The children have barely started school and we are talking Christmas already? Well, time rolls so fast and everyone's pre-Christmas diary fills up super quickly, so we wanted to make sure we reserve a spot in yours as early as possible.
This year, traditional Christmas carols and stories will adorn the hall of Christ Church Sutton on 7th December, Saturday from 5pm onwards. We are planning to have extra activities for the children, so that they feel excited, engaged and entertained throughout the event.
Last years' concert featured a Christmas market, a quiet book corner, a Wish Wall and a Festive Cafe. We will keep all these elements and build on them with some new ideas. We want you to fully immerse in the Christmas spirit, so we will be creating an entire experience for you with everything that's on offer.
A Call for Performers for Christmas Concert 2024
In 2023, we were blessed to have Kingswood Music School, Myriam Gelling & her friends, a local Italian community group, the Ukrainian School in Sutton and Bulgarian Folklore Choir "Maghiya" join us for a magical showcase of songs and stories on stage. We learned how Christmas is traditionally celebrated in England, France, Italy, Ukraine and Bulgaria. This year, we are looking to expand the diversity of our festive programme and would love to include more nations who want to share their Christmas traditions through singing, dancing or drama. If you are a performer or a local community group, who would love to put up a themed performance on our stage this December, please get in touch with our performer coordinator Ani on creativeheritageuk@gmail.com.
We are open to any cultural entries, but particularly looking for the following:
Traditional/Folk English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish
Spanish
Nordic - Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish
South American - Brazilian, Colombian, Cuban and more
West African - Nigerian, Ghanaian, Sierra Leonean
Far Asian - Chinese, Filipino, South Korean and more
We encourage anyone who would love to perform and present their ethnic Christmas traditions to contact us. We can't guarantee that there will be a spot for everyone, but we will do our best to make the event programme as diverse as possible.
Why Do We Insist on Cultural Diversity?
Our aim as a community group is to preserve world traditions and folklore but also to unite and bring people together. In a world, where hostility towards "others" increasingly becomes the new normal, we believe our work of educating and bridging our differences is essential. Through exploration of centuries old traditions from very distant parts of the world, we come to realise that before modern division was a thing, we were all one. And our hope is that the by exposing the children of today to diverse celebrations, music, art and dance forms, they will become more loving, understanding and well-rounded adults of tomorrow.
Our Home, Our Pride
Keeping ethnic traditions from around the world alive, certainly does not mean we are excluding or forgetting the traditions that shaped our home, here in Great Britain. Each one of us is grateful and proud to be a citizen of such a fascinating nation. We are always looking to collaborate with local groups who have more insight into the traditional English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish cultures and to help us put more events that celebrate their folk music, dance, tales and customs. So, if you have any ideas or suggestions, we are extremely eager to hear them all! Get in touch with us on our email address creativeheritageuk@gmail.com.
Early Bird Catches the Worm
Early bird tickets for our Christmas concert will go on sale on 1st October. They will be at a discounted price and in limited quantity. Standard prices will go on sale from 1st November or earlier if the 100 early bird tickets are sold before that. Your ticket will include admission, festive refreshments and a gift for every child in attendance. Last year, thanks to the funding from Community Action Sutton, we managed to keep the adult tickets at £5 and children's tickets at £1. Our hope is to be able to do the same this year, but we will have to wait and see what the outcome of our funding applications is. Fingers crossed and let's rock those jingle bells!
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