HOLIDAYS AND TRADITIONS SECOND CUT
VOCABULARY Mardi Gras According to historians, Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years and is related to the boisterous pagan celebrations of spring and fertility in Rome. When the Christian era arrived during the Middle Ages, religious leaders decided to incorporate the popular local traditions of those pagan celebrations (by which we mean parades and large quantities of food and drink) and turn them into a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of fasting and sacrifice between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. The French later called the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday "Mardi Gras", or "Fat Tuesday". Bastille Day Bastille Day is France's National Day, known as the "National Day". It is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, when a French mob seized it and freed the prisoners. The day symbolizes the beginning of the French Revolution. Tsagaan Sar Tsagaan Sar is the Mongolian New Year holiday and falls between late January and early Ma...