London: The Edinburgh Festival, the biggest arts festival of its kind in the world, got under way in the Scotland capital on Sunday with a concert that included Hector Berlioz’s “To Deum”, under the direction of Christoph von Dohnanyi.

The festival, which runs until August 31 this year, includes as its high points Peter Stein’s staging of Wagner’s “Parsifal”, with Claudio Abbado directing the Gustav Mahler youth orchestra (管弦乐队). The concert programme includes American pianist Richard Goode, bass baritone Thomas Quash off and violinist Christian Tetzlaff. New to the programmers this year will be 25 late evening classical music concerts.

Earlier this month, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the largest show-case in the world for performance art, officially got under way with theatre, dance, poetry and music presentations(演出).

Many of the fringe artists, who can enter the fringe festival upon payment of a small fee, were inspired this year by the events of September 11.

Thousands of people flock to Edinburgh from around the world during the festival, which is over 50 years old. It aims to promote(促进) and encourage arts and to reflect international culture. It comprises(consists of) various dance, music, opera, and theatre presentations taking place across the city during the three-week run.

Possibly the funniest day of the year is April Fools’ Day. 【小题1】 On that day, people usually play tricks and jokes on friends and family, and sometimes strangers. The phrase to use is “April Fools!” after you complete a trick or joke. But there is much more to this day than these common facts. There is a mysterious history of this celebration. There is no real consensus (共识) on when the holiday officially or unofficially began.

The earliest possible mention of April Fools’ Day is in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, written in 1392. In the story “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” it is mentioned that “Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two”. 【小题2】 However, modern scholars believe there was a misprint.

The next piece of evidence about April Fools’ Day comes from the French poet Eloy d’Amerval. He wrote about “poisson d’avril”. 【小题3】 Some scholars say that April Fools’ Day started in the Middle Ages in Europe, where some people celebrated the New Year on April 1^st. Those who had New Year’s Day on January 1st made fun of those who partook (共享) in the celebration on April 1st by sending people fish.

【小题4】 In 1686, writer and philosopher John Aubrey wrote about a celebration called “Fooles Holy Day”. It is certain that the celebration became popular through Great Britain in the 18th. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event. As time went on and the celebration became more widespread, it became a one-day holiday.

As you might have noticed, April Fools’ Day has a confusing history. There are multiple theories about its origins. It variously started in many different places. It may also have different meanings. 【小题5】

This Halloween, scare off evil spirits while protecting the earth!

1. Create home-made costumes

Apart from the fact that they’re expensive, flammable and mostly unoriginal, shop bought Halloween outfits are a terrific burden on the environment. From the much-too-high amount of water that is used to create them to the seven million costumes that will be thrown straight into the bin, and the microfibres released into the water from the ones that do get washed there are PLENTY of reasons against shop buying.

And let’s be frank, home-made costumes are far more unique and fun to create. For the scariest costume we could possibly imagine, why not dress up as the earth on fire?

2. Be considerate with your pumpkins

Pumpkins are a wonderful Halloween tradition but can be more damaging to the environment than you’d originally think. Harmful pesticides and fertilizers are used during farming and the nature of their large-scale production means they can be transported over vast distances Similarly, how you dispose of them once you’re done determines how big an impact they have.

Don’t let their delicious innards go to waste and instead make a yummy pumpkin treat, even go so far as to save the pumpkin seeds either for you or the birds. Then, once your carved pumpkin is past it’s best, make sure to compost (制成堆肥) it rather than throwing it in the bin-this will prevent the release of methane as it breaks down.

3. Scare yourself silly at home

Rather than travelling to far-flung places, keep the frights closer to home.

Halloween party to get everyone together and encourage car-pooling or the use of public transport.

Read scary stories and create a Halloween hunt in your garden for children to run around and find treats.

4. Make your own trick-or-treating goodies

If you’ve taken on the American tradition of trick-or- treating, why not whip up a few Halloween treats of your own? Apart from being tastier and more fun to look at, they’ll also reduce your consumption of packaging and likely will have a lower carbon footprint. Suggest to any neighbours that they might do the same, and if you go trick-or-treating yourself, be sure to use a reusable carrier.