AGENDA

AGENDA

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Bridge of sighs for fest

CHlJl'leAVVUl/lBA \NILL HAVE a last rrrrnute dash to be onstage at T in the Parl this weekend as both barrsz and fans face heavy delays lfl getting to the festrval

As went to press, festival organisers were at loggerheads With the owners of the Forth Road Bridge over roadworks which threaten to rlrsrupt traffic on the day

The weekend contraflow system currently in operation on the crossmg was suspended for the recent Royal Highland Show at Ingliston, Edinburgh, brrt works wrll continue thrs \.‘vreel:end as fans from all over Scotland make their way to Perthshire. Stuart (Qlurnpas, of the festival promoters Big Day Out, said he was annoyed by the apparent double standard 'l’m really angry We are being penalised for being envrronrnentally sound,’ he fumed. ’I

have been encouraging people for five

Marketbids for Festival success

A (.Otr‘TiNENTAL-STYLE waterfront mari'et wrll open in Edinburgh during this year’s festrval, and organisers hope rt could become an ongoing srrr'e—attr‘actron for worn-out culture vultures

The market, to be called Sundays in Lerth, rs to run - as rt sounds -— every Sunday, for eight weeks from 12 July . It will incorporate arts and crafts and antrriue stalls, wholefoods, fresh produce and take-away food as well live ML! and folk music

Ornanrsed by Unique Events, the team responsible for Edinburgh’s Hogrn.‘rnay, the market :s to be situated on the Shore rn Lerth between Bernard Street and the Malmarson hotel

A spokesv-Joman for Unique Events said bookings from stallholders were approaching capacity for each weekend, but admitted rt wrll be a challenge to attract festival crowds away from the city centre

’People come to do the festival which is very much a City centre thrng,’ she said. ’But we are hoping to entice people down to have a break from it

The idea of a street market in Lerth has been on the cards for some time, she added, but the feeling is that it could now be a success

’Thrs rs a pilot protect —— if rt is a disaster we won’t do it agarn,‘ she explained. ’But we hope it Will be a big success and become an annual event (Stephen Naysmith)

j, .,

years to travel in buses, and we offer cheaper parking for drivers who share cars r- none of which the Highland Show does '

Clumpas believes that havrng successfully reduced the numbers travelling by ;ar, the festrval rs ironically now seen as less of an issue by roads chiefs. He has written to John Prescott, Government mrnrster for transport and the envrronrnent, to vorce hrs concerns.

‘rrrakprctureror fotofeis

FOTOFEIS, THE SCOTTISH festival of photographic art looks destined for closure, after the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) confirmed its funding will not be renewed.

The 1997 festival, the third of the biennial events, will be the last unless the fotofeis management committee come up with an alternative funding plan.

Programme coordinator Alice Angus told The List: 'Our funding will cease from the end of July. We had funding of £92,000 which was reduced this year to £65,000. Now we have been told that even that will not be renewed.’

Future plans for the organisation will be announced following a board meeting later this month, she added. 'We will decide then whether fotofeis will reintroduce

lgeers

T in the park veterans Chumbawumba: can they get up again?

’If I told all my punters to buy Landrovers and come independently, the bridge would have been open,’ he blasted. ’If they aren’t prepared to rethrnl: this rt shows a real lacl; of comn'rrtment and honesty,’

Big Day Out are advrsrng people travelling from the west to go vra the Krncardrne Bridge to avoid the contraflow, but (Llumpas claims this route rs also subject to lengter delays, even without festrval traffic

itself on a different basis.’

Last year's festival, themed entirely around sex, was criticised in some quarters, and described in The List as ‘not adding up to the sum of its private parts'. However, the SAC said concern about the quality of fotofeis work was not an issue.

A spokeswoman explained: 'We discussed this with fotofeis and they were awarded £65,000 to wind up. The project was to promote photography in Scotland. They have achieved that and we think they did a wonderful job of bringing photography as an art form to the forefront.‘

She added: ’That doesn't mean there won't be funding for other projects involving photography in the future.’ (Stephen Naysmith)

Museum moves in on movies

EDINBURGH IS TO acid another new cinema, the Lumrer, to rts broad range of rnovre venues. The Royal Museum of Scotland announced this week that its exrsting lecture hall Will be upgraded to a full 35mm crnerna venue in time for the inauguration of the Museum of Scotland on 4 December.

Dolby Stereo and a new screen, suitable for Wide-screen, cinemascope [)TOJCCIIOH, Will also be added to the exrstrng 16mm and vrdeo facilities The List understands, however, that in order to preserve the excellent Sightlrnes of the exrstrng seating, rt Will not be upgraded.

'I felt the space was very underused,’ says Richard Mowe, the film Journalist

and co—drrector of Edinburgh’s French and ltalran frlrn festivals, who has Just been appornted crnerna director for the new venture. ’It had been used for the French Frlrn Festival on the odd occasion but rt only had 16mm proiectrori’

Mowe’s plans for the Lurnrer are to present rt as a niche cinema, showmg seasons of films that reflect the exhibitions and events being held at the museum He hopes that people who already vrsrt the museum wrll frncl the crnerna to be an added bonus Mowe also tropes that the cinema wrll attract a new audience to the museum itself, as crnerna goers opt to stay on to see the exhibitions

’When people buy a ticket for the

Slow connections v.rth the airports at Glasgow and Edinburgh are also proving a headache bands Anarcltrst chart~toppers Chumba- v.rtrr:;hr have JLrsi an haur and a half het'xxeer‘. their arrival at Edinburgh and therr scheduled appearance on stage.

The Forth Road Bridge is riflrnrnrstererl by Edinburgh City Council and life District Council A spokesman for the Joint board said there was no guestron of T in the Park or rts audience being discriminated against

'Srnce the weekend roadworks began last May people going to a whole range of tourist events have had to endure some delays,’ he said 'l'lre restrictions were lifted on only one occasion, the Royal Highland Show, .uch v-ras the scale of that event.’

He added ’We have repeatedly explained the situation to the T in the Park organisers since they conta< ted us less than two months ago.’

for

(Stephen Naysmith)

Ivan Pinkava’s Brother And Sister: part of last year's Fotofeis

crnerna rt will entitle them to access to the museum as well,’ he says ’lnrtrally the crnerna Will be open for four days a week Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, when the museum is already open late We anticipate that the crnerna wrll run from noon to llpm During the afternoons we will target the programming towards family audiences In the evening it will become more serious and challengrng'

The first season, which Mowe is in the process of prograrnmrng, wrll concentrate on Scottish crnerna. This may include a retrospective of Bill Forsyth's work as well as some archive material of Scottish documentaries (Thom Drbdrn)

9—23 Jul 1998 THE “ST 23