There will be free chess lessons, chess tables to play with each other, a speed chess challenge, a blindfold chess exhibition, and more. Notable there will be a human chess game based around “Through the Looking-Glass”, performed by professional actors. Children are encouraged to dress up as characters from “Through the Looking-Glass” – but I say: if you’re an adult, go for it as well! 🙂

Date: 18 July 2021 (The festival is actually from 16 to 18 July, but the first two days of activities are not open to the public.)
Time: 11.00 – 18.00
Location: Trafalgar Square, London, UK

More information: https://www.chess-fest.com/trafalgar-square

This one-day festival includes 2 themed stages with live music and DJ’s, and performers along with stand up comedy, talks, a scavenger hunt and a theatrical Rabbit Hole experience. More importantly, there is a giant Mad Hatter’s tea party and they are aiming for a Guinness World Record to co-create ‘world’s largest Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’! So dress up as an Alice in Wonderland character, bring your tea party essentials to set your own part of the table, and join in! There will be a prize for the most outrageous tea party setting.

The festival is alcohol- and drugs-free, inclusive, and for all-ages.

Date: 9 October 2021
Place: Belmore Park, Sydney, Australia
More information and tickets: https://www.xstaticsunsets.com/xstaticwonderland

The exhibition focuses on the differences between “Through the Looking-Glass” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, as well as the Mother Goose rhymes and nonsense poetry in the story. It highlights the charm of ‘nonsense’ in the history of English picture books, and features original illustrations from John Tenniel, as well as illustrations from modern and contemporary artists.

Block the 4th and 5th of November 2021 in your agenda for the Through the Looking-Glass Sesquicentenary Conference. It will be hosted by the University of York, but all talks and associated events will be held online.

The conference aims to explore the significance of the mirror in literature, science, theology, art and other fields, and any facets of this concept that were relevant to ideas that shaped Carroll’s work, or, which have since been integral to its interpretation at different points in time.

They are currently inviting presentations exploring the theme of mirrors, offering fresh approaches to any aspects of the work itself, addressing, in particular, the difference between Looking-Glass and Wonderland, or aspects of Lewis Carroll’s biography, his historical, literary, and epistemological environment, intertextualities with other authors, Carroll’s correspondents or wider circles, which promise to shed new light on his Looking-Glass world. Contributions can be a mixture of traditional academic papers and alternative formats.

More information about the call for papers, and later on event information, can be found on their website: https://throughthelookingglasssesquicentenary.wordpress.com/