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"Poster with the headline 'Christmas in Birmingham', then a picture of a mother and children, looking at toys, with the words 'Come for the shopping, stay for the day'. Below that, in smaller type, the Birmingham City Council and Winterval 1998 logos."
1998 'Christmas in Birmingham' poster, with the Winterval logo in smaller type than the word 'Christmas'

Winterval was a season of public events in Birmingham, England, organised by Birmingham City Council in each of two consecutive winters: first from 20 November to 31 December 1997,[1] and then again from mid-October 1998 to mid-January 1999. The intention was to encourage people into the newly rejuvenated city centre,[2] with secular and religious events marking religious and other occasions, including Christmas, during the relevant period. The name "Winterval" has since become used in the UK as shorthand for what are misrepresented as attempts to "rebrand" Christmas so as not to exclude non-Christians.[3]

1997

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The name "Winterval" was a portmanteau of winter and festival, coined by the Council's Head of Events, Mike Chubb.[4] In October 2008 he explained:[4]

Quite simply, as head of events at that time, we needed a vehicle which could cover the marketing of a whole season of events... Diwali (the Festival of Lights), Christmas Lights switch-on, BBC Children in Need, Aston Hall by Candlelight, Chinese New Year, New Year's Eve, etc. Also, a season that included theatre shows, an open-air ice-rink, the Frankfurt Open-air Christmas Market and the Christmas seasonal retail offer. Christmas—called Christmas!—and its celebration lay at the heart of Winterval. Political correctness was never the reasoning behind Winterval, but yes, it was intended to be inclusive—which is no bad thing to my mind—and a brand to which other initiatives could be developed as part of the Winterval offer, in order to sell the city at a time when all cities are competing against each other for the seasonal trade.

The programme of events in 1997 included theatre and arts events; marking of Diwali; candlelit tours of Aston Hall; an outdoor ice rink; a German-style Christmas market; Christmas lights in the streets; and a New Year's Eve Party.[1] The front cover of the promotional brochure used the word "Christmas" three times[1] and featured a photograph of the City's official Christmas tree.[1] Each of its six pages featured the word "Christmas" in text or images.[1]

1998

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The extended Winterval the following year included: Hallowe'en; Guy Fawkes Night; Diwali; Ramadan and Eid; Hanukkah; Advent, Christmas, and Boxing Day; New Year's Eve; and Chinese New Year.

Posters were displayed, advertising Christmas events, with the word "Christmas" in large type, and the "Winterval 98" logo only as a footnote.[5]

Church of England leaders in Birmingham criticised the 1998 "Winterval" concept. Mark Santer, then Bishop of Birmingham, said in a message to his parishes that he "laughed out loud" when he learned of the concept of Winterval, which he considered to be "a way of not talking about Christmas" and "a well-meaning attempt not to offend". He wondered whether Christianity had been censored.[6] The Archdeacon of Aston called it "a totally unnecessary example of political correctness to avoid sensitivities people simply do not have".[6] The council responded that "Christmas is the very heart of Winterval", saying that Christmas-themed events were prominent among those included in Winterval, and that Christmas-related words and symbols were prominent in its publicity material.[6] While the Winterval season was longer than the Christmas season, Christmas was the focus of the relevant portion of Winterval, and a statement from Birmingham Council explained:[2]

...there was a banner saying Merry Christmas across the front of the council house, Christmas lights, Christmas trees in the main civil squares, regular carol-singing sessions by school choirs, and the Lord Mayor sent a Christmas card with a traditional Christmas scene wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

Neighbouring Solihull council invited Birmingham residents desiring a traditional Christmas to go there instead.[2]

Legacy

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Birmingham City Council did not use the name "Winterval" after the 1998–9 season,[2] but it persists as shorthand for any secular replacement for Christmas, used both by supporters[7] and opponents[8] of the traditional Christmas; it is also cited as a cautionary tale or urban legend by those who regard allegations of the existence of a "war on Christmas" as overblown.[2]

On 8 November 2011 the Daily Mail issued a correction[9] after using the term 'Winterval' in an opinion piece by Melanie Phillips, which it ran on 26 September 2011, stating:[10]

A previous version of this article stated that Christmas has been renamed in various places Winterval. Winterval was the collective name for a season of public events, both religious and secular, which took place in Birmingham in 1997 and 1998. We are happy to make clear that Winterval did not rename or replace Christmas.

The lawyer and law correspondent David Allen Green, and the campaigner Inayat Bunglawala both included Winterval as an example in evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press.[11][12] Green wrote:[11]

Within the "blogosphere" here are a number of highly regarded bloggers who specialise in exposing poor quality or misleading journalism... What happens is that a selected news story or column is subjected to scrutiny ("fact-checked") and the apparent basis for the story or column questioned. One excellent example of this is the destruction by bloggers of the Tabloid staple of "Winterval"...

The city of Waterford in the Republic of Ireland has named its municipal mid-winter festivities 'Winterval' since 2012 as an annual event that continues up to the present.[13][14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Winterval 1997". Birmingham City Council. 19 November 1997. Archived from the original on 10 December 1997. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e Arscott, Kevin (8 December 2006). "The phoney war on Christmas". The Guardian. London.
  3. ^ Burkeman (8 November 2011). "Winterval: the unpalatable making of a modern myth". The Guardian. London.
  4. ^ a b Andy, Mabbett (30 October 2008). "Winterval – the truth". Andy Mabbett, aka Pigsonthewing. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  5. ^ Walker, Jonathan (30 November 2010). "Local Government secretary Eric Pickles attacks 1998's Winterval". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  6. ^ a b c "UK | Winterval gets frosty reception". BBC News. 9 November 1998. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  7. ^ "Christmas Message: Message of the nativity excludes no-one" (Press release). The Church in Wales. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Virulent attacks on religion by atheists, he [Barry Morgan] says, are undermining Christian society, leading to new rules such as Christmas being renamed as "Winterval" and Christians being forbidden to wear crosses at work.
  8. ^ Ford, Richard; Asthana, Anushka (25 June 2009). "The Times". London: Timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2011.[dead link‍]
  9. ^ Baxter, Steven (8 November 2011). "On Winterval and the Mail". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  10. ^ Ponsford, Dominic (8 November 2011). "Mail may have perpetuated Winterval myth - but it deserves credit for killing it off".
  11. ^ a b Allen Green, David. "Witness Statement of David Allen Green" (PDF). p. 6. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014.
  12. ^ Bowater, Donna (2012). "Leveson Inquiry: as it happened 24 January". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Winterval, Ireland's Christmas Festival". Waterford City and County Council.
  14. ^ Winterval, Ireland's Christmas Festival, 2 November 2012, archived from the original on 12 December 2021, retrieved 24 December 2019
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