Lao New Year to Haitian Heritage Month: Norwich adopts calendar with 64 new holidays

NORWICH — The city has adopted a cultural calendar, highlighting 64 different cultural festivals and religious holidays recognized by communities throughout the city.

The idea first debuted in Norwich Public Schools, which has had the cultural calendar in place since last year, coming from the work of the Board of Education’s Equity Committee. There haven't been any issues with the school district using the calendar, said Suki Lagrito, one of the founding committee members.

Should confusion arise among people when it goes up citywide, it’s an opportunity for education, she added.

City Council this month voted unanimously to add the calendar to the city’s website and social media. These are not new days off for city employees.

“It’s a great opportunity for city leaders and representatives to educate, explain and bring awareness to something so wonderful and beautiful that Norwich prides itself on; its culture,” she said in an email to City Council.

Councilmember Swaranjit Singh (D), also a founding committee member, said last week the calendar is also meant to unite the community, quipping “diversity is a fact, inclusion is an act.”

Since Norwich Public Schools’ cultural calendar was first released, two more days have been added to it, and members of the community can request to add more days to the calendar, Singh said.

2020 Norwich stabbingJason Beck pled for his life in 2020. His accused murderer was offered a deal Tuesday.

Initially, there was an amendment to link to Norwich Public Schools’ Cultural Calendar page instead of tasking city hall staff with maintaining the cultural calendar.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here, they do an excellent job,” Councilmember Stacy Gould (R) said Tuesday.

The Norwich Public Schools website has a month by month calendar with different holidays and recognitions, alongside important days on the school calendar. Below that is a slideshow with an image and short explanation of each day listed in the cultural calendar.

The amendment was defeated on a party line split, 3-4, one of the last votes before Derell Wilson (D) left the city council to be sworn in as a state representative.

CT State Rep. Derell WilsonTie-breaking vote marked State Rep. Derell Wilson's final night on Norwich City Council

It’s more beneficial to have the cultural calendar on the city website itself and on the city’s social media because it has a greater audience than the public school’s website, Singh said.

“A lot of people that go on the city website for so many different reasons, for ordinances, for paying taxes,” he said. “So, I think there’d be more outreach.”

One person who sees potential in the city’s adoption is Otis Library Multicultural Services Coordinator Bassam Gayed. It could also have applications to how the library approaches event programming, Gayed said.

“We can look at it to see what’s celebrated when and to see what we’re not aware of to run a program or an opportunity or a display, so it would be really useful to us here,” he said.

Beyond that, adopting the cultural calendar, as a part of other city efforts, can translate to a practical impact of having people want to work or raise families in the city, Gayed said.

“We’re welcoming people here,” Gayed said. “This is an open place.”

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Cultural calendar, started in Norwich Public Schools, expands citywide