Chill Out Sunday is here!

LIVERPOOL Pride announces exciting details for the second day of festivities celebrating Liverpool’s first ever LGB&T Pride festival. ‘Chill Out Sunday,’ will take place on Sunday 8th August across the city taking in sporting and cultural activities for Pride goers to enjoy.

Get ready to don that lycra leotard and ‘be active’ as ‘Pride Sports’ takes place at Lifestyles, Wavertree from midday to 5pm (registration from 11am). Hosted by the Merseyside Marauders Football Club, this active afternoon will celebrate LGB&T community sports with participants able to take part in a number of sporting pursuits and tournaments including Water Polo, Rounders and Tug of War. The highlight of the day will no doubt be the 5-A-Side football tournament. Why not get a team together or come along alone or with friends and meet new people? Those who enter will be in with a chance of winning the ultimate accolade- the first ever Liverpool Pride Sports 5-A-Side Champions! It costs just £5 per person to take part, which is payable on the day. (Over 18s only).

Councillor Wendy Simon, Liverpool’s cabinet member for culture and tourism said:- “There are so many events which form part of the inaugural Liverpool Pride Festival that there truly will be something for everyone to see or do. It looks set to be a fantastic weekend celebrating LGB&T life and I would urge people to go along, get involved and enjoy it.”

There is also a raft of arts and culture to get your teeth into. Why not learn something new by attending an exhibition or talk and connect with others at a gallery or cinema?

The highlight of Liverpool Pride’s cultural offer comes from Tate Liverpool, with a fabulous 2 FOR 1 OFFER for the Picasso: Peace + Freedom exhibition Pre-book your ticket to attend Tate Liverpool’s major summer exhibition Picasso: Peace + Freedom before 5pm on Monday, 2 August 2010, and get two for one entry during the weekend of Liverpool Pride. To book, pick up a pride brochure for the exclusive special offer code and call:- 0151 702 7400, or call in to the Tate Liverpool foyer desk.

Tate Liverpool also presents Language as Sculpture Drop in to Tate Liverpool during Liverpool Pride and enjoy a free tour of their new collection display co-curated by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. The display features art­works from the Tate collection which explore the numerous ways in which artists have engaged with language through their art. Talks regarding this exhibition will run at 1.30pm and 2.30pm.

The Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street presents a free talk surrounding the David Hockney Polaroids, Pools and Painting exhibition. This FREE curator-led talk takes place from 1pm – 1.30pm and focuses on the highly popular Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool, a portrait of Hockney’s lover of 5 years, Peter Schlesinger. The talk will examine how the painting was constructed around the artist’s memory, the influ­ence of Polaroid photog­raphy and the Californian dream in the context of Hockney’s early career. Collect a ticket from the Walker welcome desk or call:- 0151 478 4697 to book.

Take in an exhibition tour of ‘Arabicity: Such A Near East’ at 2pm at the bluecoat. 6 contemporary Arab artists explore cultural heritage through painting, photography, video and installation. Their representations of self and personal iconography include Chant Avedissian’s enchanting paintings of popular icons, from princes to pop stars, whilst photographer Raeda Saadeh questions gender and identity by posing in famous paintings or staging witty tableaux. Free

Swedish Film Maker Marcus Lindeen brings his 2009 film, Regretters to Picturehouse @ FACT at 3pm. Mikael and Or­lando, well into their 60s, meet for the first time to talk about their lives and, the one defining regret they both share, their sexual reassignment. This event will be followed by a special discussion with the filmmaker Marcus Lindeen. Regretters is part of the film programme for the exhibition, Persistence of Vision. (Swedish with English subtitles) Tickets £5 (£4 FACT members & concessions) Book online or by phone:- 0871 902 5737

Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock is thrilled to announce the extension of the Hello Sailor! exhibition especially for Liverpool Pride. Hello Sailor! Is a free exhibition looking at life on board passenger and merchant ships from the 1950s to 1980s, when being at sea was one of the few places gay men could be themselves. Gay culture has long been a feature of seafaring life for centuries, but it is still largely a hidden one even today. Hello Sailor! reveals this hidden history for the first time.

Rounding the day off at Picturehouse @ FACT from 7pm, Clapperboard presents Frank Clarke and a screening of The Fruit Machine with special guests, in association with Picturehouse @ FACT, Homotopia and Outsiders. Directed by Philip Saville & written by acclaimed Liverpool writer Frank Clarke (Letter to Brezhnev). Fruit Machine is the story of Eddie, who runs away from home and visits the gay disco ‘Fruit Machine’ with his friend Michael, where he witnesses a murder. They escape, but now the killers after them...Tickets are £10 and include a complimentary after show drink at 3345 Parr Street Book online or by phone:- 0871 902 5737

Liverpool Pride promises to be a fabulous 2 day event, we invite the people of Merseyside and beyond to come along and get involved, either in Saturday’s street party at the Rainbow Circus or if sports and arts are more your thing then come along to Chill Out Sunday and check it out!

UK HIP HOP STARS PUT THEIR HOME CITIES IN THE FRAME

TALENTED music artists Kof and Akala have teamed up with CHILDREN’S charity Plan UK and Shoot Experience to launch the fifth annual Shoot Nations global youth photography competition.

Each year thousands of young people from more than 100 countries take part in the online contest in a bid to be crowned the world’s best young snapper with a presentation to the UN headquarters in New York.  This time round, the theme is “City Living” and judges are looking for images which depict everyday life in the world’s cities – from London to Lagos.

London born Kingslee ‘Akala’ Daley, 26 found time during the preparations for his upcoming UK wide tour with Nas and Damien Marley to take a picture of his much-loved home town of Camden citing:- “To me this is London. This is one of the most diverse cities in the world; here you can meet anyone from every corner of the globe’

Liverpudlian urban artist Kof was also keen to showcase his area and says:- “The photograph was taken from Everton Brow, locally known as The View”

The timing of the competition was particularly apt for Kof as his latest video for ‘Fire It Up’ featuring Wiley and Chelcee due out on the 23 of August captures a weekend of bar and club hopping around his beloved city.

With more than 50% of the world’s population now living in urban areas for the first time in human history competition organisers opted for the theme of “City Living”.

Shoot Nations leader George Anang'a, from Plan UK, said the competition was about spotting great talent and giving young people a voice.  “This is the 5th Shoot Nations competition and every year the bar just gets higher, the standard is fantastic,” he said.  “The idea is that the smallest community or family issue in any area of the world can be photographed and displayed at the highest level of global government, the United Nations.

This year we want to use the cities theme to build a picture of what urban environments mean to young people whilst focusing on the movement of people and the impact this has on the surrounding environment. “

Shoot Nations is free to enter, and is open to anyone between the ages of 11 and 25 with two age group categories, 11 to 16 years and 17 to 25 years.  Entrants should submit up to 3 shots each, with a brief explanation of why each photo demonstrates the photographer’s feelings towards ‘City Living’ and the impact of the migration on the rural community’s people have left behind.

A shortlist of the best UK entries will be revealed on MTV.co.uk and the Best UK Photo winner chosen by MTV viewers.

PRIZES:-  The UK winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to New York to present winning and commended photos to the United Nations on International Youth Day, 12 August 2010.  Other prizes include Olympus cameras, designer maps and National Geographic subscriptions.     For more information please visit:- shootnations.org.

 Barry Roberts, Morgan Sindall area director for Liverpool

THE construction company Morgan Sindall, which has offices at Enterprise Way in Liverpool, is warning youngsters not to play on construction sites this summer.  With the school summer holidays just around the corner, Barry Roberts, Morgan Sindall area director, is appealing to the community to help warn children about the dangers associated with construction sites as part of the company’s annual safety campaign.  Barry Roberts told the media that:- “Construction sites are extremely dangerous places for unsupervised children and we are urging the community to help us ensure youngsters are not tempted to play on sites this summer. Everyone who works on a construction site undergoes health and safety training and wears full protective clothing. Children who enter sites are putting their lives at risk.” How do our readers think youngsters can be put off entering construction sites? Email us to:- news24@southportreporter.com