Summer Bank Holiday
Summer Bank Holiday
The United Kingdom celebrates Summer Bank Holiday on the last Monday in August, officially closing the season and preparing for new duties in the autumn. Scotland stands out and continually celebrates on the first Monday in August. Either way, the holiday became a symbol for the transition of seasons. For many workers, it means the last long summer weekend before the colder weather comes. Families and groups of friends take the last opportunity for summer vacation and organize trips, both inside and outside the country. Some people choose to spend their holiday watching famous parades or playing cricket.
Summer Bank Holiday was established thanks to the idea of Sir John Lubbock, who desired to regulate the details concerning paid days free from work. This particular holiday came to existence because bank workers expected to have time for playing the ever so graceful British game of cricket. The date was engraved on the national calendar in the 1871 Bank Holidays Act, and moved from the first Monday of August to the last after a five-year trial a century later (though Scotland did not adopt this change). At the beginning of the trial, in 1965, a new tradition was born in London; it was initiated as a protest of the Caribbean immigrants, who demanded better treatment from whites in those turbulent times. Later on, the demonstrations have developed into the Notting Hill Carnival, which today is the biggest parade in Europe, and the second most popular such event in the world.
Summer Bank Holiday’s most prominent celebration takes place in London, in the district of Notting Hill, which has held its annual Carnival for more than fifty years. Since the parade promotes cultural diversity, district’s Portobello Road fills with a variety of performers representing the world’s artistic and other traditions, dazzling the public with colorful costumes. The organizers honor Caribbean culture, but make sure to entertain the spectators with modern games and contests. In Edinburgh, on the other hand, the entire month is a series of events, which collectively form the August Festival; the most popular is the Edinburgh International Festival, with its roots stretching back to 1947. It is also the event to promote cultural diversity, for it focuses on dance, theatre, music, and visual art from around the globe. Apart from these two most successful happenings, there are many more celebrations of Summer Bank Holiday throughout the United Kingdom.
The majority of public institutions, private businesses and schools that choose to close on that day, grant their employees a paid day off. If a shop needs to be open, its workers are only obliged to a six-hour day, which is the Sunday timetable. Therefore, most British people are free to do what they want on that Monday, especially since the holiday has no central motif. Summer Bank Holiday yearly proves to be an occasion that follows no special tradition, apart from uniting with the Other and embracing the differences.