Choose the word or phrase (A, B, C or D) that best fits the blank space in the following passage

SPRING FESTIVALS

From (1) _______ times people have celebrated the end of winter and the new life that spring brings. One of the most important Christian festivals is Easter, (2) _______ Christians remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Easter, however, is not the (3) _______ spring festival. In Sweden, people celebrate the end of the winter by making (4) _______ bonfires. Fire also plays an important part in the Hindu festival of Holi. In some villages children are (5) _______ round bonfires by their mothers to protect them (6) _______ danger in the coming year. Buddhists in Thailand soak (7) _______ in water when celebrating their New Year, which (8) _______ in the middle of April. In Antigua in Guatemala they carpet the streets with flowers. Chinese spring parades are (9) _______ colourful, but (10) _______ flowers they have large dragon puppets which dance in the streets.

(1) __________

• A. 
  earliest
• B. 
  latest
• C. 
  previous
• D. 
  old