English culture and
traditions
Kateřina Kusá
Outline
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English festivals
English food
Sports
Media
Traditional clothes and costumes
Transport
Religion
English festivals (1) - Christmas
The most important festival
of the year
 A carol service
 Houses are decorated
 Christmas tree
 Giving presents
 Father Christmas and
a long sock at the end of the bed
 Christmas Day – 25th December
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English festivals (2)
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Boxing Day – 26th December, a public holiday
New Year‘s Eve – celebrating of coming of the year at
midnight on 31st December
St. Valentine‘s Day – 14th February, sending cards,
flowers and chocolates to someone you love
Ash Wednesday – the day in February, the Christian
period of Lent begins
Pancake Tuesday – the day before Ash Wednesday,
people eats lots of pancakes
English festivals (3)
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Easter – Easter Sunday - chocolate eggs,
a new birth, Good Friday – hot cross-buns,
Easter Monday – a holiday
 April Fools Day – a day of fun and jokes
 St. George‘s Day – 23rd April is a national day in
England, St. George is a patron of England, people do
not celebrate it much
 May Day – 1st May, celebration of the end of the
winter, connected with dancing
 Ascension Day – a christian holiday, it is the 40th day
after Easter Sunday
English festivals (4)
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Pentecost (Whitsunday) – 10 days after Ascension Day, the
coming of holly spirit
Harvest festival - Thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for
a successful harvest, usually in September
Halloween – 31st October – holly evening, connected with
witches and ghosts, strange costumes, pumpkin latern
All Saints Day – 1st November
All Souls Day – 2nd November
Bonfire Night – 5th November, the anniversary of the
Gunpowder plot, huge fireworks, burning an effigy
English food (1)
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traditionally based on beef, lamb, pork, chicken and fish
generally served with potatoes and one other vegetable
no national food, but the most common and typical
foods include fish and chips, sandwiches, pies and
puddings
a selection of Indian, Italian, Chinese and Greek
restaurants
take-away meals
Fish and chips
English food (3)
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Three main meals a day : breakfast, lunch and dinner
(sometimes called supper)
Dinner is usually the main meal of the day
A typical English breakfast - a bowl of cereals, a slice
of toast, orange juice and a cup of coffee
A 'packed lunch‘ - this typically consists of a
sandwich, a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a
drink
A typical British meal for dinner is meat and usually
the vegetables (one of the vegetables is almost always
potatoes)
English food (3) – Christmas dinner
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the main Christmas meal
eaten at mid-day or early afternoon
roast turkey, Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes,
cranberry sauce, rich nutty stuffing, tiny sausages
wrapped in bacon and lashings of hot gravy
a rich, fruity pudding which you douse in
flaming brandy – said to ward off evil spirits.
Pictures of Christmas Dinner
Roast turkey
Roast potatoes
Brussel Sprouts and chestnuts
Parsnips and Swede
Stuffing
The Christmas pudding
English food (4) – Food at Easter
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On Good Friday - warm 'hot cross buns'
with their combination of spicy, sweet
Hot cross bun
and fruity flavours have long been an
Easter tradition, it is also traditional
to eat fish instead of meat
Simnel cake
Easter day - roast lamb is the traditional meat for the
main meal, served with mint sauce and vegetables, the
traditional puddings are custard tarts sprinkled with
currants and flat Easter biscuits, Simnel cake is baked
for tea, chicken has long been a modern favourite for
Easter Sunday dinner mainly due to the baby (spring)
chicken being associated with birth and new life
Sports
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An important part in the life of Englishmen
A popular leisure activity
Many of the world’s famous sports began
in England, including cricket, football,
lawn tennis and rugby
England’s national sport is cricket
To many people football (soccer) is seen
as their national sport
Rugby is similar to football but
played with an oval ball
The world’s famous tennis tournament
is Wimbledon
Horse racing, the sport of Kings,
is a very popular sport (The Grand National)
Polo is played by men on horses.
Table tennis (ping pong) was invented
in England in 1880
Fishing (angling) is also one of the most
popular sports in England
Media
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Three public bodies are responsible for television
and radio throughout England
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
The Independent Television Commission (ITC)
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The Radio Authority
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People in Britain watch TV on average 25 hours of every week
Television viewing is Britain's most popular leisure pastime
There are five main channels in Britain (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and
Channel 5)
The BBC has been providing regular television broadcasts since 1936
There are about 130 daily and Sunday newspapers
British newspapers include the following:
The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times,
The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, Western Mail
and Echo, The Sun, The Mirror, The Herald, Written by Rachel.
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Traditional costumes and clothes
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England has no national dress
Some people think men
in England wear suits and
bowler hat but it isn’t true
English customs and traditions
involve a variety of costumes –
Beefeaters (the nearest thing
to English national costume)
„Typical Englishman“
Beefeater
Transport
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Most people in England travel by car
Goods are transported by lorries
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The red double decker buses
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in London
In London, taxis are black
The name of London’s underground
system is “The Tube”
In England there are also Euro trains
There are 470 airports in England
Religion
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The main religion is Christianity
Most Christians belong to the Church of
England
there are also Roman Catholics, Hindu, Jewish
and Muslim communities
The Queen is head of Church of England.