April Fools’ Day, which falls on April 1, is a playful holiday celebrated in many different countries around the world. In some places, it is called All Fools’ Day. On this day, harmless tricks are played, for example convincing someone of something false, or sending them on a pointless task. When it becomes apparent that the person has fallen for the joke, or the person shows that they are confused, it’s customary to shout “April Fools!”
In France, children stick paper fishes onto each other’s backs, and the person with the fish on the back is called an “April Fish”. In Scotland, they dial it up a notch, with two days of April Fools’ – one where the fooled person is sent on a fool’s errand, followed by another where there are harmless pranks such as sticking a sign on someone’s back. In Brazil, they cut straight to the chase and simply call it “day of lies”.
In some Latin American countries and Spain, a day similar to April Fools’ falls on December 28. It’s called “Day of the Innocents” and is dedicated to jokes and pranks. In Alicante, Spain, the day is marked by a town-wide food fight. Everyone plays along to mock a military-style takeover of the town and the new rulers make up strange rules that everyone has to abide by. If people don’t obey these rules, they get “fined”, and the money goes to charity.
In many countries, the media (newspapers and radio stations) take part in the action, broadcasting a silly or imaginative story as if it were a real news item. The Daily Herald also does this, and it’s a long-standing tradition in the Dutch Caribbean.
~The print version of this article includes a word search puzzle.
