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19 Nov

Get Into The Festive Spirit at Covent Garden

Posted by Covent Garden London in Attractions, Special Events No Comments

A Christmas choir at Covent Garden

With just five weeks to go until Christmas, Covent Garden is in full festive swing!

Don your woolly hats and winter mittens and head down to A Very Merry Christmas at Covent Garden to enjoy a host of family friendly events –  from wintery storytelling sessions for children, to festive food markets.

Head down to the Market Building this evening and warm up your vocal chords with Signature – the award-winning female vocal group from Buckinghamshire.  Signature will be wowing visitors with classic Christmas songs from 6.30pm. Not one to be missed if you’re after some festive cheer. 

If mince pies and mulled wine get you going, then make your way to the Covent Garden Real Food Market every Thursday and Friday in the run-up to Christmas between 12pm -7.30pm.  Stock up on all your festive fare from home-made mince pies, Christmas pudding and freshly baked gingerbread, as well as delicious delicacies to eat and enjoy on the Piazza from the likes of Pie Minster and Super Stews.

And if that isn’t enough to keep you out of mischief, on Saturday we’re hosting the first festive storytelling of the season to the Piazza. Bring the whole family down to enjoy professional storyteller, Olivia Armstrong, recounting festive tales of enchantment and wonder from 11 o’clock until 1pm. Magical imaginations and Christmas cheer compulsory.

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5 Nov

Twitterers Invited to Switch on Covent Garden Christmas Lights

Posted by Covent Garden London in Special Events No Comments

ReindeerCovent Garden is offering one lucky tweeter the unique chance to turn on the Christmas lights and launch Covent Garden’s A Very Merry Christmas this Monday 9 November.

All you need to do is to follow Covent Garden on Twitter @CoventGardenLDN and tweet your “Covent Garden Christmas wish” with the tag #averymerrychristmas! For example: “I wish that Santa Claus would land his sleigh on the Covent Garden Market Building! #averymerrychristmas”

Those who tweet with the tag will be entered into a draw for the chance to turn on the lights. The Covent Garden Christmas lights are by renowned British creative collective UnitedVisualArtists. Head to the Market Building to see what promises to be a “unique, sculptural light installation featuring four large-scale interactive chandeliers”.

Come down to the launch of A Very Merry Christmas on Monday 9 November at 5.30pm on the West Piazza to enjoy choir performances, falling snow, genuine reindeer (both real and topiary!), free mulled wine, roasted chestnuts and much more.

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16 Oct

Bye Bye Bunny! Jeff Koons’ Rabbit Waves Goodbye to Covent Garden

Posted by Covent Garden London in Arts, Attractions No Comments

Jeff Koon's Rabbit that graced the Covent Garden Market Building earlier this week

The Covent Garden Market Building waved goodbye to American artist Jeff Koons‘ Rabbit this week.

The giant, 53-ft high, floating balloon installation had made its home in the South Hall for four days, to celebrate the opening of the Tate Modern’s exhibition Pop Life: Art in Material World, delighting and surprising everyone who came down to see him.

The first class lounge at Heathrow reported that his departure passed without incident. But apparently, he was rabbitting away to his mate Warren about how deflated he felt to be leaving the UK…

Thanks to everyone who supported his stay.

Covent Garden has really stepped into the virtual world over the last couple of weeks. You can now keep up to date with the latest news from the Piazza and surrounding areas on Twitter!

Follow @CoventGardenLDN for all the latest from CG: shopping promotions, free stuff, and further amazing installations – please follow us, and we’ll follow you! 

Bye for now!

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8 Oct

Covent Garden Hosts Giant Bunny

Posted by Covent Garden London in Arts 1 Comment

Copyright Jeff KoonsNow’s your chance to see a  53ft high piece of inflatable art.

For four days only, an inflatable replica of Jeff Koons’ metre-high Rabbit sculpture will be floating inside the Market Building.

Koons created the large-scale silver balloon for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2007 in New York and it is in Covent Garden exclusively to celebrate the opening of Tate Modern’s new exhibition Pop Life: Art in Material World which runs until 17 January.

Don’t forget, Covent Garden is also the epicentre of London Restaurant Festival, with lots of foodie events taking place over the next week.

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24 Sep

Fresh Food at Covent Garden Real Food Market

Posted by Covent Garden London in Eating Out, London, Special Events No Comments

Head to Covent Garden today for a chance to buy fresh fruit and veg at the Covent Garden Real Food Market.

Covent Garden piazza

The best of London’s Urban Growing Spaces have joined forces for the first time ever to sell their fresh produce in the heart of the West End.

A stall hosted by Capital Growth (helping London communities to create food growing spaces) and Sustain will be selling hand-selected fruit and veg, including parsnips, aubergines, rhubarb, chillies, pumpkins and much more.

All food is sourced from allotments around the capital that support the initiative. Plots providing produce for the stall include: The Cranbrook Community Food Gardens in Tower Hamlets, The May Project in Merton and The Olden Garden Community Project in Islington.

The market is open from 12pm.

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18 Sep

Free Fashion Fête at Covent Garden

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Fashion Fete at Covent Garden

Join in the buzz of London Fashion Week as Covent Garden hosts its first-ever Fashion Fête tomorrow.

You can try your hand at Hunter Welly Wanging (only the best will do!), have your picture taken in the Anna Wintour style booth, lead your dog down the designer “dogwalk” or enjoy lots of other tongue-in-cheek fashion activities with prizes up for grabs! 

Ever fancied yourself as a supermodel? Now’s your chance as Models 1 will be scouting for the next Kate Moss on the Piazza. There will also be expert free fashion advice on hand to help you create your perfect wardrobe. 

The free event runs between 11am and 6pm on the East Piazza.

You can also get the London Fashion Week look for less with great discounts from stores such as Karen Millen, French Connection, Fullcircle and others from 17 to 22 September.

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3 Sep

Eat Like A Girl at The Covent Garden Real Food Market

Posted by Covent Garden London in Eating Out, London, Shopping No Comments

Image courtesy of Eat Like A GirlTake a trip down to The Covent Garden Real Food Market today and taste an array of delicious delicacies made by food blogger Eat Like A Girl, who writes one of the UK’s most popular food blogs.

Eat Like A Girl will be selling piping hot chorizo and pork sausage rolls, six-hour slow roast pork shoulder sandwiches and mouth-watering vegetable tarts.

Other food bloggers who have served up treats so far include More Tea Vicar, From a North London Kitchen, The Ginger Gourmand, Gastro Geek and Kavey Eats.

The food bloggers stall is the first of its kind in the UK, so don’t miss out on the chance to experience the delights on offer. The market is open today from 12pm – 8pm.

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28 Aug

Covent Garden Gets Creative with New Art

Posted by Covent Garden London in Arts, Special Events No Comments

Covent Garden’s Art Tank initiative has recently launched, providing free exhibition space for artist collectives, right in the heart of the West End. Pop down to Covent Garden this weekend and check out some free art in the city.

Art attack on a window at the London Miles pop-up gallery, Covent Garden

The Market Building is currently home to two exciting art groups, London Miles Gallery and Beautiful Losers:

Come and see the emerging US art form, ‘Lowbrow’, by the London Miles Gallery. The Lowbrow movement has roots in the underground comic world, punk music, tattoo, hot-rod street culture and other street art, so expect to see some unique and interesting pieces. 

Plus, you can pick up an original canvas by an up-and-coming artist. See it at 42, The Market Building, WC2 8RF.

Walk next door and you will be greeted by a giant, mirrored polar bear installation which forms the entrance to Beautiful Losers - an exhibition featuring the work of  illustrators, painters and photographers attached to the recently launched documentary film of the same name. See it at 11, The Market Building, WC2 8RF.

Read about more art events in London.

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20 Aug

Cupcakes and Chocolate at Covent Garden Today

Posted by Covent Garden London in Shopping, Special Events No Comments

Speakers' Corner at Covent Garden

Today sees the last in a series of informative free talks at Covent Garden’s very own Speakers’ Corner. So far the talks have covered tea, honey and urban-farming; today the subject is chocolate!

Come and join us at the Covent Garden Real Food Market on the East Piazza where, at lunchtime, seminal 90s supermodel Lorraine Pascale will demonstrate the fine art of cupcake decorating. Or pop down in the evening for chocolate tasting and a talk on the history of chocolate – from bean to bar – with highly skilled chocolate obsessives, Chocolution. 

The fun kicks off at 1pm – don’t miss it!

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13 Aug

Bees, Workshops and a Giant Sandpit at Covent Garden This Summer

Posted by Covent Garden London in Attractions, Kids, Shopping, Special Events 3 Comments

Urban Farming

Covent Garden is the place to be today, with a jam-packed schedule of exciting events from talks on Urban Beekeeping, to grow-your-own workshops, at The Covent Garden Real Food Market.

Speakers’ Corner (the series of free, weekly talks and demonstrations for London’s foodie community) will feature two of the UK’s leading experts in Urban Beekeeping and Urban Allotments:

  • Thursday at 1pm: Beekeeping advice, honey & beeswax workshops with The Hive Honey Shop
  • Thursday at 6pm: Urban Farming talks and demonstrations with Capital Growth

If you can’t make it today, there’ll be more talks and demonstrations on Thursday 20 August at the same times.

Don’t forget, if you’re struggling to entertain the kids this holiday, Covent Garden is running The Kids Are Alright summer promotion until Sunday 23 August. This massive free event includes juggling and puppet workshops, cupcake decorating classes, and even a giant sandpit.

The Kids Are Alright also sees great offers on toys and family dining from some of the area’s leading shops and restaurants, including complimentary kids meals from top Covent Garden restaurants, free Disney goodies and the chance to win a Build-A-Bear Workshop party.

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