Parkin (cake) in November had many Christian festivals, and like Celtic festivals that preceded them they were celebrated with a fire and ritual cakes. November starts with All Hallows Eve, that runs into All Saints Day (1 November), which is followed by All Souls Day (2 November). Little Lent and the forty-day fast until Christmas, started at Martinmas. (11 November). On All Souls Day soul cakes were baked. The Martinmas fair was important being the traditional day when cattle were bought and sold, and servants were hired for the following year. It was also the date that cattle were slaughtered and salted
Europe Day in particular has gone beyond celebrating just the day, since 1995 extending the observance to an entire "Europe Week" ("") centered on 9 May. In Poland, the , a Polish organisation advocating European integration established in 1991, first organised its Warsaw "" on Europe Day 1999, at the time advocating the accession of Poland to the EU. Observance of 9 May as "Europe Day" was reported "across Europe" as of 2008. The EU's choice of the date of foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community rather than that of the EU itself established a narrative in which Schuman's speech,