Sydney Festival Opens to Celebrate its 40th Anniversary

SYDNEY, Jan. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sydney Festival's opening weekend took over the city in an explosion of exceptional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, opera and more. Over three weeks Sydney Festival brings the harbour city to life from January 7-26. In 2016, Sydney Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary and the final year for esteemed festival director Lieven Bertels.

Sydney Festival 2016 is comprised of 157 events, a staggering 89 of which are free. 383 performances will take place across 34 venues, featuring 902 artists from 22 countries with 11 world premieres, 20 Australian premieres and 8 Australian exclusives.

Exclusive performances opened the festival with Germany's famous Thalia Theater Hamburg making their Australian debut with Woyzeck, a stage adaptation by Robert Wilson, Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.Sydney Festival also presented a special keynote address by acclaimed playwright, director and visual artistRobert Wilson at Sydney Opera House.

A spectacular free performance from The Flaming Lips kicked off celebrations at the famous Summer Sounds in The Domain concert. The psychedelic band entertained thousands with frequent costume changes, confetti cannons, video projections, balloons, a dazzling lighting show and front-man Wayne Coyne surfing the crowd in an oversized hamster ball.

People of all ages were invited to help French artist Olivier Grossetete build a temporary city in Darling Harbour and at Sydney's new creative playground, the Cutaway at Barangaroo Reserve, in one of the largest community participation events presented in the festival's history. A gigantic 30m high cardboard building titledThe People's Tower was created and demolished in Darling Harbour, whilst construction started for the epic installation The Ephemeral City.

Headline artist Meow Meow returned to Sydney Festival with the world premiere of Meow Meow's Little Mermaid, which opened to outstanding reviews including a five star review from Limelight magazine. Award-winning actor-singer-author Alan Cumming also returned to Sydney with his hit new show Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs!

More events are set to come to Sydney Festival including the Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and composer Antonio Sanchez performing his fervent score live alongside the screening of hit movie Birdman (Or, the Unexpected virtue of ignorance) and Joanna Newsom, who will return to launch her new album Diversat the Sydney Opera House.

View the Sydney Festival 2016 program: sydneyfestival.org.au/

Levi Strauss & Co. Signs On As Official Partner Of Super Bowl 50 Host Committee

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) announced today that the iconic Bay Area company will be an official founding legacy partner of the San Francisco Bay Area Super Bowl 50 Host Committee. As naming rights sponsor of Levi's® Stadium, the site of Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, the Levi's® team will work with the Host Committee to help bring football fans a variety of exciting experiences – from live music to interactive events – throughout Super Bowl Week. The Levi's® brand will also draw on its history of outfitting fans by releasing a limited edition Super Bowl 50 Collection, available for purchase in limited quantities during Super Bowl week, exclusively. 

"As a company born and raised in San Francisco, we're excited to partner with the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee to bring this momentous event to our home turf," said Chip Bergh, President & Chief Executive Officer of Levi Strauss & Co. "We've been dressing fans for game day for 50 years and expect Super Bowl 50 to be an epic highlight. We look forward to providing fans around the world and visitors to the Bay an unforgettable experience."

As part of its partnership, the Levi's® brand will be the presenting sponsor of the Host Committee's main entertainment stage – The City Stage presented by Levi's® - which will be one of the featured destinations of Super Bowl City. Located in Sue Bierman Park inSan Francisco, The City Stage will showcase a wide variety of free live musical, cultural and performing arts entertainers. Fifteen-time Grammy Award winning superstar Alicia Keys will headline and close out the festivities on Saturday, February 6th. Additional performers and the stage schedule will be announced in the coming weeks. Super Bowl City is being designed to showcase the best the Bay Area has to offer, with interactive games and activities that highlight the region's technological prowess, culinary excellence and cultural diversity.

"With Levi's® partnership, we're thrilled to be able to work with a company that has such a deep connection to the Bay Area and its values of innovation and generosity of spirit," said Keith Bruce, CEO of the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee. "Together, we look forward to providing our Super Bowl City guests with unique, engaging experiences that are right in style with the milestone Super Bowl 50."
As the Levi's® brand continues to expand its sportswear offerings, the brand will celebrate Super Bowl 50 by releasing a limited edition Levi's® Super Bowl 50 Collection. The collection will offer both men's and women's apparel marrying classic Levi's® fabrics and styles with NFL marks such as: Wool Varsity Jacket, Denim Satin Jacket, AFC Denim Satin Jacket, NFC Denim Satin Jacket, Western Shirt, Levi's® X New Era Leather Denim Cap and Levi's® X New Era Wool Denim Cap all featuring the Super Bowl 50 logo – giving fans another way to "Live in Levi's®" long after the big game.

The Levi's® X 49ers Collection first launched at the start of the 2014-15 NFL season with a collection of team apparel designed to pay homage to the San Francisco 49ers' inaugural season in Levi's® Stadium. This fall, the Levi's® NFL Collection was expanded to include six additional teams (Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New York Giants and New York Jets) to give more fans a chance to support their favorite team.

The Levi's® Super Bowl 50 Collection will be available to fans on January 30th at the Levi's® San Francisco flagship store at 815 Market Street and special locations around San Francisco including the Levi's® Lot in Super Bowl City, the NFL Shop at Moscone Center, the Levi's® Store at Valley Fair and the Levi's® Store at Levi's® Stadium. The collection will also be available to fans around the nation at www.levi.com.

As Super Bowl 50 approaches, the Levi's® brand will announce additional activities and experiences available to fans.