The Count Down to Christmas Begins!
Tree Lighting Ceremony
If there is one thing that truly denotes the start of Christmas, it’s the Lighting of the Tree. The tree lighting is a popular Dulwich tradition that dates back to the inauguration of our school. At 5:00 pm precisely, on the evening of Monday, 29th November, Dulwich International High School Suzhou held its annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. This event is always very well attended by students and staff alike, as it marks the start of the build-up towards Christmas and features some great Christmas musical performances that help to create an unforgettable and magical atmosphere. Depending on the weather, the event either takes place in the open air outside Alleyn House, or in the warm inside the lobby. As the weather wasn’t too hostile, this year the event took place outside, and a very large and impressive Christmas tree was erected outside of our on-site boarding house, specifically for the event.
The event began with a string ensemble performing a delightful medley of well-known Christmas classic songs. It’s always a real pleasure to see the vast amount of musical talent that we have amongst our students and staff. This year staff and students performed side by side. The performance helped to set the scene and started to get everybody into the Christmas spirit.
The string ensemble was followed by an enchanting performance from the school choir, who sang together harmoniously, accompanied by our Director of Performing Arts: Sam Mulliner on piano.
This was followed by a heartfelt speech from our Director, Sarah Tielman who spoke movingly about the family nature of Christmas and how COVID-19 related travel restrictions were having an impact on the traditional family Christmas. As an Australian national, Sarah normally experiences Christmas in the blazing heat at the height of the Australian summer. This year, she will be spending Christmas in chilly Suzhou for the second time!
Sarah then started leading the audience in a dramatic countdown from 5 to 1, before hitting the button and lighting the tree to great cheers, as it burst dramatically into life, blazing a wonderful display of delightful twinkling lights!
But the performances were not over yet, as many members of staff (including key members of our school’s senior leadership team) serenaded the audience. They worked together to deliver a powerful rendition of the traditional Christmas Song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which they sang tunefully and with great gusto, much to the delight of our students!
Finally, Alleyn house was opened for staff to enjoy a collection of traditional Christmas treats including mince pies and chocolate yule log, mulled Wine and hot chocolate.
The event was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone that attended!
