DUBAI: London might be the UK’s capital, and the center of Britain’s financial and political power, but visitors seeking the true heart of England should head to the two great northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool. Here, two of the main pillars of English popular culture — football and music — take center stage. 

As part of the British government’s attempts to raise awareness of tourism opportunities outside of London, Arab News went on a press trip in November that delved deep into the rich cultural history of both cities. The two have much in common. Each has two Premier League football teams — one red, one blue — and in each the red team has historically been far more successful (although in Manchester, that gap is narrowing rapidly). And both have been the focus of movements that have changed the face of pop music: the ‘Madchester’ scene of the late Eighties/early Nineties, and the Merseybeat scene of the Sixties, from which emerged the band often hailed as the greatest of all time, The Beatles — four Liverpool lads who grew up within a few miles of each other, three of whom, it turned out, were among the finest songwriters to have ever lived. (The other was Ringo Starr, who, to be fair, was a metronomic and creative drummer crucial to The Beatles’ sound).  

In Liverpool, our base is the majestic Titanic hotel, named for the ill-fated liner, which was registered in Liverpool. Thankfully, it lives up to that name only in its impressive scale — even the corridors are enormous — and is anything but a disaster for its guests, providing service and accommodation that would be the envy of any luxury cruise ship. 

It’s part of the regeneration of Liverpool’s docks, and sits just around the corner from Everton’s new stadium, which will be inaugurated at the start of next season (several of our taxi drivers joke that it will be the most impressive stadium in England’s second tier once Everton — Liverpool’s blue team — are relegated this year). But it’s Anfield, home of Liverpool FC, that is globally renowned. We attend the late kick-off against Aston Villa on Nov. 10, and experiencing a game live is the best way to truly understand just how much significance football holds in English culture. While you get a better view of the action watching on television, that’s more than compensated for by the atmosphere — tens of thousands of people gasping, groaning, singing and roaring in unison.  

Most English football grounds are now far more welcoming than their reputation suggests — women and children commonly attend, and Liverpool can count many from the Arab world among their supporters thanks to the impact of Egyptian superstar Mo Salah — but the language remains industrial. So if you want to experience a Premier League stadium without the man in the seat in front of you advising the referee exactly where to put his whistle, maybe opt for a tour on a non-matchday. The Anfield one offers a comprehensive journey through Liverpool’s trophy-laden history, right up to the just-ended Jurgen Klopp era, with some great stories from knowledgeable guides and ex-players, visits to the home and away dressing rooms (the away one is considerably less fancy, of course), a pitch-side wander, and a trip to the executive boxes.  

Manchester City’s Etihad stadium tour offers much the same experience, although with more focus on interactive experiences (a press conference with Pep!) — perhaps to compensate for the fact that the team’s history, until the last decade or so, is nothing like as golden as Liverpool’s. It’s an impressive setup though, and probably more fun for kids.  

Back in Liverpool — and back to music — we visit the world-famous Cavern club, where The Beatles made their name. While it understandably plays up its historic links to the Fab Four, it’s still a thriving venue today, welcoming established international stars, local up-and-comers, and veteran cover bands, and is packed out most nights (mostly with tourists). It’s just one of dozens of bars and clubs in the city center that stage live shows in a city where the music scene continues to flourish.  

To dive deeper into The Beatles’ history, Liver Tours offers a bespoke experience led by incredibly knowledgeable guides who will take you round the major landmarks associated with the band — from their childhood homes, through the church hall where John Lennon and Paul McCartney were first introduced, to places that inspired their songs (Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and more). It’s an exhaustive venture, highly recommended for Beatles’ lovers, but perhaps a little too much for casual fans, who may prefer the excellent Beatles Story on Albert Dock — a celebration of the band’s rise to world domination, a reminder of just how quickly it all happened (less than eight years between the release of their debut single and their final album), and a statement about how much the band did for their hometown.  

In Manchester, we stayed in The Reach at Piccadilly, located just round the corner from the city’s main train station and a short walk from the Northern Quarter — home to several great independent shops and cafés and a favorite haunt of many of the city’s most famous musicians over the years; many of them are celebrated, if obliquely, in the area’s pavement art. Despite the Reach’s central location, it’s a very peaceful hotel with friendly staff and fantastic breakfasts.  

Our Manchester music tour is a more scattered affair than the Liverpool one — less-focused on a single band (understandable, given how singular The Beatles are) but exploring the breathtaking array of talent spawned in, or coming to, the city and its suburbs, from the 165-year-old Hallé Orchestra; the Free Trade Hall, where Bob Dylan famously performed in the Sixties and the Sex Pistols infamously performed in the Seventies and inspired a legion of young Mancunians to pick up guitars and form bands of their own; on to Seventies rockers 10CC, Eighties miserabilists Joy Division and The Smiths, as well as the creators of one of the all-time-great debut albums The Stone Roses, and the Nineties Britrock behemoths Oasis (plus dozens of others in between). Our guide from Brit Music Tours, once again, carries a wealth of information in his head and doesn’t just reel off a list of facts, but tells numerous insightful and entertaining anecdotes.  

And despite spending several hours on these tours over three days, it feels like we barely scratched the surface of the two cities’ culture — let alone their vibrant foodie scenes, shopping and nightlife. If you’re planning a trip to the UK and would like somewhere more relaxed than London, but with just as much — if not more — to offer, then head northwest.  

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival held its closing red carpet event and Yusr Awards ceremony on Thursday night.

Stars from Hollywood, Bollywood and beyond walked the red carpet at the festival’s new headquarters in Al-Balad in Jeddah.

The likes of British actor and filmmaker Dev Patel, British actor John Boyega and Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio were on the closing event’s red carpet, although the festival will continue its slate of screenings until Dec. 14.

Hollywood’s Sarah Jessica Parker also walked the red carpet as Bollywood-to-Hollywood crossover star Priyanka Chopra Jonas and her husband, musician Nick Jonas, posed for photographs alongside Mexican actress Eiza González.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee — known for films such as “Malcolm X” and “BlacKkKlansman” — presided over the features competition jury this year, which awarded the coveted Yusr Awards late on Thursday night. Meanwhile, Oscar-winning actress and producer Viola Davis and Chopra-Jonas were honored at the closing event.

Lee spoke to Arab News hours before the awards ceremony, saying the festival’s international slate of films impressed him.

“It’s just great. The films (that) were curated for us (were) from a lot of the countries in the region. I like to show my students at (New York University) world cinema, because everything’s not Hollywood. And that is how you learn about a culture, the stories that they tell reflect the history and the herstory — you’ve got to say both now — of the world we live in.”

Lee kept tight lipped about the winners, saying: “The 16 films that were in competition, we had a lot of choices. So, we deliberated amongst my fellow jurors, it was hard to pick.”

Of the 14 awards up for grabs at the Yusr Awards ceremony, the Golden Yusr Best Feature Film Award went to “Red Path,” the Best Director prize went to Lotfi Achour for “Red Path” and the Jury Award was given to “Seeking Haven For Mr. Rambo” by director Khaled Mansour.

The Best Actor and Best Actress awards went to Mahmoud Bakri and Mariam Sherif, respectively. Meanwhile the Golden Yusr Short Film prize went to “Hatch” by directors Alireza Kazemipour and Panta Mosleh and the Film AlUla Best Saudi Film Award went to “Hobal” by director Abdulaziz Alshlahei.  

The festival, which is running under the theme “The New Home of Film” this year, featured 120 films from 81 countries at the new venue — previous ones were held at the city’s Ritz-Carlton hotel — where five purpose-built cinemas and a large auditorium hosted back-to-back screenings as well as “In Conversation” panels with celebrities.

Those talks proved to be the biggest draw of the festival, with leading Hollywood and Bollywood stars featured on the agenda. From Indian superstars Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor to Marvel actor Jeremy Renner and Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser, as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, among others, this year’s bill was not short on star power.

Johnny Depp’s film “Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness” is the closing ceremony screening on Thursday night and Depp is expected to walk a separate red carpet before the screening.