Travel Agenda: Free performances in Trafalgar Square; Montreal World Film Festival gets under way; Qatar Airways launches new route to Melbourne

Today...

Sink into a deck chair in Trafalgar Square, London, where two weekends of free performances kick off with an examination of the great British summer, from a beach-hut sketch to a comic take on the country ramble (london.gov.uk/trafalgarsquare).

This week...

The Montreal World Film Festival gets under way on Thursday and runs until 7 September, with a programme of films and documentaries from Africa to the Americas. There is also a series of outdoor screenings under the stars (ffm-montreal.org). The Rock en Seine festival suffuses the Domaine National de St-Cloud, just outside Paris, with the sounds of MGMT, Oasis, Baaba Maal and The Prodigy from Friday to Sunday. The programme also features a mini-festival for kids (rockenseine.com).

In the diary...

Qatar Airways is launching a new route to Melbourne. From 6 December, passengers from Manchester and Heathrow can connect in Doha for the Victorian capital. Other new arrivals on the airline include Amritsar (11 October) and Goa (25 October) via its Gulf hub (qatarairways.com).

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Teenage kicks: Twitter and the 'bling ring' gang

Lena Corner gets the inside story on this very post-modern scandal.

Moveable feasts: Festival grub goes gourmet

Meet the mobile foodie pioneers bringing Bloody Mary crumpets, craft ales and sustainable seafood to the masses.

'My own Diamond Jubilee': 60 years in same job

The Queen is part of an elite club which clocks in way past retirement age.
Joumana Haddad: 'Arab women have been brainwashed'

Joumana Haddad: 'Arab women have been brainwashed'

Haddad is a voice rarely heard in the Middle East – an unapologetic feminist who wants to challenge the way both Arab men and women think.

Food: Mark Hix knows his onions

Alliums are among the most versatile kitchen ingredients, says our chef.
Grotty no more: How Lanzarote upgraded its appeal

How Lanzarote upgraded its appeal

Lanzarote has been quietly changing its fly-and-flop holiday image, discovers Andrew Eames.
Traveller's Guide: Montenegro

Traveller's Guide: Montenegro

It's one of Europe's smallest countries, but it packs in spectacular landscapes and glittering beach resorts.
48 Hours In: Verona

48 Hours In: Verona

Summer opera returns to the Roman arena, says Charles Hebbert.
Ten things we’re looking out for at E3 2012

Ten things to look out for at E3 2012

From Wii U to The Last of Us we consider this year's show
Come dine (online) with me

Come dine (online) with me

Move over TV chefs, hello YouTube stars
Next in line – but public just can't warm to idea of Charles in charge

Next in line – but public just can't warm to idea of Charles in charge

'Independent' poll finds less that half want him to take throne as ministers moan of interference
Nothing's sacred: the illegal trade in India's holy cows

Nothing's sacred: the illegal trade in India's holy cows

Andrew Buncombe reports from Kaharpara on a bloody war between rustlers and border guards
Mogul grounded: Desmond gives up his jet deal

Mogul grounded: Desmond gives up his jet deal

Media tycoon's company pays £1m to cancel his order for a £36m private jet after drop in profits
How Ai Weiwei built a pavilion in London – by remote control

How Ai Weiwei built a pavilion in London – by remote control

The artist tells Clifford Coonan how he used Skype to escape confinement in Beijing
Nature, nurture... or neither? The new twist in an age-old argument

Nature, nurture... or neither?

The new twist in an age-old argument