Christmas, Easter, birthdays, St. Valentine's Day. I think customs and festivals are an opportunity to have a nice time with your family or friends. It is also a way of saying "I like you" by remembering about someone's birthday.

Changes? No. I don't think so. Maybe presents have become more expensive and there is much more food on the table at Christmas. Generally speaking, I don't think that our culture has changed very much.

I think that sometimes it is nice to pick something up from other countries. St. Valentine's Day for example. It is a very good festival and it is good that it has been adopted in Poland.

Christmas and Easter

In my family circle, traditionally, without any pomp, at home. I like privacy and the peace and quiet during holidays. We eat traditional dishes prescribed by the canon of Christian religion and folk tradition. However, it’s not what it used to be when I was a child. Tradition is changing and it’s becoming more modern.

Yes. But these holidays are adopted by young people much more readily and quickly than by older generations. A large part is also played by the media in propagating them. Business and commerce benefit from it and these two "forces" shape the new tradition.

I’m not really bothered. Society develops in certain directions whether we like it or not. People themselves will choose things which they find suitable, attractive or proper. No norms or regulations are needed. They wouldn’t change anything, anyway.

Religious holidays are becoming less and less religious and increasingly more secular. Today’s religious holidays are more an opportunity to be together with your family over a certain period of time than a religious festival. By becoming ‘more European’, Polish society is becoming less religious. Religious practices and traditions are losing their religious aspect and becoming secularised.

Changes are usually connected with American culture, which is very popular among teenagers because it is "cool".

I think that adopting customs and holidays from other countries is good but we shouldn't adopt all the festivals, only some. We have to preserve our own cultural identity.

‘I prefer the Polish festival of All Saints’ Day to the British festival of Halloween, because All Saints’ Day is more about the Family.’

Well, I like Xmas, because I get to go back to Britain and see my family and friends, and my hometown. I like all the Xmas traditions, even the silly ones like pulling crackers and wearing paper hats. Of course, the Xmas meal is important on Xmas Day, with the turkey and Xmas pudding, oh, and the booze. And there has to be a Xmas tree with a star on top and presents underneath.

No. It’s more about family and tradition for me. I work abroad, so going home and getting involved in the traditions is particularly important, to help me remember who I am and where I come from. All these things define who I am.

Well, Easter is not at all important to me. It’s too religious and doesn’t really have much to do with the family. And there aren’t many customs. I mean, I had chocolate eggs as a kid, but I don’t anymore, so that’s it. The idea of the Church as the centre of the community doesn’t really exist anymore in Britain, and religion is more of a personal thing now. That’s why the religious stuff in festivals is not really celebrated as much as the more fun and material, family customs (such as sharing a meal together and giving presents). No, one of my favourites is Bonfire Night, November 5^th. I love the hot dogs, the fireworks and the bonfire itself. My parents have always been involved in organising our village’s firework display, so it’s quite exciting.

No. That was all religious propaganda anyway. I can’t even remember that rhyme about Guy Fawkes’ Night . . . ‘Remember, remember 5^th November’ . . . or something like that. Ironic, eh? No, the festival is about having fun and getting together with family and friends.

I don’t like that really. It’s become too Americanised. Trick or treating isn’t a British custom. It’s just some sort of cultural invasion. It’s got nothing to do with me or the people I know. I prefer the Polish festival of All Saints’ Day to the British festival of Halloween, because All Saints’ Day is more about the Family.

Yes, that’s important to me. I always send a Valentine’s card although I don’t always receive one [laughs]. I like the flowers and all that, but maybe Valentine’s Day is too commercial now. I think it’s a shame, because the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day detracts from its more traditional aspect.

Yes, I think they’re changing, but they’re not disappearing. In some ways, commercialisation is making certain festivals more important. For example, when I was a kid, Father’s Day wasn’t important, but now both Mother’s and Father’s Day are big. Another change is that because the Church is relatively unimportant in British life, the original religious message of festivals is being lost.

Yes, the pagan customs are just more fun I guess, but they also involve the family or community much more. That’s important to me, because I’m worried that, increasingly, the family is becoming less important in Britain (I read in the paper the other day that the divorce rate is now 64%). That scares me, because otherwise all there is is money.

Xmas is the most important, I think, because it’s about family and religion: family most of all; about 60% family and 40% religion. I don’t celebrate Xmas in any way that’s particularly British. In fact, the Polish Xmas customs are more important in my house. My mother’s Polish, you see, and our Xmas is quite Polish although we live in London. So, we celebrate Wigilia, go to midnight mass and see friends. We celebrate Xmas Day too, but not in a very British way. Sometimes we have goose instead of turkey, and we don’t always have Xmas pudding. What we do have are a tree and Xmas crackers. However, unlike a lot of families in Britain, we always have a crib under the tree and never have a fairy on top of the tree. A fairy’s too pagan, you see.

It’s traditional and was important to my parents and their parents, so it’s connected to family and history. It may have been a pagan symbol at one time, but now it's just jolly, bright and decorative. Anyway, the crib is the most important thing in the house over Xmas.

I don’t see that as a British festival. I see it as a Christian festival. The chocolate eggs should have nothing to do with Easter in my book.

That just passes me by.

I’m not keen on fireworks, but it’s good to remember something about our history. I can’t remember the last time I went to a display.

I’ll get a card if I remember, but it’s really just a commercial festival. Having said that, it is good to have a day for mums and dads.

That’s just complete commercialism and nonsense, but people get hurt if I don’t observe it, especially my boyfriend. I get a card for my boyfriend and a present if I have time.

No, because my parents are religious and church-going. That’s not typical. Also, I have three brothers, whereas there are less than two children in most British families. Maybe the family celebrations we have in my house are bigger and more fun, and therefore more important to us. My mother’s Polish, so I’ve been brought up with that influence. Our family is used to eating together too, whereas most modern British families aren’t.

When I was young, May Day and Guy Fawkes’ Night were bigger, but most festivals have now been swamped by American commercialism. I celebrate Christian festivals, not national ones. British culture, at least in London, has been disappearing since WWII.