Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
JUNE
Beating Retreat
Two consecutive eves in early June 9pm. Horse
Guards Parade
W
army.mod.uk;
!
Charing Cross, Embankment or
Westminster. Annual military display on Horse Guards' Parade over three
evenings, marking the old custom of drumming and piping the troops
back to base at dusk. Soldiers on foot and horseback provide a colourful
ceremony which precedes a floodlit performance by the Massed Bands of
the Foot Guards and the Mounted Bands of the Household Cavalry.
Spitalfields Summer Music Festival
Mid-June
W
spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk. The festival is held over two weeks in
various venues across the East End, focusing on early classical music, with
the odd nod to world music.
Trooping the Colour
Second Sat in month
W
army.mod.uk;
!
Charing Cross, Embankment or Westminster. Celebration of the
Queen's o
cial birthday (her real one is on April 21) featuring massed
bands, gun salutes, fly-pasts and crowds of tourists and patriotic
Britons. The royal procession along the Mall allows you a glimpse for
free, and there are rehearsals (minus Her Majesty) on the two
preceding Saturdays.
Meltdown
Mid-June. Southbank Centre
W
southbankcentre.co.uk;
!
Waterloo. Week of groovy gigs, films and other events on the South
Bank, chosen and presided over by a different seminal musician each year.
City of London Festival
Late June to late July
W
colf.org. For one
month, churches (including St Paul's Cathedral), livery halls, corporate
buildings and even the streets around the City play host to classical and jazz
musicians, theatre companies and other guest performers.
Gay Pride
Late June
W
londoncommunitypride.org. Traditional Gay
Pride march through the West End, finishing up in Trafalgar Square for
speeches, music and dancing. The celebrations continue in Soho until the
early hours.
Square, where there's a festival of Irish culture; also plenty of events in the
week building up to the day.
Head of the River Race
Sat in late March or early April
W
horr.
co.uk; free. Less well known than the Oxford and Cambridge race, but
much more fun, since there are over four hundred crews setting off on
the ebb tide at ten-second intervals and chasing each other from
Mortlake to Putney.
The Boat Race
Last Sat in March or first Sat in April
W
theboatrace.org; free. Since 1829 rowers from Oxford and
Cambridge universities have battled it out over four miles from Putney
to Mortlake, setting off on the flood tide. The pubs at prime vantage
points pack out early.
APRIL
Alternative Fashion Week
Late April
W
alternativefashionweek
.co.uk. Lots of new designers and no exclusive guest lists at this
week-long fashion show, with fifteen shows a day held in Spitalfields.
London Marathon
Third or fourth Sun in month
W
london
-marathon.co.uk; free. The world's most popular marathon, with around
forty thousand masochists sweating the 26.2 miles from Greenwich to The
Mall. A handful of world-class athletes enter each year, but most of the
competitors are running for charity, often in ludicrous costumes.
MAY
IWA Canalway Cavalcade
May Bank Holiday weekend. Little
Venice
W
waterways.org.uk;
!
Warwick Avenue; free. Lively
three-day celebration of the city's inland waterways, with scores of
decorated narrow boats, and lots of stalls and children's activities.
May Fayre and Puppet Festival
Sun nearest May 9. St Paul's
Churchyard
W
punchandjudy.com;
!
Covent Garden; free. The
gardens of Covent Garden's St Paul's Church play host to puppet booths to
commemorate the first recorded Punch and Judy show in England, seen
by diarist Samuel Pepys in 1662.
State Opening of Parliament
Early May
W
parliament.uk; free.
The Queen arrives by coach at the Houses of Parliament at 11am
accompanied by the Household Cavalry and gun salutes. The ceremony
itself takes place inside the House of Lords and is televised; it also takes
place whenever a new government is sworn in.
Chestnut Sunday
Sun nearest May 11. Bushy Park
W
royalparks
.gov.uk; Hampton Court train station; free. Parade of antique bicycles,
classic cars, motorcycles and carriages along Chestnut Ave, with the trees
in full blossom.
Boishakhi Mela
Second Sun in May. Weavers Fields, Allen Gardens
and Brick Lane
W
boishakhimela.org;
!
Bethnal Green, Whitechapel
or Aldgate East; free. A colourful Bengali New Year open-air festival
with vast crowds (120,000 and up), street entertainment, fun fairs and
lots of food in Victoria Park.
Chelsea Flower Show
Late May. Royal Hospital, Chelsea
W
rhs.org.uk/Chelsea;
!
Sloane Square. The world's finest horticultural
event with over 150,000 visitors over five days, is a solidly bourgeois
affair. RHS members only on the first two days.
London Literature Festival
Late May
W
southbankcentre
.co.uk. The capital's chief wordfest is held over a fortnight at the
Southbank Centre, with music, poetry and debate.
JULY
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
Early July. Hampton Court
Palace
W
rhs.org.uk; Hampton Court train station. Six-day
international flower extravaganza that rivals its sister show in Chelsea.
RHS members only on the first two days.
Doggett's Coat & Badge Race
Mid-July
W
doggettsrace.org.uk;
free. World's oldest rowing race from London Bridge to Chelsea,
established by Thomas Doggett, an eighteenth-century Irish comedian, to
commemorate George I's accession to the throne. Six young watermen
battle it out in modern sculling boats.
Lambeth Country Show
Weekend in mid-July. Brockwell Park
W
lambeth.gov.uk; Herne Hill train station; free. A traditional
country show comes to Brixton's Brockwell Park, with best-jam
competitions, sheep shearing, a scarecrow competition and a cider stall,
as well as a couple of stages of live music.
The Proms or Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
Mid-July to
early Sept
W
bbc.co.uk/proms. This series of nightly classical concerts,
over the course of two months at the Royal Albert Hall (and elsewhere), is
a well-loved British institution. See p.413.
Italian Procession
Sun nearest July 16. St Peter's Italian Church
W
italianchurch.org.uk;
!
Farringdon; free. Big, boisterous Italian
Catholic parade, party and stalls, which starts on Clerkenwell Rd and roams
the streets of what used to be London's very own Little Italy (see p.151).
