Celebrating culture across Capital City College

The CCC college community recently celebrated multiculturalism with a series of Culture Day events.

A series of vibrant Culture Days have taken place across Capital City College (CCC), bringing together the college community in a celebration of international heritage and multiculturalism.

Three Culture Days took place in May at CCC’s Angel centre, Holloway centre and Finsbury Park centre. The events were organised in collaboration with student representatives from the three college centres.

During the events, students and staff were invited to take part in a number of entertaining and informative activities including henna tattoos, flag face painting and a flag quiz. Visitors to the Culture Days were also encouraged to share their favourite cultural customs by writing them and attaching them to a hanging display. A world map also showed the diverse heritage of CCC’s student and staff population with participants placing stickers on their country or countries of heritage.

There was also an exciting array of food on offer, and a number of people brought in their favourite snacks to share. A variety of music was played throughout the various events, showcasing the broad range of cultures represented at the college, and a number of students delivered live performances to entertain the crowds.

We spoke to Ben Holdaway, Enrichment Officer at the CCC’s Finsbury Park centre to learn more about their Culture Day event, which took place on 13 May and involved over 100 students.

Who organised this year’s Culture Day event at the Finsbury Park Centre?

This year’s event was organised by myself, Kate Reed, who is the Learner Voice and Tutorial Manager, and Haneefah Ahmed, who is part of our Learner Services team.

What happened during the event? 

Students celebrated their cultural heritage with an array of activities such as sharing cultural traditions, map marking and henna, as well as enjoying music, food and traditional clothing from across the world. Foundation Learning students Zak Sharvona and Kimi Haliche impressed everyone with their knowledge by correctly reeling off flag after flag after flag.

How did the event benefit the students and college community? 

College events, particularly Culture Day, brings everyone together. As a result, there is a great community feel throughout the day.

What were the highlights of the events? 

The highlight is seeing learners feel represented and celebrated for who they are and where they come from. 

Why is Culture Day important?

Culture Day is one of mine and learners’ favourite events of the year. It is a great celebration of culture, heritage and colour. Not only does everyone feel seen and celebrated, it is an opportunity to learn new things about countries and cultures you may never experience. The event simply would not have been possible without the passion and commitment towards diversity and equality our learners have.

Level 1 ESOL Student Shabana Zazai, who was part of the organising team and applied henna on the day, said: “I was proud to be part of the organising team for culture day. I supported participants and ensured everything ran smoothly. Helping celebrate different cultures was both fun and meaningful. Being part of culture day made me appreciate the value of diversity. Like a symphony of diversity, each performance added its unique note. Applying henna during culture day made me feel proud of my heritage and traditions. I was sharing something beautiful and deeply rooted in history like storytelling through art.”

Danielle Isaacs, who is currently studying Level 1 Functional Skills in English, also helped out at the event. Danielle said: “I enjoyed Culture Day and enjoyed looking at the different countries’ flags and I scanned students in. I was supporting Scotland because my Nan comes from Scotland and I really enjoyed dressing up in my Scottish clothes and enjoying myself.”

Shantel Fairweather, a Foundation Learning student, said: “I liked the photo booth and the music and different activities! I felt really proud supporting Italy during the event. My Mum, Nan and Uncle are Italian and it made me feel connected to them and my heritage.”

If you’re interested in becoming part of our vibrant and diverse college community, take a look at our wide range of expert-led courses and apply now!

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