18 Apr 5th Annual Celebration of Culture Day 2024
Posted at 08:59h
in General
![](https://dgs.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/F8345123-211B-4470-BA0D-DD1910F9F857.jpeg)
The 4th Annual Celebration of Culture Day took place in Dundalk Grammar School turning the school into a sea of colour and creating an atmospheric vibe and buzz making it not like any other day.
Many of the students ditched their uniforms to come in wearing their own cultural attire. Whether their own culture or their adopted culture for the day, the colour of the attire made for fascinating imagery and brought the spirit of the day to life. This was a day to celebrate culture, and with over 50 cultures in the school, students were determined that their culture was going to get highlighted. While having pride in their school uniform, this was their opportunity to show their diversity and to demonstrate their pride in their culture, in a sense to celebrate their difference. In highlighting difference, it was also to raise awareness of the richness of the different cultures, thus, to encourage greater understanding and mutual respect, and to show how much each person and culture, although different, actually had in common. Hence the theme of Culture Day, United in Diversity.
As part of the day long celebrations, the students put on a celebratory concert in the afternoon to celebrate culture through song, dance, poetry and music. What came through clearly throughout was the ownership that the student body had of the whole Event. The Day was organised meticulously by a diligent and hard-working team of 6th year students, ably assisted by other teams of students, each team performing their own particular function to bring the whole concept together. It was very much student led. Stalls, foods, cafe, musicians, flags, posters, decorations. It was all there. It was a celebration. It was a festival of culture.
The concept of Culture Day started in 2018, and continued in 2019. Break for Covid in 2020 and 2021, and then back as a lower key event in 2022. But this year it was back in style, and everyone was determined to enjoy it and join in the celebration.
The student organisers were delighted to welcome to their celebration on the day the Indian Ambassador to Ireland, Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra, and his wife, Mrs Reeti Mishra. The Ambassador and his wife embraced the whole celebration and enjoyed the concert in the afternoon.
Other guests to attend on the day were:
The Spanish Embassy – Ana Alonso (education advisor), The Swiss Embassy – Valerie Swan, Irish Japanese Association – Verity Swan (IJA Member and Rotarian) and Margaret Morley (Rotary Club District Governor and Rotarian), and Irish Austrian Association – Ulrike Schoeller (Vice President).
With parents also back in attendance this year, it was generally agreed that this was certainly up there with the best of the Celebration of Culture Day celebrations.
Click here to see more photographs from the 4th Annual Celebration of Cluture Day 2023.