Australian Holidays - Australia Day

Australia is the only continent of all the continents whose inhabitants are “cut off” from the rest of the world, but this does not offend the Australians themselves at all They are happy, know how to enjoy life, and always find reasons for fun and celebrations One of these falls on January 26, because on this day the continent celebrates a national holiday - Australia Day It was on this day many years ago that the colonization of the continent began Over the many years of its existence, the holiday has acquired many traditions And it all started out banal, after the first British colonialists landed on the Australian coast in 1788 and founded the first colony of New South Wales in that place The captain of the ship, Arthur Philip, gave the name Sydney to the first settlement, in honor of the man who was the organizer of the expedition Now the modern city of Sydney is located on this site After 20 years, the number of British colonies grew to six, they united into a single Australian Union At the beginning of the 19th century It was customary to celebrate the Founding Day of the continent on January 26 and there were no special celebrations on this day But in 1818, Governor Macquarie came up with the idea of ​​celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of Australia with special pomp On this day, a salvo of 30 guns was fired, and all employees were given the day off The tradition took root and more and more states began to arrange fireworks displays on January 26 and let people go from work By 1935, January 26 legally became a national holiday Traditionally, on this day, the following are held throughout the continent:• festive fireworks;• nautical regattas;• parades;• light shows;• music festivals;• cricket matches;• live music concerts Even on this day, a reconstruction of the first landing of British ships is carried out, and the honorary title of Australian of the Year is awarded On January 26, it became a custom to decorate houses with national flags, wear clothes with similar symbols and have a barbecue