A HUGE new attraction with six immersive zones including a ride and even a waterpark is set to open in Europe.
Called Dracula Land, the theme park has been dubbed Transylvanian Disneyland and is set to be built at the cost of €1billion (£835million).
Dracula Land is a project set to be built in Bucharest, RomaniaCredit: Dracula LandIt will have a theme park, waterpark, three hotels, arena and lots of shoppingCredit: Dracula Land
Plans are still in early stages to build Dracula Land in Bucharest which is one of the cheapest cities in Romania.
It hopes to one day be “the largest entertainment, retail, and technology destination on the continent, transforming the country into a new global entertainment hub“.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
It will have everything from a theme park and waterpark to spa, shops, arena, hotels and a tech hub – all of which will be within six themed zones.
The first is the Moonlit District which will be the point of entry for guests where they’ll step through onto the main street.
Rides include a Flying Theatre and a Transylvanian Railway, as well as carousels, drone shows and a Legend of Vlad walkthrough experience
The main street which will have shops and dining will remain open into the evening.
The Family Kingdom will have an immersive zone where visitors can meet ‘legendary figures’ from vampires to ghouls.
It will also have a dark ride, 4D cinema, bat ride, toddler play zone and live entertainment.
The Transylvania area will ‘bring the legendary land of Dracula to life’.
Here there are plans for a water ride, dark ride set in a forest, a mountain coaster as well as a village playground and market.
The waterpark will have 30 attractions including a wave machineCredit: Dracula Land
Dracula’s Castle will be at the very centre of the theme park. Surrounded by a lake, it will have a maze, ancient ruins and dining in the Great Hall.
The Port of New Orleans is inspired by Mardi Gras and will be French-inspired.
There will be dining on a riverboat, as well as rides, shops and a werewolf coaster.
London Town will be familiar to Brits as it will transform into a busy street with red telephone boxes.
There will be plenty of shopping for souvenirs, with Victorian London inspirations as well as a theatre, horse and carriage ride and “vampire hunter training”.
Outside of the theme park will also be a waterpark and thermal spa, which will have 30 water attractions including what it claims will be one of Europe‘s biggest wave pools.
On-site are set to be three hotels, the four-star Dracula Grand Hotel, a three-star plus Dracula Family Hotel and the three-star Dracula Hotel.
Together, there will be space for 1,200 rooms.
London Town will have red phone boxes and Victorian-inspired experiencesCredit: Dracula LandOther facilities includes the arena which will hold concert and sport eventsCredit: Dracula Land
Other facilities include an artificial ski slope for winter sports, a racing track, motor park and tech hub.
There’s also plans for an arena which will be the ‘most immersive’ in southeastern Europe.
It will have 22,500 seats for concerts, festivals and sporting competitions.
Dracula Land will also have its own “metaverse” with DraculaCoin native tokens which can be used across the digital and physical ‘metaverse’ world.
Dragoș Dobrescu, founder of Dracula Land, said: “Dracula Land brings together everything I’ve learned in real estate: discipline, rigor, vision, and the ability to keep complex teams with very different specializations together.
“But more importantly, it adds a story that gives meaning to every square meter built.
“For me, Dracula Land is a national project—a symbol that Romania can and must build landmarks, not just buildings or simple real estate projects.”
Currently, the master plan for the first phase is being finalised, and negotiations with investors are ongoing, so there are no details on when it could open.
Although when it does, the good news for Brits is that flights to Bucharest are cheap with return flights for as little as £45.
AFC orders judicial reviews for allegation FIFA President Gianni Infantino used AFC Congress for political purposes.
Published On 29 Oct 202629 Oct 2026
Jordan Football Association chief Prince Ali bin Hussein said he will cooperate with any Asian Football Confederation (AFC) judicial review after he accused FIFA President Gianni Infantino of taking over last week’s AFC Congress for political purposes.
AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa had endorsed Infantino for re-election at the continental body’s extraordinary congress in Tokyo.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Following the meeting, Prince Ali alleged delegates had not been allowed to speak, question or debate matters and described the final day of the congress as “pure politics at the behest of Gianni Infantino”.
The AFC said on Tuesday that neither Prince Ali nor any other member association’s representatives had requested to speak and that allegations involving coercion, threats or bribery should be supported by credible evidence.
It added that it would refer Prince Ali’s statements to its judicial bodies.
“I respect the AFC and its judicial bodies and will cooperate fully with any process,” Prince Ali said in a post on X late on Wednesday.
“As the FIFA Statutes provide, the Jordan Football Association will cast its vote in the FIFA presidential election independently.”
He said his earlier post about the congress was intended to explain the FIFA presidential voting process and highlight the importance of transparency in football governance.
“Its final sentence states a principle the whole football family shares: no election should be open to coercion, threats or bribery. I stand by that principle. It was a statement of principle, not an allegation against any person,” he said.
“Where concerns arise, the proper place for them is the competent bodies.”
Prince Ali, who has been a vocal critic of FIFA’s leadership, said he would make no further comment while the matter remained under consideration.
Infantino, who has led FIFA since 2016, is seeking re-election in March after apologising for his abandoned proposal to sell a stake in FIFA competitions.
The AFC’s endorsement marked a sharp shift from its position three months earlier, when it accused FIFA of a “fundamental breach of trust” over the abandoned proposal.
PRINCESS Andre has been given another major career boost after landing a FOURTH series of her hit show in less than two years.
The TV star is quickly becoming an ITV fan-favourite thanks to her reality TV show, The Princess Diaries.
Princess Andre has landed a fourth series of her ITV reality showCredit: GettyThe Princess Diaries has been a major success for ITVCredit: ITV
Now, The Sun can exclusively reveal that the programme is coming back for a fourth series.
Our insiders revealed that filming for the next edition is already underway with Princess and everyone around her delighted that the show will be coming back again.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
A source told us: “Everyone’s thrilled Princess is doing another series, it’s been so successful for ITV.”
With filming already underway, it is expected that new episodes could land early next year.
The star’s parents have appeared alongside her on the programmeCredit: Shutterstock EditorialPeter has appeared a number of times on the programmeCredit: Getty
So far, three series of The Princess Diaries have aired since the programme launched in summer 2025.
It originally followed Princess as she turned 18 and entered into adulthood and stepped outside of the shadows of her parents, Peter Andre and Katie Price.
Mum Katie was originally banned from appearing in the show in series one but dad Peter made several appearances.
Both her parents were then absent for the second series before Katie’s ban was overturned for the third series where she began filming for the first time.
Peter also made a return to the series around this time as well.
Her own show isn’t the only TV appearance the young influencer has going on with the star currently appearing in Celebrity Race Across The World with her brother Junior.
CALLUM Turner’s bid to bag the role of James Bond has had a boost — he’s advertising luggage for a fashion brand with links to the films.
The 36-year-old actor is the face of Louis Vuitton’s new trunk collection.
Callum Turner’s bid to bag the role of James Bond has had a boost — he’s advertising luggage for Louis Vuitton’s new trunk collectionCredit: Gregory Harris/Courtesy of Louis VuittonCallum’s odds of becoming Bond were 2/1 last nightCredit: Getty
Bond casting director Nina Gold was spotted at Bray Film Studios in Berkshire yesterday as screen tests for the role were understood to be taking place.
Callum’s odds of becoming Bond were 2/1 last night.
The Brit, who is married to singer Dua Lipa, 31, co-starred in the Fantastic Beasts movies.
Scottish actor Jack Lowden, 36, is the bookies’ favourite to take over as Bond with odds of 4/7, according to Ladbrokes.
Sinners actor Jack O’Connell, 36, and The Crown’s Josh O’Connor, 36, sit at 12/1.
Daniel Craig stepped down after the release of his fifth Bond film No Time To Die in 2021.
Call the Midwife star Natalie Quarry has taken on a brand new role away from the BBC period drama
A Call the Midwife star has been cast in an Agatha Christie Drama(Image: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Andrea southam)
A Call the Midwife star is set to appear in another period drama.
The BBC has confirmed Natalie Quarry, who played Rosalind Clifford in beloved series, will star in the forthcoming six-part series, Hercule.
The exciting drama, which has commenced filming in Liverpool, will centre around three of Agatha Christie’s early stories, while also introducing Hercule Poirot to future friends and allies and one particular nemesis.
The show, from Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited, has been described as “an intimate study of Hercule Poirot, the man, and an epic portrait of Britain between the wars.”
Actor Edward Bluemel takes on the lead role of Hercule Poirot, and is best known for his roles in Killing Eve and A Discovery of Witches. He is the youngest to take on the role created by Agatha Christie back in 1916.
Also starring in the drama is Death in Paradise star Ralf Little who joins the star-studded cast alongside Emily in Paris star Paul Forman, It’s a Sin star Omari Douglas, The Beauty’s Jessica Alexander, and The Souvenir’s Honor Swinton Byrne.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest detectives in fiction, Hercule Poirot has sold over 750 million copies, captivating readers and audiences for more than a century.
Sharing excitement for the new Agatha Christie series, James Prichard, the great-grandson of the famous author, and executive producer for Agatha Christie Limited, said: “My father had the privilege of working with David Suchet for nearly 25 years, and I now have the good fortune of being able to share my great-grandmother’s brilliant stories with a new generation of viewers.”
He added: “Edward Bluemel is an extremely talented performer and will make a great addition to the long line of actors that have played this celebrated character, aided and abetted by Benji Walters’ thoughtful scripts. I cannot wait to see Edward on screen as Hercule Poirot.”
Who is Natalie Quarry?
Actress Natalie Quarry joined the Call the Midwife cast in its 13th season as a student midwife, Rosalind Clifford, and has since become a fully-fledged practitioner among the nuns and nurses at Nonnatus House.
In the most recent series, which concluded earlier this year, she became involved with the Women’s Liberation Movement and found love with local social worker Cyril Robinson (Zephryn Taitte), but their relationship has been a topic of discussion among the locals.
Away from the BBC period drama, Natalie has also starred in Doctors, Atlanta, and Blitz.
The anonymous arts group known as Secret Handshake has gone international with its piquant form of satirical anti-Trump artwork, this time placing a playable video game console called “Nuuk ‘Em All” in, yes, Nuuk, Greenland. The group sent a picture of the console to The Times. It sits alone on a barren cliff above the sea, with a smallish iceberg visible in the water below. The peaked roofs of a nearby town can be seen in the distance.
Secret Handshake has created more than a dozen pieces of guerrilla art mocking Trump since last year — all of which appeared on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., until July when a golden, 10-foot tall “Iran War Participation Trophy,” cropped up in New York City. That piece arrived at the Minnesota State Capitol in early August.
Greenland is ambitious though, even for a collective that revels in creating outsize splashes with its work (see the Trump-Epstein “Best Friends Forever” sculpture). Asked via email how the group transported the full-size video game console to the country — which has weathered a series of unwelcome overtures from Trump to become part of the U.S. since he retook office early last year — a representative wrote, “You have no idea — it was honestly very difficult. A true ‘planes, trains, and automo … ships’ situation. Did you know that the arctic is actually quite far? And they’re not used to whipping over arcade games.”
“Nuuk ‘Em All” is the second satirical video game Secret Handshake has released since July when it first introduced the world to “Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell,” which finds Trump waging a futile war with Iran while making all kinds of bumbling choices including whether to order a Diet Coke or bomb the country.
The game arrives in Greenland shortly after the Trump administration signed an agreement with the country and Denmark to expand the U.S. military presence in the Arctic while seemingly dropping threats to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Three additional cabinets of the game were simultaneously placed at the D.C. War Memorial on the National Mall, and can be played online on any old computer. The game begins with an animation of the White House, its lawn covered with cranes and backhoes. “The year is 2026,” the scrolling text reads. “The White House is under constant construction, reconstruction and construction of the reconstruction.”
The action moves to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago headquarters where Trump is approached by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who apologizes for waking Trump from his “tactical nap” to tell him about some “issues with Iran.” Trump asks if the Strait of Hormuz is 100% open and Hegseth replies, “Yes, sir. It’s so open that we’ve used up all our missiles, and gas now costs more than bourbon.”
I haven’t had the chance to play the game for long, but Secret Handshake’s email details what to expect, “In this game, Iran is going great (spoiler — it’s not), so Trump heads north to check on his new frozen frontier. Along the way, he battles unthinkable evils like Fully Vaccinated Children, Woke Yetis, and the happiest people on Earth, the Danish. All the while, the player’s greatest challenge is trying to keep President Trump from falling back asleep.”
Secret Handshake didn’t have any information about how Greenland has responded to the game, with the rep noting, “I think there is a lot of hope and relief over there right now that this agreement is the end of the barrage of bullying and threats from the US. But our feeling—and I truly hope we’re wrong— is that it’s just the beginning. Especially with Trump refusing to answer if an invasion is completely off the table now.”
Regardless of what happens in Greenland, the rep continued, “the thing I really like the most about this new game is that between all the satire, and jokes, and silliness, it actually ends up back in reality — the character is still stuck in an endless loop of war in Iran. And that, sadly, is still just as true as when we released the Iran game almost half a year ago.”
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt screaming into the void. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
You’re reading Essential Arts
Our critics and reporters guide you through events and happenings in the SoCal arts scene. In your inbox every Friday.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Boston Marriage David Mamet’s 1999 epigram-filled comedy about two women sorting out their affairs while maintaining their standard of living at the turn of the 20th century. Directed by Bernardo Cubría. With Nicole Pacent, Heather Wake and Dulce Valencia. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays (and one Thursday, Oct. 22): 2 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 24. European House LA, 12355 Rye Street, Studio City. ticketsource.com
Yvette Janine Jackson With Radio Opera Workshop The ensemble integrates electronics, acoustic instruments, voice and images to produce new music by the award-winning composer and sound artist. Presented by CAP UCLA in collaboration with the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and the UCLA Center for Musical Humanities. 8 p.m. The Nimoy, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
The Little Women Ballet in action.
(Edie Tyebkhan-Melissa O’Gara)
Little Women Ballet The dance troupe’s Autumn Immersive Experience brings audiences into the world of Louisa May Alcott through movement amid Victorian Era architecture. 6:30 p.m. Friday, 3 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Heritage Square Museum, 800 Homer St., Montecito Heights. littlewomenballet.org
Outside Mullingar An Irish romance written by Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner John Patrick Shanley that premiered on Broadway in 2014 finds a middle-age man and woman, longtime neighbors, circling an uneasy relationship in uncertain times. Michael Kirby, Liza Seneca, Armin Shimerman and Kitty Swink star. Directed by Matthew Leavitt. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 25. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org
Gretchen Parlato The jazz singer-songwriter performs music from her new album, “The Wise Ones,” joined by her band Alan Hampton on bass and guitar, Mark Guiliana on drums and percussion and Gerald Clayton on piano and keyboards. 8 p.m. Carpenter Center, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach. carpenterarts.org
SATURDAY
Isaiah Collier performs Saturday at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
(Johanna Brinckman)
Isaiah Collier Plays Coltrane The rising jazz musician and composer pays tribute to the saxophone legend by applying his own sound and reaffirming the music’s ability to evolve. 7:30 p.m. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Samueli Theater, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
Democracy Sessions 2026 Music collective Wild Up expands upon its successful election-themed 2024 event examining how art can function as a democratic practice in this time of censorship, polarization and shifting public trust. The new month-long festival was developed in partnership with MOCA, REDCAT and CalArts, with related programming independently conceived and presented by Clockshop, 2220 Arts + Archives, Human Resources, Performance Art Museum and Living Earth, for the run-up to the Nov. 3 midterms. Saturday through Nov. 3, various locations. wildup.org
A calavera mask designed by artist Leo Limon and a paper marigold for Self Help Graphics & Art’s Dia de los Muertos Community Art Workshop Series in October 2026.
(Self Help Graphics & Art)
Día de los Muertos Community Art Workshop Series Self-Help Graphics & Art launches the holiday season with five free Saturday community art workshops. Participants of all ages will learn crafts to honor ancestors and loved ones. Each week features papel picado (tissue paper with cutout shapes) and a paper marigold craft activity, plus a special project: Stamp collages with SHG Lead Printer Dewey Tafoya (Oct. 3); Calavera (skull) masks featuring a design by artist Leo Limon (Oct. 10); Recuerdo (memory) posters with Victoria Delgadillo (Oct. 17); “Living candle” mini paintings with Ivan Zuno (Oct. 24); and Candle decorating with Nupur Behera (Oct. 31). Noon-3 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 31. East Los Angeles County Library, Community Room, 4837 E. 3rd St. selfhelpgraphics.com
Woof A revised version of “Go Play,” written and directed by Barra Grant, featuring the same loquacious dogs with new insights into their clueless owners. Previews, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 10; opens 7 p.m. Oct. 10; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 8. Odyssey Theater, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com
SUNDAY
Come From Away The award-winning Broadway hit musical, written by the husband-and-wife team of Irene Sankoff and David Hein, tells the true story of a Canadian town that sheltered thousands of airline passengers whose flights had been diverted on Sept. 11, 2001. Directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, with music direction by Rod Bagheri. Previews, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Oct. 9; opens Oct. 10 through Nov. 8. A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd. Pasadena. anoisewithin.org
WEDNESDAY
The Best Medicine Caroline Aaron stars in the West Coast premiere of this solo comedy by playwright Robin Gerber and directed by Jane E. Unger. Previews, 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; Opening, 8 p.m. Saturday; 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 15. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com
B+ Mom (An Enthusiastic Guide to Imperfect Parenting) Melissa Greenspan wrote and performs this solo comedy directed by Guy Picot. 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, through Oct. 28. Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre, upstairs on the Henry Murray Stage, 7657 Melrose Ave. roguemachinetheatre.org
Charlemagne Palestine The Brick and Piano Spheres presents the visual artist and musician performing “Strumming Music,” which he describes as “an evolutionary liquid sound continuum process” and performed hundreds of versions over the last 50+ years. 8 p.m. The Brick, 518 N. Western Ave. the-brick.org
THURSDAY
Ronald K. Brown / Evidence The landmark African diasporic dance company led by choreographer Brown recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. West Coast fans will have the chance to experience the New York-based company’s unique blend of contemporary, African and African American dance traditions with this program of four pieces that includes tributes to some of Brown’s most enduring collaborators. (Eloise Rollins-Fife) 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Oct. 10. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
Wives East West Players presents the Southern California premiere of Jaclyn Backhaus’ feminist comedy examining a selection of “great men” in 16th century France, 1920s India and 1960s Idaho. A primarily South Asian and South Asian American cast, under the direction of Hypokrit Live Arts NYC co-founder and artistic director Arpita Mukherjee, brings this redress of women’s erasure in history to astringent comic life. (Charles McNulty) Through Nov. 1, check website for specific dates. East West Players, Union Center for the Arts, David Henry Hwang Theater, 120 Judge John Aiso St. eastwestplayers.org/wives
Yamel Cucuy Austin’s Glass Half Full Theatre returns with this production, last seen in L.A. at the Latino Theater Company’s 2024 Encuentro theater festival. The tale of a girl on the verge of adulthood facing the threat of immigration agents and haunted by specters from Mexican folklore is told through live actors, sophisticated puppetry and an original score of Indigenous percussion. Written by Gricelda Silva, Indigo Rael and Caroline Reck, with additional writing by Jesus I. Valles and Connor Hopkins. Directed by Reck. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 1. Los Angeles Theatre Center 514 S Spring St. latinotheaterco.org
The SoCal scene
Wendy Raigosa, 27, Long Beach, uses repurposed materials in her art project at Kate Ingold’s bi-monthly Samizdat Sundays workshop at the Wende Museum.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Times contributor Miranda Huang wrote about bi-monthly classes at the Wende Museum called “Samizdat Sundays” in which teacher Kate Ingold teaches participants samizdat, “a practice in which Soviet dissidents hand-typed literature, criticism and poetry to bypass state censorship. Each week, Ingold opens the workshop with a new prompt related to speech suppression — an issue with renewed currency today.”
Vincent Price Art Museum is currently staging a unique exhibit featuring the work of Anida Yoeu Ali, a Cambodian-born artist who lives in Tacoma, Wash. It’s called “The Buddhist Bug” and features a 328-foot-long orange insect, which Ali will occupy on opening day, and again on closing day. “Ali’s numerous performance-based exhibits explore her Cambodian American identity and Buddhist and Muslim religions. The bug is her ‘totally humorous take on hybridity’,” writes contributor Siran Babayan.
Ed Ruscha’s new poster for Alejandro Iñárritu’s “Digger,” featuring the Boy Scout Utility Modern font, which Ruscha designed himself and has used exclusively since around 1980.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts turned 40 last month and Times contributor Jenelle Riley made the drive to interview the organization’s leaders, including President and Chief Executive Casey Reitz, about how the campus grew out of windswept lima bean fields to become the epicenter of art and culture in Orange County.
Architecture critic Sam Lubell went to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art last weekend and was sorry to see that the museum has erected gates around its main courtyard. Lubell, like many, had been under the impression that the courtyard was meant to function as a grand civic plaza, so he penned a piece of commentary questioning the founders’ motives for cordoning off the area. “It’s hard not to wonder whether these barriers represent something more than security: the extension into public space of the gated, closely guarded world inhabited by co-founders George Lucas, Mellody Hobson and those in their orbit,” Lubell writes.
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
A rendering of the Las Vegas Museum of Art, designed by architect Francis Kéré.
(Kéré Architecture / Las Vegas Museum of Art)
Culture News
Earlier this week the long-gestating Las Vegas Museum of Art hosted a preview of its Grand Central Galleries — a multipurpose media lab and exhibition space located in Symphony Park down the street from the museum’s future main building. Scheduled to open in April 2027, the 15,000-square-foot space will act as an entry point to the museum and is slated to host a variety of exhibitions and programs while the museum’s Francis Kéré-designed building remains under construction through 2029.
The Grand Central Galleries exhibition program was organized by the LVMA in collaboration with LACMA, and will open with “A Shared Light: Monet, Impressionism, and the American Landscape,” organized by Shannon Vittoria, LACMA’s associate curator of American art, along with David Bardeen, LACMA’s assistant curator of European painting and sculpture. It features nearly 60 works by artists including Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, John Singer Sargent, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and James McNeill Whistler.
