The Somerset Poppies

AT the Bishop's Palace in Wells an installation has literally popped up on the Croquet lawn. Featuring over 8000 poppies made by children at schools in and around Wells, Somerset. Each poppy will represent a serviceman from Somerset, or who served in a Somerset regiment, who lost his life in World War One.

Poppies can be pre-ordered for £5 at www.somersetpoppies.co.uk. All proceeds will be donated to the Wells branch of the Royal British Legion, and SSAFA, the armed forces charity.

The exhibition (11th - 25th November) is free to view.




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GFEST 2018

THE annual November LGBTQI+ entertainment and cross-art event GFEST – Gaywise FESTival will be launched on Monday the 12 November at Alexandra Palace, Palm Court. GFEST 2018 events will be listed on the website: https://gaywisefestival.org.uk

This year’s festival theme is #SociallyEQUAL and the organisers are proud to present a free entry entertainment evening full of live acts presenting music, dance, acapella, performance poetry at the launch.


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Free admission for U.S. veterans

THROUGH to July 4, 2018, SeaWorld is offering U.S. veterans and up to three guests free admission to all three of its parks – SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Antonio and SeaWorld San Diego.

Since SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment started the Waves of Honor program in 2005, more than 9 million active military, veterans and their families have visited the parks for free, which represents an estimated value of $300 million.

U.S. military veterans and retirees may redeem admission for themselves and up to three guests online at www.WavesofHonor.com


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Celebrate the Royal Wedding with free entry

TO celebrate the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Madame Tussauds Sydney is offering free entry to guests with the same first names as the bride and groom to-be for the weekend of May 19-20.

Guests named Harry and Meghan (of any spelling) who visit Madame Tussauds Sydney on the weekend of the Royal wedding can claim free entry to the Darling Harbour attraction on presentation of photographic ID at the ticket desk.

www.madametussauds.com.au

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Get down with Dippy in Dorset

HAVE you ever spotted a dinosaur in a cathedral, a parliament building or a community centre? Dippy on Tour is kicking off its journey on the Jurassic Coast with a visit to #Dorset County Museum.

Never before on public display outside of London’s Natural History Museum, Dippy is travelling the length and breadth of the country from 10 February 2018 to late 2020. The British icon is on a mission to inspire five million people to experience nature, encouraging families and schools to explore nature on their doorstep.

#Dippy has delighted visitors since he arrived in London in 1905. In partnership with the Garfield Weston Foundation, it is hoped the tour will spark the imagination of the next generation of scientists and connect the nation with nature.


Dippy is at the Dorset County Museum until May 7, entry to see Dippy is free but be sure to book your space on the Musuems website.


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New world-class sporting event for London

BRITISH Athletics has confirmed that eight of the worlds top athletics nations will compete in the Athletics World Cup London 2018 this summer.

Following on from the success of London 2017 which saw the capital become the first city ever to stage both the World Para Athletics and IAAF World Athletics Championships in the same year, fans of the sport will once again see the best countries competing in the UK, in the greatest athletics stadium in the world.

Athletes from USA, Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Poland, China, Germany, France, Jamaica and South Africa will compete in the ground-breaking two-day event on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 July at the London Stadium.

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Sound waves on the beach

FORT Lauderdale continues to prove itself as one of South Florida’s top music destinations with the release of the 2018 Friday Night Sound Waves artist lineup. Filling the gap between the area’s largest music festivals, Tortuga Music Festival in April and Riptide Music Festival in December, the 8-month long series brings together a community of locals and visitors from around the globe, every Friday night. Now in its 3rd year, the free concert series, which takes place steps from the sand and under swaying palm leaves, returns to their home on March 16, 2018 at 6:00 pm, at the self-proclaimed “Fort Lauderdale Beach Hub,” at Las Olas Boulevard and A1A.

Widely recognized not only for the quality of artists performing, but also the wide variety of music genres, the series attracts an equally diverse audience at the family-friendly, weekend starting event. Filling beach chairs and blankets, and lining the beach’s landmark wave wall, the area comes alive with music, smiles and dancing as the day goes from sunshine to moonlight.

Friday Night Sound Waves takes place every Friday night, March 16 through November 2 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm. The family-friendly event, sponsored in major part by the beach business community, is free to the public and open to all ages.

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It's great to be in the North

THE Great Exhibition of the North (22 June to 09 September 2018) will celebrate the North’s cutting-edge technology and inspiring culture that has defined the past and continues to shape the future. 

The free, family-friendly Exhibition brings together performance, visual arts and interactive experiences using the city as its stage, with activity in NewcastleGateshead’s world-class venues and outdoor spaces. 

Visitors can begin their journey at one of two Exhibition Hubs at the Great North Museum or Gateshead Quays (BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and Sage Gateshead), connected by three walking trails focusing on arts and culture, design and innovation.

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Bristol Street Art & Banksy-inspired Giveaway

UPFEST 2017, Europe’s largest, free, street art & graffiti festival, will take place from 29 to 31 July when over 300 artists will paint at 35 venues throughout Bedminster & Southville.

Talented artists travel from 30 countries and across the UK to paint live on 30,000sqft of surfaces in front of 35,000 visitors.

Ashton Gate will be the biggest area at the festival with more than 100 artists painting live, inside and outside of stadium. The venue will also host the longest painting surface for the festival to date with 50 artists painting on a 200m stretch, alongside a New York Style Subway Train, live entertainment, a plethora of children's workshops including Morph making sessions in association with Aardman and an art fair area featuring hundreds of pieces of affordable art and exclusive prints from a selection of festival artists.

And for a chance to win a Banksy-inspired giveaway enter online at visitbristol.co.uk/competition

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Okinawa Day at London Spitalfields

OKINAWA Day returns to London Spitalfields market again this year 24 June 2017, 10:00 - 18:00 for an enjoyable day filled to the brim with fun, food, and folk dancing aimed at introducing the unique culture of #Okinawa to an ever-larger UK audience.

Okinawa is a chain of hundreds of around 160 small, subtropical islands stretching over 1,000 kilometres off the coast of southern #Japan. Tropical islands may not be the first thing which spring to mind when you think of Japan, but the islands of Okinawa thoroughly deserve to be on any Japan visitor’s radar, for their gorgeous and wild natural scenery and immaculate, honeymoon-worthy beaches as much as for their unique culture.

Today, Okinawa is Japan’s southernmost prefecture, but in ancient times it was its own island kingdom called the Ryukyu Kingdom, meaning that it possesses a unique culture very different from that of mainland Japan.

Launched in 2009 by Okinawa Sanshinkai group, who wanted to introduce Londoners and visitors to the city to the rich and vibrant Okinawan culture and its distinct differences from that of mainland Japan, this year’s event will be the ninth annual Okinawa Day.

The prospective program for this year’s event includes:

Ryukyu Music, Eisa Dance, Karate performances - Performances of Ryukyu performing arts and martial arts by individuals and  groups from the UK and Okinawa, Entertainment for kids, Okinawan food stalls - selling a variety of Okinawan food and drinks, including awamori (Okinawan liquor), brown sugar milk, fruit juice, Okinawan sweets and more and Okinawan arts and crafts stalls - selling a variety of unique and original arts and crafts objects from Okinawa as well as Okinawa Day original t-shirts.

Don’t miss the displays of Okinawan performing arts in the main square - the lively yet lilting melodies of traditional drumming, Eisa dancing, and Okinawan folk and classical songs accompanied by sanshin lute will instantly transport you to this island paradise in the sunny south of Japan.

Admission to this day of authentic Okinawan-style entertainment is completely free, so make sure you stop by Spitalfields to catch some of the musical performances and sample some of the delicious Okinawan treats on offer.

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Food & Music

KINGSBRIDGE in #Devon will be food and music lovers' heaven from June 2-4 featuring a tempting array of locally produced delicacies to enjoy while listening to an eclectic mix of talented musicians.

This family-friendly festival is free, and features some of the finest acts in the South West. This year's diverse line up features funk, soul, jazz, rock, pop, dance, rhythm, blues, swing, indy, and gospel choir.

Foodies will be faced with mouth-watering dilemmas between Thai, Indian, sushi, paella, street food, wood-fired pizzas, pasties, ice cream, or locally baked sweet treats.

The Kids' Zone will keep the children quiet with nature-inspired craft activities, while the adults can enjoy the buzzing cocktail and cider bar, or the selection of quality real ales and local wines.

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Sheep & Wool Day in the Cotswolds

A FAMILY fun day on May 1 to celebrate the Cotswolds Lion Sheep; the ancient breed that brought wealth to the #Cotswolds.  Come along to meet the sheep and try your hand at spinning wool. We will have music, BBQ and plenty of activities for children. 

The event will be held at The Cotswolds Discovery Centre which is housed in the grade II* listed Old Prison, a fascinating 18th century building and now a unique historic visitor attraction in the Cotswold market town of Northleach.

The event is free and no booking is required just turn up and have fun.

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Drive In Canada

ON April 19, to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary, residents and visitors can experience a Canadian cinematic treat at the #Canada Aviation and Space Museum: Canada’s Drive-In.

From the comfort of their cars, movie-goers will witness an outdoor projection of THE ROCKET, an award-winning Canadian film about hockey legend Maurice Richard. The aviation hangar wall will be transformed into a giant screen for this inventive outdoor installation.

Canada’s Drive-In is a free event. People can reserve their tickets as of 10 a.m. Thursday, March 23, through Ottawa2017.ca.

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Super Bowl 51

FEBRUARY 2017 will see american football fans pour into #Houston for Super Bowl 51. The biggest single game in American sports will be played at Reliant Stadium bringing a multitude of visitors, unprecedented global media attention and tremendous economic impact to Houston. 

This is the third Super Bowl for Houston. The city last hosted the big game at Reliant Stadium in 2004. If you can’t manage tickets to the big game, get in the spirit by catching the ongoing Houston #SuperBowl Touchdown Tour or Super Bowl Live in Discovery Green park. 

Both events are free admission.

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Picture Credit:  Thomas Hawk 51035555243@N01/24471372192 Football America via photopin

Magnificant Minerals at the Museum

ONE of the world’s most colourful and flawless large gemstones, the Ostro stone, will go on permanent show in the British Natural History Museum’s Minerals gallery from October 19.

The gemstone weighs in at an impressive 9,381 carats - around 2 kilograms, similar in weight to two bags of sugar. It is the first large cut topaz of its kind to go on display at the Museum and will go on show alongside specimens from one of the world’s most important mineral collections.

The Ostro stone will be available for the public to view at the Museum through a long term loan from philanthropist Maurice Ostro OBE. It has been in the family vaults for three decades since it was discovered in its natural form by his father gemstone pioneer Max Ostro in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is 15 centimetres in length, 10.5 centimetres wide and its vivid blue colour is exceptional as the various treatment procedures are commonly used for such stones and rarely result in such an intense blue.

Mike Rumsey, Senior Curator of the Minerals Collection at the Natural History Museum says:

"This stone is an excellent example of how as humans, we have crafted beautiful and desirable objects from the natural mineral specimens we find around us, like those that we preserve in the collections at Museum. It will be on display alongside some of our world leading collection of minerals and gems, which is studied by scientists here to find new sources of minerals, gemstones and metals."

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Picture Credit: Andi Campbell-Jones 91333108@N02/15966811838 British Natural History Museum via photopin.com

Design and Desire: The Great Exhibition of 1851

A FREE exhibition at the Coalbrookdale Gallery in Ironbridge, Shropshire, aims to bring the excitement of the Great Exhibition of 1851 to life. 

Opening on March 21 and running until February next year, Design and Desire: The Great Exhibition of 1851 will use objects and images to tell the story of one of the most influential events of the 19th century, laying the foundations for a century of invention and modernity.

Held in the revolutionary glass and iron 'Crystal Palace' in London’s Hyde Park, the Great Exhibition of 1851 was the first international show of manufactured products. After its closure, many of the exhibited objects were used as the first collection for the South Kensington Museum which opened in 1857, and later became the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Rather than focus solely on the 100,000+ objects from the British Empire and around the world, this display will also consider 1851 exhibition’s impact on the popular imagination of the time. It will explore the reaction to the event in popular periodicals, prints and caricatures, its social and economic impact, and the ways in which the event was commercialized in the form of souvenirs.

www.ironbridge.org.uk

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Outdoor shows in Blackpool’s LightPool extravaganza

BLACKPOOL’S ‘Brilliance’ arches will play host to a month of outdoor performances and live music throughout October as part of Blackpool Illuminations’ LightPool programme. The arches, based on Birley Street in the town centre, become the centrepiece of 11 different shows over five weekends during the month.  
Throughout October, every Friday and Saturday evening will see a different performance taking place underneath the arches. An outdoor dance performance on bikes, Strictly Night Cycling, will start the events on October 2 and 3.

On October 8, poets will read their literary works out over the arches’ speaker system, as part of National Poetry Day. Aerial acrobatics will returns to #Blackpool on October 9 and 10, with the Wired Aerial Theatre group.

Circus acts and street artists will perform on October 16 and 17, and illuminated umbrella parades will lead people from the Promenade in to Birley Street on October 23 and 24.

The festival of acts will finish with two live music sessions on October 30 and 31.

All of the events will be #free.

Artistic Director of LeftCoast, Michael Trainor, said: ‘What we’re doing is bringing the Illuminations to life, giving people something that is live and happening all around them. We’ve managed to attract some exciting and talented artists to take part – but let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to star in #BlackpoolIlluminations.’

www.visitblackpool.com/lightpool
www.visitblackpool.com/illuminations

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Fun in the woods

THE importance of native trees and woodlands will be highlighted at a festival this coming weekend on #Anglesey, North Wales.

What is it? The Anglesey Woodland Festival, organized by the Anglesey Outdoor Learning Wales Network Group in conjunction with the National Trust.

When is it? September 27-28, 11am-4pm both days.

Where is it? Dairy Wood, Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll.

What will be there? Working horses, birds of prey, green wood-working, blacksmithing, a High Ropes taster course, adventure activities, workshops,music, chainsaw carving, face-painting, bushcraft skills and other and traditional crafts.

Is entry free? Yes.

www.visitanglesey.co.uk

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31059504@N08/14519955013">y bala 06</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)