With each new year comes new beginnings: a sense of renewal, of hope and of a fresh start. In many cultures people come together to dust off the cobwebs and celebrate – out with the old, in with the new, as the saying goes. We set aspirations or resolutions, we wish for joy and prosperity for those around us, many will hope or pray for peace.
Throughout the year – however your annual calendar falls – we’ve started to spotlight cultural and religious festivals and events from around the world. We feature contributed articles and posts on social media channels, in our Kaleidoscope blog, through this newsletter, with our podcasts and through events held for alumni, with alumni and with our future alumni who are shaping their St Andrews story now.
Finding a common thread
Since 1 January (New Year for those countries and cultures adhering to the Gregorian calendar), the common thread weaving through our rich tapestry this year has been new year festivals and traditions.
With the traditional Scottish Hogmanay celebrations done and dusted, we wanted to support the other new year celebrations happening across the St Andrews community and asked the University’s Chinese Hongpao Society – led by president Luna Guan – and the University of St Andrews Music Department if there was space in their creative partnership for Kaleidoscope.
Spring Festival (春节)
This took the form of collaboration on the Society’s Spring Music Festival (新春音乐会), held at the Laidlaw Music Centre in February. Sweets and traditional teas were served, and the McPherson Recital Room was full to the brim with Chinese students, staff and alumni, as well as friends with an interest in Chinese music and culture.
President Luna reflected: “It was the most touching and exciting experience to witness the seamless integration of various cultures at the 2024 Spring Music Festival. I feel very lucky to have contributed to a small part of the festival and to have experiences the melodic afternoon of traditional and contemporary music from the Chinese-speaking world.
“We had a range of instruments and genres from a breathtaking guzheng solo to international bands performing traditional Chinese songs.
“I was particularly happy when many local residents told me that they truly felt the beauty of Chinese music through our festival. On behalf of the Chinese Hongpao Society, I can say with confidence that we are extremely proud and grateful to collaborate with the Laidlaw Music Centre on this chance to share our culture and passion with everyone. We also thank the Kaleidoscope Alumni Network for bringing the additional sweetness and joy to our most auspicious festival of the year.”
Chinese New Year is increasingly referred to as ‘Lunar New Year’, in the hope that this will acknowledge and include those both in and outside of China: people with Chinese heritage, who are interested in the culture, and who want to be involved. However, the dates of Chinese New Year are not actually based on the lunar calendar, rather on the Lunisolar calendar by the Purple Mountain Observatory, CAS (紫金山天文台), in Nanjing City. It is considered more respectful to refer to the celebration as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, and the Chinese Hongpao Society has plans to raise awareness of this in the year ahead.
New graduates Luo ShuXin (Angelia) and Huang YuZhe (Stephanie) – amongst others – captivated the audience on the piano and guzheng respectively. The duo later returned to the stage for a special Kaleidoscope recital in Holy Trinity Church as part of our Alumni Weekend programme in June.
Nowruz and Holi
In late March, Nowruz – Iranian or Persian New Year – and Holi fell in quick succession. Nowruz was celebrated in St Andrews by the Persian Society who organised traditional fire jumping on the West Sands and a New Year celebration in the Wardlaw Museum, which at the time was playing host to the exhibition Iran: Wonders of Nature.
All who attended, future alumni, alumni and friends, had a fantastic time and everyone left the event with a gift from KAN – the event concluded with karaoke and dancing!
Holi marked the end of our northern hemisphere winter and the coming of spring, the victory of good over evil and the importance of love. We worked with the Indian Society of St Andrews and Sanskriti Society as they hosted ‘Tamasha’: a weekend of events in celebration of Holi. This year, along with the Chaplaincy, we supported the colour fight event on Lower College Lawn.
The colour fight is one of Holi’s main traditions and involves a playful ‘fight’ with water and powdered colour living up to the theme of the festival of colours and merriment. We’ve been in discussion with future alumni about how we can connect celebrations in St Andrews with alumni who live locally as well as further afield and are really keen to hear from alumni who are interested in attending such events next year – and in years to come.
A shared sense of community
There is more to look forward to this year, but already the shared sense of community, understanding and of being united through our differences, combined with an appetite to learn about cultures beyond our own, has been – and continues to be – joyful.
Together, we have shared food from around the world, sipped tea in a traditional ceremony to welcome the year of the wood dragon, cleansed the past year’s negativity with a leap across flames set against the iconic skyline of St Andrews, and delighted in the sounds and songs of different cultures.
Reason to be proud
In the spirit of novelty, it has been an absolute pleasure to share in the happiness and sense of achievement felt by those who graduated in June. The Kaleidoscope ‘bench of joy’ was joyful indeed at our graduation receptions set to a background of jazz music in the Development Courtyard. A warm welcome to each and every one of you joining our global alumni community this year. We hope that you feel valued, appreciated and heard. All are very welcome in the Kaleidoscope Alumni Network.
Here’s to new years, new chapters and welcoming our new members into the alumni community!