title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: In addition to commercial activities, Hampton Roads is a major military center, particularly for the United States Navy, and Norfolk serves as the home for Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval installation. Located on Sewell's Point Peninsula, in the northwest corner of the city, the station is the headquarters of the United States Fleet Forces Command (formerly known as the Atlantic Fleet), which compromises over 62,000 active duty personnel, 75 ships, and 132 aircraft. The base also serves as the headquarters to NATO's Allied Command Transformation.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The region also plays an important role in defense contracting, with particular emphasis in the shipbuilding and ship repair businesses for the city of Norfolk. Major private shipyards located in Norfolk or the Hampton Roads area include: Huntington Ingalls Industries (formerly Northrop Grumman Newport News) in Newport News, BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, General Dynamics NASSCO Norfolk, and Colonna's Shipyard Inc., while the US Navy's Norfolk Naval Shipyard is just across the Downtown Tunnel in Portsmouth. Most contracts fulfilled by these shipyards are issued by the Navy, though some private commercial repair also takes place. Over 35% of Gross Regional Product (which includes the entire Norfolk-Newport News-Virginia Beach MSA), is attributable to defense spending, and that 75% of all regional growth since 2001 is attributable to increases in defense spending.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: After the military, the second largest and most important industry for Hampton Roads and Norfolk based on economic impact are the region's cargo ports. Headquartered in Norfolk, the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is a Commonwealth of Virginia owned-entity that, in turn, owns and operates three major port facilities in Hampton Roads for break-bulk and container type cargo. In Norfolk, Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) represents one of those three facilities and is home to the world's largest and fastest container cranes. Together, the three terminals of the VPA handled a total of over 2 million TEUs and 475,000 tons of breakbulk cargo in 2006, making it the second busiest port on the east coast of North America by total cargo volume after the Port of New York and New Jersey.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: In addition to NIT, Norfolk is home to Lambert's Point Docks, the largest coal trans-shipment point in the Northern Hemisphere, with an annual throughput of approximately 48,000,000 tons. Bituminous coal is primarily sourced from the Appalachian mountains in western Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The coal is loaded onto trains and sent to the port where it is unloaded onto large breakbulk cargo ships and destined for New England, Europe, and Asia.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Between 1925 and 2007, Ford Motor Company operated Norfolk Assembly, a manufacturing plant located on the Elizabeth River that had produced the Model-T, sedans and station wagons before building F-150 pick-up trucks. Before it closed, the plant employed more than 2,600 people at the facility.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Most major shipping lines have a permanent presence in the region with some combination of sales, distribution, and/or logistical offices, many of which are located in Norfolk. In addition, many of the largest international shipping companies have chosen Norfolk as their North American headquarters. These companies are either located at the Norfolk World Trade Center building or have constructed buildings in the Lake Wright Executive Center office park. The French firm CMA CGM, the Israeli firm Zim Integrated Shipping Services, and Maersk Line Limited, a subsidiary of the world's largest shipping line, A. P. Moller-Maersk Group, have their North American headquarters in Norfolk. Major companies headquartered in Norfolk include Norfolk Southern, Landmark Communications, Dominion Enterprises, FHC Health Systems (parent company of ValueOptions), Portfolio Recovery Associates, and BlackHawk Products Group.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Though Virginia Beach and Williamsburg have traditionally been the centers of tourism for the region, the rebirth of downtown Norfolk and the construction of a cruise ship pier at the foot of Nauticus in downtown has driven tourism to become an increasingly important part of the city's economy. The number of cruise ship passengers who visited Norfolk increased from 50,000 in 2003, to 107,000 in 2004 and 2005. Also in April 2007, the city completed construction on a $36 million state-of-the-art cruise ship terminal alongside the pier. Partly due to this construction, passenger counts dropped to 70,000 in 2006, but is expected to rebound to 90,000 in 2007, and higher in later years. Unlike most cruise ship terminals which are located in industrial areas, the downtown location of Norfolk's terminal has received favorable reviews from both tourists and the cruise lines who enjoy its proximity to the city's hotels, restaurants, shopping, and cultural amenities.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Hampton Roads is home to four Fortune 500 companies. Representing the food industry, transportation, retail and shipbuilding, these four companies are located in Smithfield, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Newport News.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: 26% of the 130,000 people working in Norfolk live in the city, while 74% commute in. 37% of those come from Virginia Beach and 20% come from Chesapeake. An additional 51,575 people commute outside for work, with 35% going to Virginia Beach and 20% going to Chesapeake.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: According to a report published by the Virginia Employment Commission, below are the top employers in Norfolk:


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is the cultural heart of the Hampton Roads region. In addition to its museums, Norfolk is the principal home for several major performing arts organizations. The city hosts numerous annual festivals and parades, many in Town Point Park or elsewhere in downtown.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The nationally acclaimed Chrysler Museum of Art, the area's most comprehensive art museum, has its campus at the intersection of the Ghent district, the Freemason neighborhood, and the NEON district. Since opening in 1933, the museum's main building has been expanded six times to allow for larger glass galleries, generous space for Impressionist and Baroque works, and more. Major improvements were completed in 2014, and today the museum features more than 50 galleries, a restaurant, and catering facilities, as well as galleries for traveling exhibits. Of particular note are the American neoclassical marble sculptures, the extensive glass collection, and the Glass Studio, which has live demonstrations daily. The Chrysler Museum of Art also administers the 1792 Moses Myers House Museum in the Freemason District, next to MacArthur Mall.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: A smaller but significant art museum is the Hermitage Foundation Museum, located in an early 20th-century Tudor-style home on a estate fronting the Lafayette River. The Hermitage features an eclectic collection of Asian and Western art, including Chinese bronze and ceramics, Persian rugs, and ivory carvings, as well as changing exhibitions, arts classes, and special events. The Hermitage Foundation Museum is the only Smithsonian Affiliate in the Hampton Roads region.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Downtown Norfolk has several museums of national significance.Nauticus, the National Maritime Center, opened on the downtown waterfront in 1994. It features hands-on exhibits, interactive theaters, aquaria, digital high-definition films and an extensive variety of educational programs. Since 2000, Nauticus has been home to the battleship USS "Wisconsin", the last battleship to be built in the United States. It served briefly in World War II and later in the Korean and Gulf Wars. Wisconsin Square is nearby.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The MacArthur Memorial, located in the nineteenth-century Norfolk courthouse and city hall in downtown, contains the tombs of General Douglas MacArthur and his wife, a museum and a vast research library, personal belongings (including his famous corncob pipe) and a short film that chronicles his life.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Speciality museums include the Hunter House Victorian Museum in the Freemason neighborhood and the Norfolk Southern Museum in downtown.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk has a variety of performing groups with regular seasons and which also make appearances in the city's annual festivals. The Virginia Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1920, has been leader in the regional arts scene. Directed by JoAnn Falletta from 1991 until 2020, the orchestra's music director is now Erik Jacobsen. Most Norfolk performances take place at Chrysler Hall in the Scope complex downtown. The orchestra provides musicians for many other performing arts organizations in the area.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The Virginia Stage Company, founded in 1968, is one of the country's leading regional theaters and produces a full season of plays in the Wells Theatre downtown. The company shares facilities with the Governor's School for the Arts.'


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The Virginia Opera was founded in Norfolk in 1974. Its artistic director since its inception has been Peter Mark, who conducted his 100th opera production for the VOA in 2008. Though performances are staged statewide, the company's principal venue is the Harrison Opera House in the Ghent district.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Large-scale concerts are held at either the Norfolk Scope arena or the Ted Constant Convocation Center at ODU, while The Norva provides a more intimate atmosphere for smaller groups. Other Norfolk cultural venues include the Attucks Theatre, the Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center (formerly the Loew's State Theater) and the Naro Expanded Cinema.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: A range of arts and cultural festivals take place annually in Norfolk. The Virginia Arts Festival, founded in 1997, is based in Norfolk and has events throughout the region, drawing in arts from around the world and featuring local talent. One of the key events of the festival is the Virginia International Tattoo. The Norfolk NATO Festival, formerly the International Azela Festival, has taken place each spring since 1951 and is the longest continually running festival in the Hampton Roads Region. The Norfolk NATO Festival highlights Norfolk's role as the North American Headquarters of NATO and fosters cultural exchange and appreciation of NATO allies. The Stockley Gardens Art Festival, which takes place in parks the historic Ghent neighborhood, occurs twice yearly, in May and October. The festival draws vendors from well beyond the region and attracts upwards of 20,000 visitors. The St. Patrick's Day annual parade in the city's Ocean View neighborhood, on the northern edge of the city, celebrates Ocean View's rich Irish heritage.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Harborfest, the region's largest annual festival, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2006. It is held during the first weekend of June in Town Point Park and celebrates the region's proximity and attachment to the water. The Parade of Sails (numerous tall sailing ships from around the world form in line and sail past downtown before docking at the marina), music concerts, regional food, and a large fireworks display highlight this three-day festival. Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Food Festival, a celebration of the Cajun people and culture, had small beginnings. This three-day festival during the third week of June has become one of the largest in the region and, in addition to serving up Cajun cuisine, also features Cajun music. Norfolk's Fourth of July celebration of American independence contains a spectacular fireworks display and a special Navy reenlistment ceremony. The Norfolk Jazz Festival, though smaller by comparison to some of the big city jazz festivals, still manages to attract the country's top jazz performers. It is held in August. The Town Point Virginia Wine Festival has become a showcase for Virginia-produced wines and has enjoyed increasing success over the years. Virginia's burgeoning wine industry has become noted both within the United States and on an international level. The festival has grown with the industry. Wines can be sampled and then purchased by the bottle and/or case directly from the winery kiosks. This event takes place during the third weekend of October. There is also a Spring Wine Festival held during the second weekend of May.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The city is known for its "," a public art program launched in 2002 to place mermaid statues all over the city. Tourists can take a walking tour of downtown and locate 17 mermaids while others can be found further afield.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The NEON district has dozens of murals, many of which are supported through the City of Norfolk's Public Arts Commission.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The revitalization of downtown Norfolk has helped to improve the Hampton Roads cultural scene. Many of Norfolk's attractions are now connected by the 10.5-mile long Elizabeth River Trail, a pedestrian and bike trail that winds along the city's waterfront. The trail's first segment of opened in 2003 on land donated by Norfolk Southern. A large number of clubs, representing a wide range of music interests and sophistication now line the lower Granby Street area. The nearby Waterside Festival Marketplace has also continued to be successful as a nightclub and bar venue. Norfolk celebrates the rich ethnic diversity of its population with sights, sounds, attractions and special events that pay tribute to the city's long multicultural heritage.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Town Point Park in downtown plays host to a wide variety of annual events from early spring through late fall.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk has a variety of parks and open spaces in its city parks system. The city maintains three beaches on its north shore in the Ocean View area. Five additional parks contain picnic facilities and playgrounds for children. The city also has some community pools open to city residents.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The Norfolk Botanical Garden, opened in 1939, is a botanical garden and arboretum located near the Norfolk International Airport. It is open year-round.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The Virginia Zoological Park, opened in 1900, is a zoo with hundreds of animals on display, including the critically endangered Siberian tiger and threatened white rhino.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk serves as home to the two highest level professional franchises in the state of Virginia — the Norfolk Tides play baseball in the International League, and the Norfolk Admirals play ice hockey in the ECHL.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk has two universities with Division I sports teams — the Old Dominion Monarchs and the Norfolk State University Spartans — which provide many sports including football, basketball, and baseball.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: From 1970 to 1976, Norfolk served as the home court (along with Hampton, Richmond, and Roanoke) for the Virginia Squires regional professional basketball franchise of the now-defunct American Basketball Association (ABA). From 1970 to 1971, the Squires played their Norfolk home games at the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse. In November 1971, the Squires played their Norfolk home games at the new Norfolk Scope arena, until the team and the ABA league folded in May 1976.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: In 1971, Norfolk built an entertainment and sports complex, featuring Chrysler Hall and the 13,800-seat Norfolk Scope indoor arena, located in the northern section of downtown. Norfolk Scope has served as a venue for major events including the American Basketball Association All-Star Game in 1974, and the first and second NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships (also known as the "Women's Final Four") in 1982 and 1983.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment have all presented wrestling shows at Norfolk Arena and the Scope from the 1960s to today, with many of these being Pay Per View events. Six-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Lou Thesz lived in Norfolk and opened a wrestling school, Virginia Wrestling Academy, downtown in 1988.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is an independent city with services that both counties and cities in Virginia provide, such as a sheriff, social services, and a court system. Norfolk operates under a council-manager form of government.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk city government consists of a city council with representatives from seven districts serving in a legislative and oversight capacity, as well as a popularly elected, at-large mayor. The city manager serves as head of the executive branch and supervises all city departments and executing policies adopted by the Council. Citizens in each of the five wards elect one council representative each to serve a four-year term. There are two additional council members elected from two citywide "superwards." The city council meets at City Hall weekly and, as of May 2016, consists of: Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander; Mamie Johnson, Ward 3; Angelia Williams, Superward 7; Paul R. Riddick, Ward 4; Vice Mayor Dr. Theresa W. Whibley, Ward 2; Martin Thomas, Ward 1; Andria McClellan, Superward 6; Thomas R. Smigiel Jr. Ward 5.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The City government has an infrastructure to create close working relationships with its citizens. Norfolk's city government provides services for neighborhoods, including service centers and civic leagues that interact directly with members of City Council. Such services include preserving area histories, home rehabilitation centers, outreach programs, and a university that trains citizens in neighborhood clean-up, event planning, neighborhood leadership, and financial planning. Norfolk's police department also provides support for neighborhood watch programs including a citizens' training academy, security design, a police athletic program for youth, and business watch programs.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk also has a federal courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Walter E. Hoffman U.S. Courthouse in Norfolk has four judges, four magistrate judges, and two bankruptcy judges. Additionally, Norfolk has its own general district and circuit courts, which convene downtown. It is considered a Democratic stronghold.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is located in , served by U.S. Representative Elaine Luria (Democrat) and in , served by U.S. Representative Robert C. Scott (Democrat).


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk City Public Schools, the public school system, comprises five high schools, eight middle schools, 34 elementary schools, and nine special-purpose/preschools. In 2005, Norfolk Public Schools won the $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education for having demonstrated, "the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps for poor and minority students". The city had previously been nominated in 2003 and 2004. There are also a number of private schools located in the city, the oldest of which, Norfolk Academy, was founded in 1728. Religious schools located in the city include St. Pius X Catholic School, Alliance Christian School, Christ the King School, Norfolk Christian Schools and Trinity Lutheran School. The city also hosts the Governor's School for the Arts which holds performances and classes at the Wells Theatre.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is home to three public universities and one private. It also hosts a community college campus in downtown. Old Dominion University, founded as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary in 1930, became an independent institution in 1962 and now offers degrees in 68 undergraduate and 95 (60 masters/35 doctoral) graduate degree programs. Eastern Virginia Medical School, founded as a community medical school by the surrounding jurisdictions in 1973, is noted for its research into reproductive medicine and is located in the region's major medical complex in the Ghent district. Norfolk State University founded in 1935 is the second largest HBCU in Virginia. Norfolk State offers degrees in a wide variety of liberal arts, Social Work, Nursing, and Engineering. Virginia State University being the first largest HBCU in Virginia, which was founded in 1882. Virginia Wesleyan College is a small private liberal arts college and shares its eastern border with the neighboring city of Virginia Beach. Tidewater Community College offers two-year degrees and specialized training programs and is located in downtown. Additionally, several for-profit schools operate in the city.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk Public Library, Virginia's first public library, consists of one main library, two anchor libraries, nine branch libraries and a bookmobile. The library also has a local history and genealogy room and contains government documents dating back to the 19th century. The libraries offer services such as computer classes, book reviews, tax forms, and online book clubs.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The Slover Library, centrally located in the heart of downtown Norfolk, holds over 133,000 books and resources available for borrowing, hosts numerous classes and community events, houses the history Sargeant Memorial Collection, and offers patrons the use of cutting-edge technologies and studio spaces. Technology areas include a Sound Studio, Design Studio, Production Studio, YOUmedia lab, Maker Studio (Selden Market), and Computer Room and Training Lab.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk's daily newspaper is "The Virginian-Pilot". Its alternative papers include the (now defunct) "Port Folio Weekly", the "New Journal and Guide", and the online AltDaily.com. "Inside Business" serves the regional business community with local business news.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Local universities publish their own newspapers: Old Dominion University's "Mace and Crown", Norfolk State University's "The Spartan Echo", and Virginia Wesleyan College's "Marlin Chronicles".


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: "Coastal Virginia Magazine" is a bi-monthly regional magazine for Norfolk and the Hampton Roads area.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is served by a variety of radio stations on the AM and FM dials, with towers located around the Hampton Roads area. These cater to many different interests, including news, talk radio, and sports, as well as an eclectic mix of musical interests.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is served by several television stations. The Hampton Roads designated market area (DMA) is the 42nd largest in the U.S. with 712,790 homes (0.64% of the total U.S.). Major network television affiliates include:


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk residents also can receive independent stations, such as WSKY broadcasting on channel 4 from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and WGBS-LD broadcasting on channel 11 from Hampton. Norfolk is served by Cox Cable which provides LNC 5, a local 24-hour cable news television network. DirecTV and Dish Network are also very popular as an alternative to cable television in Norfolk.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Several major motion pictures have been filmed in and around Norfolk, including "Rollercoaster" (filmed at the former Ocean View Amusement Park), "Navy Seals", and "" (partially filmed at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel).


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The city has a long history as a strategic military and transportation point, where many railroad lines started. Norfolk was the terminus of the Atlantic and Danville Railway in 1890. It is linked to its neighbors by an extensive network of interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, and three bridge-tunnel complexes, which are the only bridge-tunnels in the United States. The city was the corporate headquarters of Norfolk Southern Railway, one of North America's principal Class I railroads, before the company relocated their headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is linked with its neighbors through an extensive network of arterial and Interstate highways, bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnel complexes. The major east–west routes are Interstate 64, U.S. Route 58 (Virginia Beach Boulevard) and U.S. Route 60 (Ocean View Avenue). The major north–south routes are U.S. Route 13 and U.S. Route 460, also known as Granby Street. Other main roadways in Norfolk include Newtown Road, Waterside Drive, Tidewater Drive, and Military Highway. The Hampton Roads Beltway (I-64, I-264, I-464, and I-664) makes a loop around Norfolk.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is primarily served by the Norfolk International Airport , now the region's major commercial airport. The airport is located near the Chesapeake Bay, along with the city limits straddling neighboring Virginia Beach. Seven airlines provide nonstop services to twenty five destinations. ORF had 3,703,664 passengers take off or land at its facility and 68,778,934 pounds of cargo were processed through its facilities. Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport also provides commercial air service for the Hampton Roads area.<ref name="Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport"></ref> NNWIA is also the only airport in the region with direct international flights, as of February 2013. The Chesapeake Regional Airport provides general aviation services and is located outside the city limits.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is served by Amtrak's Northeast Regional service through the Norfolk station, located in downtown Norfolk adjacent to Harbor Park stadium. The line runs west along Norfolk Southern trackage, paralleling the US Route 460 corridor to Petersburg, thence on to Richmond and beyond.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: A high-speed rail connection at Richmond to both the Northeast Corridor and the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor are also under study.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: In April 2007, construction of the new $36 million Half Moone Cruise Terminal was completed downtown adjacent to the Nauticus Museum, providing a state-of-the-art permanent structure for various cruise lines and passengers wishing to embark from Norfolk. Previously, makeshift structures were used to embark/disembark passengers, supplies, and crew.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The Intracoastal Waterway passes through Norfolk. Norfolk also has extensive frontage and port facilities on the navigable portions of the Western and Southern Branches of the Elizabeth River.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Light rail, bus, ferry and paratransit services are provided by Hampton Roads Transit (HRT), the regional public transport system headquartered in Hampton. HRT buses operate throughout Norfolk and South Hampton Roads and onto the Peninsula all the way up to Williamsburg. Other routes travel to Smithfield. HRT's ferry service connects downtown Norfolk to Old Town Portsmouth. Additional services include an HOV express bus to the Norfolk Naval Base, paratransit services, park-and-ride lots, and the Norfolk Electric Trolley, which provides service in the downtown area.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The Tide light rail service began operations in August 2011. The light rail is a starter route running along the southern portion of Norfolk, commencing at Newtown Road and passing through stations serving areas such as Norfolk State University and Harbor Park before going through the heart of downtown Norfolk and terminating at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Hampton Roads Transportation, Inc. dispatches Black and White Cabs of Norfolk, Yellow Cab of Norfolk and Norfolk Checker Cab.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Water and sewer services are provided by the city's Department of Utilities. Norfolk receives its electricity from Dominion Virginia Power which has local sources including the Chesapeake Energy Center (a gas power plant), coal-fired plants in Chesapeake and Southampton County, and the Surry Nuclear Power Plant. Norfolk-headquartered Virginia Natural Gas, a subsidiary of AGL Resources, distributes natural gas to the city from storage plants in James City County and Chesapeake.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk's water quality has been recognized one of the cleanest water systems in the United States and ranked as the fourth best in the United States by "Men's Health". The city of Norfolk has a tremendous capacity for clean fresh water. The city owns nine reservoirs: Lake Whitehurst, Little Creek Reservoir, Lake Lawson, Lake Smith, Lake Wright, Lake Burnt Mills, Western Branch Reservoir, Lake Prince and Lake Taylor. The Virginia tidewater area has grown faster than the local freshwater supply. The river water has always been salty, and the fresh groundwater is no longer available in most areas. Currently, water for the cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach is pumped from Lake Gaston (which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border) into the City of Norfolk's reservoir system and then diverted to the City of Chesapeake for treatment by the City of Chesapeake. Virginia Beach's portion of water is treated by the City of Norfolk at Moores Bridges water treatment plant and then piped into Virginia Beach. The pipeline is long and in diameter. Much of its follows the former right-of-way of an abandoned portion of the Virginian Railway. It is capable of pumping 60 million gallons of water per day; Virginia Beach and Chesapeake are partners in the project.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The city provides wastewater services for residents and transports wastewater to the regional Hampton Roads Sanitation District treatment plants.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Because of the prominence of the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth and the Hampton VA Medical Center in Hampton, Norfolk has had a strong role in medicine. Norfolk is served by Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Sentara Leigh Hospital, and Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center. The city is also home to the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters and Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Norfolk is home to Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), which is known for its specialists in diabetes, dermatology, and obstetrics. It achieved international fame on March 1, 1980, when Drs. Georgianna and Howard Jones opened the first in vitro fertilization clinic in the U.S. at EVMS. The country's first in-vitro test-tube baby was born there in December 1981.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: The international headquarters of Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization that specializes in repairing facial deformities in underprivileged children from around the globe, is located in the city.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Physicians for Peace, a non-profit that focuses on providing training and education to medical professionals in the developing world, is based in Norfolk.


title: Norfolk, Virginia

text: Wilhelmshaven is the Germany's largest military harbour and naval base and Toulon is the Europe's largest military harbour.


title: Steve Bing

text: Stephen Leo Bing (March 31, 1965 – June 22, 2020) was an American businessman, philanthropist, film producer, and screenwriter. He was the founder of Shangri-La Entertainment, an organization with interests in property, construction, entertainment and music.


title: Steve Bing

text: Bing was born in New York City in 1965. His parents were Helen, a nurse, and Peter Bing, a doctor in public health. He was of Jewish background. Bing attended the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. At the age of 18, he inherited an estimated $600 million from his grandfather, Leo S. Bing, a real estate developer who had made his fortune in New York in the 1920s. The "Los Angeles Business Journal"s January 2010 publication of "The Lists 2010" listed him in its "Wealthiest Angelenos" section of the magazine, which estimated his worth at $590 million, coming in at No. 46. After inheriting his fortune, Bing dropped out of Stanford University in his junior year to pursue a career in Hollywood.


title: Steve Bing

text: Bing reportedly invested $80 million in "The Polar Express", an animated film featuring the voice of Tom Hanks, which earned $285 million globally and was one of the year's box-office successes. He was also the financier of Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf", and the producer/financier of "Shine a Light", a Rolling Stones concert film directed by Martin Scorsese. Bing also financed and produced the independently released Jerry Lee Lewis album "Last Man Standing".


title: Steve Bing

text: In addition to his producing and film finance work, he also co-wrote both the screenplay and the story of "Kangaroo Jack" (2003).


title: Steve Bing

text: Beginning with a $500 contribution in 1993 to support Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in his bid for re-election, Bing contributed more than $10.7 million at the federal level to the Democratic Party and its candidates, according to OpenSecrets.


title: Steve Bing

text: The biggest checks were written in 2002 when he gave a total of $8.2 million to the Democratic National Committee. He also gave to specific candidates, including Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein.


title: Steve Bing

text: Bing was reported to have given at least $49.5 million during the 2006 election cycle in support of Proposition 87, a California initiative which sought to raise $4 billion in oil production taxes to help develop alternative fuels. Bing also supported several key races in other parts of the country as Democrats fought to win back control of Congress. They included Democratic challenger Bob Casey, Jr. in Pennsylvania, who unseated conservative GOP incumbent Senator Rick Santorum, and future United States senator Tammy Duckworth in Illinois, then a Democratic congressional hopeful and an Army National Guard major who lost her legs in Iraq, who went on to lose to State Senator Peter Roskam in that race.


title: Steve Bing

text: Excluding Prop. 87 contributions, in California Bing donated $7.8 million worth from 2000 on, according to the California secretary of state. He spent $4.25 million in 2005 in a successful effort to defeat Prop. 77, a redistricting initiative sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other beneficiaries of his political pursuits included: the California Democratic Party ($640,172); Governor Gray Davis ($675,000); and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose campaign received $750 in 2004.


title: Steve Bing

text: In October 2008, Bing pledged to match donations made to the NO on Proposition 8 campaign from October 17 to October 19.


title: Steve Bing

text: On December 18, 2008, the William J. Clinton Foundation released a list of all contributors. It included Stephen L. Bing, who gave between US$10–25 million.


title: Steve Bing

text: On August 5, 2009, a 737 private aircraft owned by Bing and based at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Southern California, was utilized in the return of American reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee who had spent 5 months of a 12-year sentence in North Korea. Former President Bill Clinton was instrumental in their return and accompanied the reporters back to the United States. Bing reportedly covered the whole cost of the flight, estimated to be around $200,000.


title: Steve Bing

text: In 2001, Bing sued billionaire Kirk Kerkorian for invasion of privacy. Bing alleged that convicted criminal and private investigator Anthony Pellicano took Bing's dental floss out of his trash to collect his DNA. At the time, Kerkorian was in a legal fight with his former wife Lisa Bonder, a former professional tennis player, over the amount of child support he would pay, with the billionaire reportedly suspecting Bing (a previous boyfriend) to be the biological father of Bonder's daughter Kira. After Bing was proved by DNA testing to be the father of Bonder's child, Bing and Kerkorian settled their dispute out of court.


title: Steve Bing

text: Bing had a relationship with Elizabeth Hurley, which resulted in a pregnancy. Bing urged Hurley to have an abortion, but Hurley refused. Bing denied paternity by alleging that he and Hurley had a brief, non-exclusive relationship in 2001. However, a DNA test established Bing as the child's father. Hurley gave birth to Damian Charles Hurley on 4 April 2002, whom Bing never met. Hugh Grant is Damian's godfather.


title: Steve Bing

text: The paternity of Bonder's daughter was revealed by Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator (and wiretapper) hired by Kerkorian's lawyer, who was also a "friend" to Bing. According to an FBI summary, Pellicano sometimes played Hollywood clients against each other, at one point asking financier (and Bing friend) Ron Burkle for a $100,000 to $250,000 shakedown in order not to be investigated by Michael Ovitz, another Pellicano client. In a twist to the case, "The New York Times" reported payments of $335,000 by Bing to Pellicano between June 2000 and August 2002.


title: Steve Bing

text: According to excerpts of recorded calls, Pellicano bragged to Kerkorian's lawyer in April and May 2002 that he was "working for" and "consulting for" Bing in matters related to Elizabeth Hurley and her son's disputed paternity, which was then in the news. Martin Singer, a lawyer for Bing, called Pellicano's statement regarding Hurley "an absolute lie." ("Daily Mail" reportedly paid a "substantial" settlement to Bing in 2003 after Pellicano's sworn statement that he had "never been engaged by Mr. Bing nor his attorney Mr. Martin Singer to investigate anyone on Mr. Bing's behalf, including Ms. Hurley.") Following two trials in 2008 in which Bing did not testify, Pellicano was convicted of 78 counts of wiretapping, racketeering, wire fraud, and conspiracy. Pellicano was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered, with Terry N. Christensen, to forfeit $2 million.


title: Steve Bing

text: In April 2012, Bing committed to join The Giving Pledge, set up by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, willingly donating the majority of his wealth to charity.


title: Steve Bing

text: Bing died by suicide on June 22, 2020 at the age of 55 by jumping from his condominium on the 27th floor of the Ten Thousand building at 10000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles. He had been depressed about lack of human contact during the Coronavirus disease quarantine.


title: Steve Bing

text: At the time of his death, he was worth $300,000, having spent most of the $600 million he had inherited.


title: Kamathipura

text: Kamathipura (also spelled Kamthipura) is a neighbourhood in Mumbai, India known for prostitution. It was first settled after 1795 with the construction of causeways that connected the erstwhile seven islands of Mumbai. Initially known as Lal Bazaar, it got its name from the "Kamathis" (workers) of other areas of the country, who were labourers on construction sites. Due to tough police crackdowns, in the late 1990s with the rise of AIDS and government's redevelopment policy that helped sex workers to move out of the profession and subsequently out of Kamathipura, the number of sex workers in the area has dwindled. In 1992, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recorded there were 45,000 sex workers here which was reduced to 1,600 in 2009 and 500 in 2018. Many sex workers have migrated to other areas in Maharashtra with real estate developers taking over the high-priced real estate. In 2018 the Maharashtra government sought tenders to demolish and redevelop the area.


title: Kamathipura

text: Before the completion of the Hornby Vellard project in 1784, which built a causeway uniting all seven islands of Mumbai under William Hornby, governor of Bombay (1771-1784), plugged the Great Breach in Mahalaxmi, while the subsequent Bellasis Road causeway joined Mazagaon and Malabar Hill in 1793. This resulted in several low-lying marshy areas of Mumbai Flats like Byculla, Tardeo, Mahalaxmi and Kamathipura opening up for habitation. Thereafter starting 1795, "Kamathis" (workers) of other areas of the country, working as labourers on construction sites began settling here, giving the area its present name. It was bounded by Bellasis Road on the north, by Gaodevi on the south and the main road across, Falkland Road. At one point during this period it was home to a Chinese community, which worked as dockhands and ran restaurants. By the late 19th century it all changed.


title: Kamathipura

text: Till then, as previous 1864 Census figures for Mumbai indicate, other areas had a larger population of prostitutes, like Girgaon (1,044), Phanaswadi (1,323) and Oomburkharee (1,583) compared with Kamathipura (601), all which declined after 1864. This small region boasted the most exotic consorts. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a large number of women from continental Europe and Japan and China were trafficked into Kamathipura, where they worked as prostitutes servicing soldiers and locals alike. Gradually, social stratification also took place: A busy road in Kamathipura was known as Safed Gully (White Lane) owing to the European prostitutes housed here during the British raj. The lane is now known as Cursetji Shuklaji Street. The most well-known brothel in the area, Pila House, is the hybridisation of its original word: Playhouse. The first venereal disease clinic of Bombay was opened in 1916, being taken over by BMC in 1925. Nearby, Bachchuseth ki Wadi on Foras Road was famous for its "kothewalis" or tawaifs and mujras.


title: Kamathipura

text: When India gained independence, Indian sex workers moved into the area. In recent decades, large numbers of Nepalese women and girls have also been trafficked into the district. Over the years under Indian government rule, the sex industry in Kamathipura continued to flourish. Trafficking and economic circumstances also brought women from different parts of the country there. Eventually it became Asia's largest sex district.


title: Kamathipura

text: The brothels in the area are crowded. Sex workers wait outside to pick up customers and then rent an available bed. The estimated 3,000 buildings in the area are largely dilapidated; safe drinking water and sanitation is scarce as well.


title: Kamathipura

text: Some historical sources point out that the origin of slums, subsequently the red-light areas of Mumbai including Kamathipura is related to land acquisition, from the indigenous population who were evicted from their farmlands and cattle-fields and forced to live in congested conditions, to facilitate the development of the industrial harbor city. In the early stages, people accumulated in the new slums partly depended on constructions contracts. Later, as men became unemployed due to lack of jobs, more women began to engage in sex work in order to survive. Gang activity also increased in the area; in the 1970s and early '80s, Bachchu Wadi at Kamathipura was frequented by gangleaders from the Mumbai underworld, such as Haji Mastan, Karim Lala, and Dawood Ibrahim.


title: Kamathipura

text: In 2005, with a statewide ban on dance bars, many dancing girls, who couldn't find other means of income, moved to prostitution to survive, in Mumbai's red-light districts, like Kamathipura. According to police, in 2005, there were 100,000 prostitutes working out of five-star hotels and brothels across Mumbai.


title: Kamathipura

text: The area is also home to a small cottage industry of about 200 women who make a living rolling beedis (hand-rolled Indian cigarette).


title: Kamathipura

text: Kamathipura is divided into roughly 14 lanes and divided according to regional backgrounds of the workers. Most of the workers come from other Indian states. There is little interaction between areas, which makes it harder for social organizations to organize them into a movement or union. Further, lack of public opinion, political leadership or social activism which is empathetic towards them means a tough time forming unions.


title: The Internship

text: The Internship is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Vince Vaughn and Jared Stern, and produced by Vaughn and Levy. The film stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as recently laid-off salesmen who attempt to compete with much younger and more technically skilled applicants for a job at Google. Rose Byrne, Max Minghella, Aasif Mandvi, Josh Brener, Dylan O'Brien, Tobit Raphael, Tiya Sircar, Josh Gad, and Jessica Szohr also star.


title: The Internship

text: "The Internship" is the second film with Vaughn and Wilson in the lead roles, after the 2005 film "Wedding Crashers"; the two had also both appeared in the 2004 film "Starsky & Hutch". This is also the second collaboration of Levy, Vaughn, and Stern after the 2012 film "The Watch", and the third of Levy and Wilson after the first two "Night at the Museum" films.


title: The Internship

text: Released on June 7, 2013, the film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $93 million worldwide.


title: The Internship

text: After salesmen Billy McMahon and Nick Campbell's employer goes out of business, Billy applies for Google internships for Nick and himself. They are accepted due to their unorthodox interview answers, despite a lack of relevant experience and not being of traditional collegiate age. They will spend the summer competing in teams against other interns in a variety of tasks, with only members of the winning team guaranteed jobs with Google. Billy and Nick's team is led by Lyle, who constantly tries to act hip to hide his insecurities, and its other members are seen as rejects: the smartphone-addicted Stuart, the tiger-parented Filipino Yo-Yo, and Indian American nerd-related kink enthusiast Neha. Although Stuart, Yo-Yo, and Neha find Billy and Nick useless in the initial tasks, Billy rallies the team in a comeback that unifies them in a game of quidditch. However, the team loses after an intern of the opposing team, Graham, cheats.


title: The Internship

text: When the teams are tasked with developing an app, Billy and Nick convince their teammates to indulge in a wild night out, which includes going to a strip club. Lyle's drunken antics inspire the team to create an app that guards against reckless phone usage while drunk, and win the task by earning the most downloads. Meanwhile, Nick has been flirting with an executive, Dana, with little success. When he begins attending technical presentations to impress her, he develops an interest in the material. Dana agrees to go on a date with Nick, and she invites him in at the end of the evening. While the teams prepare to staff the technical support hotline, Billy is offered technical information by an introvert named "Headphones", which helps him. However, the team loses because Billy fails to log his calls for review. Dejected, Billy leaves the Google campus and pursues a job selling mobility scooters.


title: The Internship

text: In the final task, which is a sales challenge, teams must sign the largest possible company to begin advertising with Google. Nick approaches Billy, and gives him an inspiring speech, encouraging Billy to return and help their team for the last challenge. Reinvigorated, Billy leads the team to show a local pizzeria owner how Google can help him interact with potential customers and thereby expand his business, while remaining true to his professional values. Chetty is about to announce that Graham's team has won, when Billy, Nick, and their team arrive to give a dynamic presentation about their new client. Chetty recognizes that although the pizzeria is not a large business, its potential is limitless because it is expanding via technology. Graham protests and is dressed down by Headphones, who turns out to be the head of Google Search. Nick and Billy's team win the challenge and the guaranteed jobs, while Graham is punched by an overweight member of his team who he constantly bullied. As the students depart, Nick and Dana are still seeing each other, as are Lyle and Google's dance instructor Marielena. Stuart and Neha have formed a romantic connection as well with Stuart promising to see her in person rather than texting her, and Yo-Yo asserts himself to his mother.


title: The Internship

text: Most of the scenes were filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, and at the Georgia Institute of Technology, which posed as a double for the Googleplex, since the company normally does not allow filming on the actual Googleplex for security and productivity reasons. Vaughn came up with the idea after watching a "60 Minutes" segment on Google's work culture, and subsequently brought the idea to director Shawn Levy. Google agreed to work with the film producers, with founder Larry Page noting that "computer science has a marketing problem." Google also felt it would help further explain their "Don't be evil" mantra. Although Reuters reported that as part of the deal Google asked for "creative control", Levy denied the company was involved with the script, insisting that Google only assisted from a "technical" perspective. CNN reported that the studio did give "some control" to Google over the depiction of its products.


title: The Internship

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "The Internship" has an approval rating of 35% based on 170 reviews and an average rating of 5.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Internship" weighs down Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson's comic charisma with a formulaic script and padded running time that leans far too heavily on its stars' easygoing interplay." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 42 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Internship

text: A majority of reviews, even positive ones, derided "The Internship" for being a feature-length Google commercial. In his review, Ty Burr of "The Boston Globe" commented: "Here’s why Google is so successful: It's figured out a way for Twentieth Century Fox to make a two-hour Google commercial disguised as a summer comedy". Stephen Rea of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" wrote on his review, ""The Internship" itself would be kind of charming, too, if this Google-recruitment film, this 119-minute commercial for Googliness, weren't so downright creepy". "The Guardian"s David Cox described the movie as a "two-hour corporate video," while British film critic Mark Kermode called the film "the longest advert I've seen in the cinema". He dismissed it as "one of the most witless, humourless, vomit-inducing horribly self-satisfied, smug, unfunny comedies I have ever seen".


title: The Internship

text: Another critique was that combining Vaughn and Wilson with Google was poorly timed, and that the film would have been much more successful, had it been released on the heels of Vaughn and Wilson's success in 2005's "Wedding Crashers". This fact of timing was satirized by a video news story run by "The Onion", a satirical newspaper, titled "The Internship Poised to be Biggest Comedy of 2005".


title: The Internship

text: Many former Google interns and Google employees noted the accuracy of the company environment depicted in the movie, but also pointed out that the internship process is nothing like that shown.


title: The Internship

text: "The Internship" was released in "Unrated" form on DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack on October 22, 2013. This edition runs 125 minutes and contains profanity and nudity not found in the theatrical release.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east of York, the historic county town. With a population of (), it is the fourth-largest city in the Yorkshire and the Humber region after Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The town of Wyke on Hull was founded late in the 12th century by the monks of Meaux Abbey as a port from which to export their wool.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Renamed "Kings-town upon Hull" in 1299, Hull had been a market town, military supply port, trading centre, fishing and whaling centre and industrial metropolis.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: More than 95% of the city was damaged or destroyed in the blitz and suffered a period of post-industrial decline (social deprivation, education and policing). The destroyed areas of the city were rebuilt in the post-Second World War period. In the early 21st century spending boom before the late 2000s recession the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing and public service construction spending.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2017, it was the UK City of Culture and hosted the Turner Prize at the city’s Ferens Art Gallery. Other notable landmarks in the city are the minster, the tidal surge barrier, and The Deep aquarium. Areas of the town centre include the old town (including it’s museum quarter) and the marina. Hull University was founded in 1927 and had over 16,000 students in 2022. Rugby league football teams include clubs Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. The city's association football club is Hull City (EFL Championship). Hull RUFC and Hull Ionians both play in the National league 2 North of rugby union.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Kingston upon Hull stands on the north bank of the Humber Estuary at the mouth of its tributary, the River Hull. The valley of the River Hull has been inhabited since the early Neolithic period but there is little evidence of a substantial settlement in the area of the present city. The area was attractive to people because it gave access to a prosperous hinterland and navigable rivers but the site was poor, being remote, low-lying and with no fresh water. It was originally an outlying part of the hamlet of Myton, named Wyke. The name is thought to originate either from a Scandinavian word "Vik" meaning inlet or from the Saxon "Wic" meaning dwelling place or refuge.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The River Hull was a good haven for shipping, whose trade included the export of wool from Meaux Abbey, which owned Myton. In 1293, the town of Wyke was acquired from the abbey by King Edward I, who, on 1 April 1299, granted it a royal charter that renamed the settlement "King's town upon Hull" or Kingston upon Hull. The charter is preserved in the archives of the Guildhall.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 1440, a further charter incorporated the town and instituted local government consisting of a mayor, a sheriff and twelve aldermen.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In his "Guide to Hull (1817)", J.C. Craggs provides a colourful background to Edward's acquisition and naming of the town. He writes that the King and a hunting party started a hare which "led them along the delightful banks of the River Hull to the hamlet of Wyke … [Edward], charmed with the scene before him, viewed with delight the advantageous situation of this hitherto neglected and obscure corner. He foresaw it might become subservient both to render the kingdom more secure against foreign invasion, and at the same time greatly to enforce its commerce". Pursuant to these thoughts, Craggs continues, Edward purchased the land from the Abbot of Meaux, had a manor hall built for himself, issued proclamations encouraging development within the town, and bestowed upon it the royal appellation, "King's Town".


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The port served as a base for Edward I during the First War of Scottish Independence and later developed into the foremost port on the east coast of England. It prospered by exporting wool and woollen cloth, and importing wine and timber. Hull also established a flourishing commerce with the Baltic ports as part of the Hanseatic League.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: From its medieval beginnings, Hull's main trading links were with Scotland and northern Europe. Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Low Countries were all key trading areas for Hull's merchants. In addition, there was trade with France, Spain and Portugal.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Sir William de la Pole was the town's first mayor. A prosperous merchant, de la Pole founded a family that became prominent in government. Another successful son of a Hull trading family was bishop John Alcock, who founded Jesus College, Cambridge and was a patron of the grammar school in Hull. The increase in trade after the discovery of the Americas and the town's maritime connections are thought to have played a part in the introduction of a virulent strain of syphilis through Hull and on into Europe from the New World.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The town prospered during the 16th and early 17th centuries, and Hull's affluence at this time is preserved in the form of several well-maintained buildings from the period, including Wilberforce House, now a museum documenting the life of William Wilberforce.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: During the English Civil War, Hull became strategically important because of the large arsenal located there. Very early in the war, on 11 January 1642, the king named the Earl of Newcastle governor of Hull while Parliament nominated Sir John Hotham and asked his son, Captain John Hotham, to secure the town at once. Sir John Hotham and Hull corporation declared support for Parliament and denied Charles I entry into the town. Charles I responded to these events by besieging the town. This siege helped precipitate open conflict between the forces of Parliament and those of the Royalists.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: After the Civil War, docks were built along the route of the town walls, which were demolished. The first dock (1778, renamed Queen's Dock in 1854) was built in the area occupied by Beverley and North gates, and the intermediate walls, which were demolished, a second dock (Humber Dock, 1809) was built on the land between Hessle and Myton gates, and a third dock between the two was opened 1829 as Junction Dock (later Prince's Dock).


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Whaling played a major role in the town's fortunes until the mid-19th century. As sail power gave way to steam, Hull's trading links extended throughout the world. Docks were opened to serve the frozen meat trade of Australia, New Zealand and South America. Hull was also the centre of a thriving inland and coastal trading network, serving the whole of the United Kingdom.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Throughout the second half of the 19th century and leading up to the First World War, the Port of Hull played a major role in the emigration of Northern European settlers to the New World, with thousands of emigrants sailing to Hull and stopping for administrative purposes before travelling on to Liverpool and then North America.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Parallel to this growth in passenger shipping was the emergence of the Wilson Line of Hull (which had been founded in 1825 by Thomas Wilson). By the early 20th century, the company had grown – largely through its monopolisation of North Sea passenger routes and later mergers and acquisitions – to be the largest privately owned shipping company in the world, with over 100 ships sailing to different parts of the globe. The Wilson Line was sold to the Ellerman Lines – which itself was owned by Hull-born magnate (and the richest man in Britain at the time) Sir John Ellerman.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull's prosperity peaked in the decades just before the First World War; it was during this time, in 1897, that city status was granted. Many of the suburban areas on the western side of Hull were built in the 1930s, particularly Willerby Road and Anlaby Park, as well as most of Willerby itself. This was part of the biggest British housing boom of the 20th century (possibly ever).


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The city's port and industrial facilities, coupled with its proximity to mainland Europe and ease of location being on a major estuary, led to extremely widespread damage by bombing raids during the Second World War; much of the city centre was destroyed. Hull had 95% of its houses damaged or destroyed, making it the most severely bombed British city or town in terms of number of damaged or destroyed buildings, apart from London, during the Second World War. More than 1,200 people died in air raids on the city and some 3,000 others were injured.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The worst of the bombing occurred in 1941. Little was known about this destruction by the rest of the country at the time, since most of the radio and newspaper reports did not reveal Hull by name but referred to it as "a North-East town" or "a northern coastal town". Most of the city centre was rebuilt in the years following the war. As recently as 2006 researchers found documents in the local archives that suggested a non-exploded wartime bomb might be buried beneath a major new redevelopment, the Boom, in Hull.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: After the decline of the whaling industry post the Second World War, emphasis shifted to deep-sea trawling until the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War of 1975–1976. The conditions set at the end of this dispute started Hull's economic decline.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2017 Hull was awarded the title of 'City of Culture' by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Within the city there was a series of festivals in public spaces to promote the city and its newly given title. At the start of the year there was a huge firework display attracting a crowd of 25,000.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Following the Local Government Act 1888, Hull became a county borough, a local government district independent of the East Riding of Yorkshire. This district was dissolved under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 when it became a non-metropolitan district of the newly created shire county of Humberside. Humberside (and its county council) was abolished on 1 April 1996 and Hull was made a unitary authority area.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The single-tier local authority of the city is now Hull City Council (officially Kingston upon Hull City Council), headquartered in the Guildhall in the city centre. The council was designated as the UK's worst performing authority in both 2004 and 2005, but in 2006 was rated as a two star 'improving adequate' council and in 2007 it retained its two stars with an 'improving well' status. In the 2008 corporate performance assessment the city retained its "improving well" status but was upgraded to a three star rating.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the City Council in the 2007 local elections, ending several years in which no single party had a majority. They retained control in the 2008 local elections by an increased majority and in the 2010 local elections. Following the UK's local elections of 2011, the Labour Party gained control of the council, increasing their majority in the 2012 and retained this following the 2014 local elections. They increased their majority by one in the 2015 local elections, but lost it in the


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: 2016 local elections. In the 2018 local elections all of the council was up for election following boundary changes that reduced the number of seats by 2. Labour retained control of the council but with a much reduced majority, while in the 2019 local elections there was no change to the make-up of the council. In the 2021 local elections the Liberal Democrats gained a couple of seats but Labour retained control by just three seats. On 3 March 2022, Labour councillor Julia Conner defected to the Liberal Democrats, reducing the Labour majority to one. The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the City Council in the 2022 local elections to end ten years of Labour rule.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The city returned three members of parliament to the House of Commons and at the last general election, in 2019, elected three Labour MPs: Emma Hardy, Diana Johnson and Karl Turner.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: William Wilberforce is the most celebrated of Hull's former MPs. He was a native of the city and the member for Hull from 1780 to 1784 when he was elected as an Independent member for Yorkshire.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Kingston upon Hull is on the northern bank of the Humber Estuary. The city centre is west of the River Hull and close to the Humber. The city is built upon alluvial and glacial deposits which overlie chalk rocks but the underlying chalk has no influence on the topography. The land within the city is generally very flat and is only 2 to 4 metres (6.5 to 13 ft) above sea level. Because of the relative flatness of the site there are few physical constraints upon building and many open areas are the subject of pressures to build.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The parishes of Drypool, Marfleet, Sculcoates, and most of Sutton parish, were absorbed within the borough of Hull in the 19th and 20th centuries. Much of their area has been built over, and socially and economically they have long been inseparable from the city. Only Sutton retained a recognisable village centre in the late 20th century, but on the south and east the advancing suburbs had already reached it. The four villages were, nevertheless, distinct communities, of a largely rural character, until their absorption in the borough—Drypool and Sculcoates in 1837, Marfleet in 1882, and Sutton in 1929. The current boundaries of the city are tightly drawn and exclude many of the metropolitan area's nearby villages, of which Cottingham is the largest. The city is surrounded by the rural East Riding of Yorkshire.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Some areas of Hull lie on reclaimed land at or below sea level. The Hull Tidal Surge Barrier is at the point where the River Hull joins the Humber Estuary and is lowered at times when unusually high tides are expected. It is used between 8 and 12 times per year and protects the homes of approximately 10,000 people from flooding. Due to its low level, Hull is expected to be at increasing levels of risk from flooding due to global warming.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Historically, Hull has been affected by tidal and storm flooding from the Humber; the last serious floods were in the 1950s, in 1953, 1954 and the winter of 1959.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Many areas of Hull were flooded during the June 2007 United Kingdom floods, with 8,600 homes and 1,300 businesses affected.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Further flooding occurred in 2013, resulting in a new flood defence scheme to protect homes and businesses, stretching from St Andrew’s Quay Retail Park to Victoria Dock, linking to other defences at Paull and Hessle. Started in 2016, it was completed in early 2021. The scheme was officially opened on 3 March 2022, by Rebecca Pow.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: At around 00:56 GMT on 27 February 2008, Hull was north of the epicentre of an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale which lasted for nearly 10 seconds. This was an unusually large earthquake for this part of the world. Another notable quake occurred early in the morning of 10 June 2018.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Located in Northern England, Hull has a temperate maritime climate which is dominated by the passage of mid-latitude depressions. The weather is very changeable from day to day and the warming influence of the Gulf Stream makes the region mild for its latitude. Locally, the area is sunnier than most areas this far north in the British Isles, and also considerably drier, due to the rain shadowing effect of the Pennines. It is somewhat warmer than west coast areas at a similar latitude such as Liverpool in summer due to stronger shielding from maritime air but also colder in winter and North Sea breezes keep the city cooler than inland areas during summer. It is also one of the most northerly areas where the July average maximum temperature exceeds , although this appears to be very localised around the city. Flooding in June 2007 caused significant damage to areas of the city. Droughts and heatwaves also occur such as in 2003, 2006 and recently in 2018.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The absolute maximum temperature recorded is , set in August 1990. Typically, the warmest day should reach , though slightly over 10 days should achieve a temperature of or more in an "average" year. All averages refer to the 1981–2010 period.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The absolute minimum temperature is , recorded during January 1982. Winters are generally mild for the latitude with snow only occurring a couple of times a year on average and mostly only staying for a day or two before melting. It is frequently cloudy and the North Sea winds make it feel colder than it actually is. An average of 32.5 nights should report an air frost. Heavy snowfalls do occasionally occur such as in 2010.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: On 23 November 1981, during the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak, Hull was struck by two tornadoes. The first, rated as a very weak F0/T0 tornado, touched down in the Port of Hull shortly before 13:30 local time. This was followed several minutes later by a much stronger F1/T2 tornado, which passed through and caused damage to residential buildings across the north-eastern suburbs of Hull.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: According to the 2001 UK census, Hull had a population of 243,589 living in 104,288 households. The population density was 34.1 per hectare. Of the total number of homes 47.85% were rented compared with a national figure of 31.38% rented. The population had declined by 7.5% since the 1991 UK census, and has been officially estimated as 256,200 in July 2006.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2001, approximately 53,000 people were aged under 16, 174,000 were aged 16–74, and 17,000 aged 75 and over. Of the total population 97.7% were white and the largest minority ethnic group was of 749 people who considered themselves to be ethnically Chinese. There were 3% of people living in Hull who were born outside the United Kingdom. In 2006, the largest minority ethnic grouping was Iraqi Kurds who were estimated at 3,000. Most of these people were placed in the city by the Home Office while their applications for asylum were being processed. In 2001, the city was 71.7% Christian. A further 18% of the population indicated they were of no religion while 8.4% did not specify any religious affiliation.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Historically, minorities of many faiths and nationalities have lived around the docks, Old Town and City Centre, coming in from European ports like Hamburg, aided by continental railways and steam-ships from the mid-1800s. Over 2 million passed through Hull between 1850 and 1914, on the way to a new life in America and elsewhere, but some planned or decided to stay. Dutch, Jews, Germans, Scandinavians and others were sometimes prominently involved in the life of the port city. They found opportunity but endured discrimination at times, such that these communities have now largely dispersed.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Also in 2001, the city had a high proportion, at 6.2%, of people of working age who were unemployed, ranking 354th out of 376 local and unitary authorities within England and Wales. The distance travelled to work was less than for 64,578 out of 95,957 employed people. A further 18,031 travelled between 3.1 and 6.2 miles (5 and 10 km) to their place of employment. The number of people using public transport to get to work was 12,915 while the number travelling by car was 53,443.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Men in the University ward had the fourth lowest life expectancy at birth, 69.4 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The traditional industries of Hull are seafaring (whaling and later seafishing) and later heavy industry which both have since declined in the city. Companies BP and Reckitt Benckiser, have facilities in Hull. The city is part of the Humber Enterprise Zone.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Although the fishing industry, including oilseed production, declined in the 1970s due to the Cod Wars, the city remains a busy port, handling 13 million tonnes of cargo per year. The port operations run by Associated British Ports and other companies in the port employ 5,000 people. A further 18,000 are employed as a direct result of the port's activities. The port freight railway line, the Hull Docks Branch, operates 22 trains per day.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In January 2011 Siemens Wind Power and Associated British Ports signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the construction of a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant at Alexander Dock. The plan would require some modification of the dock to allow the ships, used for transporting the wind turbine blades, to dock and be loaded. Planning applications for the plant were submitted in December 2011, and affirmed in 2014, concerning blades for the 6 MW offshore model.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: A site waste-to-energy centre costing in the region of £150 million is also planned to be built by the Spencer Group. Announced in mid-2011, and named 'Energy Works', the proposed plant would process up to 200,000 tonnes of organic material per year, with energy produced via a waste gasification process.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull Marina was from the old Humber and Railway docks in the centre of the city. It was repurposed and opened in 1983, it has 270 berths for yachts and small sailing craft.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In July 2014, the former Fruit Market was demolished with a technology hub C4DI (Centre for Digital Innovation) built in December 2015.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The city has chemical and health care sectors, Smith & Nephew’s founder Thomas James Smith being from the city. The health care sector has research facilities provided by the University of Hull through the Institute of Woundcare and the Hull York Medical School partnerships.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Ferry services started after the decline in fishing by the introduction of Roll-on Roll-off ferry services to the continent of Europe. These ferries handle over a million passengers each year.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Merchant's houses such as Blaydes House and some warehouses survive in the Old Town, where trade was centred on the River Hull, later shifting to the Humber docks.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Humber Quays incorporates the World Trade Centre Hull & Humber and offices for The Spencer Group, RBS, and Jon Lee.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The quays was a late 2000s development costing £165 million with office buildings, housing, a 200-bedroom hotel and a restaurant.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In March 2017, the Old Town area was designated as one of 10 Heritage Action Zones by Historic England with the benefit that the area would get a share of £6 million.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Retailers such as Heron Foods, and Jacksons began their operations in Hull. The former electrical retailer Comet Group was founded in the city as "Comet Battery Stores Limited" in 1933; the company's first superstore was opened in Hull in 1968.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull has many shopping streets, both inside and outside the city centre. The main non-city-centre shopping streets are Hessle Road, Holderness Road, Chanterlands Avenue, Beverley Road, Princes Avenue, and Newland Avenue.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Additionally, two covered shopping arcades, Paragon and Hepworth. The latter was modernised and renovated in the late 2000s. The city also has the Trinity Market Hall, a grade II listed building Edwardian era indoor hall with 50 stalls, it was last renovated in 2016.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The city centre has three shopping centres, St Stephen's, Princes Quay, and the Prospect Centre. The "Prospect Centre" on Prospect Street is the smaller and older shopping centre which benefits from large footfall; having chain stores, banks, fashion retailers and the city's main post office.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: "Princes Quay Shopping Centre" was built in 1991 on stilts over the closed Prince's Dock. It has a mixture chain stores and food outlets. It was built with four retail floors, known as "decks", with the uppermost deck converted to a cinema from December 2007.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The "St Stephen's" shopping centre development on Ferensway adjacent to Hull Paragon Interchange is a scheme, that opened in 2007. It is anchored by a superstore and provides many shop units, food outlets, a hotel, and a 7-screen cinema. Since its opening, shopping patterns within the city centre have shifted to the centre from around Princes Quay.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The "North Point Shopping Centre" (also known by as Bransholme Shopping Centre which is the area of the city it's in) contains a similar range of popular chain and budget retailers including Boyes and Heron Foods. There are also a other outer centres for shopping and retail parks, including St Andrews Quay retail park on the Humber bank and Kingswood retail park (Kingswood).


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The main drinking area in the city centre is the Old Town. One pub has Hull's smallest window (The George Hotel). England's civil war was said to be started in a pub situated in the Old Town.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Spiders, which opened in 1979, is an alternative rock nightclub on Cleveland Street, situated in a building that was once The Hope and Anchor pub.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull has several museums of national importance. The city has a theatrical tradition with some famous actors and writers having been born and lived in Hull. The city's arts and heritage have played a role in attracting visitors and encouraging tourism in recent efforts at regeneration. Hull has a diverse range of architecture and this is complemented by parks and squares and a number of statues and modern sculptures. The city has inspired author Val Wood who has set many of her best-selling novels in the city. The Wilberforce Lecture and award of the Wilberforce Medallion, which has taken place annually since 1995, celebrates the historic role of Hull and William Wilberforce in combating the abuse of human rights.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In April 2013 Hull put forward a bid to be the UK City of Culture in 2017, reaching the shortlist of four in June 2013 along with Dundee, Leicester and Swansea Bay. On 20 November 2013, Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, announced that Hull had won the award to become the UK City of Culture 2017.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Monopoly have released a version focusing on Hull, with attractions such as the Deep and St Stephens included.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The Museums Quarter is a development on the High Street in the heart of the Old Town. It combines four museums around a leisure garden. The work cost £5.1 million and was carried out from 1998 to 2003, being formally opened by the Duke of Gloucester.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The Museums are Wilberforce House, the birthplace of William Wilberforce (1759–1833), the British politician, abolitionist and social reformer; the Arctic Corsair, a deep-sea trawler that was converted to a museum ship in 1999, on the adjacent River Hull; the Hull and East Riding Museum, showing the archaeology and history of the region; and the Streetlife Museum of Transport, which includes a sizeable collection of vintage cars, preserved public transport vehicles and horse-drawn carriages.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Other museums include the Hull Maritime Museum in Victoria Square, the Spurn Lightship, and The Deep, a public aquarium.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The civic art gallery is the Ferens Art Gallery on Queen Victoria Square, a Grade II listed building. It is named after Thomas Ferens who provided the funds for it. Other galleries include the three-storey Humber Street Gallery, in the former Fruit Market building which was opened in 2017 as part of Hull City of Culture. There are other smaller exhibition spaces.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Marine painter John Ward (1798–1849) was born, worked and died in Hull and a leading ship artist of his day.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Artist and Royal Academician David Remfry (born 1942) grew up in Hull and studied at the Hull College of Art (now part of Lincoln University) from 1959 to 1964. His tutor, Gerald T Harding, trained at the Royal College of Art, London and was awarded the Abbey Minor Travelling Scholarship in 1957 by the British School in Rome. Remfry has had two solo exhibitions at the Ferens Art Gallery in 1975 and 2005.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull has a number of historical statues such as the Wilberforce Memorial in Queen's Gardens and the gilded King William III statue on Market Place (known locally as "King Billy"). There is a statue of Hull-born Amy Johnson in Prospect Street and Hull's Paragon Interchange has a statue of Philip Larkin, the latter unveiled on 2 December 2010.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2010 a public art event in Hull city centre entitled "Larkin with Toads" displayed 40 individually decorated giant toad models as the centrepiece of the Larkin 25 festival. Most of these sculptures have since been sold off for charity and transported to their new owners.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In recent years a number of modern art sculptures and heritage trails have been installed around Hull. These include a figure looking out to the Humber called 'Voyage' which has a twin in Iceland. In July 2011, this artwork was reported stolen. There is a shark sculpture outside The Deep and a fountain and installation called 'Tower of Light' outside Britannia House on the corner of Spring Bank.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The Seven Seas Fish Trail marks Hull's fishing heritage, leading its followers through old and new sections of the city, following a wide variety of sealife engraved in the pavement. Running along Spring Bank there is also an elephant trail, with stone pavers carved by a local artist to the designs of members of the community. This trail commemorates the Victorian Zoological Gardens and the route taken daily by the elephant as it walked from its house down Spring Bank to the zoo and back, stopping for gingerbread at a shop on the way. The animals are further represented on the Albany Street 'Home Zone' a project involving local residents and resulting in sculptures of a hippo ('Water Horse') at the bottom of Albany Street; an elephant balancing on its trunk on an island in the middle; and two bears climbing poles and reaching out to each other to form an open archway across the entrance to Albany Street from Spring Bank. Other sculptural details of animals along the street represent the participation of street residents, either through workshops with artists and makers, or through independent work of their own.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The art project was designed to celebrate the little known and quirky facts that make Hull the city it is. A variety of tongue in cheek and humorous blue plaques appeared over night celebrating everything from Chip Spice to The Beautiful South. New plaques continue to appear on a regular basis and their content has occasionally divided opinion in the city.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The "Dead Bod", a graffito originally painted on the Alexandria Dock, became a local landmark. It is now located in the Humber Street Gallery.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The mural is on a curved screen attached to the end-wall of the old city centre Co-operative store building sited at the intersection where Jameson Street meets King Edward Street, now a mainly pedestrianised area created for the City of Culture 2017.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Built by 1963 and later home to BHS, the building closed in 2016 with the collapse of BHS retail stores and was scheduled for demolition due to asbestos content. The building was listed as Grade II after lobbying by local pressure group Hull Heritage Action Group, potentially preventing demolition of the mural-wall. Specialist spraying to seal the building's internal structure has enabled moves to determine the actual level of asbestos in the mural-wall itself and provided a possible solution to incorporate the wall into a new development.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The city has two main theatres. Hull New Theatre, which opened in 1939, with a £16 million refurbishment in 2016–17, is the largest venue which features musicals, opera, ballet, drama, children's shows and pantomime.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Since April 2009, the Hull Truck Theatre has had a new £14.5 million, 440 seat venue in the St Stephen's Hull development. This replaced the former home of the Hull Truck Theatre on Spring Street, a complex of buildings demolished in 2011. The playwright Alan Plater was brought up in Hull and was associated with Hull Truck Theatre.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull has produced several veteran stage and TV actors. Sir Tom Courtenay, Ian Carmichael and Maureen Lipman were born and brought up in Hull. Younger actors Reece Shearsmith, Debra Stephenson, Liam Gerrard and Liam Garrigan were also born in Hull.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 1914, there were 29 cinemas in Hull but most of these have now closed. The first purpose-built cinema was the Prince's Hall in George Street which was opened in 1910 by Hull's theatre magnate, William Morton. It was subsequently renamed the Curzon.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: On 25 July 2018, a new 3,000 seat arena was opened to the public in the centre of the city. It was officially opened on 20 August 2018, with a Van Morrison concert.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: "The Humber Mouth" literature festival is an annual event and the 2012 season featured artists such as John Cooper Clarke, Kevin MacNeil and Miriam Margolyes.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The annual Hull Jazz Festival takes place around the Marina area for a week at the beginning of August.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: From 2008 Hull has also held its Freedom Festival, an annual free arts and live music event that celebrates freedom in all its forms. Performers have included Pixie Lott, JLS and Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Public Service Broadcasting and The 1975 as well as featuring a torchlight procession, local bands like The Talks and Happy Endings from Fruit Trade Music label and a Ziggy Stardust photo exhibition including photos of the late-Hull-born Mick Ronson who worked with David Bowie. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was awarded the Wilberforce Medallion at the 2017 festival.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Early October sees the arrival of Hull Fair which is one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs and takes place on land adjacent to the MKM Stadium.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The city's Pride in Hull festival is one of the largest free-to-attend LGBT+ Pride events in the UK, attracting in excess of 50,000 attendees. Headline performers have included Adore Delano, Louise Redknapp, Marc Almond, Nadine Coyle of Girls Aloud, Alaska Thunderfuck and B*Witched.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The Hull Global Food Festival held its third annual event in the city's Queen Victoria Square for three days – 4–6 September 2009. According to officials, the event in 2007 attracted 125,000 visitors and brought some £5 million in revenue to the area.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2007 the Hull Metalfest began in the Welly Club, it featured major label bands from the United States, Canada and Italy, as well as the UK.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The first Hull Comedy Festival, which included performers such as Stewart Lee and Russell Howard was held in 2007.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2010, Hull marked the 25th anniversary of the death of the poet Philip Larkin with the Larkin 25 Festival. This included the popular "Larkin with Toads" public art event. The 40 Larkin toads were displayed around Hull and later sold off in a charity auction. A charity appeal raised funds to cast a life-size bronze statue of Philip Larkin, to a design by Martin Jennings, at Hull Paragon Interchange. The statue was unveiled at a ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor of Hull on 2 December 2010, the 25th anniversary of Larkin's death. It bears an inscription drawn from the first line of Larkin's poem, 'The Whitsun Weddings'.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2013, from 29 April to 5 May, Hull Fashion Week took place with various events happening in venues in and around Hull's City centre. It finished with a finale on 5 May at Hull Paragon Interchange, when recently reformed pop group Atomic Kitten appeared in a celebrity fashion show.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: on 24 June 2017, The first Yellow Day Hull event, organised by Hull-born Preston Likely, was staged. Likely invited everybody in the city to participate in the event, encouraging all participants to either wear, carry or make something yellow in order to celebrate the city's history and culture.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: On 3 August 2013, the second Humber Street Sesh Festival took place celebrating local music talent and arts, with several stages showcasing bands and artists from the Fruit Trade Music Label, Humber Street Sesh and Purple Worm Records.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In 2018, the 16th Pride in Hull festival saw attendees take part in the annual celebration of LGBT+ culture.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull has attracted the attention of poets to the extent that the Australian author Peter Porter has described it as "the most poetic city in England".


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Philip Larkin set many of his poems in Hull; these include "The Whitsun Weddings", "Toads", and "Here". Scottish-born Douglas Dunn's "Terry Street", a portrait of working-class Hull life, is one of the outstanding poetry collections of the 1970s.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Dunn forged close associations with such Hull poets as Peter Didsbury and Sean O'Brien; the works of some of these writers appear in the 1982 Bloodaxe anthology "A Rumoured City", a work that Dunn edited. Andrew Motion, past Poet Laureate, lectured at the University of Hull between 1976 and 1981, and Roger McGough studied there. Both poets spoke at the Humber Mouth Festival in 2010. Contemporary poets associated with Hull are Maggie Hannan, David Wheatley, and Caitriona O'Reilly.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: 17th-century metaphysical poet and parliamentarian Andrew Marvell was born nearby, grew up and was educated in the city. There is a statue in his honour in the Market Square (Trinity Square), set against the backdrop of his alma mater Hull Grammar School.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In the field of classical music, Hull is home to Sinfonia UK Collective (formerly Hull Sinfonietta, founded in 2004), a national and international touring group that serves Hull and its surrounding regions in its role as Ensemble in Residence at University of Hull, and also the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the oldest amateur orchestras in the country. and formerly The Hull Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, established in 1952,


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: the Hull Choral Union, the Hull Bach Choir – which specialises in the performance of 17th- and 18th-century choral music – the Hull Male Voice Choir, the Arterian Singers and two Gilbert & Sullivan Societies: the Dagger Lane Operatic Society and the Hull Savoyards are also based in Hull. There are two brass bands, the East Yorkshire Motor Services Band, who are the current North of England Area Brass Band Champions, and East Riding of Yorkshire Band who are the 2014 North of England Regional Champions within their section.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull City Hall annually plays host to major British and European symphony Orchestras with its 'International Masters' orchestral concert season. During the 2009–10 season visiting orchestras included the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Internationally renowned touring pop, rock, and comedy acts also regularly play the City Hall.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In September 2013 a five-year partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was announced by the City Council.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: On the popular music scene, in the 1960s, Mick Ronson of the Hull band "Rats" worked closely with David Bowie and was heavily involved in production of the album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars". Ronson later went on to record with Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Morrissey and the Wildhearts. There is a Mick Ronson Memorial Stage in Queen's Gardens in Hull. The 1960s were also notable for the revival of English folk music, of which the Hull-based quartet, the Watersons were prominent exponents. The Who performed and recorded a concert, at the Hull City Hall, on 15 February 1970.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In the 1980s, Hull groups such as the Red Guitars, the Housemartins and Everything but the Girl found mainstream success, followed by Kingmaker in the 1990s. Paul Heaton, former member of the Housemartins went on to front the Beautiful South. Another former member of the Housemartins, Norman Cook, now performs as Fatboy Slim. In 1982, Hull-born Paul Anthony Cook, Stuart Matthewman and Paul Spencer Denman formed the group Sade. In 1984, the singer Helen Adu signed to CBS Records and the group released the album "Diamond Life". The album had sales of four million copies.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The pioneering industrial band Throbbing Gristle formed in Hull; Genesis P-Orridge (Neil Megson) attended Hull University between 1968 and 1969, where he met Cosey Fanni Tutti (Christine Newby), who was born in the city, and first became part of the Hull performance art group COUM Transmissions in 1970.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The record label Pork Recordings started in Hull in the mid-1990s, and has released music by Fila Brazillia.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The New Adelphi is a popular local venue for alternative live music in the city, and has achieved notability outside Hull, having hosted such bands as the Stone Roses, Radiohead, Green Day, and Oasis in its history, while the Springhead caters to a variety of bands and has been recognised nationally as a 'Live Music Pub of the Year'.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In the 2000s, Hull indie rock band The Paddingtons saw mainstream success with two UK Top 40 singles in 2005, later reforming in 2014 and performing at the Humber Street Sesh with notable bands such as Sulu Babylon and Street Parade.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: In the 1990s, the duo Scarlet from Hull had two Top 40 hits with "Independent Love Song" and "I Wanna Be Free (To Be With Him)" in 1995.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The Humber Street Sesh night has released four DIY compilations featuring the cream of Hull's live music scene, and there are currently a few labels emerging in the city, including Purple Worm Records based at Hull College, with bands such as The Blackbirds showing a promising future.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Unlike many other English cities, Hull has no cathedral. Since 13 May 2017, the Holy Trinity Church (dating back to 1300) became a Minster, known as Hull Minster. It is a part of the Anglican Diocese of York and has a suffragan bishop.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull forms part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough's southern vicariate. St Charles Borromeo is the oldest post-Reformation Roman Catholic church in the city.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: There are several seamen's missions and churches in Hull. The Mission to Seafarers has a centre at West King George Dock and the St Nikolaj Danish Seamen's Church is located in Osborne Street.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull has a large number of parks and green spaces. These include East Park, Pearson Park, Pickering Park, Peter Pan Park (Costello Playing fields), and West Park. West Park is home to Hull's MKM Stadium. Pearson Park contains a lake and a 'Victorian Conservatory' housing birds and reptiles. East Park has a large boating lake and a collection of birds and animals. East Park and Pearson Park are registered Grade II listed sites by Historic England.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The city centre has the large Queen's Gardens parkland at its heart. This was originally built as formal ornamental gardens used to fill in the former Queen's Dock. It is now a more flexible grassed and landscaped area used for concerts and festivals, but retains a large ornamental flower circus and fountain at its western end.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: The streets of Hull's suburban areas also lined with large numbers of trees, particularly the Avenues area around Princes Avenue, and Boulevard to the west. Many of the old trees in the Avenues district have been felled in recent years with the stumps carved into a variety of 'living sculptures'. Other green areas include the University area and parts of Beverley Road to the north.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: West Hull has a district known as 'Botanic'. This recalls the short-lived Botanic Garden that once existed on the site now occupied by Hymers College. Elephants once lived nearby in the former Zoological Gardens on Spring Bank and were paraded in the local streets. The land has since been redeveloped. There was also a former Botanic Garden between Hessle Road and the Anlaby Road commemorated by Linnaeus Street.


title: Kingston upon Hull

text: Hull's only local daily newspaper is the longstanding "Hull Daily Mail", whose circulation area covers much of the East Riding of Yorkshire too. A free paper, "The Hull Advertiser", used to be issued weekly by the same publisher.