Chevening’s list of UK events for December 2021
Find out just a few of the many things happening around the UK in December.
Now it’s finally December, it’s time to get festive in a big way. Over the recent years, there has been a boom in Christmas Markets across the UK. You will be able to find a Christmas market near you here. Take in the atmosphere, buy some mulled drinks and get your Christmas hats on!
This could perhaps be filed in the above section, however part of celebrating the festive season in London is the annual trip to Hyde Park to visit Winter Wonderland. Winter Wonderland had humble beginnings as a Christmas Market, however it has now turned into a much larger event with shows, acts and rides to enjoy.
Carol Concert, The Hallé, Manchester, 1-31 December
A key part of the festive season in the UK is a traditional carol concert. Carol concerts will take place in buildings, churches, town halls up and down the country with a mixture of classical and contemporary hits.
Edinburgh Hogmanay, various venues 29 December – 1 January
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year’s Day. Make the most of being in Scotland during this special time and take part in the festivities and see in the new year Scottish style.
Tenby Boxing Day Swim, Tenby Beach 26 December
Christmas Day and Boxing Day swimming in the sea is a tradition to those hardy souls who are willing to dip into the cold seas. Should you wish to take part in this very British experience, you can find out more about how to get involved in Tenby’s 50th anniversary meet through the link above.
Peru, a Journey in Time, British Museum, 1-31 December
If you’re yet to visit the museums and galleries in the UK, why not check out the Peru, a Journey in Time exhibition at the British Museum? Step into the vibrant world of Peru and discover how people have thrived for millennia in one of the most complex and challenging environments on the planet. The Exhibition is to mark Peru’s bicentennial year of independence, this exhibition highlights the history, beliefs and cultural achievements of the different peoples who lived here from around 2500 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, and their legacy in the centuries that followed.
Can Education Shape Our Futures? A lecture at King’s College London, 6 December 2021
In November 2021, UNESCO launched the report Reimagining our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education, which was produced by the International Commission on the Futures of Education. This event provides an opportunity to hear more about the report from Arjun Appadurai, one of the members of the Commission. Education has two potentials: one is to lengthen our futures as a species and the other is to make those futures more just, more full, and more peaceful. Even if we cannot make futures as we please, education still has the potential to make our collective futures worthy of our highest shared ideals, and to realise both its potentials.
Lantern Festival at West Midland Safari Park, 1-5 December 2021
Visit West Midland Safari Park this Autumn for an epic evening lantern trail, where you can enjoy mesmerising lighting displays, discover a ‘wild’ range of breath-taking lanterns and explore the walk–through areas of the Park like never before. Be transported to a wonderland of lanterns and interactive lighting displays. With over forty light groupings, and up to 1000 individual lanterns, the event will have something for all ages.
Extraordinary Women Exhibition, Linen Hall Library, Belfast
extraORDINARYwomen is a groundbreaking collections-based community driven heritage project of engagement, creativity and skills development. This project will digitally preserve and make accessible unique materials in our archives about women and collect new stories relating to issues affecting women of all generations in Northern Ireland. It highlights activism, change, influencing and the experience of ‘ordinary’ women during the ‘extraordinary normality’ of the time. Examining roles and attitudes in Northern Ireland during a momentous period of recent history, the project focuses on women supporting and raising each other up!