After a tough year, friends have proven they have always been there for us. Choose Friendship Day 2021 to appreciate the connections you have in life or use this holiday to reach out to past friends and rekindle that bond.

National Friendship Day occurs every year on the first Sunday of August — August 7, 2022 — and celebrates the importance of loving, platonic relationships. For more than a century, we’ve celebrated the strength of friendship, and thanks to social media, we’re able to continue celebrating with our friends no matter where they are in the world.

Humans are the most social beings on earth: we need to relate to others, just as Abraham Maslow exposed in his Hierarchy of human needs. Our sociological needs motivate our behavior, encouraging us to make interpersonal relationships and connect with others on a deeper level. With such a huge need for human connection with people other than our significant other, it’s no wonder that we celebrate an entire holiday based on the importance of friendship.

National Friendship Day was originally a marketing strategy for Hallmark Cards in the 1930s. Founder Joyce Hall designated the day would take place on August 2 and decided it would be a day to celebrate the people closest to you — and send them a card or two in the process. It soon became a bigger deal than originally planned when the 1935 U.S. Congress pronounced the first Sunday of August as National Friendship Day.

The holiday continued gaining popularity, and in 1998 the United Nations named Winnie the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship. In 2011, during their 65th session, the U.N. designated July 30 International Friendship Day.

Nowadays, we celebrate National Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August. Thanks to advancements in technology, it is easier to get in touch with friends, to share, and to be thankful for them.

This August 2, celebrate the lover you create and share with the family that you chose — the friends who get you through hard times and cheer you on during your most successful moments.

You may have seen many pumpkins in posters and TV shows recently since Halloween came on October 31.

Lanterns made of pumpkins, also known as jack-o’-lanterns, are often seen during Halloween. Many people in the U.S. like to make them and put them in front of their houses. People hollow out（挖空）a pumpkin, carve a face on one side and place a candle inside to make the pumpkin glow. The lanterns can look funny or scary.

This is not the only way in which pumpkins are part of American culture.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, pumpkin pie is a common food. It is made from pumpkins and has some delicious spices to give it a nice flavor. People often put some cream on top of it before serving it. It is one of my favorite things to eat during Thanksgiving.

There is also “pumpkin chucking”. It’s a competition where people build machines to throw pumpkins through the air. The person whose pumpkin flies the farthest wins the competition. The world record for pumpkin chucking was set in Utah in 2010. The distance for that world record was about 1.69 kilometers!

Finally, there are also pumpkin growing contests. For these contests, farmers try to grow the biggest pumpkins they can. The person who has the biggest pumpkin will win the first prize.

Summer is approaching and with it, festival season. These are Europe’s best classical music festivals, not to be missed!

Bergen International Festival, Norway

Bergen Festival was established to promote Nordic artists and has become the largest festival of music and arts in Scandinavia. As well as attracting world-class performers, it is special for taking place in unique historical spots in the heart of Bergen and its coastal surrounds, including Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s own home, and the 13th-century King Hakon’s Hall.

June 24-July 7, fib. no

Granada International Festival, Spain

In 2023, performances by Icelandic pianists Víkingur Olafsson, Philippe Herreweghe in music by Mozart and Beethoven are among the classical music highlights(亮点).As in previous years, the festival will team up with University of Granada to invite enormous students to take part in the Manuel de Falla Courses.

June 21-July 19, granadafestival. org

Verbier Festival, Switzerland

Verbier Festival shows fine music at the heart of the beautiful Swiss Alpseach summer in 2023. As well as experiencing these fantastic performers in some of the most impressive alpine scenery Europe has to offer, the real magic of Verbier is that it connects great musicians at the height of their careers with determined young artists, through the Verbier Festival Academy.

May 14-June 30, verbierfestival. com

Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland

There’s a wonderful atmosphere on the historic streets of Edinburgh in August. In 2023,the festival welcomes violinist Nicola Benedetti in her first year as festival director. We will also see Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra from closer to home.223 outstanding students from all over the world will take part in it.

August 4-August 27, eif. Co. uk