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00:00Why do we celebrate Pancake Day and what are the origins of Shrove Tuesday?
00:04My name is Holly Alden and I'm a food and drink writer for National World.
00:08Now many of us know Pancake Day as simply the day to indulge in lots of delicious pancakes.
00:15But Pancake Day is originally known as Shrove Tuesday, which is a Christian holy day, which
00:20serves as a day of indulgence ahead of Lent.
00:24In Catholic culture, Lent is a 40-day period where people will fast from foods such as
00:29desserts, sweets, alcohol and more.
00:33Pancake Day is always held 47 days ahead of Easter Sunday, which is why the date changes
00:38each year and the date of Easter Sunday is determined based on moon cycles.
00:42But the reason it's kind of gained the name Pancake Day can be contributed to many different
00:47things.
00:49One of the things is that people tend to use up all of the ingredients that they have left
00:53in their kitchen ahead of the Lent, which usually leads to pancakes, butter, flour,
00:58things like that, eggs, you can make a pancake.
01:01However, according to legend, it actually became a thing after a woman was running to
01:06church while flipping pancakes after she heard the church bell ring at May Day.
01:12This bell then became known as the Pancake Bell, which is still rang in some parishes
01:16today.
01:18The bell rings at noon on Shrove Tuesday to mark the beginning of Pancake Day and to let
01:23people know they can start frying up those pancakes.
01:26Traditional ways to celebrate Pancake Day originally were to have pancake races where
01:31people would run while literally flipping pancakes.
01:34Also like Halloween, children would knock on the doors of their neighbours for pancakes.
01:39So that is the origins of Pancake Day, which of course is actually known as Shrove Tuesday.
01:45Shrove Tuesday slash Pancake Day is a day of indulgence, which is celebrated year after
01:50year.