This Bank Holiday weekend sees one of the best line-ups ever for Newcastle's Evolution music festival.

The festival, known as 'the Evo' to locals, has some of the biggest names on the music scene performing including The Vaccines, Jake Bugg, The Strypes, Rudimental, Paloma Faith and Ellie Goulding.

Even better,...

Europe's biggest vegetarian and vegan event - VegFest - will be taking place in just over a week 24-26 May in Bristol. It coincides with National Vegetarian Week, so expect lots of veggie news and fun in the coming days.

It's the 10th anniversary of the VegFest festival and thousands...

One of the best bits of last week's Olympics opening ceremony was the homage to Britain's musical heritage. The medley included, among a whole array of musical greats, the Beatles, the Sex Pistols, T-Rex, Bowie and quite rightly, some electro synth-pop too - OMD and New Order. Fab. Beijing may...

When I was about 17 myself and a gang of mates from Loreto College (Manchester) borrowed a builder's blue transit van and on 27 May 1990, made the 'pilgrimage' to Spike Island in Widnes, to see the Stone Roses.

From the hilarious journey in the back of the van, (much...

ITV have announced that BBC 'golden-boy' Aled Jones is to be the new co-presenter of flagging breakfast show, Daybreak. Joining him is ITV and breakfast favourite Lorraine Kelly - an old hand on the sofa and a huge favourite with mums up and down the country. While the choice of...

Last week a painting depicting harrowing mental distress sold for £74 million. Edvard Munch's The Scream is now forever as famous for its material value as for its contribution to the history of art and Expressionist movement.

Munch painted The Scream (sometimes called The Cry) during a very difficult time...

Singaporean label Raoul is riding high (literally) in the fashion world thanks to a series of consistently impressive collections in the last few years. And now, thanks to recent preview of their AW12 (Autumn/Winter 2012) collection, Raoul has got the fashion world in a tizz with its racing...

Cheryl - or the artist formerly known as Cheryl Cole - is in the news again. This morning I was on the BBC 5 Live brekkie show and the hot topic was Cheryl Cole changing her name to simply 'Cheryl' in an attempt to put her association with her ex-husband...

Goodbye January. Perhaps the over-enthusiastic gym newbies can calm down now? Every year I observe with a wry smile - but more often frustration - as my local health club is packed to the rafters with sweating 'January gym-maniacs'.

However, February is here now (hurray) and normality can start...

So, Russell Brand and Katy Perry have announced that their 14-month long marriage has ended. To many this has come as no surprise. The Brand-Perry partnership (despite a great start) may have actually hit the rocks as far back as February when rumours surfaced that they had sought some relationship...

Around this time of year I get asked to talk and write about anything from Christmas break-ups to New Year detox diets. However, this year the really hot topic has been a 'fashion' item that's looking like it will be the big Christmas talking point and a major sell-out -...

I grew up with two 'religions' as a child living in Manchester. Obviously, as Irish Catholics, we went to mass every Sunday, confessions once a month, and did our Rosary every night. But over the past 25 years there was another 'holy' figure in lives too - one my devout...

Never mind the X Factor, the UK is gripped by the 'Gok Factor'. Last week saw the launch of the British fashion guru's new series - Gok's Clothes Roadshow; Get The Look For Less. Just like his other series - How To Look Good Naked and Gok's Fashion Fix -...

I do love these reports about the closing gap between the sexes and how men are getting all domesticated, while we women beat our chests in the boardroom.

Sounds good doesn't it? All these blokes with their Marigold rubber gloves on and pegs in their mouths, hanging out their smalls...

It's a tricky job keeping children amused at the best of times and now that the summer holidays have started, filling the next six weeks with interesting and entertaining activities is a challenge faced by parents all over the country.

Fortunately, Batman Live will be touring the whole of the...

So Kate Moss finally got hitched and not surprisingly the whole event oozed style and rock n roll in true supermodel proportions ... and I don't mean stick thin.

Not a wedding 'day' for our Kate but a three-day affair. 'Mosstock' was practically a festival. So now that she...

Rebekah Brooks has not been out of the news in the last week and her future at News International is looking shaky to say the least. For me, the recent revelations have brought back a lot of memories of my time working under Brooks and Coulson at The Sun.

Over...

One of the highlights of the Manchester International Festival is a special architectural and musical creation called Music Boxes.

It's a spellbinding mini city within a city - namely, the impressive Media City in Salford, the new home of the BBC Children and a host of other top...

My mum never goes to the theatre but the offer to join me at Victoria Wood's new musical play, That Day We Sang, was met with an instant acceptance: "Victoria Wood? Yes! I'll like that."
Such is Wood's broad popularity that even my mum would venture into town and...