Entertainment News

Colourful tractors slowly chug through a barn and past fruit and vegetable gardens. A small rollercoaster crawls past rugged rocks, before smoothly gliding down over green hills and passing grazing sheep. The scent of freshly baked pies rises from an old timber framed house. Ireland – Children's World is just waiting to be discovered by explorers of all ages. Exciting adventures, new attractions, and almost 4,000 plants turn the 14th European themed area into a lush, green Emerald Isle.

It sounds like every child's dream…spending the summer testing out holidays. And now Eurocamp are offering one lucky pre-schooler the chance to do just that with the launch of their new 'Little Boss of Big Fun' role. The travel specialist is looking for a junior reviewer to give their verdict on the extensive facilities and activities at one of their parcs this summer.  Eurocamp are keen to hear from pre-schoolers (and their families) with a love for holidaying and a keen spirit of adventure.

Astonished visitors looked up in amazement as two roaring prehistoric beasts faced each other in the Battle of the Biomes at the Eden Project. Onlookers were transported back 67 million years as a newly-arrived giant Triceratops – the biggest dinosaur ever to roam the Eden gardens – grappled its arch nemesis the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex. The face-off on the grassy rooftop between the bubbles of the Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes comes in advance of  Eden's summer holiday spectacular Dinosaur Uprising: Land, Sea and Air, from July 23 to September 4.

Excited guests gathered in Universal's Islands of Adventure to help mark the official opening of Universal Orlando Resort's newest mega attraction, Skull Island: Reign of Kong. Skull Island: Reign of Kong brings the next generation of the King Kong legend to life on an unprecedented scale. The adventure begins as guests are transported deep into a mysterious world, where their mission is to discover creatures of unknown origin with the 8th Wonder Expedition Company, the research team leading the excursion.

William Shakespeare’s last will and testament will be making its way back to Stratford-upon-Avon this summer for the very first time since it was written in March 1616. Cared for by The National Archives, the original will of the world’s greatest playwright will be displayed at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust from 16 July – 4 August as part of a major exhibition celebrating 400 years of Shakespeare’s legacy.

Stonewall, Britain’s leading lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality charity, has named Birmingham City Council as one of the best local authorities in Britain for tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and celebrating difference in its schools. This comes as the charity today publishes its annual Education Equality Index, listing the Top 10 local authorities in Britain, with Birmingham City Council coming in eighth position.

Wolverhampton has made the top ten in a major survey of the best live music scenes – thanks to venues like the Civic Hall and the Robin2. It is a ringing endorsement of the city, which is currently in the middle of an exciting ten-day ‘Enjoy Wolverhampton’ programme of free or purse-friendly activities showcasing its gems. Leading entertainment listings site Ents24 places Wolverhampton in the top ten alongside London, at number one, Manchester, second, and Bristol, third, for live music venues.

Graffiti Spirits, widely regarded in Liverpool as prime innovators behind Liverpool's progressive new cocktail and independent eating out scene has revealed that Santa Maluco will open tomorrow. Director Matthew Farrell, one of the partners behind the fiercely independent group who already operate city centre bars Santa Chupitos, El Bandito, Salt Dog Slims, 81 Ltd and their 'smokehouse and cocktails' venue Slim's Pork Chop Express said guests can expect the team to bring a touch of Brazilian Rodizio to their Neapolitan pizza joint.

Mark Quartley has joined the cast to play Ariel in the RSC’s forthcoming production of The Tempest, which opens in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in November 2016 to conclude Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary year. Mark will be taking on a whole new area of stage craft by wearing a motion capture suit provided by The Imaginarium Studios, live on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage for the very first time. This allows the movements of his ‘avatar’ Ariel to be projected on and around the stage, including flying and morphing into different versions of the spirit which are delivered by using Intel technology.

The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is coming to Wolverhampton Art Gallery later this month. Visitors to the Lichfield Street gallery can take in some of the world’s most astonishing sights and see nature at its most staggering in this blockbuster show, which runs from Saturday, July 23 to Sunday, September 18. Now in its 51st year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition provides a showcase for the world’s very best nature photography.

Inspired by the release of the highly anticipated film, The BFG, and the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl's birth, director Steven Spielberg, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Professor Stephen Hawking and Buzz Aldrin are among dozens of high-profile individuals supporting a project to raise money for children across the world. A new public art installation called The BFG Dream Jar Trail is launching in partnership with Unilever across the UK.

In celebration of this summer’s major sporting event taking place in Brazil, Victorian Arcade will be hosting their very own carnival celebrations on Saturday 6th August, the day after Rio’s official opening ceremony. Running from 11am to 4pm the carnival event is set to bring the party atmosphere of Brazil to Walsall and will feature a whole host of entertainment and activities for families to enjoy.

After many years of great service, Astwood Bank Carnival’s current logo will be retired at this year’s Carnival, in favour of a brand-new design. The latest logo has already been selected and is the result of a competition launched by the Carnival committee and Birmingham’s biggest signage and graphics company, Hollywood Monster. The competition called upon the children of Astwood Bank to illustrate an emblem that celebrated the diverse range of events that the Carnival committee organise throughout the year.

Britain's busiest jive and swing band, the Jive Aces are to play at Broadway Casino's Manhattan Bar this Friday and are set to get everyone dancing. The award-winning Jive Aces shot to fame after becoming the first ever band to reach the semi- finals of Britain’s Got Talent. The six friends complement one another perfectly with a variety of alternative instruments including the trumpet, ukulele, double bass, piano, drums, saxophone, trombone, washboard, bongos, blues harp, kazoo, spoons and the vuvuzela.  

With this season of Game of Thrones having vanished off our screens for another year head to Haven's Thornwick Bay Holiday Village in Yorkshire to immerse the whole family in the world of knights and medieval jousting. Enjoy a spectacular display of horsemanship in this breath-taking medieval jousting tournament. The actors are trained stunt men and have appeared in major films and TV series including Game of Thrones, Macbeth, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, King Arthur, The Da Vinci Code as well as James Bond movies.

Hundreds of volunteers led by Birmingham Repertory Theatre were part of a UK-wide event that took place on July 1, as a modern memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.   Commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary, the work was conceived and created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre.