Culture in Sunderland
Sunderland has a large and varied culture with a theatre that held the final performance from the actor Sid James who died of a heart attack whilst on stage in 1976. It also offers award winning beaches, a beautiful spa, parks, nature reserves, and host numerous annual events like the Sunderland Air show and the International Friendship and Kite Festival. Sunderland also has a museum and winter gardens with over 2000 exotic flowers and was voted Britain’s top tourism attraction outside London at the Excellence for England Awards in 2004. The church of St Peter’s located in Monkwearmouth was one of the first stone built churches, and was built in 674AD and is an Anglo-Saxon church. It has been short-listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Fulwell Mill is the only working mill in the Northeast, erected in 1808 and has been recently restored and is now a popular tourist attraction with a visitor centre. The Sunderland Empire is the Northeast’s largest theatre and has had a £4.5 million renovation in 2005. There is also the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, and Mowbray Park, which is the one of the oldest municipal parks in the Northeast
The famous author Lewis Carroll was a regular visitor to the region, he wrote a large amount of “Jabberwocky” and “The Walrus and the Carpenter” in the area. Many people also believe that “Alice in Wonderland” was inspired by parts of the area, such as Hylton Castle and Backhouse Park.
The writer of the horrible histories booked was from Sunderland as was the author Sheila Quigley. The painter L.S Lowry was also a regular visitor staying in the Sunderland hotel Seaburn Hotel, and the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art has a huge collection of his works some of which are based on Wearside scenes.
On May 7th 2005 Radio One’s big weekend concert came to Sunderland, which is the UK’s biggest free music festival and over 30.000 people attended. The Empire Theatre has hosted many concerts ranging from Mcfly, Morrissy and Journey South and many decades ago, The Beetles and The Kinks
A night-club called The Independent is a very popular club hosting many live bands including Kaiser Chiefs, Keane, Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian, Maximo Park and Snow Patrol.
The Sunderland Symphony Orchestra was founded in 2000, to celebrate the Millennium.
The stadium of Light, Sunderland’s football ground will also host gigs from Oasis and Take That in 2009.