On June 6, the Confucius Institute of our university attended the two-day Riverside Festival at the invitation of the Leicester City Council. As the largest and most influential comprehensive popular cultural event in the Leicester area, this year's festival aimed to promote cultural diversity and enhance community interaction and mutual support. It attracted nearly 60,000 local citizens over the weekend, creating a remarkably vibrant atmosphere.
During the event, Yi Zhang, Director of the Confucius Institute, Hongru Liu, Events Lead of the Confucius Institute and all volunteer teachers attended this major city cultural celebration together. At their specially set-up cultural booth, the teaching team actively showcased traditional Chinese culture to the citizens of Leicester with immense enthusiasm and a wealth of interactive activities.
With patience and care, the volunteer teachers guided and assisted local children in getting hands-on experience, drawing traditional Chinese elements on paper plates and designing their own Chinese bookmarks. Through these fun, hands-on activities, the children experienced the unique charm of Chinese characters and classical Chinese aesthetics up close.
The Confucius Institute’s wonderful presentation was not only warmly received and highly praised by the local community—becoming a beautiful highlight of the festival—but it also sowed the seeds of language learning through entertainment. Through this immersive cultural interaction, the Confucius Institute effectively promoted local Chinese language education, brought Chinese culture closer to the local multi-ethnic community, and injected fresh vitality into the harmonious coexistence of diverse cultures.
Posted on Wednesday 10 June 2026