How to..
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This page last updated:
Friday, June 9, 2006
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How to.. avoid the World Cup
Football widows can get the perfect treatment at Solaris in Westgate Arcade, as demonstrated by therapist Theresa Angier and Stephanie Elsom. (6CW0607107) Picture: HANNAH REDSHAW
IT’S hard to miss the fact that the country seems to have turned red and white this last month in the build-up to what is dubbed the greatest competition in history.
Football may be the national game, but, to be honest, the month of the World Cup tournament can be a nightmare if the whole idea of 22 men kicking a piece of leather around a German field makes you want to reach for the off switch.
It might seem that the easiest thing to do to avoid it is just not watch the matches, but no matter how you try, it is pervading everywhere.
Every television programme and every radio station is broadcasting non-stop World Cup commentary and generally awful World Cup-related music.
In Virgin Megastore alone this afternoon I counted 10 different World Cup songs, ranging from the Crazy Frog to the dreary official offering from Oasis wannabes Embrace.
If you walk out on the streets, every other car is sporting England flags. Apparently the code is one flag means I’m just an appalling driver, and two designates a psychopath. Don’t even get started on the cars with all the windows blocked out with flags.
Even food is jumping on the bandwagon, with everything from pizzas to Spam getting decked out in World Cup colours.
And pubs are set to be filled with widescreen tellies blasting out the match – this year, Bogarts in North Street has invested in four widescreen TVs with surround sound to keep football fans entertained, while Chicago Rock Cafe has a drinks offer of £1.20 a pint until the first goal in each England group match.
So what to do to avoid the seven matches England will have to play if they manage to make it through the first round?
As you can see from this week’s Guide, our entertainment friends have not left World Cup widows and anti-football activists wanting – even if the scale of entertainment is slightly down on this time last year.
For example, instead of watching tomorrow’s first group match against Paraguay, why not watch the Broadway’s tribute to The Rat Pack? Or even Priory Youth Players’ variety show Kiddazzle at the
Deepings School, which actually starts at the kick-off time of 2pm?
There are more convenient clashes going on during the rest of the competition.
Stamford Shoestring Theatre’s new show A Month In The Country at the Stamford Arts Centre, in St Marys Street, Stamford starts when next Tuesday’s final group match against Sweden kicks off at 8pm.
The second round matches are perfectly covered by the start of the Peterborough Festival, although watch out for some big screens set to turn up on the Embankment on the opening Saturday.
Spalding’s beautiful Ayscoughfee Hall and Gardens is re-opening on the weekend of the quarter finals, providing a perfect retreat from the telly, or you can dream of a new home at the Eastern Homebuilding and Renovating Show at the East Of England Showground on Saturday, July 1.
A perfect antidote for any World Cup widow whose other half has decided to sit through the tedium of the third and fourth round playoff is The Dreamboys, who are coming to The Broadway Theatre on Saturday, July 8, from kick-off time at 8pm.
To help you if you still can’t decide what to do, The Guide has put together its top five options to avoid the World Cup:
1.
Go shopping on match days. The closer you get to kick-off the emptier the shops and the clearer the roads will be.
Some staff members may be surlier than normal at having to work through the match, though.
2.
Check out some summer festivals. This weekend is the free Bourne Festival at Well Head Park.
Next weekend is the Big Session Festival in Leicester’s De Montfort Hall and Gardens, featuring music from The Levellers and The Oysterband. For more details, call 0116 2 333111.
The East Of England Showground, near Alwalton, also has the annual East of England Country Show from Friday, June 16, to Sunday, June 18. Call 01733 234451 for more details.
Peterborough Festival’s free events are running on the weekends of Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25, on The Embankment and on Saturday, July 1, and Sunday, July 2, in Central Park. For more information, keep reading The Guide or look out for the free programme.
3.
Learn how to paint in watercolours. 7 Angels Studios, in Brookfield Park, Werrington, is offering A Taste Of Watercolour from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, June 17, for £20 to teach beginners the basics. From there you can go out on every match day and paint to your heart’s content. For more details, call 01733 577237.
4.
The Stamford Shakespeare Company is continuing its 30th anniversary season all the way through the World Cup – offering culture vultures the chance to see a choice of George Farquar’s The Recruiting Officer, or Shakespeare’s Coriolanus or A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To book tickets, or for more information, call 01780 756133.
5.
Treat yourself to a half-day pampering at Solaris Tanning and Beauty Salon, in Westgate Arcade. The package features a Nimue specialist treatment facial, manicure and pedicure before lunch with a full body massage in the afternoon.
Beauty therapist Theresa Angier said: “We can relax you and get rid of all that football tension – what he would have spent at the bar you can spend on a nice treatment.”
The half-day package normally costs £95, but all treatments are being offered at half-price until Friday, June 30. For more details, call 01733 557077.