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 Every country has got its own public (national) and religious holidays. In our country there ten public holidays that are observed nationwide and are official days off.

I love all kinds of holidays but most of all I admire the national traditions connected with them. My best loved holidays are the New Year with a New Year tree, Christmas with plenty of delicious food to eat and Easter with red eggs and an Easter pie.

The preparation for these holidays starts long before they come. Thus about a fortnight before the New Year streets are decorated with colourful lights, the shop windows display a wide choice of New Year toys and Christmas gifts. It should be pointed out that unlike Catholic Christmas, Orthodox Christmas comes a week after the New Year and this week in Belarus is called Kalyady. During the Christmas week street rivals of all kinds take place.

We are not a religious family and we don't regularly go to chirch, but we respect national traditions and my grandmother always dyes eggs red and makes Christmas cakes Easter pies.

On public holidays like the Independence Day or May Day people stay away from work or school find have a rest. There are two very special holidays in the country: the Eighth of March and the Ninth of May. On the Eighth of March women are traditionally presented with flowers and gifts and words of love and respect are addressed to them.

 The Ninth of May is both a happy and a sad day. On this day we celebrate our victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War and at the same time pay tribute to those who gave up their lives for the liberation of our motherland. Deep respect and warm gratitude are shown to war veterans. The day is made special by a military parade in the morning and grand fireworks at night.

Remembrance     Day    is     a    great     holiday    for Belarusians. It is called "Dziady". This holiday is dedicated. to the memory of those who died or perished. It is official celebrated on the first Saturday in November. On this day people   remember   their   dead   parents, grandparents, and relatives . To express their honour to the dead, the Belarussians  lay the table with food on this day. They do their best to show the warmest welcome to the souls1 of grandfathers and ancestors. It is believed that on Remembrance Day the souls return to the houses they used to live in. 

There is one holiday which is celebrated in summer. It is  Kupala   holiday, which   occurs   on   the   day   of solstice. It is one of the most poetic holidays in Belarus. Young   men   and   women   get   together  in clearings, make crowns out of flowers and leap over campfires.

 Some of them wear Belarusian costumes - white linen shirts or white  dresses.   On  the  shortest  summer  night they go to the woods where they try to find a blooming fern as the tradition says

Most of the  folk holidays in Belarus are associated with farm work. "One, called Dozhinkv literally means picking up the last remaining wheat ears in the field. It signals the end of the  harvesting  in  autumn.   This   holiday  is  five hundred years old. During the holiday people make a show of their work and art:   potters   make   pots   and   jugs,musicians play the svirel-the ancient wood pipe.