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Liverpool's Maritime
Festival returns for 2014
ONE of Liverpool's most
popular maritime events is returning for 2014, bigger and better
than ever. The International Mersey River Festival which
includes Music on the Waterfront will take place from the evening of
Friday, 13 June to Sunday, 15 June 2014 and will be a three day celebration of
all things maritime and music. And for the first time activities
will take place across a larger part of the waterfront; stretching
from the area outside the Liverpool Echo Arena right up to the end
of Princes Parade.
The event will see a number of Tall Ships sail into the City,
including Stavros Niarchos, Prolific, Mercedes and Golden Vanity.
They will be joined by a brand new Royal Navy Ship, a Type 45
Destroyer, Merchant Navy Ship Galatea, narrow boats and nobby boats
(an inshore sailing vessel such as a Morecambe Bay prawners), many
of which will be open to the public across the weekend.
In a coup for the City, Liverpool will play host to the popular
Dutch Barge Rally which will see around 12 to 15 barges in convoy on
the Leeds Liverpool canal; the largest number of these vessels to
be in procession on that stretch of water for decades.
This year also marks the 350th anniversary of the Royal Marines, so
there will be a series of Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Sea Cadet
displays during Saturday and Sunday.
Music on the Waterfront returns with a bang on Friday night of 13
June 2014, with a very special free concert which will launch the
weekend's activities.
BBC Radio 6 Music will host The Craig Charles Funk and Soul
Homecoming which they promise will be the funkiest night of music
the Liver Birds have ever heard! Kicking off with BBC Radio
Merseyside, the evening will start with some classic tunes and
special guests as well as appearances from some of the station's
biggest names.
Then as the sun starts to set, Craig Charles will take to the stage
for a homecoming show, bringing with him some very special friends
to perform live, and of course his trunk of funk to share some of
the best funk and soul music around. And then to make sure the
evening ends with a bang, it will be wrapped up with one of Craig's
legendary DJ sets.
The music extravaganza continues during the Saturday and Sunday;
with a difference this year, as performances will take place
throughout the afternoon, rather than the evening.
On Saturday, Smooth Radio will provide the artists, who are yet to
be confirmed, and on Sunday there will be a big band theme with
performances form the Royal Marine Band of Scotland, a Bollywood
brass band and a Rat Pack tribute act.
Liverpool City Council's Director of Culture, Claire McColgan,
said:- "Whenever this City hosts a maritime-themed event it
attracts a huge amount of people, as they know this is an area where
Liverpool truly excels.
The River Festival has become a much loved part of the City's events
calendar and it's no exaggeration to say the 2014 return is massive!
Throughout the weekend we will showcase our world heritage
waterfront, with a huge programme of maritime activities from raft
races, Canoe Polo tournaments and walking tours right through to
have-a-go water sports and a colourful parade from Brouhaha.
And on top of this, to have a series of free concerts taking place
means there really is something for everyone. It's the perfect
weekend for all the family."
Other highlights of the weekend include:-
► Aerial displays by The Yakovlevs.
► International Mersey River Festival Raft Race.
► Street theatre and animation programme.
► Liverpool International Canoe Polo Tournament.
► Zap Cat racing.
► Model boat exhibition.
► Wake boarding at Salthouse Dock.
For the latest information visit:-
liverpoolonthewaterfront.co.uk.
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If you go down
to the woods today...
TEDDY bear lovers from
Southport are being invited to sign up this month to help with an
attempt to have the most teddies picnicking on the same day
nationwide.
The potential world record event looks set to take place on
Wednesday, 9 July 2014, all over the country and has been organised by the
national charity bibic.
Geoff Cummins, bibic's Chief Executive, explained:- "We're
asking teddy bear fans young and old to take part in a picnic on
9 July 2014. The event is part of a week of bear related fundraisers we
have planned nationwide.
The picnic can take place on the day and we're hoping nurseries, mum
and toddler groups, primary schools, families, individuals and even
businesses will host an event. All we ask is people donate £1 each
to bibic to take part and that the organisers send us the money
collected as a cheque after the event.
Anyone interested in being involved can contact us via telephone,
email or social media to register and we will email them a free
fundraising pack full of the 'bear' essentials on hosting an event
including a template for creating your own teddy bear ears, pictures
to colour in, posters and flyers to print off and ideas for games."
bibic is a national charity offering practical help to families
caring for children with conditions like autism, aspergers, cerebral
palsy, Down's syndrome, developmental delay, brain injury, and
specific learning difficulties like ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
It receives no government funding and relies on support and
donations to provide the life changing help needed by many children
and their families.
Geoff said:- "We're not aware from our research of a similar
event being held so we may well be setting a record for the most
number of teddies all over the UK picnicking at the same time. But
we understand the record for the largest teddy bears picnic in one
place, which was attended by 33,573 bears with their owners, was at
Dublin Zoo in 1995.
While we appreciate that might be a bit ambitious for us this year,
we are planning on making this an annual fundraiser for us and it
would be great to beat the record at some time in the future at our
flagship event venue. It's something to aim for!"
The charity has a national assessment centre in Langport. Its
therapists work closely with families nationwide to create a therapy
programme, which provides them with the skills and strategies to
support their child or children.
Geoff added:- "We specialise in understanding the causes of
challenging behaviour and can even offer support if your child has
not been diagnosed with a condition."
The bibic teddy bears picnic is part of a week of furry-themed
fundraisers the charity is hosting.
They include a bear share for people who would like to pass their
bears on to children that might need toys or for them to be sold in
aid of bibic and a social media campaign for celebrities and members
of the public to tweet about their bear friends.
People who aren't able to host a picnic on 9 July 2014 can have one on
any other day during the weekend as well.
If you would like to support bibic's work and can't take part in
this fundraiser but wish to make a £5 donation to the charity,
please text KIDS02 £5 to 70070 or for a £10 donation text KIDS02 £10
to 70070.
For more information, please call bibic on:- 01458 253344, visit:-
bibic.org.uk, follow the charity on
Twitter or log on
to
Facebook. |
