Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cart Marking
Wed 11am in mid-July. Guildhall
W
thecarmen
.co.uk;
!
Bank; free. Recalling a 1681 Act which restricted to 421 the
number of horse-drawn carts allowed in the City, this arcane ceremony
involves vintage vehicles congregating in Guildhall Yard in a branding
ceremony organized by the Worshipful Company of Carmen.
London Film Festival
Mid to late Oct
W
bfi.org.uk/lff. A two-week
cinematic season with scores of new international films screened at the
BFI Southbank and some West End venues.
Return to Camden Town
Late Oct & early Nov. London Irish Centre,
50-52 Camden Square
W
returntocamden.org; Camden Road
Overground. Two long weekends of traditional Irish music, song and dance
featuring a great line-up of performers as well as talks and workshops.
AUGUST
Ride
London Early Aug
W
prudentialridelondon.co.uk; free. Weekend
festival of cycling, including an eight-mile tra
c-free loop around the
capital - more than eighty thousand people take part every year.
Great British Beer Festival
Mid-Aug. London Olympia
W
gbbf
.org.uk;
!
Kensington Olympia. A five-day binge organized by the
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). With up to eight hundred brews to
sample, the entrance fee is a small price to pay to drink yourself silly.
London Mela
Sun in Aug or early Sept. Gunnersbury Park
W
londonmela.org;
!
Gunnersbury; free. Nearly one hundred
thousand revellers come to this big open-air Asian festival of live music,
dance and the arts, washed down with the best festival food in the capital.
Notting Hill Carnival
Sun & Mon of Aug Bank Holiday weekend
W
thenottinghillcarnival.com; free. World-famous two-day street
festival. Carnival is a tumult of imaginatively decorated floats,
eye-catching costumes, thumping soundsystems, live bands, irresistible
food and huge crowds (see p.278).
NOVEMBER
London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
First Sun in month. Hyde
Park
W
veterancarrun.com; free. In 1896 Parliament abolished the Act
that required all cars to crawl along at 2mph behind someone waving a
red flag. A rally was set up to mark the occasion, and more than a century
later five hundred or so pre-1905 vehicles still set off from Hyde Park at
sunrise and travel the 58 miles to Brighton along the A23 at the heady
average speed of 20mph.
Bonfire Night
Nov 5 or nearest weekend; free. In memory of Guy
Fawkes - executed for his role in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up
King James I and the Houses of Parliament - e
gies of the hapless
Fawkes are burned on bonfires all over the capital. See local listings or
head for Alexandra Palace, which provides a good vantage point from
which to take in several displays at once.
London Jazz Festival
Mid-Nov
W
londonjazzfestival.org.uk.
Big ten-day international jazz fest held in all London's jazz venues, large
and small.
Lord Mayor's Show
Second Sat in month
W
lordmayorsshow.org;
free. The Lord Mayor begins his or her day of investiture at Westminster,
leaving there at around 9am for Guildhall. At 11.10am, the vast
ceremonial procession, headed by a gilded coach, begins its journey from
Guildhall to the Law Courts in the Strand, where the oath of of
ce is taken
at 11.50am. From there the coach and its train of 140-odd floats make
their way back towards Guildhall, arriving at 2.20pm. After dark, there's a
fireworks display on the Thames.
Remembrance Sunday
Sun nearest Nov 11; free. A day of
commemorative ceremonies for the dead and wounded of the two world
wars and other conflicts. The principal ceremony, attended by the Queen
and the prime minister, takes place at the Cenotaph in Whitehall,
beginning with a march-past of veterans and building to a one-minute
silence at the stroke of 11am.
Christmas Lights
Late Nov to Jan 5; free. Assorted celebrities flick
the switches, and Bond, Oxford and Regent streets are bathed in festive
illumination from dusk to midnight until January 6. Also, each year since
the end of World War II, Norway has acknowledged its gratitude to the
country that helped liberate it from the Nazis with the gift of a mighty
spruce tree that appears in Trafalgar Square in early December. Decorated
with lights, it becomes the focus for carol singing versus tra
c noise each
evening until Christmas Eve.
SEPTEMBER
Great River Race
Sat in mid-Sept
W
greatriverrace.co.uk; free.
Hundreds of boats are rowed or paddled for 21 miles from Island Gardens
on the Isle of Dogs to Ham House, Richmond. Starts are staggered and
any number of weird and wonderful vessels take part.
Thames Festival
Early Sept
W
thamesfestival.org;
!
Southwark;
free. The Mayor of London's very own family-orientated community
festival takes place over the course of a week on both banks of the river,
with river races, a Thames beach, dancing, music, fireworks and a
night-time parade.
Open House
Third weekend in month
W
londonopenhouse
.org; free. A once-a-year opportunity to peek inside over seven hundred
buildings around London, many of which don't normally open their
doors to the public. You'll need to book in advance for some of the more
popular places.
Great Gorilla Run
Last Sat in month
W
greatgorillarun.org; free
(to watch). Don a gorilla suit and join (or simply watch) 750 gorillas
running 7km through the City for mountain gorilla conservation.
Costermongers Harvest Festival Parade Service
Last Sun in
month 1pm. Guildhall to St Mary-le-Bow
W
pearlysociety.co.uk;
!
Bank or St Paul's; free. Cockney festival in the City, with donkeys
and carts, marching bands and Pearly Kings and Queens in their
traditional pearl-button-studded outfits.
OCTOBER
Judges' Service
First Mon in month
W
westminster-abbey.org.
Westminster Abbey; free. To mark the opening of the legal year
the judiciary, in full regalia, attends a service at 11.30am in the
abbey. Afterwards they process to the House of Lords for their
“Annual Breakfast”.
DECEMBER
Ice rinks
Dec-Jan. Ice rinks have become all the rage. You can skate
outside the Natural History Museum, at Somerset House, Marble Arch,
Kew Gardens and elsewhere.
Christmas Day Race
Christmas Day. Serpentine Lido
W
serpentineswimmingclub.com;
!
Knightsbrdge; free. Brave
