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Finnish wife-carrying race among UCL EuroDay events on Thursday 3rd July

1 July 2003

A Finnish wife-carrying race, a German hip-hop performance and a Q and A session between school students and Dr Denis MacShane MP, the Minister for Europe, are among the range of events being held to mark EuroDay on Thursday 3rd July.

EuroDay is the day-long UCL festival intended to encourage take-up of language learning among school students.

Over 1,000 school students from all over London will be attending the day, which will be formally opened by Dr MacShane in UCL's Front Quad, Gower Street, at 10.30 this Thursday. The students will get the opportunity throughout the day to enjoy brief tasters in a dozen European languages, as well as take part in a number of panel discussions on issues that include Britain's place in Europe and the challenging of national stereotypes.

Events taking place as the day unfolds include:

  • 10.30: Formal opening by Dr Denis MacShane, Minister for Europe, and Q and A with school students;
  • 11.00: Media questions with Dr MacShane, and Professor Michael Worton, UCL's Vice-Provost;
  • 11.00 and 13.30: Steel band performance by students from Archbishop Michael Ramsay Technical College, Camberwell, The Portico;
  • 11.30 and 13.00: Finnish wife-carrying demonstration, Gordon Square;
  • 12.30: Britain in Europe, student discussion, Haldane Theatre;
  • 12.30 and 14.30: German hip-hop performance, The Portico;
  • 13.30: "Who wants to be a millionaire?"- style quiz sponsored by the German embassy, Chemistry Auditorium;
  • 13.30: Slovenian rock star Aleksander Mezek performs the official song of the new European member states, The Portico;
  • 13.30: Undoing and challenging stereotypes, a school student discussion, Haldane Lecture Theatre;
  • Language tasters for students in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, German, Swedish, Italian, Finnish, Russian, Norwegian and Icelandic, Garwood Lecture Theatre (check times with UCL media office).

"We at UCL are looking forward to celebrating the cultural diversity of Europe on July 3rd. As a university which teaches 22 European languages, we are especially committed to the development of language learning and shall enjoy sharing our ideas on the way ahead", said Professor Worton.

Further Information

1. Denis MacShane MP, Minister for Europe, will formally open EuroDay in the Front Quad of UCL at 10.30 on Thursday 3rd July. He will take questions from the school students in the Quad, and will be available to the media at 11.00. Professor Michael Worton will also be available for interview.

2. Please contact the UCL media office for details of the schools participating in EuroDay.

3. EuroDay is being supported by the following embassies: Russian, Serbian, Belgian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swiss, Danish, Finnish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Slovakian, Austrian, Slovenian, Croatian, Swedish, Polish and the Cypriot High Commission. All of the embassies will be supporting events, for a full list or more information contact Clare Bridgewater, EuroDay Media & Publicity Officer, 07792 415 030, c.bridgewater@ucl.ac.uk.

4. Media are welcome to attend the events highlighted above, or any of the others being held throughout the day. Please note that due to the large numbers of people attending the event you are strongly advised to arrive in good time for filming/photography of the events. Please contact the UCL media office in advance on 020 7679 7678 if you are planning to attend.