The ‘Abbey heads’ of Red Deer are in for a treat this weekend as the Red Deer Public Library hosts its ‘Downton Abbey Tea’ in honour of the release of the fourth season of the incredibly popular TV series.
The library invites anyone interested in the show to attend the Downton Abbey Tea party on Jan. 5th from 2-4 p.m. in the Snell Auditorium for tea and cucumber sandwiches.
The event will also feature a trivia contest to test your knowledge of the popular British television series as well as a judged costumed contest that invites attendees to wear their best Downton Abbey inspired costume.
Prizes will be available for the costume contest as well as for the trivia contest.
Trish Klein, adult services coordinator for the Red Deer Public Library is helping to plan the event and explained that while the UK is about to enjoy the fifth season of Downton Abbey, North America will receive the fourth season on Jan. 5th.
“Downton Abbey is a British period drama television series that follows the lives of a wealthy family and their servants,” explained Klein. “The first season is set in 1912 and tells the story of the family.”
Klein, who is in charge of DVD ordering for the library, says that they can hardly keep the box sets on the shelves due to the popularity of the drama.
The Golden Globe Award winning series has recently been recognized by the Guiness World Records as the most critically-acclaimed English Language television series. After the finale of the third season, the show was named one of the most watched television series in the world by NBC Universal with more than 120 million viewers world-wide.
“It’s a very fascinating story that surrounds the series,” said Klein.
“The castle that the show is filmed in is an actual place in England called Highclere Castle and was originally planned to help the actual family who owns the castle with the costs because as you may know it isn’t cheap to run a castle these days.”
The first season of the series surrounds such events as the sinking of the Titanic, the outbreak of the First World War, as well as the Spanish influenza pandemic.
“Whether the creators ever thought it would be this huge or not, it has become wildly popular,” said Klein. “We will be showing a documentary on the Highclere Castle so that people who maybe haven’t seen the show before or who are interested in learning more can find out about how Downton Abbey is made and what the castle is really like.”
With American celebrities like Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs, Michelle Obama, Katy Perry, Jimmy Fallon and many more having stated their adoration for the show, the future of this series looks bright, she said.
If interested in learning more about the show or if you would like to join up with other local ‘Abbey-heads’ the Red Deer Public Library invites you to register for the event by calling 403-342-9110.
jswan@reddeerexpress.com
