GROUPS across the city are joining hands to turn Oxford into Wonderland for Alice’s Day.
This year will be a double celebration as it marks 150 years since the publication of Lewis Carroll’s beloved children’s book, Alice in Wonderland.
Fans of the topsy-turvy classic will be spoilt for choice as schools, museums, tourist hotspots and even bus companies offer a plethora of Alice-themed events on July 4.
At East Oxford Primary School in Union Street, pupils have been learning their lines for a musical, Alice in Wonderland Junior, to be performed at the Story Museum and Pegasus Theatre. They are also plotting a mass game of Simon Says to be held in Bonn Square.
Headmaster Russell Kaye said: “We are looking at the idea of doing a musical at the end of each year. We chose Alice as it will be the 150th.”
Eight-year-old pupil Michelle Mansell will be playing ‘Little Alice’, after the heroine drinks a bottle labelled ‘Drink Me’ and shrinks down to ten inches tall.
She said: “I’ve read Alice in Wonderland; it’s really good. My favourite part is when she falls down the rabbit hole. I like it because Alice has some great adventures, and I would like to have adventures.”
Oxford residents will be able to have adventures of their own all day courtesy of Stagecoach, which is offering free city centre travel to anyone fully dressed as Alice.
A range of family-friendly, mostly free activities are planned across the city. A suitably bizarre Mad Hatter’s Tea Party is being thrown at the Story Museum, featuring a giant Wonderland cake.
The museum in Pembroke Street has taken up the task of searching for 150 ‘Official Alices’ in costume to be help launch the celebrations.
Alice’s Day falls every year on July 4. On that day in 1862, Oxford don Charles Dodgson, pen name Lewis Carroll, took 10-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boating picnic along the River Thames from Folly Bridge. To amuse the girls, he told them a story that young Alice begged him to write down, which became Alice in Wonderland.
* For a fill lineup of Alice’s Day events and to sign up as an official Alice, visit storymuseum.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/alices-day/
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here