The concert was part of the Piedigrotta festival in Naples in September 2009. A right-wing Italian Euro MP, Mario Borghezio of the Northern League party, called it a "shameful" misuse of EU funds by the Campania regional authority. The Commission does not know how much was paid to Sir Elton John for the gig, Mr Van Lierop said. Cultural projects can be co-financed by the Commission and regional authorities in the EU, he explained, "but we want to know why this concert benefited this region".
Festivals Update - Kings Of Leon are to headline the 2011 Isle Of Wight Festival. Celebrating its 10th anniversary next year, the Nashville rockers top the bill at the event which is to take place between 10-12 June. Festival boss John Giddings said it would be the band's only UK festival appearance of the summer. Come Around Sundown, the band's fifth album, went to number one in the UK album chart when it was released last month. Reformed Britpop band Pulp have been confirmed as the festival's Saturday night headliners.
Arts Funding - Mayor of London Boris Johnson has called for continued investment in the arts in London and the rest of the UK. Launching his arts strategy for the capital, Cultural Metropolis, Johnson said that both private and public funding streams need to be maintained and that "this is not a time to be lowering our ambitions". He added: "London's arts and cultural organisations already do a great job at fundraising, but they can't be expected to defy the laws of economic gravity in a prolonged downturn and in the face of necessary austerity measures."
Theatre News - The Bush Theatre has secured permission to move to a new home - the old library in Shepherd's Bush. The west London theatre has been granted a 125-year lease on a peppercorn rent by Hammersmith and Fulham Council and will move into the building on a permanent basis from autumn 2011, when the lease on its current base expires. Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Bush, told The Stage: "We are thrilled that The Bush has finally found a wonderful new home in the heart of Shepherds Bush after 18 months of working closely with Hammersmith and Fulham Council to relocate the theatre."
(Jim Evans)
