Ticket prices for Dubai Parks and Resorts
Dubai Parks and Resorts has announced the ticket prices for the theme-park destination, which is set to open on October 31. The venue, featuring three separate parks, will offer single-park daily tickets, multi-park tickets and annual passes. For Motiongate Dubai, the daily ticket price is Dh330 for adults, Dh280 for kids and seniors over age 60. For Bollywood Parks, a one-day ticket is Dh285 for adults, Dh245 for kids and seniors. A one-day ticket to Legoland Dubai and Legoland Water Park is Dh395 for adults, Dh350 for kids and seniors. Annual passes are available for each individual park, ranging in price from Dh755 to Dh995. Annual passes offering unlimited access to all three parks cost Dh2,495, with a 15 per cent discount on food and drinks, merchandise, daily passes for friends and family, and separate ticketed shows. Short-term multi-park passes are also available, ranging from a one-day all-parks adult pass for Dh480 up to a four-day all-parks adult pass for Dh890. The majority of tickets will soon be available for purchase online – annual passes are already available at www.DubaiParksandResorts.com. – The National
The race for Oscars starts at this week’s Toronto Film Festival
The race for the Oscars intensifies this week at the Toronto film festival. Nearly 400 feature and short films from 83 countries will be screened at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival, the largest such event in North America, which opens on Thursday, September 8. The event is crucial for Oscar-conscious studios and distributors, attracting hundreds of filmmakers and actors to the red carpet in Canada's largest city. In past years, films such as 12 Years a Slave, The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire went on from winning the Toronto festival's audience prize for best picture to take the top honour at the Oscars. Films being positioned for accolades this year include the new Denis Villeneuve sci-fi movie Arrival; the musical La La Land starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone; and Oliver Stone's Snowden about former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's 2013 leak revealing the extent of government snooping on private data. The film festival runs until September 18. – AFP
Beyoncé postpones tour date for vocal rest
Even Beyoncé needs to slow down once in a while. Under doctor's orders for vocal rest, the superstar singer has postponed the Wednesday, September 7 MetLife Stadium stop of her Formation World Tour in New Jersey until October 7. Other ticket holders for shows in the final leg of the tour can rest easy though as the remaining shows are expected to happen on their originally scheduled dates. The Formation World Tour in support of Beyonce's album Lemonade kicked off in April in Miami and was to conclude October 2 in Nashville. – AP
Asteroid named after Freddie Mercury
Queen guitarist Brian May says an asteroid in Jupiter's orbit has been named after the band's late frontman Freddie Mercury, on what would have been his 70th birthday. May says the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre has designated an asteroid discovered in 1991, the year of Mercury's death, as Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury. May, who has a doctorate in astrophysics from Imperial College, London, says the newly named asteroid is "just a dot of light, but it's a very special dot of light" and recognises Mercury's musical and performing talents. Mercury, who was born on September 5, 1946, wrote and performed hits including Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions with Queen, releasing more than a dozen studio albums between 1973 and 1991. -AP
Parched in cinemas on September 23
Actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn's upcoming co-production Parched will hit theatres on September 23. Directed by Leena Yadav, Parched stars Radhika Apte, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Lehar Khan. The film has been praised at several international film festivals. Devgn tweeted, "Presenting 'Parched' – 18 awards, 24 international film festivals across continents. Releasing September 23. Trailer on September 9." Set in rural India, Parched follows the lives of three ordinary women who begin to break free from centuries-old traditions. -IANS