A10
Christmas
Christmas is the most important festival in the US and the UK, and takes place on and around December 25th. Although it is a CHRISTIAN holiday, when the birth of JESUS is celebrated, people who are not Christian also celebrate Christmas as an occasion to give presents and spend time with their families.
Before Christmas Day
Christmas shopping
People traditionally buy presents for their friends and family for Christmas, and in the weeks before Christmas the shops are very busy. Many shops and stores decorate their buildings with lights and CHRISTMAS TREES, and pictures of things like HOLLY, and some big stores and malls also have a special area decorated like Santa's home, called SANTA'S GROTTO, where children can meet Santa and tell him what presents they want. Although many people enjoy Christmas shopping, some people complain that the holiday is too COMMERCIAL (=concerned with spending money and making a profit), and that the real purpose of Christmas should be about remembering the story of Jesus' birth and being kind to other people.
Christmas cards
People also send CHRISTMAS CARDS to their friends in order to say Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas (BrE). Christmas cards usually have pictures relating to Christmas traditions and winter, such as Christmas trees, HOLLY, snowmen, and SANTA CLAUS. Cards with religious messages usually show pictures of the NATIVITY (=the birth of Christ).
Christmas carols
During the Christmas period there are many performances of CAROLS (=special religious Christmas songs). They are sung in church as part of a religious ceremony, and schools have special concerts in which their students sing carols. People sometimes go carol singing (BrE) or go caroling (AmE), which means they sing carols outside in a large group, especially outside people's houses, and collect money for CHARITY (=money given to help people who are poor, sick etc).