Harvest is a wonderful time of year when the farmers can see the fruits of the year’s work being gathered in. When the hard work is over and all of the crops have been stored safely, it is time to celebrate!

Every day of the year, a harvest is being gathered somewhere in the world. Festivals take place at various times of the year depending on the crop, the climate and whether people live in the northern or southern hemisphere.

People all over Great Britain celebrate the Harvest Festival in the Autumn. We give thanks for the food we eat and bring a small gift which is later given to people who are not as fortunate as us.

In Nigeria, people celebrate with a fishing festival in February. It lasts for two days and marks the end of the fishing season. The celebration includes displays of bare-hand fishing, swimming and canoe racing.

Hindus in India celebrate the sugar cane harvest in January. This is a time for parties and feasts, which include sweet puddings.

The Chinese celebrate a mid Autumn festival in September. They go out at night with candles and lanterns, watch the full moon and pray for a good rice harvest.

For countries in the southern hemisphere, such as New Zealand, the crops are harvested in February and March.

Families share a special Thanksgiving dinner in the USA. It is traditional to eat a turkey – this reminds people of the Pilgrims fathers’ first successful harvest.

The celebration of harvest in Britain dates back to pre-Christian times, when the success of crops governed the lives of the people. They grew enough crops to feed themselves and their animals for the year. If the crop failed it meant a really hard year ahead without food.

They also took part in special customs and rituals that they believed would help their crops to grow. Saxon farmers offered the first cut sheaf of corn to one of their gods of fertility to ensure a good harvest the following year.

The practice of celebrating harvest festivals in churches began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker held a special service of harvest thanksgiving at his church in Cornwall. These days, many churches are decorated with tins and packets of food bought in a shop as well as home grown produce. After the service, these gifts are then usually distributed to those in need.

At our harvest celebration, instead of food, we collected small donations of money to help children of Sierra Leone.

Have you ever moaned because you couldn't have exactly what you wanted to eat? That is how the two children behaved in a short drama (pictured right). They were being fussy and very ungrateful.

During Miss Cain's visit to Sierra Leone, she learned that many of the children only ate one meal every other day! It is thoughts like this that should encourage to be grateful for all the food that we have, even if it isn't always to our taste!