Visit London Blog - Enjoy the very best of London
It’s the festive season, and London’s lit up like a, well, Christmas Tree…
From presents to snowflakes to classy twinkly Victoriana to psychedelic reindeer, it’s a varied bunch for London’s Christmas lights this year.
We want to know which you think are best!
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The weather in London this Saturday was typically autumnal: lots of exciting wind and rain, with a bit of thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure!
Sadly, the wet weather led to the fireworks at the Lord Mayor’s Show being cancelled for the first time in 20 years; although the rest of the parade was a great success.
According to The Guardian:
“The bad weather is nothing unusual… Forecaster Nigel Bolton said: ‘In most winters we experience gales and heavy rain, but the last three or four winters have been quite quiet. Most winters bring storms and gusts of winds so we shouldn’t be too surprised by this.
‘Thursday and Friday are looking particularly wet. It’s unpleasant but not unprecedented.’ “
In light of this news, we want your recommendations of the best things to do in London when the weather turns wet. We’ve got some great ideas to keep families dry in the city, but can you add to the suggestions?
OK, so at over 10 minutes, this is a little longer than most YouTube snippets, but we promise it’s totally worth staying with it. (And it’s Friday – you deserve a little break…)
This remarkable colour film of London was taken in 1927 by pioneering filmmaker Claude Friese-Greene.
We think some of the black-and-white information plates are hilarious!
London’s roads look so wide and empty with the slow, elegant motorcars moving gracefully along them. And there’s a fascinating section that seems to have been filmed right infront of where VL Towers stands in shiny More London today! See if you can spot familiar areas looking drastically different, and let us know what your favourite bits are…
Comics and manga are the next big thing in London! Here are some dates for your diary.
COMICA – The London International Comics Festival
The Comica Festival runs at the ICA from the 5-26 November and explores the world of comics, graphic novels and manga. Events include workshops, lectures, exhibitions and films.
We’re intrigued by the Uncle Hans-Peter Party, a live comic event where the audience are required to wear masks and collectively assume the persona of Uncle Hans-Peter – dress code smart casual; lederhosen optional.
Prices for Comica events vary, some are free. The Uncle Hans-Peter Party is on 17 November and costs £10.
Manga: Professor Munkata’s British Museum Adventure
Leading Japanese Manga artist Hoshino Yukinobu has created an exhibition featuring his manga character Professor Munakata having an adventure at the British Museum.
As usual, the museum are putting on a great free programme of events about the exhibition including gallery talks, lectures and family digital comic workshops. The exhibition is free and runs from 5 November – 3 January 2010.
30 Years of Viz at the Cartoon Museum
Viz, Britain’s adult comic celebrates its 30th birthday with an exhibition at The Cartoon Museum. Love it or hate it, this lewd, rude comic has scores of fans including Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson. If you’re looking for an offensive exhibition in London, don’t miss this one! 4 November – 24 January 2010.
Caped Crusader Exhibition at Orbital Comics
Orbital Comics is one of the best comic shops in London and they hold regular comic themed events. The Caped Crusader Exhibition (1 -13 December) will feature lots of postcards doodled and scribbled on by artists, performers, writers and musicians with links to the comic book and science fiction universe. If you’ve ever wondered what Brian Blessed, Russell Tovey, Doctor Who, James Earl Jones and Batman would doodle on a postcard, you’re about to find out. The postcards will be sold for charity.
The London Zine Symposium
The London Zine Symposium is a place for anyone interested in fanzines, small press, comics or radical writing to meet up, swap ideas, buy something new to read and attend workshops about zines. Yes, 3 May 2010 seems like ages away, but put it in your diary now and you won’t forget it.
You may have noticed that the VL Blog has gone all spooky of late. We’ve been to the Hammer Horror Festival, drooled over the Met Bar’s Scream Tea, and donned our fishnets for Sing-a-long Rocky Horror.
So it won’t surprise you to know we’re getting excited about Halloween, especially as it sparks some of the best club nights of the year. Fancy dress, evil laughs and the Ghostbusters theme tune should all feature. Take a look at our favourites:
Do you know of any freakishly frightening Halloween parties? Tell us your Halloween plans.
Last week, we celebrated the birthdays of Dirty Dancing and The Lion King by demanding to know about your favourite London musicals… Thanks to everyone who commented.
Today, we’re touching up our white face paint and donning a big black cloak and some fangs to cackle and ask: what are your plans for Halloween?
London’s fairly bursting with fantastic events this weekend. You can catch some really scary films at the Prince Charles Cinema, Halloween goes 3D in Covent Garden, there’s a collection of spooky shorts at the BFI Southbank, and you could get more that you bargained for at the Film4 FrightFest Halloween All-Nighter! at the ICA.
Creepy culture vultures will enjoy In The Dead of Night at the V&A Late this week; there’s also the rather special-sounding Day of the Dead Celebrations at the British Museum on 1 November.
With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, there are plenty of club nights going ghoulish for the night. London clubs as varied as Heaven, Plan B, Notting Hill Arts Club, Vibe Bar, Pacha and Mass are among the 50-plus clubs doing something special for Halloween.
There’s also loads of Halloween fun for kids to get involved in, from craft to pumpkin carving, and creepy animals.
Let us know what you’re up to!
This week’s photo is a view looking south over HMS Belfast, City Hall and Tower Bridge from Vertigo 42 by Sami Susiaho.
Have you taken any stunning pictures of London? Share them with us in the Visit London Flickr pool.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without at least one rousing, heart-warming carol singing session!
Even the coldest Scrooge’s can’t fail to feel Christmassy once they hear the opening bars of those famous Christmas tunes.
And this Christmas, London’s hoping to host the world’s biggest ever carol sing-a-long!
To celebrate the world premiere of Disney’s A Christmas Carol in London, and the first-ever co-ordinated Christmas light switch-on across the capital, we’re asking you to help us find London’s favourite Christmas Carol.
The song below with the most votes will be sung at London’s Christmas Carol on 3 November across the city, as London comes together to break the world record for the largest-ever Christmas carol sing-a-long!
Help choose the song that London will sing by voting for your favourite Christmas carol below:
What's Your Favourite Christmas Carol?
Total Voters: 1,075
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Last week was all about London vs New York: if you read the comments, you’ll find London certainly came out on top!
This morning we woke up to autumn in London. Coats, scarves, macs and umbrellas were all in force on the journey into work.
But autumn in London means more than the occasional early-morning downpour. On the sporting calendar we can look forward to world-class rugby league, a visit from both the NBA and the NFL, and world gymnastics and world tennis championships.
With the weather turning colder, you’ve also got an excuse to check out London’s cosy museums and art galleries: autumn brings the Turner Prize to the Tate, Maharaja to the V&A, and Suburbia to the Transport Museum.
You can also indulge in the Wine Show, the London Restaurant Festival and the RHS Autumn Harvest Show, bringing the countryside to London’s Horticultural Halls.
So, the weather might be a bit murky today, but there’s a lot to look forward to this season!
Let us know what your recommendations are for autumn in London.
This week’s photo is a stunning picture of London’s Tower Bridge by jrodmanjr. Twinkling evening lights are a consolation for the fact that it’s beginning to feel a little bit like autumn!
Add your pictures to the Visit London Flickr pool and we could be featuring you!
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