Customs and traditions

Study this page like a calendar.

Learn it in this order

• Christian festivals
• Other religious festivals
• National traditions
• Bank holidays

The idea

Study this page like a calendar.

Attach each event to a date, month or season. Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day and Boxing Day are especially date-shaped facts.

Test facts to know

• Christmas Day is 25 December and Boxing Day is the day after Christmas.
• Easter includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday; Lent lasts 40 days before Easter.
• Shrove Tuesday is also called Pancake Day and comes before Lent.
• Diwali is a Hindu and Sikh festival often called the Festival of Lights.
• Hannukah is a Jewish festival lasting eight days.
• Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan.
• Eid ul Adha remembers Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son.
• Vaisakhi is a Sikh festival on 14 April linked with the Khalsa.
• Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year’s Eve.
• Halloween is 31 October and Bonfire Night is 5 November.
• Bonfire Night is linked with Guy Fawkes and the failed 1605 plot against Parliament and the king.
• Remembrance Day is 11 November and includes poppies, two minutes’ silence and ceremonies for war dead.
• Bank holidays are public holidays; Northern Ireland also has a July holiday for the Battle of the Boyne.

How questions may test it

• Match major festivals to dates and religious groups.
• Distinguish Christmas, Easter and Lent terms.
• Link Bonfire Night to Guy Fawkes and 1605.
• Link Remembrance Day to 11 November, poppies and the First World War armistice.
• Recognise what a bank holiday is.

Key terms

Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Easter, Good Friday, Lent, Shrove Tuesday, Diwali, Hannukah, Eid al-Fitr, Eid ul Adha, Vaisakhi, Hogmanay, Halloween, Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes, Remembrance Day, Cenotaph, bank holiday, Battle of the Boyne.