SHOPPERS were surprised by white rabbits browsing the aisles of city stores as part of Oxford’s second Alice Day, celebrating Lewis Carroll’s story of Alice in Wonderland, yesterday.

Events took place across the city for the whole day for fans of the book. Alice’s Day co-ordinator Esther Browning said: “There was a fantastic range of things happening for families and children of all ages and adults too.

“Pretty much every museum in Oxford has been involved in the day in some way. There were all sorts of things happening across the city.

“The reason we did it was Alice in Wonderland was written in Oxford and it’s such an internationally renowned story, it seems to be a really good thing to do in the city.

“This was something fun and for the family, right in the middle of Oxford.”

Events included lectures by the Lewis Carroll Society, outdoor performances by the Mad Dog Theatre Co and a book signing by Helen Oxenbury, the award-winning illustrator who produced artwork for a 1999 edition.

There were also concerts and shows in Bonn Square and story tellings in libraries across the county, all arranged by the Story Museum, the charity aiming to set up a museum dedicated to children’s literature in Oxford.

The more bizarre events included people dressed up as white rabbits popping up around the city to surprise shoppers.

Ms Browning said: “They popped up in all sorts of places, browsing in a shop or making a phone call or reading a book, just to remind shoppers of the day.”

The first Alice’s Day, which was the largest citywide event co-ordinated by the charity, was held in 2007 and took a year of planning.

Alice’s Day celebrated characters created by Carroll, in real life Christ Church don Charles Dodgson. On July 4, 1862, he conjured up the weird world of Alice as he travelled along the River Thames from Oxford’s Folly Bridge to Godstow with Alice Liddell, the real-life child who inspired his popular stories.