Why they say Groundhog Day. What is Groundhog Day. What to see and do in Punxsutawney

Groundhog Day February 2, 2018: what kind of holiday it is, where and how it is celebrated, traditions, signs, history... Groundhog Day is a national holiday for the people of Canada and the United States. It is always celebrated on February 2. In these countries, Groundhog Day on February 2 is a very popular and widely celebrated holiday. On this day, people observe the marmot, because it crawls out of its burrow and predicts how soon spring will come.

According to history, Groundhog Day has been an official holiday since 1886. In the United States, the tradition of celebrating this day was brought with them by the Pennsylvania Dutch - immigrants from Germany in the 18th century. Only for them the role of the predictor was not a marmot, but a badger. Members of the Groundhog Club from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, developed the tradition of celebrating in the United States. Over the years, Groundhog Day has become incredibly popular in this country. History says that a similar tradition was in ancient Rome. There the role of a kind of meteorologist was played by a hedgehog.

Groundhog Day February 2, 2018: what kind of holiday it is, where and how it is celebrated, traditions, signs, history. Every year on February 2, various events and festivals dedicated to meteorological marmots are held in Canada and the United States. Not only indigenous people, but also tourists willingly take part in them.

On this day, people are sure to very carefully observe the marmot, which crawls out of the hole. Based on his behavior, they draw conclusions about whether spring will come soon or not. On February 2, members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club go to Turkey Hill specifically to lure the hero of the occasion out of the hole. If a marmot, seeing its shadow, hides again in a hole, then another six weeks can not wait for the onset of spring. If he does not notice his shadow and leaves the hole calmly, then spring will come very soon. Incredibly, this ceremony can be found on the Internet. Groundhog predictions are announced on February 2 in radio and television news bulletins.

Interesting! In Russia, Groundhog Day is not celebrated. However, the hedgehog Pugovka lives in the zoo in Yekaterinburg, who also tries to predict the weather.

Also in Russia there are monuments to the marmot. For example, there is such a monument in the city of Aznakaevo in Tatarstan and in the city of Angarsk, Irkutsk region.

Despite the fact that Russians do not celebrate Groundhog Day on February 2, many people know about it. It is noteworthy, but this holiday gained fame after the release in 1993 of a comedy called Groundhog Day.

The first official meteorological marmot is considered to be an animal named Phil from the city of Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania, USA. In New York, such a responsible mission is performed by the marmot Chuck from the Staten Island Zoo. In Canada, Willie, from Wyarton, Ontario, is the main weather predictor marmot.

In general, the American marmot sleeps for about 4-5 months a year.

Agree, there is no person who would not look forward to the onset of the first warm spring days. Most women do not like winter for one simple reason - it is necessary to wear warm sweaters, heavy fur coats and winter boots, which are in many ways inferior in elegance to light sandals. Men have their own reasons not to love winter. This is special car care in the autumn-winter period, and ice on the road, and a constant runny nose and cough. And the most important thing that men do not like in winter is the lack of the opportunity to go out with friends to nature with barbecue, to a park with a beer or to the beach in order to contemplate naked female charms. Therefore, it is not surprising that people of all countries at all times tried to predict the onset of spring heat. Every year on February 2, Americans, Canadians and Australians try their luck by releasing their chief meteorologists, the marmots.

It is on Groundhog Day that they have the opportunity to observe how the groundhog will behave, because according to folk signs, if the animal sees its shadow on this day, winter will last another 6 weeks. From this we can conclude that if the 2nd of February is a cloudy day, do not rush to be upset. This means that the meteorological marmot will definitely not see its shadow and will calmly crawl out of its burrow. All Americans are waiting for such a moment, because it means the arrival of the early heat. If the day is sunny, then there is no reason to hope for a quick arrival of spring. Today Groundhog Day has become so popular that it has moved to some Eastern European countries where marmots also live. For example, in Ukraine recently they began to celebrate the Day of the Baibak. Baibak is a steppe marmot, which is slightly larger in size than its American relative.

history of the holiday

The history of groundhog day goes back to ancient times, when people believed in the supernatural abilities of animals, and almost every country had its own sacred animal. Many people know the Hindu festival of Govardhana Puja, dedicated to the cow, but not everyone knows that in August Mexicans celebrate Donkey Day with a real Donkey Festival. While our compatriots went to the May Day parade, the French were staging the Carnival of Snails. In most countries of the world there are such "animal holidays", which are celebrated both for several decades and for several millennia. But the ancient Romans were the first to come up with the use of animals as weather predictors. It can even be said that Groundhog Day is the prototype of the Day of the Hedgehog, which was celebrated in ancient Rome, when a hedgehog awakened from hibernation was lured out of the hole and watched whether he saw his shadow or not. Having adopted this tradition, the countries of Western Europe began to celebrate the Day of the Badger on February 2, which fell on the Catholic Meeting of the Lord. Subsequently, Europeans in the 18th century brought this holiday to America, from where it spread throughout the United States and Canada. However, cunning Americans have long thought about which animal is most suitable for the role of a meteorological animal. Observing various forest animals, they came to the conclusion that they could not find a better animal than a marmot. This is how the world famous Groundhog Day was born.

The most famous meteorological marmots

Today, 7 famous marmots live in the USA and Canada, which represent different states and play the main role at the holiday. Thanks to the film of the same name, the Pennsylvania Marmot Phil, who lives in the city of Punxsutawney, is considered the most famous. It is he who is the first official predictor marmot, thanks to which the city of Punxsutawney is recognized as the world capital of weather. There are many interesting stories about this groundhog. Phil first took part in the Groundhog Day celebration in 1887, so in 2009 Phil will be celebrating his 122nd Groundhog Day. How did the marmot live for so many years? They say that the secret of Pennsylvania Phil's longevity is that he takes a miraculous elixir for marmots every 7 years, which prolongs his life.

And in 2006, in Canada, a marmot-meteorologist named Willie "celebrated" its fiftieth birthday, who died in the same year. However, a worthy replacement was found for everyone's favorite, and now Canada is ruled by a new Wyrton Willie - an albino marmot that lived in the Owen Sound area before.

Notable forecaster marmots of America and Canada include New York Chuck, Shubenacad Sam, meteorological marmots Jimmy and Beauregard Lee, who was awarded the rank of general, and Balzac Billy.

Groundhog Day celebration

Every year, Americans make a grandiose show out of Groundhog Day, in which everyone, mayors of the city, and, of course, gentlemen authorized to personally communicate with the groundhog, participate. These gentlemen are members of the Groundhog Club, but only the president of this club can get a groundhog out of its mink in order to predict the weather forecast. Usually the whole procession gathers near the groundhog mink in the early morning, the President of the Groundhog Club pulls it out, the animal looks around and issues its "verdict" in the ear of the President. After that, the President of the Club announces the message of the seer-marmot to the people gathered for the holiday. These words are of great importance, because they sometimes turn out to be much more accurate than forecasts of weather forecasters. Overjoyed by the good news of the imminent onset of warmth, Americans, Canadians, Australians and residents of other countries celebrating this day arrange feasts in honor of their heroes - fortune-tellers. However, even in the event of a bad prediction, they do not lose heart and indulge in general fun. On this day, it is customary to eat dishes that the marmot loves and to give marmots to loved ones in the form of soft toys, figurines, also T-shirts and caps with the image of a marmot, etc.

In 2005

On February 2, Christians celebrate the Presentation of the Lord (Thunders) according to the Gregorian calendar. In the United States, a Scottish proverb is popular: If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year(The Day of the Meeting is bright and clear - there will be two winters a year).

There is a saying among German settlers in Pennsylvania: Wann die Grundsau ihre Schatte seht, noch sechs Wochen Winter ist was es meent (If a marmot sees its shadow, it means that there will be six more weeks of winter).

Phenology

Viarton Willie

The most famous Canadian meteorological marmot from the village of Wiarton ( Wiarton) in the province of Ontario, in honor of which an annual festival is held.

Chuck from Staten Island Zoo

Chuck is the official New York City Meteorological Groundhog. He lives at the Staten Island Zoo. Every year on February 2 at 7:30 am he gives his forecast. The mayor of the city is present at this ceremony.

Groundhog day at the movies

Bambi 2 (2006) (episode)
Day of the hamster (Russian parody)

Notes (edit)

Bibliography

Reichman, F. 1942. Groundhog day. American German Review. 8 (3): 11-13

Groundhog day: where the predictions come from

For example, the Catholic Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord or the Thunders on this day. It is interesting that this holiday (like many others) came from paganism, where it was considered the day of sacrifice to the god Perun.

However, the traditions of the pagan holiday are incredibly close to the concept of Groundhog Day: on the day of Thunder, they also observed the weather. If the day turned out to be frosty, it means that warming is expected soon, and if it is warm outside on February 2, the harvest will be bad. A snowstorm meant a long winter.

The most famous fortunetellers marmots

The very first and most famous meteorological marmot was the founder of the holiday. He lived in Pennsylvania and his name was Phil, and the Americans came up with a whole title for him in a few lines, and the city of Punxsutawney was dubbed the "Weather Capital".

Canada also has its own hero - Willie from Viarton. The marmot is known for waking up every year exactly on February 2, after which the owner of the animal (and also the mayor) listens to the prediction that the marmot whispers in his ear. After the mission is completed, the groundhog yawns and returns back to the hole. It is unlikely that the animal knows that a whole fan club has formed among the Canadians, and on the Internet it has a personal website that has won several awards ... Moreover, the largest sculpture of a marmot also belongs to Willie, it was erected in 1995 by a Canadian sculptor, apparently, also a member of the Viarton Willie fan club ...

Despite the inaccuracy of predictions, marmots are still revered both in the United States and in Canada, because people still want to believe in miracles, living in a modern dry world ...