MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND
INNOVATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
BUKHARA ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGICAL
INSTITUTE
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT
TOPIC: Uzbek and British Holidays. Comparing and contrasting
Done by: Mutallimova Sanamgul
BUKHARA - 2023
Uzbek and British Holidays
New Year holidays is the time for the beautiful and kind fairy tale. The New Year
celebration consists with happiness, hope, love and comfort. This night is for
relatives' meetings to spend together in a cosy place. New Year Day is one of the
main holidays of the year. There are different traditions, festive events and of
course tasty food. Usually you can see a Christmas Tree at home. It's a fur tree
putting before Christmas time and decorating with balls, toys, lights, nuts, etc.
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I have chosen to compare the celebrations of New Year between Uzbekistan and
Great Britain. New Year is celebrated around the world, but differently, because
every country has its own traditions and the styles for celebrating holidays.
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English men and also women like to drink alcohol drinks very
much. If a English women drinks it is not shame for her. The
religion is also does not against to that event. In Uzbekistan
friends and relatives visit to each other. They congratulate on
the holiday and bring some presents to the children of that
house. They have dinner together. Sometimes they bring some
bread to host’s house. It is the tradition of Uzbek people. In UK
also people visit each other. They will bring a bottle of beer; it is
also the tradition of English people. Furthermore, they will bring
some coal to wish warmth to the family: they will bring some
bread to wish satiety to the family. The events are also the
traditions of English culture. In our country, people wait the
New Year at home, watching TV. When the clock strikes the
President of Uzbekistan congratulates on New Year. Everybody
is happy and wish good things. In UK people many people hold
parties at home or go out to pubs or night clubs. These parties
often continue into the early hours of the morning.
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Bonfire Night
One of the biggest occasions for fireworks in Britain is Guy Fawkes
Night held each year in November.
November 5 2023
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October 1
Teachers’ and Mentors’ Day in Uzbekistan was first celebrated during Soviet times, but it reflects the
ancient cultural value of respect for the wise and elderly. This special honor is also extended to
educators of every kind, be they schoolteachers, professors, mentors, religious advisors or others who
have equipped the next generation with knowledge and life skills.
The role of teacher in Uzbekistan is seen not so much as a profession but as a vocation. Many parents
have long put full trust in teachers to provide instruction and correction in the manner they deem best,
and it is not unusual for teachers to be invited to a family wedding or celebration and seated at a place
of special honor. Students will sometimes remain in touch with a favorite teacher long after they have
graduated and established families of their own.
Teachers’ and Mentors’ Day in Uzbekistan is the perfect opportunity for students, parents and the public
to express gratitude to those who have impacted lives through education. In the days preceding October
1st, which is a non-working holiday, special events are held in every school, from preschool all the way
up through university. Performances, matinees and concerts are organized by students and parents, and
the teachers are showered with gifts of flowers, cards and chocolates. Some graduates will even use the
day as a chance to reconnect with influential former instructors or professors in order to express thanks
for the impact which the teacher had on his or her life.
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March 21
The Navruz holiday in Uzbekistan is one of the most beloved, colorful and fun-filled celebrations in the
country. It is celebrated on March 21, the spring equinox when daylight and darkness are of equal
length. Its history can be traced back more than three thousand years to Khorasan Province in
northeastern Iran, from where it eventually spread to West and Central Asia.
Navruz (also spelled Nowruz) has its roots in the ancient cult of sun worship and Zoroastrianism, which
were once widespread in all of Persia and Central Asia. Navruz first received official status under the
Achaemenid Dynasty in the 4th-5th centuries BC, at which time it evolved from an agricultural ritual into
a Zoroastrian holiday. Navruz has long been regarded as the traditional New Year for Turkic and Iranian
peoples as well as for some Europeans, and the name “Navruz” itself translates from Farsi as New Day.
Today it is associated with the rebirth of nature, new life, joy and kindness.
Navruz is one of the most anticipated public holidays of the year. Celebrations can last for 2-3 days,
although most public events are held on March 21st. Lively folk festivals spill over into lavishly
decorated village streets, while at city fairs every variety of souvenir can be purchased. In rural areas,
traditional sports competitions attract enthusiastic audiences. Especially popular are equestrian
tournaments, horseback wrestling and the national game kupkari , in which two teams on horseback
battle over a goat carcass.
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March 8
International Women’s Day in Uzbekistan is the most anticipated holiday for many women in the
country. Its observance on the 8th of March coincides with the early signs of spring, a season long
associated with feminine beauty and charm.
The holiday has its origins in the early 20th-century struggles of Clara Zetkin and other feminists who
held protests in demand of increased wages and improved working conditions for women. What began
as a movement in New York City spread across the ocean to Europe, only to evolve in later decades into
an annual Soviet Union celebration of the female gender which today is largely dissociated from any
social or political activity.
Unlike Mother’s Day observed in numerous countries, International Women’s Day celebrates women
and girls of every age, be they wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, girlfriends, colleagues or classmates.
On International Women’s Day in Uzbekistan, females are congratulated by everyone around them and
are gifted with jewelry, perfume, flowers, sweets and gifts carefully selected by the men in their lives.
Banquets and luncheons are held and toasts, poems and songs recited in honor of the female gender,
while special performances filled with song and dance are held everywhere from public television and
plazas to universities and schools.
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December 8
Constitution Day in Uzbekistan is an important national holiday commemorating the adoption of the
country’s founding laws. The Constitution of Uzbekistan was approved on December 8, 1992, having
been preceded by 2.5 years of arduous work by the Constitutional Commission. When drafting the
constitution, professional expertise from the UN, OSCE and other international organizations was
implemented and the national situation taken into account. Uzbekistan’s constitution outlines the
fundamental concepts of democracy and includes amendments introduced as late as 2017.
Constitution Day in Uzbekistan is a public, non-working holiday. Central streets in every city and town
are decorated with the national flag and other patriotic décor. Concerts, exhibitions, sporting events and
special performances are held in Tashkent and, despite the winter chill, receive a good turnout nearly
every year.
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If John Adams were alive today, he would tell you July 2. Other Founders would say July 4, the day that
is currently recognized as a federal holiday by our national government. And still, other Founders would
say, “what Independence Day?” since the holiday wasn’t widely celebrated until many of the Founders
had passed away.
Here is the evidence, so you can decide which Independence Day is the real Independence Day!
Officially, the Continental Congress declared its freedom from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, when it
voted to approve a resolution submitted by delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, declaring “That
these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved
from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of
Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
John Adams thought July 2 would be marked as a national holiday for generations to come:
“[Independence Day] will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe
that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival… It ought to be
solemnized with Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations
from one End of this continent to the other from this Time forward forever more,” Adams wrote.
After voting on independence on July 2, the Continental Congress then needed to draft a document
explaining the move to the public. It had been proposed in draft form by the Committee of Five (John
Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson) and it took two
days for the Congress to agree on the edits.
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Once the Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence document on July 4, it ordered
that it be sent to a printer named John Dunlap. About 200 copies of the “Dunlap Broadside” version of
the document were printed, with John Hancock’s name printed at the bottom. Today, 26 copies remain.
That is why the Declaration has the words, “IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776,” at its top, because that is the
day the approved version was signed in Philadelphia.
On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon of Philadelphia read a printed Declaration of Independence to the
public for the first time on what is now called Independence Square.
(Most of the members of the Continental Congress signed a version of the Declaration on August 2,
1776, in Philadelphia. The names of the signers were released publicly in early 1777.)
The late historian Pauline Maier said in her 1997 book, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of
Independence, that no member of Congress recalled in early July 1777 that it had been almost a year
since they declared their freedom from the British. They finally remembered the event on July 3, 1777,
and July 4 became the day that seemed to make sense for celebrating independence.
Maier also said that arguments over the how to celebrate the Declaration arose between the Federalists
(of John Adams) and the Republicans (of Thomas Jefferson) and that the Declaration and its anniversary
day weren’t widely celebrated until the Federalists faded away from the political scene after 1812.
In an 1826 letter – the last he ever wrote -- Thomas Jefferson spoke of the importance of Independence
Day. “For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights,
and an undiminished devotion to them,” he said.
Jefferson and Adams both passed away two days later, on the Fourth of July.
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September 1
Independence Day in Uzbekistan is regarded as one of the most important public holidays in the
country.
On August 31, 1991, the Republic of Uzbekistan officially declared its independence from the USSR,
which by that time had already collapsed. This declaration was only the initial step in the formation of a
new country on the world map, however. Mixed feelings overwhelmed the country's population when
Uzbekistan gained independence, as a longing for the former country in which they were born and
raised competed with expectations for a new and brighter future.
The early years of independence were filled with hardships in every post-Soviet nation, and Uzbekistan
was no exception. The transition from a planned economy to a market economy, the severance of
economic ties with the powerful USSR and the sudden bankruptcy of once influential enterprises proved
a difficult test for the young republic. Fortunately, the country has overcome many of its initial trials and
continues to respond to the new challenges of our day. Independence Day was the first holiday to be
officially recognized after Uzbekistan’s independence in 1991, and it continues to be celebrated with
great exuberance each year. In each of Uzbekistan’s 12 regions, special activities reflective of local
culture and traditions are prepared for the public. Nowhere is Independence Day celebrated with
greater fanfare, however, than in capital city Tashkent.
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