KPop Demon Hunters song reaches number one in singles chart
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Follow in Messi's footsteps and sing Oasis songs in perfect World Cup host city
I'm not easily starstruck. But on my first night in Vancouver, I was rapt to learn that Lionel Messi had stayed in the same hotel just two months before me. Football's greatest player, who is expected to feature at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, was based at the Hyatt Regency for an away match with Inter Miami. Vancouver is, of course, one of many locations in North America you can visit to watch the biggest sporting event on the planet, live and in person, in less than 12 months. But it's safe to say most Brits will feel more at home here than in the United States or Mexico. The Canadians have the same sense of humour as us. They have the same King as us. They even seem to have the same appreciation for Oasis, given their songs seemed to be played whenever my accent is heard in a bar. If you're planning a football holiday, there is so much to do here. From whale watching to climbing mountains, seaplanes to grizzly bears, here's why you should choose Canada's cool and quirky 'Rain City'. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. The closest I'd been to a seaplane before visiting Vancouver was playing Grand Theft Auto. And, as a nervous flyer, I was a little terrified when I saw it was the first activity on our itinerary. My heart was pounding ahead of our flight with Harbour Air, but I had nothing to worry about. The take-off and landing felt smoother than a regular plane, and the views were nothing short of remarkable. If taking the skies isn't your bag, one of the coolest things to do in Vancouver is on the water: whale watching. On a tour with the Prince of Whales, you have the chance to spot orcas and humpback whales, as well as bald eagles soaring overhead, with marine mammal experts on hand to guide and answer questions. There's also canoeing with Takaya Tours, where you can paddle tranquil waters with Indigenous guides from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. It's a memorable experience; they'll sing traditional songs and tell tales from their dark but fascinating past. Back on dry land, Vancouver's most visited year-round attraction is Grouse Mountain, where you can enjoy panoramic views from the gondola. At the top, you'll be on the lookout for grizzly bears and a slightly less thrilling lumberjack show. As Brits, we've come to associate Canada with ice hockey and freezing temperatures. But that certainly isn't the case during summertime in Vancouver, where the beautiful game is thriving. Don't be put off by the fact they call it soccer , because there is not one but three Vancouver-based football teams to get behind at various levels. Watching Vancouver FC was the highlight of my trip. They had a hype man called 'Crazy P' leading chants from fans with a drum; one is sung to the tune of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Eurythmics. It was a little like an English non-league match, but with a lot more emphasis on entertainment. Then there's Vancouver Rise, one of six founding clubs in a new Canadian professional women's football league. Their president, Sinead King, is a Brit who played in the academies of Chelsea and Southampton. You also have the city's biggest club, the Vancouver Whitecaps, who play in Major League Soccer and regularly pull in crowds of more than 20,000. The Whitecaps play at the same stunning stadium, BC Place, as Canada's national side. That's where I met ex-player and manager Bob Lenarduzzi, who regaled me with stories of playing against Pele, Johan Cruyff and George Best. During the World Cup, Vancouver will have a FIFA Fan Festival site at Hastings Park featuring live entertainment in a world-class amphitheatre. Much like London, Vancouver is famous for its multiculturalism, which means there are incredible food options to suit every taste and budget. For a little bit of everything, there's nothing I recommend more than Vancouver Foodie Tours. It's widely rated as one of the world's greatest food tours, for good reason. It includes some of the best bread, cheese, meats and chocolate you'll ever put into your mouth. My favourite part was the sugar doughnut at the end. If you like Japanese food, one place you can't miss is Tojo's. More Trending A lot of Olympians have eaten there, as has the Toronto Raptors basketball team. Chef Hidekazu Tojo is even credited with inventing the California roll. For drinks, head for Havana, a cosy bar serving quirky cocktails and British Columbia craft beers. Tap & Barrel, meanwhile, is the place to go to experience some of the best local wineries and grab some comfort food. Liam Grace was a guest of Destination Canada and Destination Vancouver. MORE: Never mind the Med — I stumbled on real summer magic in the Swiss Alps MORE: Italian farmers have stepped in on overtourism with this 'pointless' £4.37 charge MORE: I stayed in the Airbnb alternative trying to do things differently
-Jess-Shurte-(5).jpeg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26auto%3Dwebp%26quality%3D75%26trim%3D1%2C0%2C339%2C506%26crop%3D&w=3840&q=100)
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Festival Fringe becoming 'more Scottish festival' due to rising costs
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is becoming a 'more Scottish festival' due to rising costs of attending the event, the founders of Underbelly have said, as the venue marks 25 years since its launch in a 'dirty and grimy' space in the Cowgate. Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood, who launched Underbelly in 2000 with a single venue and now run 20 venues across four main sites, say more tickets are being sold to Edinburgh locals and other Scots, as people from further afield are increasingly priced out of the Fringe. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Bartlam and Mr Wood recall the early days of their time at the Fringe as 'totally organic'. 'Charlie and I wanted to do a few shows in an interesting space, and we didn't set out to operate a venue,' recalls Mr Bartlam. They paid 'a couple of hundred quid' to put on three shows in what was required to be a 'dirty and grimy' space to create atmosphere. 'We didn't get a license on time,' Mr Bartlam adds. 'We were late opening. We built the bar out of bookshelves that we found in the library [above]. We definitely gave away more drinks than we sold. But it was this rather ramshackle, but proper Fringe experience and and then we thought 'well, we'll carry on doing it'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Although we've grown a lot since then, I feel like Underbelly is still about putting on interesting shows, diversity and creating atmosphere and a sense of fun. That's what continues to run through what we programme and what we produce and what we built here.' They described an opening event for their 600 staff this week as 'emotional'. 'Charlie said to them, looking out onto this sea of people, that most of them weren't born when Underbelly started,' says Mr Bartlam. 'It was quite a moment.' The pair say ticket sales data shows that, increasingly in recent years, more people are visiting from Scotland, rather than from England or overseas. Underbelly itself sells 70 per cent of its tickets to people with a Scottish postcode. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood, Underbelly directors. | Underbelly 'The one big reason is the cost of accommodation,' says Mr Wood, describing the issue as a 'regulatory, legislative challenge'. 'This is made worse this year by the timing of the of the the Oasis and the AC/DC concerts. There are only so many hotel rooms and there's 80,000 people going to each of those concerts. That's going to put up the price, not just at those weekends, but across the month. That makes the cost of both for an artist to come stay here and for audiences outside of Edinburgh to stay here more expensive. 'The question is, if it's going to cost you several hundreds, if not thousands of pounds to stay here for the weekend, do you want to do that? So it means there's more of a choice about whether to be at the Edinburgh Fringe than perhaps there was 25 years ago. There's an economic reason that is driving this to be increasingly a Scottish audience-based festival.' Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood in the early days of Underbelly. | Underbelly He adds: 'That's great. It's brilliant that Scotland, Edinburgh, opened its arms to this festival so brilliantly, and is so welcoming of it. But it does mean to be on the flip side that we are seeing less audiences from England.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In response, the pair say they programme an increasing number of shows suitable for children, targeted at local families. 'We're not driving that demand, we're responding to it,' Mr Wood says, adding the Fringe has become 'more accessible' to locals. However, he points to the roots of the Edinburgh festivals, created in the wake of the Second World War to use culture and the arts as a means of healing and bringing people together after the devastation of the conflict. Mr Wood says: 'It is critical that the Edinburgh festivals are rooted in Edinburgh and in Scotland. That's where they're born, both from an artist point of view, from a production point of view. They are a crown jewel of Scotland, but they were created partly just after the war to bring together a range different communities - and that must not be lost. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'You can come to Edinburgh and see work from across the world. If that is one of the brilliant things, the unique things about this month in August, then surely the shows should also be enjoyed by audiences from across the world. To maintain that uniqueness, audiences must be diverse. It's not to say that people aren't coming. Of course they are, but it's not the same as it used to be.' He adds: 'In order to maintain the brilliance and the diversity of the festival, both in terms of programme and the audience, these things need to be taken really, really seriously.' Underbelly's purple cow, pictured here shortly after its creation. | Underbelly Mr Bartlam says he believes current ticket prices, which the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said this week are around £13 this year, are 'incredibly good value'. He says: 'Obviously the challenge is that people like to go see a number of shows in the day, or a number of shows in a weekend, and that's when it begins to stack up.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair view the Fringe as at a peak in terms of size and claim venues will increasingly specialise in genres of shows. 'I think the festival is at a size which is big enough, so if anything, I think there might be some contraction,' says Mr Bartlam. 'I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.' This year's event will feature 54,474 performances from 3,853 shows. The figure is the second highest since 2019, when a record 4,105 shows were performed, according to new data from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'When we launched our Circus Hub, no one had really done circus,' Mr Bartlam says. 'There was never an essential place for circus. And obviously Circus Hub has become that. 'I think there will be more of those potentially genre specific kind of venues where people are focusing in on a particular thing. Summerhall has done extremely well, in terms of new theatre, physical theatre, while Zoo does it very well in terms of dance. I think audiences like going to places where they have an idea of what a venue is programming.' Underbelly is looking to continue to diversify, not only at the Fringe, but in other areas including London, where it opened Underbelly Boulevard in Soho in October 2023. Last year, a production of Macbeth starring Ralph Fiennes was performed at Edinburgh's Royal Highland Centre, as well as in Liverpool and Washington DC. However, Mr Bartlam and Mr Wood still regard Edinburgh as the brand's base. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The Fringe is extraordinary,' Mr Bartlam says. 'It is basically built on creative entrepreneurism, because we know there's no funding. It has grown and is what it is, because of artists that take risks, promoters that take risks, venues that take risks, and it's properly entrepreneurial.
Daily Record
3 hours ago
- Daily Record
Transport bosses called on Oasis Edinburgh gigs to finish earlier 'to save putting on extra trains'
Concert bosses dismissed the request amid fears Liam and Noel Gallagher would re-think their Scottish shows It is less than a week until Oasis begin their run of three nights at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium as part of their hotly-anticipated reunion tour. But it seems it is transport and timings that are dominating officials' conversations. Transport bosses asked for Oasis' shows in the capital to wrap up earlier than scheduled to avoid putting on extra trains, according to the Sun. Officials reportedly asked the show curfew to be brought forward from 10:45pm amid fears of "disorder" after the music spectacle. Gig promoters DF Concerts and Murrayfield Stadium chiefs allegedly dismissed the request as "any changes could/would likely impact on an artists' willingness to perform." Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher are set to electrify the Scottish rugby stronghold for three nights on Friday, August 8, Saturday, August 9, and Tuesday, August 12. Last year, a transport summit was called after the gigs were announced. Documents obtained by the Sun via Freedom of Information laws show how Transport Scotland's events resilience team asked for the earlier curfew in a bid to avoid the need to lay on more late-night train services. An official wrote: "I asked if there was any consideration or scope in bringing end times forward slightly to minimise the necessity on enhanced/extended public transport. "This was met with a somewhat vociferous response by DF Concerts and to a degree SR Murrayfield." In response to the reports, Transport Scotland blasted critics, telling the Record they would be "the first to complain" if transport bosses didn't "challenge travel plans and understand potential impacts on the wider network". A spokesperson said: "Scotland has a good track record of supporting major events like the Cycling World Championships, COP 26, and many other sporting events, festivals and concerts. "ScotRail is putting on extra services and seats during the Edinburgh Festival and for these concerts, including late-night trains to key destinations. "The main reason Scotland has such a successful reputation for delivering these global events is due to close working between Police Scotland, Councils and transport operators, as well as event organisers. "It is our role to challenge travel plans and understand potential impacts on the wider network to allow for business as usual, as well as encourage extra services to be laid on, our critics would be the first to complain if we didn't." DF Concerts and Murrayfield have been contacted for comment. Official stage times for Edinburgh have yet to be published, but organisers expect gates will open at 5pm on each show day, with the curfew expected to be 10.45pm, to accommodate the 67,000 fans descending each night. However, it is worth noting that London's Wembley Stadium's curfew changed between the Oasis concert landing on a weekday and a weekend. On the Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26, the curfew was 10.45pm, but it changed to 10.30pm for the shows on Wednesday, July 30, and tonight's gig, Sunday, August 3. On Friday, August 1, City of Edinburgh Council leader Cllr Jane Meagher confirmed additional transport services would be available via tram, rail, and bus routes. Nonetheless, she cautioned gig-goers to conduct themselves appropriately and advised those without tickets to steer clear. "Whilst we relish hosting the biggest and best events and want everyone attending to truly enjoy themselves, it's important that we remember our residents," Cllr Meagher said. "We ask that visitors are considerate and respectful of them whilst enjoying our fantastic capital city. We're urging people to only travel to Murrayfield and the surrounding area if you have a ticket." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. ScotRail will provide extra trains and carriages during August as part of its Edinburgh Festivals uplift. More services are also planned for the Oasis concerts, with Murrayfield conveniently located a brief walk from Haymarket station. The council's caution was issued the same day Police Scotland launched its operation to safeguard revellers in August. There will be a heightened police presence in the city centre throughout the month. Extra officers from across Scotland, as well as national and specialist units, have been called in.
