PANCAKE DAY

Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, will be celebrated on February 9^th in 2016. The date for this event changes every year, as it is determined by when Easter falls, but it is always celebrated at some point in February and March.

Pancake Day takes place the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent, forty seven days before Easter) and pancakes were traditionally made so that families could use up eggs, milk and other fatty products at home before the onset of Lent. This festivity has been celebrated for centuries by Britons and is now a popular celebration in other parts of the world.

In other parts of the world Pancake Day is known by other names. For example, in Germany it is called “Fasnacht” (the night of the fast) or in other countries with French influences it is called “Mardi Gras” (fat Tuesday). In Belgium, the “Mardi Gras” celebration is one of the most famous in Europe and has been declared a World Heritage event by UNESCO. In Spain this day is referred to as “Martes de Carnaval” (Carnival Tuesday) and marks the end of the carnival celebrations. Pancakes are also popular at this time of year in Ukraine and Russia.

In the UK, apart from making and eating pancakes, there are also events like pancake races where contestants have to run and flip pancakes as they go. The most famous of these races is held in a town in Buckinghamshire and has been celebrated since 1445. Many towns also hold traditional Shrove Tuesday football matches.

(Source: Oxford Magazine)