It’s been confirmed that the ‘Floating Earth’ art installation will remain closed temporarily at Salford Quays.
The art installation first arrived in Salford last Thursday evening following its stint at Pennington Flash Nature Reserve in Wigan and quickly began to drawn in visitors from far and wide – but shortly after its arrival, and after the classic Manchester bad weather took a turn for worse, eyewitnesses and festival-goers noticed that it started to deflate and sink into the canal.
Plenty of people took to Twitter to share pictures of the unfortunate event, and then Quays Culture – the organisers of the annual Lightwaves Festival – announced that the installation would be closed temporarily.
“Due to unexpected weather conditions here at The Quays, we’ve had to remove power to Floating Earth and close it temporarily,” Quays Culture said on Twitter at the time.
“We’re really sorry for any disappointment.”
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A follow-up statement from the arts organisation later in the day on Saturday then revealed the decision to temporarily close the entire Lightwaves festival to the public, adding that: “The safety of our staff and visitors is paramount.
“We want you to have the best experience when you visit.”
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Lightwaves 2021 eventually reopened yesterday, but Quays Culture confirmed that ‘Floating Earth’ would remain closed for the time being.
“Due to strong winds forecast in the coming days, we have no choice but to keep Floating Earth temporarily closed but we hope to reopen it later this week [so] check back for updates [and in the] meantime, come and enjoy all the other artworks.”
The floating earth is sinking! 😲🌍
A rescue mission is underway to save Luke Jerram's ‘floating earth’ which took a battering in this weekend's windy weather pic.twitter.com/Kni4c9NifY
The temporary closure of ‘Floating Earth’ at Salford Quays comes after its stay at Pennington Flash was also cut short for the same reason. It was due to remain on the lake for 10 days, but Wigan Council confirmed that it has unfortunately been deflated three days early due to forecasted stormy weather.
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If you’re not sure what ‘Floating Earth’ is, the captivating installation is the work of internationally-acclaimed artist Luke Jerram.
Measuring a whopping 10-metres in diameter and featuring high-tech NASA imagery, as well as a surround-sound musical track by BAFTA award-winning composer Dan Jones, Floating Earth’s appearance at Lightwaves 2021 is designed to “question our relationship with our planet”.
Jerram says he has created this brand-new work to give visitors a “profound understanding of the interconnection of all life”, and a “renewed sense of responsibility” for taking care of the environment.
Lightwaves 2021 is featuring the event’s “most ambitious line-up to date”
Alongside ‘Floating Earth’, 11 other light installations will also be making appearances, including Cygnus by Loomaland – a mesmerising water ballet featuring 12 perfectly synchronised, glowing robot swans – and Sirens by Davy and Kristin McGuire – an installation that uses holographic projections to transform public waterways into mythical underwater worlds inhabited by supernatural sea creatures and mysterious mermaids.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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Tesco is trialling giving away expired food to shoppers for FREE at the end of the day
Emily Sergeant
Tesco has begun trialling giving away food that’s close to expiring away to shoppers for free at the end of the day.
You’ve heard of reduced-price food, but now Tesco is taking things one step further.
Food waste continues to be a growing problem, with the latest Government statistics revealing that the UK throws away approximately 9.52 million tonnes of food every year, which is why Tesco has decided to begin a trail at selected Express stores nationwide where it gives away some already-discounted ‘yellow sticker’ items for free after 9:30pm, reports The Telegraph.
Tesco is one of the UK’s major supermarket chains with a partnership to send surplus food to food poverty charities and foodbanks.
Although the chain is already donating its expired food, bosses say they are taking this next step to try to meet its goal to halve food waste by the end of this year.
Tesco is trialling giving away expired food for free to shoppers at the end of the day / Credit: The Manc Group
During this new trial – which is currently underway at selected stores across the UK – the company said the expiring food would be offered to charities and shop workers first, before customers could take it home for free.
Usually the items would be marketed at a cut-off of a 90% reduction, but under the new system – which is the first of its kind in the UK – food will be free of charge.
“We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste,” a Tesco spokesperson commented on the trail.
“In all our stores we offer unsold surplus food to charities and community groups, donating millions of meals each month.
“This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.”
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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Flash sale launches with two-for-one tickets to some of Manchester’s biggest gigs
Thomas Melia
Two upcoming Manchester gigs are having a flash sale where you can get your hands on some very limited 2 for 1 tickets.
The two biggest arenas in Manchester are hosting exclusive discounts on two of the biggest upcoming Manchester gigs.
If you’re after tickets to Co-op Live’s offering you’ll have to act fast as they have a legend in attendance, quite literally, as John Legend is set to take to the stage on Thursday 29 May.
It’s a very special gig for the singer-songwriter as he celebrates 20 years of ‘Get Lifted’ where Mr. Legend will be playing tracks from his debut album like ‘Ordinary People’, sprinkling in more hits too.
AO Arena are also running a limited 2 for 1 ticket discount and we’re certain it’s about to get ‘Hot In Herre’ as St. Louis MC Nelly brings his UK tour to this very stage along with a troupe of famous stars.
Anyone interested in finding ‘Where The Party At’ doesn’t have to look much further than Saturday 7 June when Nelly brings his tour to Manchester with Eve, St. Lunatics, Jermaine Dupri and Fabolous.
Co-op Live is running a limited 2 for 1 offer on John Legend tickets.AO Arena have a 2 for 1 flash sale on tickets to see Nelly and special guests.Credit:Publicity Picture (via Supplied) / Flickr
‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind’ because these tickets are too good to pass on especially when you get the opportunity to see all these rap legends under the same roof for less than three figures at £90.
And we’re giving you the ‘Green Light’ about John Legend and his upcoming ‘Get Lifted – 20th Anniversary Tour’ when we say these 2 for 1 tickets total at £70, It’s ‘Written In The Stars’.
Anyone after 2 for 1 tickets for John Legend and his upcoming ‘Get Lifted – 20th Anniversary Tour’ can find this exclusive running until 28 May HERE.
And there’s no ‘Dilemma’ in sight as you can get 2 for 1 tickets to see Nelly and his music crew on their ‘Where The Party At’ tour HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
6th December 2021 
