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Posts Tagged "wembley arena"

25 Jul
2011

Player Draw for World Badminton Championships Announced

Posted by in Sport No Comments

The countdown is on to the YONEX BWF World Badminton Championships at Wembley Arena next month as the results of the player draw for the tournament were announced this morning.

Gail Emms, former Olympic silver medallist, celebrated at the Tower of London with two Yeoman of the Guard (Beefeaters), commenting:

“The Championships are a fantastic opportunity for the public to show support for the British athletes.  With excitement building for 2012, the battle for the World Badminton Championships this year is set to be an exciting one, and I know how important our home crowd support will be in getting behind the players.  I urge all badminton fans to lift the roof of the famous Wembley Arena!”

The draw including a tough first round match for British No. 1 Rajiv Ouseph against Danish Peter Gade (who has beaten him six times in the past); Susan Egelstaff of Scotland will play Canadian Michelle Li; and in mixed doubles Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork received a bye into the second round where they will likely face Malaysian players Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh.

See full results of the draw for English and Scottish players.

YONEX BWF World Badminton Championships 2011, 8-14 Aug 2011. Buy tickets

15 Mar
2011

Disney on Ice at Wembley Arena

Posted by in Kids No Comments

Wembley was crawling with little people over the weekend.

Boys and girls of all ages descended on the North London suburb to meet some of their favourite cartoon characters, up-close-and-personal. I am of course talking about the Disney On Ice Disneyland Adventure. Now touring the country, the show spent a few days at Wembley Arena last week.

My boys – aged seven, five and two – could not believe their luck when we took to our seats. At the front of the stage, we had an unobstructed view of all the action. And what a lot of it there was.

Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy were our guides for the morning, as we joined them on a fun-filled tour of the Disneyland theme park. The enchanted Tikki room, It’s a Small World, Space Mountain and other Disney attractions sprang to life metres in front of us.

The flimsy plotline made no difference to my wide-eyed kids. Each time a new character took to the stage, my youngest announced their arrival at full volume: “Baloo! Buzz! Woody!”

The excitement mounted as Mickey and pals prepared for the Disney parade. The characters skated out one-by-one, impressing the audience with their daring leaps and spins, until one of Disney’s most evil witches brought proceedings to a sudden halt.

Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent cast an evil spell over the arena, prompting our heroes to fall into a 100-year sleep. Never fear, however, as The Incredibles saved the day after the interval.

The kids had a blast, though many of the parents may have felt slightly less impressed by the travelling Disney money-spinner. If you take the whole family, expect to find a rather large hole burnt into your pocket. On top of the tickets, there are extras to consider such as a programme (£9), popcorn (£8), candy floss (£7.50) and flashing Mr Incredible (£15).

Still, the experience was priceless, as far as my youngest was concerned. As he lay his head down on his pillow that night he turned to me and said, “That show was really great Mummy.”

The London run of the show is now finished, but for more information about other UK dates visit www.disney.co.uk/disneyonice/disneylandadventure/

3 Jan
2011

Top Five Comedy Shows to Look Out for in 2011

Posted by in Comedy 1 Comment

There’s some top comedy in London coming up this year. Five stand-up comedians touring in 2011 that you should buy tickets for now are:

14 May
2010

Rhythmic Gymnastics to be held at Wembley Arena for the 2012 Olympics

Posted by in Attractions, London 2012 Olympic Games, Sport 1 Comment

The international gymnastics federation (FIG) announced this week that the Rhythmic Gymnastics events will be held at Wembley Arena for the London 2012 Olympics.

Rhythmic Gymnastics and the Olympic Badminton competitions were originally scheduled to be held at a temporary venue near the Olympic Park in East London.

But London Olympic Games organisers decided last year to scrap the temporary facility and relocate both sports to Wembley Arena, which will save up to £40 million. A similar announcement is expected from the Badminton powers-that-be soon.

Wembley Arena seats 12,500 and is London’s second largest indoor arena (The O2 is the biggest). Wembley Arena underwent a £35 million renovation five years ago and, as you can see from the pic, it’s looking very flash these days.

Wembley Arena has hosted some huge names in the past and this year has concerts by Flight of The Conchords, Green Day and John Mayer. Stunning acrobats Cirque du Soleil will also take to the famous stage in July.

We trust the Olympic rhythmic gymnasts will enjoy competing at Wembley Arena.

6 Aug
2009

Walking with Dinosaurs

Posted by in Kids, Special Events 2 Comments

An even scarier T. Rex, from Walking with Dinosaurs

It’s turning into Dinosaur week in London. Which, as any six year old, or any grown up dino-nut (guilty as charged), will tell you is only right and proper.

Last night saw the first London performance of Walking with Dinosaurs at The O2. It’s on there until Sunday and then comes to Wembley Arena at the end of the month.

Huxley the paleontologist narrates the journey from the first dinosaur eggs in the triassic through to the meteor impact at the close of the cretaceous (was that a spoiler?). He does the science bit, covering evolution and plate tectonics to tell how the world and its animals and plants have changed over millions of years. But the stars are, of course, the dinosaurs themselves – nine different species, plus one pterosaur.

T. rex is, as in all dino-films, a shameless scene stealer, stomping and roaring as she defends her child from a pair of (justifiably) upset herbivores.

For me the stars were the Brachiosaurs. When Huxley describes the beast towering over him as a youngster and goes on to tell how much bigger he will grow (as tall as a three storey building, as long as two buses, as heavy as ten adult elephants “give or take an adult elephant”) you may think “ah, that’s why they made a small one, there’s no way they could do an adult”, but then a full grown titan joins him in the arena!

The dinosaurs are wonderful creations – they look, move and sound like living animals. For anyone who loves, or even just likes a little bit, dinos, this is probably the closest we’ll come to seeing them in life.

Tickets are selling out fast so book now or enter our competition to win a family ticket.

5 Aug
2009

Dinosaurs in London

Posted by in Attractions No Comments

Scary t Rex at the Natural History Museum

Dinosaurs are taking over London! We’ve met dinosaurs at The Proms and Walking with Dinosaurs arrives at The O2 tonight.

Are you planning to see Walking with Dinosaurs at The O2 or Wembley Arena? You’ll see full size dinos roaring and fighting on stage!

If you love dinosaurs, head to either the Natural History Museum or Crystal Palace Park before the show for more prehistoric scares.

The Natural History Museum is home to an impressive collection of dinosaur fossils. Get close to dinosaur skeletons and explore the science behind these big creatures. What does dinosaur skin look like? Did you know that there are still dinosaurs alive on earth today? What did they eat and will they eat you? Find out the answers to all your dinosaur questions at the Natural History Museum.

If you want to meet dinosaurs in the wild, visit Crystal Palace Park. These life size sculptures were built by the Victorians and you’ll find them lurking in the woods like a real life Jurassic Park. Scientific understanding about dinosaurs has moved on a bit since these dudes were created so there’s a few funny faces and poses, but they’re still scary and huge.

Entry to the Natural History Museum and Crystal Palace Park is free. It’s not too late to book tickets for Walking With Dinosaurs.