Why World Celebrate 1st April As Fool Day?
April Fool’s Day is celebrated all over the world on 1st April. The tradition of setting aside a day to play pranks without any harm and have fun with one’s neighbors or friends or relatives in the world. The aim of the day is usually to perform a practical prank on someone who will become known as an April Fool. Practical jokes can be anything from basic to elaborate.
History: Why does 1st April celebrate as ‘Fool Day’ all over the world
There is no particular information known on when April Fool’s Day was first celebrated and why the day celebrates as fool day. According to a story, April Fools’ Day started with France’s Roussillon Edict of 1564, declaring that New Year’s Day, which had previously been celebrated on Easter by Christians, be shifted to 1st January. So is said that those who celebrate the Old New Year are dubbed as ‘April Fools’ by Early Adopters.
Some people also relate April Fool’s Day with the changes in the French calendar. When France adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582, leaving the Julian calendar. Where the new year used to start from 1st April in the Julian calendar, it shifted to January 1st in the Gregorian calendar. At the same time, it is said that even after changing the calendar, many people could not understand this change and, they were celebrating the new year in April, their celebrations used to start in the last week of March and last till 1st April. Those who celebrated had become a reason for jokes, and this day began to be called April Fool.
Many people believe that this day is celebrated because of the old Roman Hilaria feast. This festival was dedicated to the god Attis. People used to wear funky clothes, make many jokes by wearing masks and fool others by imitating each other. That is why it is said that April Fools’ Day started here as well.
According to some, it’s believed to be a vestige of the vernal equinox celebrations. These festivities honoring the first days of spring started on March 25th and finished on April 2nd. In pagan Britain, 1st April was celebrated as a national holiday. Generally, associated with the beginning of spring, April 1st has traditionally been observed as New Year’s Day in many parts of the world.
April Fool refers to someone who falls prey to these jokes on April 1st, in other words, becomes a fool.
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April Fool’s day around the world
April Fool’s Day is celebrated in Scotland over two days: the first is known as Taily Day, while the second is dedicated to pranks involving the buttocks. Taily Day is said to develop as the KICK ME sign.
Not only that but, this day celebrate in various ways in various countries around the world. People in Italy, Belgium, and France make ‘April fish’ by sticking paper fish on each other’s backs on this day. April is the month of the fish. This method is used to make fool someone.
People in Iran used to celebrate this day as a laugh and joke on the 13th day of the Nauroz festival which usually falls on the 1st or 2nd of April.
April Fool Day is known as Prima Aprilis, a centuries-old tradition in Poland. In Mexico, earlier, the day was marked as a mournful memory of King Herod’s massacre of innocent children, but it has now evolved into a fun festival with pranks and tricks.
In Ireland, it was common to give the victim an ‘Important Letter’ to be delivered to a certain individual. That person would read the letter to the victim, then urge her to pass it on to someone else, and so on. When the letter opened, the words ‘send the fool further’ were scribbled on it.
