Oxford Turns Wonderland Wild for Alice's Day Snarky Celebration!

Oxford, a city in the south of England, is celebrating its annual Alice in Wonderland festival, known as Alice's Day. This year, the festival's theme is Snarks, Rhymes & Riddles, which honors the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's famous nonsense poem, The Hunting of the Snark. The Story Museum in Oxford organizes this one-day event, which has become a beloved tradition in the city. During the festival, Oxford is transformed into a magical Wonderland, with people dressing up as characters like Alice, the White Rabbit, and the White Queen. The streets are filled with performances, storytelling, and workshops that bring the world of Alice to life.

Conrad Bodman, the chief executive of the Story Museum, says that Alice's Day is now an important part of Oxford's cultural calendar. The museum itself has special exhibits, including a room where all the furniture is upside down, just like in the story. The festival takes place around the same time that Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Dodgson, first told the story to Alice Liddell and her sisters during a boating picnic on the River Thames in 1862. Alice loved the story so much that she asked Dodgson to write it down, and it was published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865.

Everyone is invited to join the celebrations, and dressing up as your favorite character is encouraged. The festival includes activities all over Oxford, such as puppet shows and live singing at the Westgate Shopping Centre, talks from the Lewis Carroll Society at the Bodleian Library, croquet games at Christ Church, and hands-on history at the Museum of Oxford. There are also performances and an Alice-themed trail at the Oxford Botanic Garden. One of the highlights is a street theatre performance where you might see Alice chasing the White Rabbit. At the Story Museum, visitors can enjoy rhymes and riddles with the Oxford Poetry Library and play a giant interactive board game called Snarks and Riddles, created by young story curators. Over the years, Alice's Day has welcomed fans from all over the world who come to celebrate this timeless literary character and the magical world she inspired.