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Winterval Review Allmusic Guide
Winterval was a season of public events in Birmingham, England, organised by Birmingham City Council in each of two consecutive winters: first from 20 November to 31 December 1997, and then again from mid-October 1998 to mid-January 1999. The intention was to encourage people into the newly rejuvenated city centre, with secular and religious events marking religious and other occasions, including Christmas, during the relevant period. The name "Winterval" has since become used in the UK as shorthand for what are misrepresented as attempts to "rebrand" Christmas so as not to exclude non-Christians. 1997 The name "Winterval" was a portmanteau of ''winter'' and ''festival'', coined by the Council's Head of Events, Mike Chubb. In October 2008 he explained: The programme of events in 1997 included theatre and arts events; marking of Diwali; candlelit tours of Aston Hall; an outdoor ice rink; a German-style Christmas market; Christmas lights in the streets; and a New Year's Eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas In Birmingham - Winterval Poster 1998
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around the world. A liturgical year, liturgical feast central to Christianity, Christmas preparation begins on the Advent Sunday, First Sunday of Advent and it is followed by Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts Twelve Days of Christmas, twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in List of holidays by country, many countries, is observed religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as celebrated culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the annual Christmas and holiday season, holiday season. The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ice-rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ice skating during the 1800s marked a rise in the deliberate construction of ice rinks in numerous areas of the world. The word "rink" is a word of Scottish origin meaning "course", used to describe the ice surface used in the sport of curling, but was kept in use once the winter team sport of ice hockey became established. There are two types of ice rinks in prevalent use today: natural ice rinks, where freezing occurs from cold ambient temperatures, and artificial ice rinks (or mechanically frozen), where a coolant produces cold temperatures underneath the water body (on which the game is played), causing the water body to freeze and then stay frozen. There are also synthetic ice rinks where skating surfaces are made out of plastics. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boxing Day
Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part of Christmas festivities, with many people choosing to shop for deals on Boxing Day. It originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in several Commonwealth nations. The attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place on 27 or 28 December if necessary to ensure it falls on a weekday. Boxing Day is also concurrent with the Christian festival Saint Stephen's Day. In parts of Europe, such as east Spain, (Catalonia,Valencia and the Balearic Islands), the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Romania, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Latvia and the Republic of Ireland, 26 December is Saint Stephen's Day, which is considered the second day of Christmas. Et ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around the world. A liturgical year, liturgical feast central to Christianity, Christmas preparation begins on the Advent Sunday, First Sunday of Advent and it is followed by Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts Twelve Days of Christmas, twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in List of holidays by country, many countries, is observed religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as celebrated culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the annual Christmas and holiday season, holiday season. The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advent
Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, often referred to as Advent Sunday. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name comes from Latin ('coming; arrival'), translating the Greek from the New Testament, originally referring to the Second Coming. The season of Advent in the Christian calendar anticipates the "coming of Christ" from three different perspectives: the physical nativity in Bethlehem, the reception of Christ in the heart of the believer, and the eschatological Second Coming. Practices associated with Advent include Advent calendars, lighting an Advent wreath, praying an Advent daily devotional, erecting a Chrismon tree, lighting a Christingle, as well as other ways of preparing for Christmas, such as setting up Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanukkah
Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from November 28 to December 27 in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabra, candelabrum with nine Branch, branches, commonly called a Hanukkah menorah, menorah or hanukkiah. One branch is placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the ''gabbai, shammash'' (, "attendant"). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the ''shammash'' until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival. Other Hanukkah festivities include singing Hanukkah musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eid Ul-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasting (''sawm'') of Ramadan. The holiday is known under various other names in different languages and countries around the world. Eid al-Fitr has a particular that consists of two generally performed in an open field or large hall. It may only be performed in congregation () and features six additional (raising of the hands to the ears whilst reciting the Takbir, saying "Allāhu ʾAkbar", meaning "God is the greatest"). In the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, there are three at the start of the first and three just before in the second . Other Sunni schools usually have 12 , similarly split in groups of seven and five. In Shia Islam, the has six in the first at the end of , before , and five i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed to have been revealed to the Prophets of Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. The annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the five pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the Hilal (crescent moon), crescent moon to the next. Fasting from dawn to sunset is obligatory (''fard'') for all adult Muslims who are not acute illness, acutely or chronic illness, chronically ill, travelling, old age, elderly, breastfeeding, Pregnancy, pregnant, or Menstruation in Islam, menstruating. The predawn meal is referred to as ''suhur'', and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called ''iftar''. Although rulings (''fatawa'') have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a midnight sun or pola ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration list of minor secular observances#November, observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and fireworks displays. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. The Catholic Church in England and Wales, Catholic plotters had intended to assassinate English Reformation, Protestant king James VI and I, James I and his parliament. Celebrating that the king had survived, people lit bonfires around London. Months later, the Observance of 5th November Act 1605, Observance of 5th November Act mandated an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure. Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day, as it was known, became the predominant English state co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hallowe'en
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is at the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the Christian liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints ( hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. In popular culture, Halloween has become a celebration of horror and is associated with the macabre and the supernatural. One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots. Some theories go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallows' Day, along with its eve, by the early Church. Other academics say Halloween began independently as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallows' Day. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Tree
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was developed in Central Europe, particularly Germany and Livonia (now Estonia and Latvia), where Protestantism, Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. The tree was traditionally decorated with "roses made of colored paper, tinsel, apples, wafers, and sweetmeats, confectionery". Moravian Church, Moravian Christians began to illuminate Christmas trees with candles, which were often replaced by Christmas lights after the advent of electrification. Today, there is a wide variety of Christmas ornament, traditional and modern ornaments, such as garlands, Christmas ornament, baubles, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star might be tree-topper, placed at the top of the tree to represent the Angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Lights (holiday Decoration)
Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom goes back to when Christmas trees were decorated with candles, which symbolized Christ being the light of the world. The Christmas trees were brought by Christians into their homes in early modern Germany. Christmas trees displayed publicly and illuminated with electric lights became popular in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, it became customary to display strings of electric lights along streets and on buildings; Christmas decorations detached from the Christmas tree itself. In the United States, Canada and Europe, it became popular to outline private homes with such Christmas lights in tract housing starting in the 1960s. By the late 20th century, the custom had also been adopted in other nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
