Calendar of Special Days and Festivals 2008

December 2008
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 World Aids Day, UK & worldwideWorld Aids Day has been created to educate people about Aids. Winter Wonderland, LondonA Big Wheel and other rides, an ice rink and a Christmas market are put up in London's Hyde Park	2	3 State Opening of Parliament, LondonThe Queen travels from Buckingham Palace to Westminster to open a new year's programme for Parliament.	4 Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree, LondonEach year since 1947, a Christmas tree has been given to the people of London from the people of Norway in gratitude for Britain's support for Norway during World War II. From Monday 8 December to Friday 19 December 2008 Trafalgar Square plays host togroups performing Christmas carols in the square, by the traditional Norwegian Christmas Tree.	5 Clothes Show Live, BirminghamFri 5 Dec - Wed 10 Dec 2008 Clothes Show Live is a popular fashion event held at Birmingham's NEC.	6 Great Christmas Pudding Race, LondonTeams dressed in fancy clothes race around an obstacle course in Covent Garden. Hajj or holy pilgrimageStart of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims should complete at least once in their lifetime. It is one of the 5 pillars of Islam.	7
8 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 Bodhi DaySome Buddhists (eg Pure Land followers) celebrate Gautama’s attainment of Enlightenment on this day under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, North India. Feast of Immaculate ConceptionCelebrates the (mainly Roman Catholic) doctrine that Mary herself was born free from the Original Sin, leaving her sinless for the conception and bearing of Jesus.	9 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 Eid-al-Adha (Id al-Adha) / The Festival of SacrificeThe festival marks the end of the Hajj (holy pilgrimage to Mecca).	10 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008	11 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 Royal Variety Performance, LondonSince 1912 there has been an annual variety show performance attended by the king or queen, with the money raised going to a fund to help retired entertainers in need	12 Frost Fair-themed lantern parade12th December 2008 at 4:30pm The lantern parade will have three strands starting at Bernie Spain Gardens, St Paul’s Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral and ending outside the Tate Modern, where a Frost Fair lantern scene will be assembled and remains on display for the whole festival. Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 ... Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	13 Traditional Thames CuttersAt 11am on Saturday 13th December there will be celebratory procession of Traditional Thames Cutters carrying Frost Fair flags on the River Thames between Southwark and Blackfriars Bridges. The Livery men will disembark at Bankside Pier and parade in full uniform. Visitors should watch the boats from the best vantage point on the Millennium Bridge. Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	14 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair
15 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	16 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 International Showjumping, LondonTue 16 Dec - Mon 22 Dec 2008 A top showjumping event at Olympia, Hammersmith Road (horses jumping over fences, inside a hall). ... Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	17 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 International Showjumping, LondonTue 16 Dec - Mon 22 Dec 2008 A top showjumping event at Olympia, Hammersmith Road (horses jumping over fences, inside a hall). ... Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	18 Christmas last posting day: second class letters, UK Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 International Showjumping, LondonTue 16 Dec - Mon 22 Dec 2008 ...A top showjumping event at Olympia, Hammersmith Road (horses jumping over fences, inside a hall). Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	19 Carol singing in Trafalgar Square, LondonGroups of carol singers will perform each evening (at various times between 5-9pm) next to the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, raising money for charity. Mon 8 Dec - Fri 19 Dec 2008 International Showjumping, LondonTue 16 Dec - Mon 22 Dec 2008 A top showjumping event at Olympia, Hammersmith Road (horses jumping over fences, inside a hall). ... Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	20 Christmas last posting day: first class letters, UK International Showjumping, LondonTue 16 Dec - Mon 22 Dec 2008 A top showjumping event at Olympia, Hammersmith Road (horses jumping over fences, inside a hall). Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair	21 Menorah lighting ceremony, LondonJoin members of the capital’s Jewish community to celebrate Chanukah on Sunday 21 December, at a Menorah lighting ceremony in Trafalgar Square. Shortest day of the year (Winter solstice), UKThe shortest day has been important since early times: many standing stones and stone circle are aligned with the sun on either this day or the summer solstice (the longest day of the year). International Showjumping, LondonTue 16 Dec - Mon 22 Dec 2008 ...A top showjumping event at Olympia, Hammersmith Road (horses jumping over fences, inside a hall). Bankside Winter FestivalThe Bankside Winter Festival 2008 will be open for ten days from 10am on Friday 12th to 6pm on Sunday 21st December 2008 along the Bankside riverwalk outside the iconic Tate Modern. commemorative Thames Cutters Frost Fair Yule (Pagan)Yule is the time of the winter solstice, when the sun child is reborn, an image of the return of all new life born through the love of the Gods.
22 International Showjumping, LondonTue 16 Dec - Mon 22 Dec 2008 A top showjumping event at Olympia, Hammersmith Road (horses jumping over fences, inside a hall).	23	24 Christmas EveChristmas Eve is not a public holiday in the UK, but many people will not work a full day because they need to travel to their families. Public transport services may finish earlier than usual. A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, CambridgeAt 3pm at King's College Chapel in Cambridge is a traditional carol service called "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols": the carols are sung by the famous King's College choir.	25 Christmas DayThis is a public holiday in the UK. Christmas Day is when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, so many people go to local church services. Most people spend the day together with their families: they talk, exchange presents, eat and drink, and watch television.	26 Boxing Day (bank holiday), UKA public holiday in the UK. Some shops start their post-Christmas sales now	27	28
29 Torchlight procession, EdinburghA traditional part of the early Hogmanay (New Year's) celebrations in Edinburgh is a procession leaving Parliament Square. People carry torches and are accompanied by bagpipes and drums. The procession ends at Calton Hill, where a Viking long-ship is burnt and there is a firework display.	30	31 New Year's EveMany people in the UK stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve so that they can celebrate the start of the New Year. As midnight approaches, British people traditionally watch Big Ben (the bell in the Houses of Parliament), and celebrate after it strikesfor the 12th time: this is shown on television.