Voordat jullie aan de slag gaan, beantwoord deze vragen :
1. Do you celebrate any festivals in February?
2. Do people in your country do anything special for Lent, the period before Easter?
Lees nu de tekst :
TEKST 1
Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday,
and Lent
Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day in the UK) is the
traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash
Wednesday. Lent, the 40 days before Easter, was a time
of fasting for most people in the past. Shrove Tuesday
was the last opportunity to have a good meal before
Lent and eat up all the food which you couldn't eat
during Lent (mostly food from animals, e.g. meat, eggs,
and milk). One way to use up eggs and milk is to mix
them with flour and cook them in butter. And that's
how the tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday
began. (Pancakes were also seen as a symbol of the
returning sun: round, gold, and warm.)
Ash Wednesday is the day after Shrove Tuesday. It's
called Ash Wednesday because ash, (what is left after a
fire) symbolises the death of an old life. It's the first day
of Lent, when traditionally people reflect on their old
lives and think about living a better life.
Lent is a time to give up life's luxuries. Even today,
people who aren't religious give up something for Lent,
such as chocolate, sweets, cigarettes, or alcohol.
Nowadays, families in the UK still eat pancakes on
Shrove Tuesday. They eat them with lemon juice and
sugar. People also take part in pancake races. They try to
run with a pancake in a frying pan. They have to toss the
pancake at least three times as they run.
TEKST 2
Mardi Gras in New Orleans
The city of New Orleans in the US is famous around the
world for its lively Mardi Gras celebrations. The feast of
the Epiphany on 6th January marks the beginning of
Carnival season: a period of parties, parades, and other
festivities. This continues until midnight on Shrove
Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras), when Lent begins.
During Carnival there are over 100 balls, organised by
the city's social clubs called 'krewes! People dress in
elaborate costumes for these special parties. There is
dinner and dancing, and the Carnival Kings and Queens
are presented.
However, the most famous part of the New Orleans
Mardi Gras celebrations by far is the colourful, exciting
parades through the city streets. Each year, over a
million spectators show up to enjoy the music and
entertainment. People dressed in wonderful costumes
dance along the route of the parade or ride on beautiful
floats. The people on the floats have to wear a mask by
law and they give out 'throws' to the crowds watching.
The things they throw include strings of coloured beads,
decorated cups, doubloons (metal or wooden coins),
toys, and sweet foods. The floats themselves can cost
hundreds of thousands of dollars and may take more
than a month to build and decorate. The biggest float is
over 100 metres long!
People traditionally eat 'King Cakes' during Mardi Gras,
and bakeries in New Orleans sell more than 500,000 each
year. These decorative pastries contain a small plastic
figure of a baby, and the person who finds it in their slice
has to buy the cake the following year.
Naturally, the festival is very popular with tourists. 95% of
the hotels in New Orleans are booked out over Mardi Gras
weekend, when the city's population more than doubles.