THEY HAVE A GIFT FOR IT

Spotted today on the door of Superdrug, Humberstone Gate, Leicester city centre.

CHRIST IN THE CENTRE FACES FUNDING CRISIS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Christ in the Centre faces funding shortfall

An urgent appeal has been made for donations to meet a shortfall in funding for a re-enactment of Christ's crucifixion.

Organisers of the Christ in the Centre play are about £8,500 short of the £43,000 total they need for the event on Good Friday.

The event, which is in its 11th year, attracts about 10,000 people, who watch the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus in Humberstone Gate, Leicester.

Event trustee Jonathan Wheeler has urged people to help them reach their target.

He said: "If you have enjoyed the event, if it has made a difference to your life, then we would encourage you to make a donation.

"We cannot run this on fresh air and goodwill.

"If we don't reach the total we need this year, the event will still go ahead.

"But what will probably happen is that we will go into the next year without any reserves and that might mean scaling it back considerably.

"We would have to have a very deep think about whether the current event remains financially viable."

Increased staging and security costs and the addition of a second performance have pushed up prices by about £3,000 since last year.

The Rev Stephen Foster, joint chair of the event's organising committee, said the extra performance was added due to public demand.

The event receives a £10,000 grant from the Diocese of Leicester and £2,000 from Leicester City Council, with the rest of the costs met by donations from churches, individuals and charities. Mr Foster said: "We have some wonderfully loyal supporters who have donated to the cause over the years.

"But several of them have indicated that they cannot be as generous this year as they have in the past, which is understandable."

Christ in the Centre will be staged in Humberstone Gate on Good Friday, March 29, at 11am and 2pm.

Donations can be made to Jonathan Cryer, CitC treasurer, 4 Honeybourne Close, Oadby, Leicester LE2 5JP. Cheques should be made out to 'Christ in the Centre'.

TWIST IN REENACTMENT'S TALE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Twist in reenactment's tale

Next year's powerful reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus in the city centre promises to tell the Easter story in a different way to previous years.

The Christ in the Centre event, held each year on Good Friday, will be given a new twist by children's author Meg Harper.

It will be based on her play, The First Easter, which has been performed in both the UK and US.

She has joined the event's producers and is writing fresh scenes to extend the original script, which will premiere at the event in Easter 2013.

It is also the first year the play will be staged twice in one day.

Rev Stephen Foster, Anglican chaplain to Leicester University, and joint chairman of the event's organising committee, said: "One of the strengths of performing this in the heart of Leicester's shopping area is the opportunity to bring the true Easter message to a much wider audience than we have done before.

"We hope holding the second performance in the afternoon will increase the effectiveness of this outreach."

The event's organisers are also asking anyone who would like to be part of this year's religious reenactment to attend one of the two casting workshops being held in December.

Casting workshops will take place tomorrow and on Saturday, December 8, at St Andrew's Community Hall, in Jarrom Street, Leicester.

Both workshop sessions begin at 11am.

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, welcomed thousands of people to last year's event, which cost £40,000 to stage.

Hoards of spectators packed out Humberstone Gate and joined in prayer before watching the traditional Bible story unfold – with some audience members being brought to tears by the powerful narrative.

The play's new artistic director, Sarah Chiswell-Hornett, creative projects producer at The Castle Theatre, in Wellingborough, has been tasked with recreating the passionate atmosphere of the event.

She said: "We want the event to be a community-based telling of the Easter story, using a combination of theatre and music, which will bring people together in the heart of Leicester."

The play's writer Meg Harper has previously penned scripts for similar events in Warwick, where her story The Day They Killed The Son of God was performed on Good Friday in 2007.

This year's performance of The First Easter will take place in Humberstone Gate, at 10.30am and 2pm.

Wheels in motion for parade

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Wheels in motion for parade

The final preparations are under way for a colourful and lively city centre procession set to attract thousands of people.

The annual Hare Krishna Festival of Chariots returns to Leicester tomorrow.

The city hosts the second biggest celebration in Europe and festival-goers will descend on Humberstone Gate, to pull three giant chariots from the Clock Tower, in the city centre, to Cossington Street park, Belgrave.

Devotees believe that if they get the honour of pulling the ropes of the giant chariots – carrying models of Lord Krishna, Lady Subhadra and Lord Balarama – they are brought closer to the Gods, and at the end of this life they will be granted a place in the spiritual world.

Organisers are busy cooking food, arranging flowers and decorating the chariots for the festival, which is expected to attract 9,000 visitors.

Krishan Mistry, who owns Loughborough wedding florist Vrinda Flowers, will be helping to make garlands and flower displays for the festival.

He said: "Flowers play a really important part of the festival and are very significant.

"Garlands are a traditional way of welcoming and showing respect for guests, so those are being made to give to VIPs on the day, and to offer to the deities.

"Flowers are significant because we feel that while you can offer gold and silver, that is a one-time offering. But flowers will wilt, so the offering can be made again and again.

"The flower side of things can be very busy, because it has to be done last minute as the flowers will wilt.

"The arrangements for the park were done on Friday and the garlands will be done today – into the late hours."

The 5,000-year-old festival came to the UK from India in the 1960s, and has since been celebrated in hundreds of cities all over the world.

This year will mark the 14th time the festival has taken place in Leicester – the second biggest celebration in Europe, after London.

The procession leaves Humberstone Gate at noon, and arrives in Cossington Park at 2.30pm.

One of the organisers, Nimai Devi Dasi, said she hoped this year would be bigger than ever.

"Last year, we had 8,000 people, and this year we are expecting 1,000 more," she said.

"It certainly grows every year. The atmosphere is very jovial and family-friendly, and we invite people from all cultures to join us and celebrate.

"The pulling of the chariots is very important and symbolises pulling God into your heart.

"There will also be lots going on at Cossington Park, too, with tents, free food and a children's area with dancing and yoga."

Setting the scene for Rathayatra

The giant television screen on Humberstone Gate is showing this colourful promotional slide for Rathaytra - the Hindu Festival of Chariots - that will set out from here this Sunday morning. I have the kids this weekend, so I think it would be a nice thing for them to see: colourful, noisy, vibrant (the festival that is: though it should suit my kids perfectly!)

WORSHIPPERS IN FIRST BIG FESTIVAL SINCE BLAST

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Worshippers in first big festival since blast

Hare Krishna worshippers have held their first major public display following an explosion at their temple.

Dancers and singers from all over the world entertained the crowds in Humberstone Gate, in the city centre, at the event on Saturday.

The Leicester Hare Krishna devotees were left devastated after an explosion destroyed their temple in Thoresby Street, North Evington, in September.

The explosion and subsequent fire left some people homeless, as they lived at the temple.

The worshippers, who have been holding weekly gatherings in rented premises ever since, were finally ready for their free festival, which included Bengali drum displays, Hare Krishna chanting and the Leicester Afro Kubanza drummers, at the weekend.

Dancer Anapayini Jakupko, who grew up in Leicester but moved to America 12 years ago, travelled back to perform with the headline act, the Bhakti Dance Seva Ensemble.

Anapayini said: "Leicester is very close to my heart, as I was raised in the Iskcon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) community here.

"My father was instrumental in starting the temple about 20 years ago, and now we feel honoured to be able to offer our help."

CHRIST IN THE CENTRE ON GOOD FRIDAY

I take Harry and Gracie in to see Christ in the Centre this morning. We don't make it in time to see the whole thing and miss the first half, that was performed in the appropriately named St Peter's Square in Highcross, then moved along High Street to Humberstone Gate. We join the crowd there, at the point in the story where Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The second half of the story is played out on a stage in front of the giant TV screen (which was used to great advantage), between Primark on one side (as seen in the photo above) and Superdrug on the other. I took that picture just at the moment in the story when Pontius Pilate infamously washes his hands of Jesus.


I found the whole thing very moving - and some of it distressing. There were clearly many people watching who weren't well versed in the Easter story and didn't seem prepared for the fairly harrowing depiction of these events in the final hours of Jesus' earthly life.


It was a beautiful warm and sunny morning and the event attracted a huge crowd. This was one of a number of public performances of the Passion Play, in diverse forms and settings, taking place in many parts of Britain today.


Here's a link to the report published the next day in the Leicester Mercury. There's a great slide show of photos taken on the day (along with reader's comments, although they barely touch on this event, but focus on the erroneous notion that St George's Day events are banned in Leicester),

Silence will fall

On the way back from St Thomas' the Apostle in South Wigston where Harry was singing in the choir at the Maundy Thursday service, we pass through the city centre shortly after 2100 and see rehearsals for Christ in the Centre, which takes place tomorrow (Good Friday).

In keeping with displaying the bricolage, here's a picture of rehearsals for the Crucifixion in Humberstone Gate, in front of the giant TV screen. I'm not trying to fool myself (or you, faithful reader) that it's a good photo. I snapped it as the giant screen was showing a trailer for the new series of Doctor Who, showing the phrase "Silence will fall in 2 days". That would be Holy Saturday, the day largely forgotten, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This is the kind of thing that simply leaps out to me. The juxtaposition in that moment just seemed meaningful - profound in a banal, everyday sort of way - and in keeping with the question Harry asked me as we left the Maundy Thursday service just half an hour before.

Mixing Faiths on the Big Screen

On the Big Screen in Humberstone Gate this rainy Friday afternoon, a short film called "Mixing Faiths", made by students from Regent College (or "Regents College") as the on-screen credit has it.

Animated cartoon heads of four teenagers (whom I assume to be students at the college) talk about faith issues that affect them personally. It was hard to hear everything that what was being said in the film, but it all looked good to me. I'm sure the students have done a good job on this. More power to them!

The talking heads are surrounded by a border displaying the symbols of many religions, faiths and beliefs, in a stylised hand-drawn manner. I spotted symbols for each of the eight member communities of Leicester Council of Faiths, as well as for Humanism and Shintoism.

WE ARE ONE LEICESTER FESTIVAL

The day after the demonstration by the English Defence League and counter-demonstration by Unite Against Fascism, several thousand people gather in Humberstone Gate for the We Are One Leicester Festival. This major event in the life of our city has been organised by Leicester City Council and Hope Not Hate.

Undoubted highlight of today is a free gig by Billy Bragg, who includes a rousing rendition of "We Shall Overcome". Indie rockers Reverend and the Makers perform at the end of the day. In between these two sets, various entertainers and local worthies appear on stage to reinforce our pride in the city's diversity and our commitment to its unity. Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths, Cllr Manjula Sood, takes to the stage to speak on behalf of Leicester Council of Faiths:

Good afternoon One Leicester! It’s so beautiful to stand here and see all of you.

On behalf of Leicester Council of Faiths, I would like to say a big thank you to all of you. Yesterday we showed that we stood united and today is a remarkable day: Ten! Ten! Ten! Tenth of October 2010 when the whole city has come together.

On behalf of all the Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jains, Bahá'ís and Buddhist communities and Jews, I would like to pass on their gratitude.

EDL is defeated yesterday, with a very strong message: you are not welcome here. There’s no room for them, even to stand there among us.

Our long and proud history of Leicester – of love respect, understanding, respect, our heritage; many cultures, beliefs, neighbourhoods –  have proved nobody can come and divide us. Our community cohesion cannot be challenged.

You can see her full speech (four minutes long) on YouTube along with a variety of other videos on a playlist there, offering extensive coverage of contributions from the stage and among the crowd.

Humberstone Gate is rammed this afternoon. There are many displays and activities put on by local community groups, local authorities and service providers from the city and county. Artists and performers are out in force too including some of my personal favourites, the stilt-walkers (photo above). There's a lovely touch of autumn sunshine and a palpable sense of relief that yesterday's events are behind us and togetherness about going forward.

Leicester Council of Faiths has space in the  marquee, where we set up one of our banners and hand out loads of leaflets. You can get a good look at it in a short video posted by pappukadri on YouTube (listen for Grace's distinctive shoot-out for her brother at 0:38). We have a good spot, near the front and next to the fellow blowing up the helium balloons - but the folk on our stall spend more time tying and tethering balloons than anything else!

I also get out and about with fliers for Leicester Speaks. We're kicking off that week of activities across the city with our launch event on this same spot tomorrow morning.

BBC Radio Leicester covered the event on its website. Links to several examples of media coverage of today can be found on the web page, Uniquely Leicester.

As far as our small contribution to this big event went today, thanks to Barbara, Celia, Lucy (and Harry and Gracie) for helping.

JESUS LOVES LEICESTERSHIRE

A big musical performance by a big band on a big stage this morning, in front of the big TV on Humberstone Gate. The LED above the performers says "Jesus loves Leicestershire": I do hope so!