Top 5 Events to Enjoy in the United Kingdom Every Year

The United Kingdom as any country holds numerous engaging festivals throughout the year. What makes the UK offer to stand out from the rest is their exciting travel landmarks and cities that nearly every foreigner wants to visit once in a lifetime. One great way to combine that wish with travel opportunities is to enjoy one or many events that are held in its party centers.

Not only that they will show to you the true festive side of UK folk but you will also have the fun of your life and just as you are about to leave, you will start planning the return for the next year. In today's article, we will cover five events that you absolutely have to see while traveling in the United Kingdom.\

1. Christmas Night Parties

They are the prime reason why tens of thousands of foreign partygoers spend their December nights partying in the UK. Christmas party nights are traditionally organized throughout the kingdom and each city tries to arrange them in a unique fashion. It is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed cultural holiday celebrated generally on 25th December by nearly a billion people around the world.

Christmas day in the UK is a special date that is celebrated as a family. The children open the good morning gifts that Santa Claus has left them during the night. Christmas food is very important and the dishes revolve around turkey and chicken. A very special tradition within the English culture is the Crackers, small cardboard tubes wrapped with wrapping paper.

You usually pull the sides of the cracker to discover messages or small details (chocolate, or a joke mustache) that in contained inside. Nevertheless, the cities are bustling with party energy and everywhere you go you will be greeted with gathering euphoria, nice food and drinks to commemorate another great year that is about to come in the circle of your friends and family.

2. Boxing Day

Just the after the Christmas night the Boxing day takes place. The funny thing about this event is that no one is really sure why is called this way and it certainly doesn't involve any boxing matches. All over the UK, friends, and families are reuniting after the Christmas Eve in an attempt to eat and drink everything that was leftover from the previous night.

Sometimes the Boxing day is far more festive than the Christmas Eve since many people start to party on that day after they spent quality time with their families. Pubs become crowded with party folk, football matches take place everywhere and everything is simply embodied with UK spirit.

There are many travelers who swear that coming for a Boxing Day to the UK and leaving it after New years eve is the best way to enjoy traveling and partying in the United Kingdom altogether.

3. New Year Eve

All of that history with international fame, colonial glory, and things unique only to their name, but still the New Years evening is the number one reason foreigners come to see the United Kingdom. Every year millions of curious travelers arrive in London to see with their eyes the party sensation that this city becomes.

That alone could be a good reason for a visit to the UK on the last day of the year since the streets of every place turn into party spot with engaging events. In the households, the New Year evening is usually celebrated in a festive and family way. UK tradition says that the first person to cross the threshold of the door will mark the fate of that home during the new year.

This tradition is known as the "First Step" and takes place at midnight on December 31. This person has to bring a piece of coal, a loaf of bread and a bottle of whiskey, which he gives to the head of the household. But, if you are coming just to have fun and enjoy the festive energy then that is ok too. All you have to bring is a cheerful spirit and everything else will be less important when the party starts to roll.

4. Saint Patrick's Day

Many do not know that St. Patrick's Day has a religious origin and they don't even know how the patron saint of Ireland became a representative of the country beyond religion. Some 500 million people celebrate St. Patrick's Day every year, not only in Ireland but throughout the world. And if I tell you that it is estimated that St. Patrick's Day in Ireland will sell more than 10 million bottles of beer you will probably get the good idea what this festival looks like.

This event is celebrated by the Irish and the Irish at heart in big cities and small towns alike with parades, music, food, Irish drinks, and activities for children in almost all places of United Kingdom. The parade - a colorful array of floats, bands, and groups that represent the country of Ireland, will pass through central London from Green Park to Trafalgar Square starting at noon every 17th of March. Then, Trafalgar Square will host the program of the Irish music festival and dance in the main execution phase, showing the best of Irish music and traditional dance to the contemporary.

A traditional icon of the day is the clover. And this is derived from a more bona fide Irish story that tells how St. Patrick, the Holy Irish, used the three-leaf clover to explain the Trinity. Everything becomes embodied in a jolly good spirit just like the Leprechaun that we all imagine and as you arrive you will find out why it is said that no one can party as Irish folk can.

5. The Carnival of Notting Hill

The Carnival of Notting Hill has grown since the middle of the last century from a traditional celebration of Afro-Caribbean communities (especially from Trinidad and Tobago) to become the largest street carnival in Europe!

From its beginnings in salons to its conquest of the streets, the evolution of this celebration has been marked by music, color, parades, and masks. The celebration takes place during the three bank holiday days of the month of August. It is spread throughout the London borough of Notting Hill, the same area in which the popular Portobello market is located.  

Notting Hill is located within the township of Kensington and Chelsea, northwest of Kensington Gardens. It has attracted around one million people in recent years. That means that sometimes there are some isolated conflicts so it is not recommended to attend with minors. There is a practice that is not so frequent but that goes back to the 19th century: paint your face white or use masks of that color.

Those masks were in the Caribbean a symbol of the abolition of slavery and equality among different peoples. Which makes the event not only a combination of music, dance, and food but a good occasion to celebrate freedom.