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World's Great Figures Head to Edinburgh for Geldof Concert
EXCLUSIVE: By Mona McAlinden and Aideen McLaughlin
Bob Geldof has invited some of the world’s most prominent religious figures, moral leaders and musicians to take part in a huge free concert and rally in Edinburgh as the cornerstone of his global campaign to pressurise G8 summit delegates at Gleneagles to save millions of lives in Africa.
Geldof will officially unveil his ambitious plans at a press conference on Tuesday, but the Sunday Herald can reveal that the unique Murrayfield event will take place on July 6 to coincide with the opening day of the summit.
It will follow after a string of events around the world organised by Geldof and Midge Ure, who staged Live Aid, the world’s single most successful charity event, 20 years ago.
The full line-up of speakers and artists has yet to be confirmed, but invitations have gone to the Pope, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and some of the world’s most famous rock and pop acts, at least some of whom are expected to agree to live satellite links to the stadium if they cannot be there in person.
It will follow at least two massive concerts on July 2, in London’s Hyde Park and in Washington DC, anticipated to feature some of the world’s best-known rock bands, and will coincide with Edinburgh’s Make Poverty History march, which is expected to attract more than 100,000 people. Other events may take place in major cities all over the world.
Between the concerts on July 2 and the Murrayfield event on July 6, Geldof is also expected to stage a number of other events to show the strength of global feeling that the G8 summit must seize the opportunity to tackle world poverty, particularly in Africa.
It is known that he has asked Virgin boss Richard Branson for free transatlantic flights to bring protesters from America, and has looked into the possibility of arranging free sailings to Britain from Europe.
At one stage, a massive Walk For Justice was planned, in the hope of organising a million-strong march to Edinburgh, but the Sunday Herald understands this this has now been shelved.
A source close to the organisers said: “The idea was discarded because the imagery is all wrong. It would just have ended up with loads of public order stories instead of talking about the real issues.”
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said a huge influx of people over and above those expected for the Make Poverty History rally could have represented a real danger to both activists and the public. He explained: “We can accommodate 100,000 with the resources we have. If there was a huge number on top of that, the issue is whether it becomes dangerous for the participants and the public. If suddenly there were 500,000 people we’d have to clear a larger area and get more police from different forces to help us.
“During Hogmanay in Edinburgh, there’s 250,000 people in Princes Street and it’s packed full. There really isn’t enough room in the city to double that. At the moment people from the marches are going to the Meadows where there will be food, accommodation and toilet facilities.
“If you increase that number there won’t be enough facilities to cater for people. There’s no accommodation in Edinburgh over that period and there wouldn’t be the transport to get them there and back again,” he added.
The Murrayfield event will be co-ordinated by Scotland’s four main event companies. UZ and Unique Events, who have been responsible for the planning of large-scale gatherings such as Glasgow and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, and music promoters Regular Music and DF Concerts, the company behind T in the Park, have joined forces with Make Poverty History.
Time pressures mean that not only will there be difficulty in sourcing artists, but due to competing events around the country, including T in the Park on July 9 and 10, stewarding and policing resources will be stretched and the availability of PA and staging equipment scarce.
The Sunday Herald understands that the artists participating at the other Live 8 gigs in Hyde Park, across Europe and in America will be encouraged by Geldof to play at the July 6 event in Edinburgh.
These are understood to include U2, Oasis, Robbie Williams and Sir Paul McCartney in London and Outkast, Destiny’s Child and Black Eyed Peas in America.
But the emphasis at Murrayfield will be on speakers with a huge world profile. It is understood Pope Benedict XVI and Nelson Mandela are considering a live TV link.
An insider told the Sunday Herald: “There will be the events across the globe coinciding with the rally in Edinburgh and the concert in Hyde Park. There will also be an event in Murrayfield on the day the summit begins which Pope will possibly speak at and there’s hoped to be other speakers of the same calibre talking about the real issues.
“The event in Murrayfield is going to be 70% speakers and 30% music because just having a pop concert is not quite pointed enough. The event will be much more political than a bunch of pop stars just doing their thing.
“There will also be a couple of things happening between 2-6 July. The reports about the flotillas and the Branson planes are possible . But the object is to have a big, speech-based event at Murrayfield and not to put a big emphasis on lots of people coming to Edinburgh because the public order issues will just get in the way of the message.”
--Sunday Herald
EXCLUSIVE: By Mona McAlinden and Aideen McLaughlin
Bob Geldof has invited some of the world’s most prominent religious figures, moral leaders and musicians to take part in a huge free concert and rally in Edinburgh as the cornerstone of his global campaign to pressurise G8 summit delegates at Gleneagles to save millions of lives in Africa.
Geldof will officially unveil his ambitious plans at a press conference on Tuesday, but the Sunday Herald can reveal that the unique Murrayfield event will take place on July 6 to coincide with the opening day of the summit.
It will follow after a string of events around the world organised by Geldof and Midge Ure, who staged Live Aid, the world’s single most successful charity event, 20 years ago.
The full line-up of speakers and artists has yet to be confirmed, but invitations have gone to the Pope, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and some of the world’s most famous rock and pop acts, at least some of whom are expected to agree to live satellite links to the stadium if they cannot be there in person.
It will follow at least two massive concerts on July 2, in London’s Hyde Park and in Washington DC, anticipated to feature some of the world’s best-known rock bands, and will coincide with Edinburgh’s Make Poverty History march, which is expected to attract more than 100,000 people. Other events may take place in major cities all over the world.
Between the concerts on July 2 and the Murrayfield event on July 6, Geldof is also expected to stage a number of other events to show the strength of global feeling that the G8 summit must seize the opportunity to tackle world poverty, particularly in Africa.
It is known that he has asked Virgin boss Richard Branson for free transatlantic flights to bring protesters from America, and has looked into the possibility of arranging free sailings to Britain from Europe.
At one stage, a massive Walk For Justice was planned, in the hope of organising a million-strong march to Edinburgh, but the Sunday Herald understands this this has now been shelved.
A source close to the organisers said: “The idea was discarded because the imagery is all wrong. It would just have ended up with loads of public order stories instead of talking about the real issues.”
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said a huge influx of people over and above those expected for the Make Poverty History rally could have represented a real danger to both activists and the public. He explained: “We can accommodate 100,000 with the resources we have. If there was a huge number on top of that, the issue is whether it becomes dangerous for the participants and the public. If suddenly there were 500,000 people we’d have to clear a larger area and get more police from different forces to help us.
“During Hogmanay in Edinburgh, there’s 250,000 people in Princes Street and it’s packed full. There really isn’t enough room in the city to double that. At the moment people from the marches are going to the Meadows where there will be food, accommodation and toilet facilities.
“If you increase that number there won’t be enough facilities to cater for people. There’s no accommodation in Edinburgh over that period and there wouldn’t be the transport to get them there and back again,” he added.
The Murrayfield event will be co-ordinated by Scotland’s four main event companies. UZ and Unique Events, who have been responsible for the planning of large-scale gatherings such as Glasgow and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, and music promoters Regular Music and DF Concerts, the company behind T in the Park, have joined forces with Make Poverty History.
Time pressures mean that not only will there be difficulty in sourcing artists, but due to competing events around the country, including T in the Park on July 9 and 10, stewarding and policing resources will be stretched and the availability of PA and staging equipment scarce.
The Sunday Herald understands that the artists participating at the other Live 8 gigs in Hyde Park, across Europe and in America will be encouraged by Geldof to play at the July 6 event in Edinburgh.
These are understood to include U2, Oasis, Robbie Williams and Sir Paul McCartney in London and Outkast, Destiny’s Child and Black Eyed Peas in America.
But the emphasis at Murrayfield will be on speakers with a huge world profile. It is understood Pope Benedict XVI and Nelson Mandela are considering a live TV link.
An insider told the Sunday Herald: “There will be the events across the globe coinciding with the rally in Edinburgh and the concert in Hyde Park. There will also be an event in Murrayfield on the day the summit begins which Pope will possibly speak at and there’s hoped to be other speakers of the same calibre talking about the real issues.
“The event in Murrayfield is going to be 70% speakers and 30% music because just having a pop concert is not quite pointed enough. The event will be much more political than a bunch of pop stars just doing their thing.
“There will also be a couple of things happening between 2-6 July. The reports about the flotillas and the Branson planes are possible . But the object is to have a big, speech-based event at Murrayfield and not to put a big emphasis on lots of people coming to Edinburgh because the public order issues will just get in the way of the message.”
--Sunday Herald
