US Holidays - Groundhog Day

On February 2, residents of Canada and the United States of America celebrate a bright and unusual holiday for our continent - Groundhog Day This day, although not a public holiday, plays a significant role in the lives of ordinary people, and since 1889 has been part of the cultural heritage of America According to a legend that has come down from time immemorial, marmots who wake up predict the weather If, when crawling out of a hole, an animal sees its shadow, it means that winter will last another 6 weeks And vice versa, the marmot, which does not leave a shadow, foreshadows the coming spring Groundhog Day is celebrated in many states in its own way, however, the main predictor is Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog living in Pennsylvania Every year since the 1880s, on February 2, several men belonging to the Groundhog Club, dressed in tuxedos and top hats, headed to Turkey Mountain in order to wake up Phil and check the weather for the start of field work This ceremony is accompanied by officials The governor himself arrives Although, of course, not everyone believes in the predictions, since Phil’s predictions were only 385% true, but the first attempt was brilliant The first predictions came true And now no one remembers how many were accurate and how many failed predictions This ceremony is accompanied by a large crowd of tourists who want to get a glimpse of this interesting tradition And with the release of the acclaimed film “Groundhog Day,” where Phil Punxsutawney himself played the role of the groundhog, the popularity of the holiday grew so much that a year after the film’s release, the number of tourists for the holiday increased to 35 thousand This is much more than the entire population of the town of Punxsutawney together with all the surrounding towns in Pennsylvania On this day, various folk entertainments, street celebrations, and dances are held in many cities Each state tries to create an individual holiday atmosphere Although the holiday itself is not so unique In ancient Rome there was Hedgehog Day, here hedgehogs worked as weather forecasters, in Germany they began to think about the weather with the awakening of badgers and bears And then this tradition gradually migrated to the USA, and became one of the most beloved and interesting holidays