Celebrating Cultures across the University of Birmingham
The Cultural Calendar’s biggest event to date is here: the Year of the Pig, Spring Festival and Chinese Lunar New Year. We’ve got performances, concerts, workshops, VR experiences, food offers, a mountain of fortune cookies, and traditional, red new year gift envelopes to hand out across campus. Old Joe will also turn red to mark … Continue reading “Year of the Pig Celebrations – Chinese/Lunar New Year”
For Spring Festival/Lunar/Chinese New Year the Cultural Calendar has been in contact with Southside Producers and the Birmingham Hippodrome, who will be hosting events in the local Birmingham area. Southside Producers are organizing an event at the Birmingham Chinese Community Centre in the New Year (date TBC). They welcome as many attendees as possible to this … Continue reading “Translation/Photography/Performance Opportunities with Southside Producers”
Contributed by Maxane Keogh ‘It’s that awkward time of year before Christmas when you’re not sure if you should start breaking out the scarves and fairy lights yet; however, it’s also getting very cold and Aldi is already selling Christmas chocolates sooooooo… I offer you a middle ground. A time of feasting before Christmas, to … Continue reading “Yet Another Brussels Sprout Riddled Celebration – Thanksgiving”
The 5th of November is one of the most notorious dates in British history. On this date a small group of Roman Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the House of Lords, alongside King James 1 and the Protestant Government. Nowadays the day is remembered and celebrated more for its flashy fireworks displays, although it … Continue reading “Bonfire Night & Coughton Court”
Contributed by Priyal Desai Diwali—the festival of lights—is one of the most important festival in Hindu Culture. Signifying the symbolic victory of good over evil, Diwali is celebrated with fervor throughout India where different cultures honor it through varied rituals. In my culture, it is generally a four to five day festival where each day … Continue reading “The Festival of Lights and Joy, where Good Always Prevails”
Halloween is famously an evening of tricks or treats, spooky costumes, and carved pumpkins (also neeps in some parts of Scotland), but the event has a rich history and cultural heritage which can be related back to the Gaelic festival of Samhain; an event marking the end of the harvest, and the beginning of winter. … Continue reading “Halloween: Samhain or Summer’s End”
Last week on Wednesday the 24th of October, the Cultural Calendar kick-started with its first celebration of the year: United Nations Day. In commemoration of this event, which traditionally celebrates the signing of the UN Charter, we organised activities across campus for students, staff, and visitors to take part in. We started the day with … Continue reading “UN Day — A Retrospective”
The Chongyang Festival—also known as Double Ninth Festival—takes place on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, and this year falls on Oct. 17. It’s a time when families gather to hike up hills and admire chrysanthemums— activities that evolved from legends about dodging misfortune that date back 2,000 years, to … Continue reading “Do enjoy (and eat and drink) the chrysanthemums – The Chongyang Festival”
