An 11-year-old Greek girl, Erietta Karamoundzou, participated in the lighting ceremony of one of the most famous Christmas trees of the world, in its Trafalgar Square London.
11-year-old Erietta Karamoundou was one of three central London school pupils chosen to recite a poem by award-winning poet Valerie Bloom during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Trafalgar Square on the evening of December 5.
At the event co-organized by the City of London and the “Poetry Society”, the lights that decorate the “Queen of the Forest” were revealed, as is the name of the fir tree donated by the City of Oslo to London since 1947 to be placed in the central square of the British capital .
The ceremony, in addition to the poems, included traditional carols from the London Borough Philharmonic and Choir.
The donation of the tree is a gesture of gratitude from the Norwegians for British assistance during World War II, when London hosted the Norwegian government and royal family.
It is noted that the lighting of the tree in Trafalgar Square has been taking place for 77 years on the first Thursday of December.
This year, the impressive tree is 20 meters tall, weighs a ton!
Christmas has officially begun
The weather may have not been on our side but the rain isn’t going to dim my shine
Don’t fir-get to tag me in your pictures pic.twitter.com/eujCYxYNsI
— Trafalgar Square Tree (@trafalgartree) December 5, 2024
“It was a great experience and I had a lot of rehearsals with my friends. I did very well and my parents were very proud of me”, said Errieta Karamuntzou on Sunday (08.12.2024) on ERT’s “Update” show.
The mother of the 11-year-old, Penelope Chrysikou, speaking on the world radio of ERT, on the “Voice of Greece”, said that the family has been living permanently in London since 2015.
As she explained, they left during the economic crisis in Greece and both she and her husband work as doctors.
He also emphasizes that they are satisfied with their life in Great Britain, but they always have in their souls the homeland and the dream of returning.