Christmas in Britain, and most particularly in England, is the biggest party season of the year.
Christmas Day itself, the start of the great holiday period, is the one day in the year on which the
head of state - the Queen - speaks to the nation. Christmas Day is the high point of a festive
period that lasts at least two days, but depending on the calendar, can become a holiday period
of up to nine days, and one which people have been getting ready for up to two months.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The essential Christmas holiday in England can be up to four days off in a row. Not only is
Christmas Day, December 25th, a public holiday, but so is the day after Christmas, December
26th, known as Boxing Day. In addition, according to a now-established tradition, if one or both
of these holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday, Britons enjoy one or two extra days of public
holidays on the Monday and possibly on the Tuesday that follow. In 2022, December 25th being
a Sunday, most activity in Britain except shopping will close down from some time on Saturday
December 24th to Tuesday 27th inclusive. Some firms let their employees off as from the
evening of December 23rd, and until the morning of January 2nd. As for public transport,
services are considerably reduced during the two days of 25 and 26 December.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The English Christmas is still defined in terms of great traditions that date back to the nineteenth
century or before. These include Christmas cards, Christmas Carols, decorations and the
Christmas tree, gifts and Christmas dinner – which is often really Christmas lunch.
-------------------------------------------------
A traditional English Christmas-day menu

  Lunch or dinner:
   Starters: optional, and depending on the cook's preference.
   Main course:  Roast turkey, filled with a sage and onion stuffing, and served with bread sauce, gravy,
roast potatoes, brussel sprouts and possibly a second vegetable.
   Dessert : Christmas pudding, served with brandy-butter or custard
  The meal is accompanied by red wine, cider or beer, according to taste.

Christmas tea:
   Christmas tea is a snack taken around 5 pm by those who have not already eaten too much at lunch
time. Tea is served with the traditional Christmas cake (a fruit cake covered in icing), or with mince
pies (small pies filled with preserved fruit).

----------------------
Carol-singing, groups of young or not so young stand in the street, or go from door to door,
singing carols and collecting for a charity. There are also carol-singers in many major shopping
streets and malls in the days before Christmas. Away from the street, almost all churches
organize some form of Carol Service, which attracts many more than just regular worshipers.

---------------------------------------

Christmas would not be Christmas without the presence in the house of a tree (real or
artificial). Every city, every village, every neighborhood, every pub, every department store, and
many small shops, too, has its beautifully decorated tree. In London, the huge Christmas tree in
Trafalgar Square is given each year to the city by Norway, in a tradition that began in 1947.
People also prepare gifts and Christmas cards for each other under the Christmas tree.