Winterval

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Winterval is a portmanteau word coined to describe all festivities taking place around the end of the year (the winter in the Northern Hemisphere). It is a fusion of the words winter and festival and was intended to be an alternate description that embraces the mix of Neopagan (December solstice, Yule), Jewish (Hanukkah), African American (Kwanzaa), and other secular holidays such as New Year's Day that take place during the last months of the year, rather than just the originally Christian festivals of Christmas, Advent and Boxing Day.

[edit] Birmingham controversy

The word came to prominence in 1998 when Birmingham City Council in the United Kingdom used it as a title to encompass the three month collection of multi-faith and secular events, running from October to January, and including Diwali, Bonfire Night, New Year and other seasonal events as well as Christmas itself.

Winterval ran for 2 years - 1997 to 1998 and was intended as a way to drive business into Birmingham's newly rejuvenated town centre.

Elements of the popular press, spurred on by the then Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev Mark Santer attempted to portray it as an attempt to give the Christmas festivities a politically correct flavour. The bishop stated:

"I wonder what madness is in store for us this Christmas? I confess I laughed out loud when our city council came out with Winterval as a way of not talking about Christmas. No doubt it was a well-meaning attempt not to offend, not to exclude, not to say anything at all".

However, the council's response was:

"Birmingham City Council wants people to celebrate Christmas. Christmas is the very heart of Winterval; far from not talking about Christmas the events within Winterval and the publicity material for it are covered in Christmas greetings and traditional images, including angels and carol singers".

The council had drawn particular attention to the city's Anglican cathedral during the festival by placing Christmas lights in the trees around the building, and the greeting "Happy Christmas Birmingham" hung in large lights over the main entrance to the Council House as it had done every other year.

This story has almost become an Urban Legend and is regularly cited as an example of "Political-correctness gone mad" in the tabloid press, particularly around Christmas time.

[edit] See also

• Christmahanukwanzaka
• Chrismukkah
• Christmas controversies

[edit] References

• BBC on the Birmingham controversy November, 1998
• Polly Toynbee of The Guardian on Winterval December 2000
• The phoney war on Christmas Oliver Burkeman in The Guardian describing and debunking the Winterval urban legend among others. December 2006
• The Times, Winterval. It's just what I want for Christmas by Mary Kenny. Supports the idea that the secular festival should be given a different name to the religious one. December 2006.