Magical Autumn - Portsmouth in all its Glory

Here in Portsmouth, we love Autumn, it is such a special time. The clocks go back at the end of October, the partying starts with Halloween, then Bonfire night and before you know it the early Christmas festivities will start. And nature starts to paint the day with an array of beauty, either from the leaves changing colour or from the stunning sunsets.  The days are getting colder, so boots and coats are coming out of hibernation, the heating has been turned on, soups and stews are being put on the menu to warm us up. This is Britain, this is what is wonderful about changing seasons. Autumn - Magic!

Halloween in Portsmouth - Spooky!

Try our Halloween reading quiz.  Using the vocabulary below, try and complete the gaps.

On Saturday 31^st October, many people all across the UK will be celebrating Halloween! But what are the origins of this s__________­­­­­­­­­­­   fes__________, and how will we be celebrating it here at LSI Portsmouth?

Halloween has its origins in p__________ festivals that were held at the end of October in Britain and other parts of Europe. The Celtic people though that the barrier between our world and the world of g__________ became really thin. This meant that the s__________ of d__________ people would come alive and walk among the living, and weird creatures with dark powers could wander about on Earth. In order to avoid being harmed by the spirits and c__________, people would dress up in f__________ costumes, to try and protect themselves. The Celts would have a big p__________ to try and scare away the ghosts and spirits!

Nowadays, people continue the t__________ of wearing s__________ costumes, such as dressing up as v__________, w__________, w__________ and ghosts. People often have parties, and decorate their houses to look cr__________ and ha__________. You may see lots of pumpkins in the shops at the moment. These are h__________ o      , and then have s__________ faces c__________ into them. Carving faces into pumpkins is also a tradition that originated long ago.

Click here for the answers

Last year, LSI Portsmouth had a huge party, with DJs, lots of Halloween candy, and prizes for the best scary costumes. Check out some photos from the party:

http://blog.lsi-portsmouth.co.uk/2014/11/how-to-have-scary-party-just-ask-us.html

This year, we will be selling tickets to the infamous international party on Guildhall Walk!! The party will be on the 29^th October at Popworld. If you need a ticket, go and see Belle in room 305. There will be HUGE cash prizes for the scariest costumes, as well as the most innovative costume. It’s time to get creative! On Friday 30^th, we will be hosting a halloween film club, with a choice of terrifying horror films to choose from, as well as free drinks and warm popcorn! There is also loads of halloween parties happening across the city on October 31^st, so if you’d like to find out more about what’s going on, pop into Belle’s office for a chat!

How to Have a Scary Party - Just Ask Us!

We know how to have a party!!  over 100 LSI students came together to celebrate Halloween in typical LSI style- with a huge party! From cute cats and girly witches to zombie brides and terrifying clowns, our students certainly looked scary.  

We are lucky enough to have an amazing DJ among our teaching staff, and he always knows how to get our students up and dancing. There was an amazing atmosphere, with DJ Hugo playing an strange mix of Halloween classics and current chart favourites. 

 Prizes were awarded for the best costumes, including the beautiful zombie bride Ryo (from Japan), and the bizarrely horrifying mad doctor Arthur (from Holland). However, the top prize was rightly awarded to the lovely Saudi Arabian boys, who arrived as a group, dressed as cloaked skeletons and who really made the party a scary success.

The whole event was a great success, and although there were a few tired faces in the morning, everyone agreed that it was certainly worth it. 

We would just like to say thank you to everyone who came, and we look forward to hosting the next big LSI party.