The date of the event was not chosen by chance: it was on this day, 153 years ago, that the English mathematician, poet, and writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, began creating his famous work. This is evidenced by an entry in his diary from November 13, 1862: "Started writing a story about Alice, hope to finish it by Christmas." Additionally, this year marks exactly one and a half centuries since the first edition of "Alice in Wonderland" was published.
Such significant events provided an excellent reason for a themed evening. The scene of the Mad Tea Party from Carroll's tale was chosen as the basis. After all, what better way to warm up on a dreary autumn evening than with a good story and a cup of hot tea among interesting companions?
Guests of the event included journalists, writers, and active youth representatives from Bishkek. There were also transformations: the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, and the Red Queen were all present at the tea party. The fairy-tale atmosphere was enhanced by candies with predictions: under each wrapper were funny and serious, frivolous and wise, logical and absurd quotes from "Alice in Wonderland". And to ensure no one got lost, a path of playing cards led to the main event.
- I’m walking down a dark corridor, at the end I see light, - recounts one of the event's guests, Bishkek writer Alexander Molchanov. - Cards are scattered on the floor, there are candies in a cup on the table. Someone whispers in a sinister voice: take it, there’s a prediction. And then laughs so that chills run down my spine. I see the Hatter; it was he who whispered ominously. And suddenly! She appears from behind... the Red Queen! "Come on, let’s have tea!" - says the Red Queen and smiles. "Come on, come on," - the Hatter pats me on the shoulder. That’s how I ended up at the "Mad Tea Party," where there were 13 types of tea, candies, cookies, boorsoks, and (as a commercial) an apple pie baked according to an old English recipe! What can I say? I absolutely loved it!
As noted by the event organizer, chief editor of the information portal "IA" and the newspaper AiF-Kyrgyzstan, Vladimir Bannikov, such meetings have been held in the editorial office before.
– We have organized the Happy Eaters advertising festival several times, screenings of feature and documentary films, and we traditionally hold creative literary evenings and readings. We arrange picnics with shashlik for journalists, excursions for students. Sometimes our center hosts gatherings for board game enthusiasts. We have many plans for the future: organizing meetings with journalists from the "Arguments and Facts" publication from all regions of Russia, several themed parties, outings to the mountains, etc. I believe that people spend too much time communicating online, which is why I started organizing such meetings, so people can meet and communicate in person.
