Pink sheep, live music and vaccines – festival season is back

Published

3 years ago

July 23, 2021

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With 40,000 people packing into Henham Park in Suffolk this weekend, Latitude festival is welcoming the largest crowds since most restrictions were lifted in England.

It is part of the government test scheme so everyone here has had to provide evidence of either a negative lateral flow test or double vaccination in order to gain entry.

And while the event’s famous pink sheep or the sheer amount of glittery outfits might seem strange to some, it’s the pop-up vaccination centre that stands out as unusual on-site.

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Never before required, it’s busy as people can turn up for first jabs, or their second dose as long as they’re eight weeks on from their first.

“We’re trying to increase the uptake in the younger age cohort”, said Jawn Jiang, director of GM Graham Pharmacies which has brought the vaccination bus here, in collaboration with Norfolk Community Healthcare Trust and Norfolk and Waveney CCG.

“We’re assuming festival-goers will want to go back to nightclubs when they open – following the government announcement of the double jab requirement from September.”

He admits that while they’re currently getting lots of interest – most of the enquiries are planning to wait a couple of days before they take the plunge.

“People tend to want to get their jab towards the end of the festival as they don’t want to experience side effects or feel unwell while here.”

David from Huddersfield was among those that did take up the jab.

“I’d seen the buses had been at other places so I was hoping they would be here as well,” he said.

“It’s reassuring for work particularly, especially with the relaxation of the rules coming with the test and trace – being able to test daily rather than having to sit out for 10 days.”

COVID is also making its presence known when it comes to the line-up.

Two acts – Fontaines DC and Alfie Templeman – have had to drop out after getting positive test results.

Festival organiser Melvyn Benn says it’s a “shame” those acts won’t perform but that it was an eventuality he was prepared for.

“I think most of (the acts) are existing in a little bubble until they have managed to come and play”, he told Sky News.

“We did lose a couple but there were people standing by waiting to come and play, so we have managed to replace them.”

And the show is indeed going on, with maskless crowds making the most of their first festival in two years.

But it’s not possible to completely forget about the pandemic, with volunteers handing out boxes of lateral flow tests around the site, and hand sanitiser more plentiful than it’s ever been here before.

And with COVID-passports looking like they will become the norm later this year, it might be the first time that there’s been a walk-in vaccine centre at Latitude, but perhaps it won’t be the last.

Entertainment

Angela Rayner says Taylor Swift’s London police escort was ‘needed to make sure she was safe’

Published

8 hours ago

October 10, 2024

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Angela Rayner says Taylor Swift's London police escort was 'needed to make sure she was safe'

Angela Rayner has defended Taylor Swift being given a blue-light escort through London as they “needed to make sure she was safe”.

The deputy prime minister denied senior Labour figures, including the home secretary and London mayor, were given tickets to Swift’s August shows in the capital in exchange for police protection.

Ms Rayner reiterated what other Labour politicians have said, that the decision to give the megastar a police escort was “an operational decision” by the Met Police.

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“I absolutely dispute that somehow that this was, in any way, connected to whether somebody went to a concert or not,” she said.

She said it was down to the fact Swift’s concerts in Vienna had been cancelled due to a foiled terror attack, which was meant to kill tens of thousands of fans.

“We needed to make sure that that person was safe. And it was a policing matter, not an issue for politicians. It was the police that make the decision,” she said.

“It’s right that they make the decision. And I fully support them in that.”

Ms Rayner added that police provided the security to ensure Swift could continue with the concerts “which brought in huge amounts of investment of money into our economy, including those small businesses that need that support”.

Sky News reported on Wednesday Ms Cooper’s husband, former Labour MP Ed Balls, had been given free tickets by Swift’s label Universal and she went as his guest.

Mr Balls was offered the four tickets on 4 August, before Swift’s shows in Vienna were cancelled, and the couple attended the gig on 16 August after the security discussions.

Ms Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke to the Metropolitan Police to encourage them to give the megastar a “VVIP escort” through London for her Wembley Stadium concerts.

The Met were reportedly reluctant to sign it off as a blue-light escort is typically reserved for senior members of the Royal Family and high-level politicians, as it comes at huge expense to the taxpayer, The Sun reported.

No information about the tickets appeared in the public domain until Wednesday.

The tickets were understood to be worth £170 – less than the £300 that would make it a declarable expense – but the home secretary made the declaration to the Cabinet Office on Wednesday.

Sky News understands the Home Office department was informed as soon as the tickets were offered and the permanent secretary’s office informed the Cabinet Office on 23 September. At this point there was concern that the Commons Parliamentary commissioner was not willing to make it public.

It also understood the home secretary’s team had been liaising with their permanent secretary’s office about this for the last week or so.

Entertainment

Oasis singer Liam Gallagher says he and Noel won’t do interviews

Published

8 hours ago

October 10, 2024

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Oasis singer Liam Gallagher says he and Noel won't do interviews

Liam Gallagher has revealed why he and his brother Noel “don’t want” to give interviews ahead of the Oasis reunion tour.

The band announced their reunion in August following a long-standing feud between Liam and Noel after the band split in 2009.

Liam, 52, revealed on X on Thursday that the brothers “don’t want to do interviews coz we’re scared of the media asking us intrusive questions and trying to pick holes in our relationship”.

Oasis‘s split in 2009 was prompted by a backstage brawl between Liam and Noel, 57, at the Rock en Seine festival in France.

They will reunite on stage for their first UK show since at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on 4 July.

Their string of 19 UK and Ireland dates have all sold out, including two extra Wembley shows, which sparked a furore over ticket sales and inflated prices.

The release of tickets last month in the UK prompted the government and the UK’s competition watchdog to pledge they would look at the use of dynamic pricing.

Some standard tickets more than doubled from £148 to £355, and the situation was blamed on “unprecedented demand”.

Ticketmaster has previously said it does not set concert prices and its website states this is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.

Last month the younger Gallagher attacked critics of his vocals after performing in front of a packed, 96,000-strong Wembley Stadium ahead of the heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

Liam walked on to a massive cheer and said “yes Wembley vibes in the air,” before launching into Rock ‘N’ Roll Star, Supersonic and Cigarettes & Alcohol.

But some fans called it “terrible”, prompting Liam to claim he had sung in “angelic tones” and accused critics of being “imposters” rather than fans.

Since their sellout UK leg, the band has announced their US, Canada, Mexico and Australia Oasis Live 25 tour shows

Entertainment

Taylor Swift donates $5m to help feed those affected by Hurricane Milton

Published

8 hours ago

October 10, 2024

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Taylor Swift donates m to help feed those affected by Hurricane Milton

Taylor Swift has donated $5m (£3.8m) to help those affected by Hurricane Milton, as the deadly storm smashed into the Florida coast on Wednesday.

The pop megastar, the world’s richest female musician, with a reported $1.6bn (£1.2bn) fortune, gave the money to the non-profit Feeding America, as celebrities acted to help people cope with the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Feeding America chief executive Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said in a statement on the group’s X account: “Thank you, Taylor, for standing with us in the movement to end hunger and helping communities in need.”

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Milton threatens widespread destruction across the state, part of a region devastated by Hurricane Helene just weeks ago.

Swift, 34, is due to play in Miami next week as she kicks off the final run of her record-breaking Eras Tour.

She is known for supporting fundraisers, donating to 1,400 Trussell food banks in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London – the cities where she performed this summer.

The singer recently gave $100,000 (£79,400) to a fundraiser for the family of a woman who died in the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebrations.

Swift was at the NFL match to support her Kansas City Chiefs star boyfriend Travis Kelce.

On Wednesday, country musicians including Keith Urban, Luke Combs and Eric Church announced they will stage a Concert for Carolina benefit gig later this month, in Charlotte, North Carolina, for people affected by the two storms.

Another country artist, Morgan Wallen, helped collect supplies and posed for photos with fans at a food drive in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday.

He had earlier donated $500,000 (£382,000) to the American Red Cross for the hurricane relief effort.

Country superstar Dolly Parton donated $1m (£764,000) of her personal funds to a Tennessee non-profit, the Mountain Ways Foundation, providing immediate help to Hurricane Helene flood victims.

Her businesses, including the Dollywood theme park, matched the amount.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm, bringing ferocious winds of more than 100mph (160kph) and producing a series of tornadoes around the state.

The National Hurricane Center, based in Miami, measured maximum sustained winds of 120mph (205kph) as it roared ashore at around 8.30pm, local time, near Siesta Key.

More than two million households were without power, the PowerOutages website said, as forecasters warned of a potentially deadly storm surge to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, along with heavy rains.

Two people died in St Lucie County on Florida’s Atlantic coast, where officials said tornadoes touched down.