World news story

The First British Week in Paraguay.

Promoting British culture to strengthen ties between the two countries with food, music, sports and more.

Have a cup of tea - British Week 2016.

Have a cup of tea - British Week 2016.

Three years after the reopening of the embassy, ties between the UK and Paraguay are strong. From 3 to 11 September, we held the first British week ever in the country offering all citizens a variety of activities for all tastes and ages; from sports to culinary events, with the participation of a young British chef who showed how much the British cuisine has to offer.

Villa Inglesa Photo Exhibition - British Week 2016.

Villa Inglesa Photo Exhibition - British Week 2016.

On Saturday 3 September at 10:00am, the official start was given with the sports competition “The Queens Rowing Coup” at the Yacht and Golf Club. During the afternoon, a traditional 5 o’clock tea was hosted by Mrs. Eréndira Hobbs, the wife of the British Ambassador to Paraguay. The traditional British afternoon tea was organised to raise funds for the palliative cares unit of the National Cancer Institute.

On Sunday 4th, the day began at noon with a brunch that invited everyone to participate of a delightful British cuisine experience at the Yacht and Golf Club and simultaneously a national female rugby tournament of called “Superfem” took place at the Olympic Committee.

Next, on Monday evening we held a photographic exhibition to close the Villa Inglesa contest that had taken place a week before, to display the exquisite photographs taken by talented young Paraguayans of the old Sapukai train station. The Ambassador made a toast and announced the winners of the contest. Continuing with the art themed days, on Tuesday a celebration of Shakespeare’s work through a live performance by Marcela Gilabert who directed the play “Shakespeare Rocks”, a compilation of his works combined with British rock music.

On Wednesday, Prof. Andrew Nickson gave a talk by the title of “The British contribution to the economic development of Paraguay during the nationalist era of the nineteenth century” at the American University that encapsulated the rich historical ties between the UK and Paraguay.

On Thursday 8 September, the music group “Rustico” was responsible for entertaining the audience at a local pub, displaying the best of British rock and pop. A very successful evening that attracted people from different ages and highlighted the strong British influence in the country.

Chevening After Office - British Week 2016

Chevening After Office - British Week 2016

The evening of the 9th of September was reserved for the Chevening scholars that got together at the “The Urbano Resto Bar” in an after office where students and people interested in the scholarships could talk to them about their experience in the UK and encourage them to apply.

City Tour - British Week 2016.

City Tour - British Week 2016.

Saturday was filled with activities and options that ranged from a historical tour of the city of Asuncion with the Manduará Cultural Association that ended at a Street Party, a cultural and family event with a variety of activities and later a magical evening at Cine al Aire, an outdoor cinema, where people enjoy and shared a good laugh with the funny Scottish film “The Angels’ share”.

To draw a close to the British Week, we organized a charity walk named “In their shoes”, at the local “Parque de la Salud”. The event was organized to empathize with those who suffering from a disease, fostering empathy and solidarity.

Street Party - British Week 2016.

Street Party - British Week 2016.

The British Week marathon can be summarized in 15 events throughout 7 days that makes us happy due to the large numbers of participants that enjoyed the activities that we planned for them. This is a clear indicator of the work of the British Embassy in Paraguay and showed us the strength of our bilateral cooperation.

Published 11 October 2016