How April Fools’ Day Is Celebrated Around The World

With spring in the air also comes the time for lively festivals as well as fun, if sometimes eccentric, traditions around the world. Yes, you guessed it: April Fool’s Day, celebrated on the first day of April, is synonymous with fun and jokes. Follow me to discover some of the world’s most original traditions and the best pranks dreamed up in certain countries.

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Origins of April Fools’ Day

In fact, no one really knows where the traditions of April Fool’s Day originated, having magically appeared at some point. Although it’s celebrated all over the world and appreciated by many as the day when all (reasonable at least) pranks are allowed, it’s pretty obscure whether this “holiday” originated in France or other parts of the world.

What I do know is that it’s a time of fun and celebration when people get together and share good memories and good laughs. So, perhaps the origins are, in fact, less important than the message conveyed?!

Some traditions from around the world

1. Greece

As I said in my other article (check it out here), Greece is a country of many traditions. So it’s not surprising that its inhabitants also celebrate April Fool’s Day, adding their own significance.

Here, the successful prankster is supposed to have good fortune for the rest of the year, but it’s also believed that, if your work is related to agriculture, you’ll have a bountiful harvest.
Finally, don’t forget that Greek customs are closely linked to the fight against the evil eye, and April 1st is no exception.

2. France

Also known as “Poisson d’Avril” or “Fish Day”, the French love to take part in funny jokes on this day. But why a fish, you might ask? There are many theories about this, but one of them is that meat consumption was forbidden during Lent, so you could only eat fish. Although nothing has been proven, and just like the origins of April Fool’s Day, those of Fish Day in France are still unknown.

So, how do the French spend their first day of April? The best-known and most frequently used prank is that played by children. A simple paper fish, drawn or printed, is discreetly stuck on the backs of friends and family. If they don’t catch you, you run away shouting “Poisson d’Avril”, proud of your achievement.

The day is also marked by the fish-shaped chocolates that people love to give each other. Don’t forget that French news should be taken with a grain of salt, as the media love to play tricks on their gullible citizens.

So, if you happen to be in France on April 1, you might see people looking at their backs in a mirror or paying close attention to their surroundings, lest they be called fools!

3. Scotland

Scotland proves a worthy adversary, as the holiday is celebrated over two whole days. Now there’s a country that knows how to have fun!

On Huntigowk Day or hunt the gowk (cuckoo, fool), carefree people or victims are sent to deliver a message, unknown to them, to another person. The message “Dinna laugh, Dinna smile, hunt the gowk another mile” prompts the recipient to send the first person on another errand, saying it’s the only way they can help. The joke continues until someone takes pity on the foolish victim.

The second day of the holiday, called Taily Day, is this time dedicated to a lower part of our body (the buttocks) where people like to attach fake tails or signs saying “kick me” at the expense of their unfortunate, credulous friend.

Better be on your guard for 48 hours in Scotland!

4. Spain

Everyone knows that April Fool’s Day is, as the name suggests, celebrated in the month of April, but not in Spain, which has chosen a different date and name for this unique day. When people are trying to get back into shape after the Christmas and New Year festivities, Spain and, indeed, most Spanish-speaking countries have fun during the Día de los Santos Inocentes, on December 28.

But what today is considered a day of joy actually has its origins in a very sad story dating back to the time of King Herod, who ordered his soldiers to kill all children under the age of two for fear that one of them would steal his throne, as someone had predicted that Jesus, who had just been born, would be the new king.

One of the jokes takes the form of a paper-cut-out child, which has to be glued to the back of the desired victim. Once the joke has been discovered, the prankster shouts “¡Inocente!” to the delight of the audience.

5. England

In England, all pranks are accepted and even encouraged (within reason, of course). Everyone joins in the celebrations, from businesses and the media to people of all ages, but there’s ONE rule that must be respected – unless you want to be considered a fool – and that’s quite simply that every prank you want to pull must run until noon!

You’ve been warned!

6. Portugal

Another country where April Fool’s Day is not celebrated in April, but rather on the Sunday and Monday before Lent. Want to know how our Portuguese friends enjoy themselves during this period? Well, after fish and paper-cut-out children, here’s a refreshingly original tradition – or should I say “dirty”, as the locals spend the day throwing flour at their friends and neighbors.

Better to leave the romantic evening for another day, don’t you think?

7. Iran

Also known as Sizdah Bedar (which means “getting rid of day 13”) because it’s celebrated on the thirteenth day of the Persian New Year and the number is considered ominous (as in many other countries), this day is marked by many traditions whose aim is to get rid of bad luck, but also to enjoy the beginning of spring.

One of these traditions, linked to nature and fun, is to gather around a picnic with loved ones, play games and throw sazbeh (the green sprouts used on the Haft Sin table during the New Year) into moving water, as keeping it too long is synonymous with bad luck.

An interesting and unique tradition, isn’t it?

Some of the Best Pranks in History

1. We all float down here or…maybe not

On April 1, 1976, in the UK, an astronomer by the name of Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that people would be able to float in the air, for a short while if they jumped at exactly 9:47 a.m., thanks to the alignment of two planets: Jupiter and Pluto.

The Jovian and Plutonian gravitational effect, which is of course just a big joke, prompted hundreds of people to call the radio, claiming they were actually floating in their homes at that hour.

Would you have tried it?

2. Does spaghetti really grow on trees?

When I first read this story, I couldn’t believe how successful this prank could be. We all know where spaghetti comes from, don’t we? Don’t we?

Apparently not, since this famous and well-orchestrated prank saw millions of people glued to their TV on April 1, 1957, watching intently as a Swiss family harvested their annual crop of spaghetti from their trees.

Although it may seem hard to understand today, back then people weren’t used to eating the famous pasta and were, in fact, used to seeing it come straight out of the tins, which explains why.

If you’d like to know more about this story, here’s a link.

3. An iceberg in Australia?

On April 1, 1978, Dick Smith, businessman and aviator, had been announcing for some time that he would bring an iceberg back to Sydney from Antarctica. His aim: to sell small cubes of the iceberg at a minimum price to improve the flavor of any drink.

But the hoax proved to be short-lived, as rain began to fall on the iceberg, made of shaving cream and foam, revealing to all the enormous joke.

Most interestingly, the prank wasn’t actually meant to be. Dick Smith wanted to bring an iceberg to provide fresh water to drought-stricken cities. So what started out as a well-intentioned project ended up being a joke because no one believed it was feasible.

4. A new Big Ben

This is one of the pranks that may have gone too far, as many people didn’t find it funny when it was announced on April 1, 1980, that England’s famous landmark would be getting a makeover and going digital.

In fact, many people called the BBC to complain, furious at the news.

Sometimes it’s better to think twice before pulling a prank of this magnitude…

5. Now, we can even smell the sweet odors emanating from the TV

Welcome back to England and its quirky pranks! I guess our Shakespearean friends have a knack for dreaming up and playing a few tricks. Smell-o-vision first appeared on April 1, 1965, promising that people would be able to smell the different flavors of their favorite TV shows.

The professor behind the idea even proposed an experiment involving chopping onions and brewing coffee, asking viewers to call in later to confirm, or not, the experiment’s success. The result: people from all over the country called to say that the strong smell of onions had made them cry.

A pretty strong power of suggestion, if you ask me!

And that’s it for April Fool’s Day! “Wishing you all a day that’s ‘fool’ of fun!”

Do you have any other funny stories to share or personal pranks you like to pull?
If so, feel free to post them in the comments section!

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