Some random thoughts:
- It's basically a kids' festival - lots of dressing up and noise. When I knocked-on (how Manchester) at some friends yesterday afternoon, their three kids were going wild making their fancy dress costumes
- there are three basic mitzvot (good deeds/things you should do) - hear the megilla (the story), send mishlo'ach manot (shalach monuss in yiddish), which are small gifts of two kinds of prepared and unprepared food, and matanot l'evyonim, gifts to the poor, aka charity (there are more, and I'm sure someone will comment about Purim se-udot (festive meals) and the like, but I'm just giving you a taste)
- like all/most Jewish festivals, it's based on the premise "they tried to kill us (Haman), we won (Mordechai), let's eat (Hamantashen)
- traditional food is hamantashen, triangular shaped pastries in the shape of Haman's ears. I have not made any this year, although I used to make fabulous ones with my mum
- some people get a bit competitive about shalach manot - I made four small parcels in little baskets I bought in Golders Green with my sister. I'm not very good with large gifts, and I don't really like to be showy
- When I lived in Singapore, which has a large secular Israeli community who all seem to do something secret for the government they can't tell you, they all came out on Purim, Simchat Torah and Chanukah - they're kinda like the secular high holidays because they're fun (rather than Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Pesach, which are harder work and less fun)
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