eve and starts, precisely, at midnight. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For example, consider: Soyal, celebrated by the Hopi Indians in the Southwest United States, falls on the shortest day of the year. Shop 'til you drop at Salisbury's annual Christmas Fayre, held in the beautiful Guildhall Square. Visit Father and Mrs Christmas in their secret woodland home, help the elves prepare for the big day, meet real reindeer and enjoy a jolly musical experience. VisitEngland would like to invite you to take part in a short survey about our website, it should take no more than a couple of minutes. With the introduction of the Gregorian calendar the solstice slipped to the 21st, but the Christian celebration of Jesus’s birth continued to be held on 25 December. Locals dress in furs, capes, horns and frightening masks and run through the cobbled streets, groaning and screaming, and carrying blazing torches. Pick up tasty treats and Christmas gifts at Taurus Crafts’ annual Christmas market. 8 of the best things to do in Tees Valley, 9 ways to escape the everyday in Yorkshire with AJ Odudu, 9 ways to escape the everyday in Suffolk with Fred Sirieix, December events: Enjoy a spot of festive shopping at Taurus Crafts, Watch a kick about like no other in Derbyshire, November events: Step back in time at the Victorian Christmas Festival, Enjoy beer and cycling at Manchester Beer & Cider Festival, November events: See Longleat in a different light, December events: Find your festive spirit at Salisbury's Christmas Fayre, December events: Wander through a Bavarian-style village in Bristol, December events: Find the perfect gift at the Exeter Christmas Market, Celebrate Portsmouth's literary heritage at BookFest, December events: Meet Santa on a steam train, Get beside the seaside for the Coastival arts festival, December events: Join Santa on the La'al Ratty through Eskdale, Embrace the festive spirit with Yorkshire Coast’s winter events, December events: Celebrate the Winter Solstice at Burning the Clocks, December events: Join the biggest Christmas Day party in Britain, Visit the largest Viking Festival in Europe, December events: Discover yuletide fun at Kielder Winter Wonderland, December events: Walk in Nottingham's magical Winter Wonderland, Feel the winter glow of a city illuminated for Light Night. Kjippen has been celebrated since 1900.Stay Kinn Hotell Florø (doubles from £70 B&B) is in a quiet area 1km from the centre. The costume for kurenti involves a long-haired sheepskin suit that rises above the head into a fearsome, towering mask, decorated with bull horns, a wooden face, bristly moustache and lolling leather tongue. (Details for the 2021 event are still being … Head to Prague’s Old Town Square around 4pm to see the action. Pictures of winter and summer; Procedures. But in some places, most notably the village of Waldkirchen, Krampus is small fry compared with the pagan-style characters who come out for Rauhnacht. It attracts a growing number of visitors from Japan and rest of world. Have them fill in the Vocabulary Worksheet. With some planning, it's also possible to incorporate a trip to Stonehenge, the UK's most famous site for solstice celebrations. Meet some of the UK's most beloved authors in an annual literary festival for the whole family. The origin of the word Yule, has several suggested origins from the Old English word, geõla, the Old Norse word jõl, a pagan festival celebrated at the winter solstice, or the Anglo-Saxon word for the festival of the Winter Solstice, 'Iul' meaning 'wheel'.