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<<<Back to Press Releases |
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3 October 2006 BRENT CROSS BEGINS SEASON OF CELEBRATION WITH DIWALI The 12th October marks the beginning of Brent Cross Shopping Centre's Season of Celebration, which encompasses different cultural festivals that showcase the rich diversity of the local community. From the opening Hindu festival of Diwali to the Chinese New Year celebration in early 2007, the series of award-winning events will display the beauty of each celebration and enable others to learn about the customs of those around them. Diwali - 12-22 October The highlight of this festival will be a display of Bollywood dancers on Saturday 14th October in Centre Court. There will also be henna tattoos, food tasting, paper printing workshops and a painting exhibition with local schools. Eid - 28 October Centred around a giant model Mosque in Centre Court, Eid-ul-Fitr - the celebration of the end of Ramadan - is run in conjunction with the Muslim Welfare Society. The celebrations will encompass traditional dancing demonstrations on Centre Stage, story telling, food tasting, calligraphy and henna tattooing. Chanukah - 15-23 December The Jewish Festival of Light is marked each sunset with traditional songs and music and a blessing from local Rabbi Gershon Overlander, who each evening turns on another light on the Centre's nine foot tall Chanukiah (candelabra). There is also kosher food tasting each evening, while throughout the day there is an exhibition and educational DVDs and displays, provided by Chabad Lubavitch. Christmas Lights Switch-On - 09 November Christmas is the highlight of the year and the six weeks of Festive fun start with the switch-on of the Christmas lights by the Mayor of Barnet, who this year will be assisted by cast members from ArtsDepot's production of Roald Dahl's The Twits. Throughout the Christmas celebrations, shoppers can enjoy a giant Nativity scene and a series of carol concerts by local schools, charities, community groups and churches. On Centre Court, and bigger and brighter than ever before, is Brent Cross' famous Grotto. The Centre always raises thousands of pounds for charities at this giving time of the year, none more so than for Barnet Council's Gift Tree initiative, whereby customers can buy presents for Barnet's disadvantaged children which will be distributed to them on Christmas day. Chinese New Year - February 2007 To welcome in the Year of the Pig, there will be lion dancing within the malls along with colour displays from Chinese dancers, martial arts performances, Chinese drummers and food tasting. This will be run in conjunction with centre retailer, Dr & Herbs. Tom Nathan, General Manager at Brent Cross, says, "Brent Cross welcomes people of all faiths, religions and races and with 129 languages spoken in the London Borough of Barnet, we are proud to be able to help recognise and celebrate the wide cultural diversity that surrounds us. The Season of Celebration has been running for four years now and has evolved significantly during that time. It's an award-winning programme, which every year attracts thousands of local visitors to each event and we look forward to our 2006-7 celebrations, which promise to be even bigger and better than ever before." To find out more about activities taking place at Brent Cross, visit the link below |
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