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Welsh Seasonal Festivals
Various traditions are practiced on certain days of the year in Wales both currently and historically, including festivities originating in Welsh, Celtic, English and Christian cultures. History As recorded in the Laws of Hywel Dda, the three main holidays (''gwyliau'') of the medieval Welsh kingdoms were Christmas (''Nadolig''), Easter (''Pasg''), and Whitsuntide (''Sulgwyn''). Other important holidays were the feasts of St Patrick (''Gwyl Badric'') on 17 March; St. Quiricus (''Gwyl Giric'') on 16 June; the Beheading of John the Baptist (called in Welsh ''Gwyl Ieuan y Moch'' St. John of the Swine as it was the day the pigs were turned out into the woods to forage through the winter) on 29 August; St Michael (''Gwyl Fihangel'') on 29 September; and the Calends of Winter (''Calan Gaeaf'') on 1 November, All Saints' Day (''yr Holl Saint''). A special drink called the "liquor of the Apostles" (''gwirawd yr ebestyl'') was brewed for and distributed on these saints' days. Modern ce ...
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Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2021 of 3,107,500 and has a total area of . Wales has over of coastline and is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (), its highest summit. The country lies within the Temperateness, north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. The capital and largest city is Cardiff. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was formed as a Kingdom of Wales, kingdom under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. Wales is regarded as one of the Celtic nations. The Conquest of Wales by Edward I, conquest of Wales by Edward I of England was completed by 1283, th ...
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Nos Galan Road Race
Nos Galan ( cy, Rasys Nos Galan) is an annual five-kilometre (3.1 mi) road running event, held on New Year's Eve in Mountain Ash, in the Cynon Valley of South Wales. History Nos Galan celebrates the life and achievements of Welsh runner Guto Nyth Brân. Founded in 1958 by local runner Bernard Baldwin, it is run over the route of Bran's first competitive race. At its height covered by the BBC nationally as part of its New Year's Eve celebrations, the races were halted in 1973 due to concerns expressed by the Glamorgan Police regarding the undue delay to traffic. Nos Galan was resurrected in 1984, when a reduced field of 14 runners ran a race. The race also broke with tradition, with three mystery runners, representing the present, past and future of athletics, carried the Nos Galan Torch. Nos Galan still attracts runners from all over Great Britain. The 2009 race attracted over 800 runners, and 10,000 people into Mountain Ash for the associated entertainment. A virtual race ...
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Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice, as well as eating pancakes and other sweets. Shrove Tuesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and Roman Catholics, who "make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God's help in dealing with." This moveable feast is determined by Easter. The expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word ''shrive'', meaning "absolve". As this is the last day of the Christian liturgical season historically known as Shrovetide, before the penitential season of Lent, related popular practices, such as indulging in food that one might give up as their Lenten sacrifice for the u ...
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Hot Cross Bun
A hot cross bun is a spiced sweet bun usually made with fruit, marked with a cross on the top, and has been traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, India, Pakistan and the United States. They are available all year round in some places, including the UK. The bun marks the end of the Christian season of Lent and different parts of the hot cross bun have a certain meaning, including the cross representing the crucifixion of Jesus, and the spices inside signifying the spices used to embalm him at his burial and may also include orange peel to reflect the bitterness of his time on the Cross. History The Greeks in 6th century AD may have marked cakes with a cross. One theory is that the contemporary hot cross bun originates from St Albans, in England, where, in 1361, Brother Thomas Rodcliffe, a 14th-century monk at St Albans Abbey, developed a similar recipe called an 'Alban Bun' and distributed the bun to ...
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Easter Sunday
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Volume 2'') as well as the single word "Easter" in books printed i157515841586 also called Pascha (Aramaic, Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary . It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the week before Easter as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the b ...
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Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held by convention under common law. The term "bank holiday" refers to the fact that banking institutions typically close for business on such holidays, as they once used to do on certain Saint's days. List of current holidays Notes See also * List of holidays by country * Bank Holidays Act 1871 * Proposed St David's Day bank holiday Saint David's Day is currently not a bank holiday in Wales. Some Welsh politicians have proposed that St David's Day, a celebration of Welsh identity, observed on 1 March, be designated as a public holiday. Polls show the proposal to have majori ... References External links UK bank holidaysScotland Bank Holidays - Scottish Government* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Holiday British culture Irish cul ...
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Proposed St David's Day Bank Holiday
Saint David's Day is currently not a bank holiday in Wales. Some Welsh politicians have proposed that St David's Day, a celebration of Welsh identity, observed on 1 March, be designated as a public holiday. Polls show the proposal to have majority support in Wales. The UK Government holds the power to designate public holidays in Wales, and has refused proposals for either designating the day or devolving powers to the Welsh Government, which supports the proposal. The UK Government stated that designating the day would not be feasible due to the large numbers of commuters crossing the England–Wales border, as well as the economic impact of the proposal. In response to the UK Government's refusal, some public bodies in Wales have unofficially designated the day to be a holiday for their staff. Wales and England have eight public holidays, Scotland has nine, Northern Ireland has ten, whereas the average in Europe is twelve annual holidays. Background Saint David's Day is t ...
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St David
Saint David ( cy, Dewi Sant; la, Davidus; ) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. His birth date, however, is uncertain: suggestions range from 462 to 512. He is traditionally believed to be the son of Saint Non and the grandson of Ceredig ap Cunedda, king of Ceredigion. The Welsh annals placed his death 569 years after the birth of Christ, but Phillimore's dating revised this to 601. Hagiography Many of the traditional tales about David are found in the ''Buchedd Dewi'' ("Life of David"), a hagiography written by Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century. Rhygyfarch claimed it was based on documents found in the cathedral archives. Modern historians are sceptical of some of its claims: one of Rhygyfarch's aims was to establish some independence for the Welsh church, which had refused the Roman rite until th ...
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Patron Saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person. In Christianity Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active. However, there were cases in Medieval Europe where a city which grew to prominence and obtained for its cathedral the remains or some relics of a famous saint who had lived and was buried elsewhere, thus making them the city's patron saint – such a practice conferred considerable prestige on the city concerned. In Latin America and the Philippines, Spanish and Portuguese explorers often named a location for the saint on whose feast or commemoration day they first visited the place, with that saint naturally becoming the area's patron. Occupations sometimes have a patron saint who had been connected somewhat with it, although some of ...
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Dwynwen
Saint Dwynwen (;  5th century), sometimes known as Dwyn or Donwen, is the Welsh patron saint of lovers. She is celebrated throughout Wales on 25 January. History and legend The original tale has become mixed with elements of folktales and Celtic stories, and so there are a number of variations on the tale. Dwynwen is believed to have been a daughter of King Brychan Brycheiniog, who lived in the 5th century, making her the half-sister of Saint Ninnoc. Her mother may have been Rigrawst. Dwynwen lived in Anglesey. In the tale told of her, either a young man named Maelon Dafodrill falls in love with her, but she rejects his advances; or she is unable to marry him because her father forbade the marriage and had already promised her to someone else. Distraught over her love for Maelon, Dwynwen prayed she would fall out of love with him. An angel provides her with a potion; Maelon turns to ice. God then grants her three requests: that Maelon be released; that, through her, ...
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Old New Year
The Old New Year or the Orthodox New Year is an informal traditional holiday, celebrated as the start of the New Year by the Julian calendar. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the Old New Year falls on January 14 in the Gregorian calendar. This traditional dating of the New Year is sometimes commonly called "Orthodox" because it harks back to a time when governments in Russia and Eastern Europe used the Julian calendar, which is still used by some jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church's liturgical year actually begins in September. In Russia Although the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic officially adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918, the Russian Orthodox Church continued to use the Julian calendar. The New Year became a holiday that is celebrated by both calendars. As in most countries which use the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day in Russia is a public holiday celebrated on January 1. On that day, joyous entertainment, firewor ...
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