IF you are reading this on the day of publication - which is to say February 28 - you are in good time to enter a very special photo competition.
It relates to Global Rainbow, which is set to light up the sky over the sea off North Tyneside for four nights from tomorrow (February 29).
It’s the creation of Yvette Mattern, the Berlin-based American artist who spent some time at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art back in 2006, and it is the unmissable beacon of hope heralding the Cultural Olympiad programme in the North East and the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Details of the competition – you can win a camera, courtesy of John Lewis, and get your photo published in this magazine – are on page 7.
The climax of the Cultural Olympiad coincides with the fifth AV Festival, making it a busy month for arts and culture across the region.
Inside you will meet an innovative sound artist and AV star, Susan Stenger, and learn more about the festival with its counter-intuitive (in this sporting year) theme of As Slow As Possible.
A lot of people will be talking about another Susan this month – the life- enhancing Ms Boyle who went from wannabe to megastar via a TV talent contest.
A new musical based on her life opens at the Theatre Royal in March and inside you’ll meet actress Elaine C Smith who is playing the lady on stage.
A musician of a very different ilk, Teesside-born Chris Rea, also spared some time to talk to Culture ahead of his concert at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena.
The man who once made a film about Ferraris now lives in Windsor. Some – though not all – would say he has gone up in the world.
We also put some questions to Julia Donaldson, creator of The Gruffalo, who has charmed generations of small children and maybe put the shivers up one or two.
The exhibition devoted to Julia’s wonderful work opens at Seven Stories in Newcastle in March and is sure to be popular.
On our Classical pages, we look at a concert which will commemorate the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago while giving many of the region’s most talented young musicians a chance to shine.
And in Taste, devoted to the best in food and drink, you will find the Hairy Bikers and some slow-cooking recipes in the spirit of the AV Festival.
David Whetstone
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