Mother's, father's and grandparents' days

There are special days to honour Mothers (March), Fathers (June) and Grandparents (24 September). On these days children and grandchildren express their love and respect for their mothers, fathers and grandparents. Children and adults send them greeting cards, spend the day doing good jobs in the house and honour them with small gifts and flowers.

April fools' day

April Fools' Day (1 April) is by tradition the day on which practical jokes are played. It is a very old custom and people have kept it for hundreds of years in many parts of the world. Those who believe something that is untrue are called 'April Fools'. Children play tricks on each other. At school pupils try to pin notices on one another's back with the words like 'Kick me!' or 'I'm a fool'. Those who fall into a trap are greeted with laughter and shouts like 'April Fool! April Fool! Send your Mother back to school!' On that day of national humour even TV and newspapers join in the fun.

Halloween

Halloween, observed on 31 October, means Holy Evening and is associated with the supernatural. It was believed that on this night the spirits of dead people rise from their graves. Witches and ghosts were also free to wander on that night. This is really a young peo­ple's holiday. They hold fancy-dress parties and dress up as witches and ghosts, cut horrible faces in pumpkins and put a candle inside (Jack-of-lanterns). Children, dressed in white sheets, knock on doors and ask, Trick or treat?' If you give them something nice (a treat), they go away. If you don't, they play a trick on you, making a lot of noise or spilling flour on your doorstep.

Origins of halloween

Halloween, October 31 is the witchiest night of the year. It is the eve of the Festival of All Hallows, better known as All Saints, but it also coincides with a much older pagan festival - Samhain - which was celebrated by the Druids in honour of the Celtic New Year. And because Samhain marked the end of summer sunshine and the beginning of winter's darkness, it was supposed to herald the arrival of hordes of witches, ghosts and demons. Added to this, the ancient Romans held their Festival of Pomona at about this time of year, Pomona being the goddess of fruit-trees and apples; hence the predominance of apples at Halloween party games. All these ceremonies were grafted one upon the other over the centuries to become our, modern Halloween.

In Britain Halloween celebrations have, until recently, been confined largely to the younger generation.

A traditional feature of the children's Halloween party is «love magic». In modern Aberdeen young girls stand in turn a looking glass at the stroke of midnight and each brushes her hair three times. A face is then supposed to materialize in the mirror - that of the boy whom fate has decreed she will one day marry. Now it is not only children but adults who hold witchy dances and ghost parties, and listen to spine-chilling tales of the ghosts, goblins and witches of Halloween.