Finally the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium
The FA Cup Final kicks off at 15:00 on 19 May

Chelsea will play Manchester United in the first FA Cup Final held at the new Wembley Stadium.

At Villa Park, Wayne Rooney inspired Manchester United and eased past a stubborn Watford side with the final score at 4-1. United also looked strong as they booked a place at Wembley thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo tap-in, Rooney's second and Kieran Richardson's cool finish. It was a much closer affair at Old Trafford when Chelsea needed extra-time to finally end Blackburn Rovers' dream of reaching the Final. Michael Ballack was Chelsea's hero, clinically planting the ball into the bottom corner to ensure it was a blue day in Manchester.

Tickets:  The FA confirms that tickets for The FA Cup Final will be priced between £35 (US$70 and £95 (US$190). They are sold via the Chelsea and Manchester United ticket offices only - with no general sale. The FA is providing each club with an allocation of approximately 25,000 tickets for the game. The remaining 30% of tickets have been allocated to people involved in the grassroots of football and the football family.

Prague Spring Festival
A Symphony of Sights and Sounds

Prague with its numerous world-class chamber music ensembles, especially string quartets, several great orchestras and three splendid opera houses is possibly the most musical city in the world. At the time of Prague Spring - one of the most prestigious festivals in Europe, there is a very special atmosphere. So many concerts, operas and other events all set in a city with many parks and tree lined streets - flowers perfume the air and the young green of the trees is beautiful. Prague has been described by many as the most visually stunning city in Europe. In the Old Town, founded in the 10th century, there is a unique sense of history. The majestic spires and mediaeval buildings reflect the importance of Prague as the centre of the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th Century. The Renaissance and Baroque Palaces, the Art Nouveau buildings, the splendid squares, the grandeur of Prague Castle, the evocative Jewish Quarter as well as the narrow mediaeval cobbled streets, will totally captivate you.

The views across the Vltava River to the Castle and St Vitus Cathedral and the romantic Mala Strana, Lesser Town, are absolutely breathtaking. It is easy - looking down on the Old Town and the many bridges over the river - to fall under the spell of this truly amazing city. Prague has had virtually no damage from wars and some of the most important Art Nouveau buildings are left to amaze the visitor

CONCERTS and OPERA: Eight concerts will be in historic venues including Villa Bertramka where the world famous Kocian, Nostitz and Schulhoff Quartets will play Mozart and Beethoven alongside the great Czech violin/piano duo Ivan Zenaty and Katerina Zenata. In the Martinu Hall of the Lichtenstein Palace it is your chance to see the Alexander Quartet from the USA and members of the Stamic Quartet. And there's much more!

After his defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal in last year’s final of the Grand Slam in Paris, Roger Federer remained pragmatic about this elusive prize. "I got to the semi-finals in 2005, and this year I made the final, so I’m getting better. I see things positively." A win for the world number one at the Roland Garros would mean that he would join a select handful of champions who can lay claim to the fact that they have achieved the 'impossible'!
Federer has a number of ambitions - one of which is to beat the Grand Slam title record (14) held by Pete Sampras, and the Swiss already has ten to his name. But while Wimbledon remains well within his reach, the clay court at the Roland Garros remains the domain of the very young talent of Rafael Nadal.   Both are hoping for victory at the final on June 10, 2007.
But as the mood is for change at this year's tournament - the introduction of parity in prize money for men and women across the board - Federer may remain hopeful

The total parity of prize money also represents the fruition of the ongoing efforts made by the Parisian tournament for many years, which have seen its prize money purse swell by over 40% since 2000.  At ?15,264,500, the overall winnings up for grabs at the 2007 French Open will be 7.23% higher than in 2006.  This year, the winners of the two singles tournaments will each receive a record sum of one million euros. And there is one more change in the shape of a new official competition making its debut in the tournament prize table. Men’s and women’s wheelchair tennis (singles and doubles) which, in the previous few years, has featured only as an exhibition will now be part of the official competition programme.

.

Vision Tonic in New York

As a precursor to the Vision Festival in June, Vision Festival will be hosting Vision Tonic at Clemente Soto Velez LES Gallery, 107 Suffolk Street, New York, NY.  
Arts for Art - who will be presenting Vision Festival XII which takes place between June 19 and  June 24, 2007 - is of the opinion that the number of venues in Manhattan where fabulous jazz is  consistently presented  is deteriorating to a dangerous low. Arts for Art and the Vision Festival
address this issue by hosting these concerts, as well as seeking a way to continue to present this music on a regular basis.

Founded in 1996, the Vision Festival has become the most successful artist-organized festival in the history of Jazz, remaining dedicated to presenting the finest creative artists, whose work demonstrates a disciplined disregard for traditional boundaries. As one of the world’s premier avant Jazz festivals, this year’s line-up is the most ambitious yet, featuring a global cast of  'avantJazz' giants from New York, Chicago and around the world. The centerpiece of the festival is a Lifetime Achievement Celebration for legendary trumpeter, Bill Dixon, who will compose a new piece for the Sound Vision Orchestra to be premiered at the festival on Wednesday, June 20. If you are a fan of the jazz greats - both young and old, schedule a date with these very fine artists in May during Vision Tonic and/or in the main festival in June.

Exmouth Whale Shark Festival, Australia

The Ningaloo Whale Shark Festival is a community organized festival, highlighting the community’s relationship with the yearly visitation of the whale shark. Ningaloo Reef is a name recognized nationally and internationally as a 'premier marine environment', home to the most predictable, seasonal aggregations of whale sharks in the world.

The festival's objective is to bring together all Government Departments, Industry and Community Members to promote new partnerships, enhance education and awareness concerning the protection of the whale shark and it's environment, to share and learn from each others experiences, new advances in technology, ideas and research, and most importantly, to communicate these urgent issues through networking with one another.

The main day of the festival, May 6, is jam- packed with entertainment displays, workshops, boating and car shows, celebrities, exhibits, photographic and art competitions showcasing the magnificent Whale Sharks, also some extreme sports displays, wakeboarding, kite boarding and freestyle motocross riders.

Stephen Frears accepted the presidency of the jury of the 60th Festival de Cannes, which will take place between May 16-27.  First acknowledges for My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Stephen Frears presented his award-winning Prick up Your Ears in 1987 in the Official Selection at the Festival de Cannes. In 1988, Dangerous Liaisons won him international fame. He has alternated since, with equal joy, between great genre films (Accidental Hero, The Grifters) and more intimist or engaged subjects (The Snapper, High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things). Stephen Frears' latest film, The Queen, has proven his greatest success ever in Great Britain. |
Gilles Jacob, President of the Festival de Cannes: "I am particularly delighted that Stephen Frears accepted my proposal this year. We thus pay tribute to this great, inspired filmmaker, endowed with freedom of mind and love of making films. The 60th Festival will henceforth take place under a lucky star, that of intelligence, wit and a dash of impertinence."
For the first time, Diane Kruger will be the Master of Ceremonies as she welcomes the President Stephen Frears and his Jury onto the stage of the Palais des Festivals on May 16th 2007 . She will also host the Closing Ceremony, on Sunday May 27, 2007, during which the Awards will be announced

Paralympic World Cup

Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, 11 times Paralympic gold medallist will make her final bow at the Manchester Regional Arena on May 13, flanked by some of the world’s finest Paralympic athletes as she races for the last time in a GB vest at this year's Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, England.

340 athletes from 47 countries compete across four sports at the third 2007 Visa Paralympic World Cup . The confirmed line-up of international stars competing in the athletics event includes South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius, Paralympic world record holder in the 100m, 200m and 400m who will be bidding to retain his T44 sprint titles. At the national championships in Durban he recently cam second in the 400m competing against able- bodied athletes. Other talent includes GB's David Weir, 3-time gold medallist at the 2006 Visa Paralympic World Cup.

Between May 7-10, the wheelchair basketball competition takes place at the Manchester Velodrome, The British men's team compete against world and Paralympic champions Canada, Paralympic silver medallists Australia and the Netherlands, who placed fourth in Athens: whilst the GB women's team will play Japan, Spain and France.

The much-anticipated track cycling event at the Velodrome on Friday 11 May will again feature British stars Darren Kenny, Jody Cundy and Mark Bristow who spearheaded the tumbling of world records at the cycling finals at the 2006 event.

On the eve of the athletics finale, sixteen of the 18-strong GB swimming team competing at the Manchester Aquatics Centre go into the 2007 event as medallists from the World Championships in Durban last year.

Aboakyir is celebrated by the people of Simpa or Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana.

The festival is a celebration to mark the migration of these people from the ancient Western Sudan Empire where they were led by 2 brothers and a god called Otu. Upon consulting their god, they were instructed by their traditional priest or mediator between the people and the god to sacrifice a young member of the Royal family every year to their god.

This was not good news so they made an appeal to their god who asked for an animal from the wild cat family to be caught alive and beheaded before the god.

Before the festival began they settled the god at a place called Penkye hence the god became Penkyi Otu. When the people went out to hunt down the wild cat they lost so many men before capturing it alive. This caused the second appeal. Penkyi Otu decided to accept a mature bush buck this looks like a deer.

The people of Simpa sang this story in their war chants and told it during moonlit nights. It was kept and protected till it could be written in English for all to read.

Today, the Aboakyir festival is celebrated in May each year and is a major event in Ghana’s tourism calendar.

Tournament of Champions Competition: May 9-13, 2007
(on display until Oct 8, 2007)

The Harrison Hot Springs Sand Sculpture Society has invited former World Champions and multiple-medal winners from the past seventeen years of the World Championships of Sand Sculpture to compete as Doubles in the Vancouver Sun Tournament of Sand Sculpture Champions. These proven winners submitted their designs for pre-formed blocks of sand in April and the Society will have them ready to carve when they arrive in Harrison Hot Springs on May 8th. All entries start carving from the top down over the next thirty-six hours of competition. They work eight-hour days on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and finish at noon on Mothers’ Day. Every visitor, attending the event between May 10 and June 30, 2007, will receive a ballot to choose their favorite sculpture. The winner will receive $3000. Second and Third Place will receive $2500 and $2000 respectively. Winners will be announced on Canada Day, July 1, 2007.

The World Championships of Sand Sculpture Competition are open to Master Sand Sculptors only. If you believe that you are an accomplished sand sculptor who should be accredited as a Master Sculptor, you will have: -competed in the Master's category in Solo Competition at Quebec City, Quebec; South Padre Island, Texas; Virginia Beach, VA.; Fort Myer's, Florida or Imperial Beach, California.
OR... Competed as the Lead Sculptor of a Master's Team entered at Imperial Beach, California.; Moscow, Russia; Scheveningen, Holland or Kaseda City, Japan.
OR... You are an accomplished sculptor in another medium, such as bronze, ice, snow, terra cotta or wood AND your work has won an awards in juried shows or competitions AND you can demonstrate considerable experience in sand sculpting.
OR... You have worked with a professional sand sculpture company for at least three years and the lead sculptor of that company is prepared to acknowledge your competence and professionalism. If any of these conditions apply to you, you should send at least five photographs of different pieces of sand sculpture completed by you along with a brief resume of your experience and at least one letter of reference from: another Master Sand Sculptor, University Professor or community official such as the Mayor or Chief of Police to World Champion Sand Sculpture.

How is it done?   Shoveling: Every grain of sand that you see in your favorite sculpture was shoveled there by its respective sculptor. Forms are made of 5/8" plywood and two-by-fours and sand from the beach is shoveled in to them with plenty of water to make it workable. Tamping: After the sand and water combination has been placed into the forms, tamping is required to compact the grains of sand and get the square surfaces lined up to each other. This is usually done with a heavy metal tool that the worker pounds onto the surface until the next layer of sand/water is applied.  Water: Without water, the dry sand would just slump to the ground and be impossible to work with. You may think of it as the 'glue' that holds all those wonderful creations together. Water is delivered either by hose (supplied by the Village) or by bucket. Can you guess which way is easier? Carving: Once the forms are complete and the sand is compacted, the sculpting can begin. Work is done from the top down with the forms being removed when they are no longer needed to stand on. When all of the carving is completed and the forms are removed, the focus is on the ground area. Many artists spend considerable time with elaborate detail on the grounds, adding to the wonderful effect that makes attending Harrisand a truly memorable event

South Beach May 9-12, 2007

Once a year the biggest, best and most-celebrated names in advertising and design descend upon beautiful Miami Beach for four days at the world-renowned Clio Festival.

This can’t-be-missed event is your chance to network with the ‘who’s who’ of the industry, see the best creative work from the past year and party with the top talent until the wee hours of the morning in South Beach. Of course, this sort of networking doesn't come cheap!

thelondonseason

©copyright:BBB WorldWide 2007 -
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer