Big Winter Event at HSE Lyceum: The Spirit of New Year and Charity
In December, the HSE Lyceum held the second ever Big Winter Event, a large-scale celebration combining the themes of the New Year and charity. The event was held in all four lyceum buildings, as well as in the atrium of the HSE University building on Pokrovsky Bulvar. There was something for everyone to enjoy—be it an economic biathlon or a chess tournament, debates or quizzes, master classes or karaoke—while keeping in mind those who need a helping hand.
Big Preparations
The organisers wanted the Big Winter Event to unite the lyceum community and help the participants feel that they could rely on each other. This year, the scale of the event was even larger, with the festivities spread across several stages. The fair and the grand ball were preceded by a charity week when everyone could contribute by volunteering and supporting social projects. Donation boxes were placed in each building of the lyceum so that anyone could bring things for those in need. A podcast dedicated to the charity marathon was also released. There were four episodes in total, each devoted to different topics: practices of participation, social journalism, charity, and cultural volunteerism.
The Fair
The Big Winter Event started with a Christmas market. Lyceum students, curators, and creative associations prepared stations in each building where visitors could take part in activities ranging from cooking classes to intellectual games.
At the lyceum building on Lyalin Pereulok, guests could make wax candles, learn to craft Christmas wreaths, and weave bracelets. Master classes, debates, quizzes, an economic biathlon, and chess and table tennis tournaments were held in the lyceum building on 3rd Kolobovskiy Pereulok.
In the Solyanka building, the LycGameDev station held an express course on video game development, while the organisers of the Dungeon Masters or Not Just Board Games club invited visitors to play a game of Dungeons & Dragons.
Attendees could also try their hand at modern art: at the Art of Cabbage station, participants could paint with a solution of red cabbage, baking soda, and citric acid. By combining these ingredients in various proportions, the artists created a palette, then applied paints to canvas.
The fair in the building on Trifonovskaya Ulitsa was dedicated to Asian Studies, with Asian cuisine and master classes in decorating fans or creating unique ornamental plates. Literature lovers could take in a slow reading of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, sharing their impressions and discussing interesting points of the book.
The Ball
The second part of the Big Winter Event took place at the HSE building on Pokrovsky Bulvar. In an impressive spectacle, students from all fields gathered in the atrium round a large decorated Christmas tree for the ball. In this magical atmosphere, they recited the oath of the lyceum students. The programme continued with a costume parade, while the grand ball, featuring almost five hundred dancers, crowned the event. Rehearsals began a few months before the ball. The event ended with a concert and a party.
