Happy Birthday Wembley! The iconic stadium turns 90 on Sunday 28 April. You can take part in a host of celebratory events tomorrow (Saturday 27 April), including a chance to have your photo taken with the FA Cup and official Nike match ball, which will be travelling through London, stopping off at landmarks including the London Eye and Buckingham Palace.

The BNY Mellon Boat Race

Watch the thrilling race between Oxford and Cambridge universities on the river Thames. The BNY Mellon Boat Race is one of the world’s most famous sporting competitions and sees two teams of eight rowers competing over the Championship Course between Putney and Mortlake. It’s free to watch this exciting annual event, and as well as standing on the riverbank, you can enjoy special celebratory events in Bishops Park and Furnival Gardens. 4.30pm, 31 Mar

Sacred Tarts at Barts, Smithfield

Enjoy alternative Easter treats at Barts Pathology Museum, which is hosting a special pop-up cake shop on Saturday. Taking place from 11am to 7pm, Sacred Tarts is a Christian-themed cake shop and show which offers topical confections such as cake popes, cupcake saints and stigmata cookies. You can also enjoy a holy spirit or two from the Miracle Messiah bar. 30 Mar

The Harlem Globetrotters at Wembley Arena

Basketball legends the Harlem Globetrotters are bringing their family show to Wembley Arena this Saturday as part of the “You Write The Rules” tour. The brand new team, which includes their first female player for two decades, will be demonstrating their skills and entertaining the audience with amazing tricks. Tickets start from £14.25. 30 Mar

The Wandsworth Common Beer Festival

Head to the magnificently eerie Royal Victoria Patriotic Building by Wandsworth Common for one of London’s most popular beer festivals. You can sample more than 120 real ales here, alongside a variety of ciders, perries and English wines. Food and live music are also on offer, and tickets are £4. 27-31 Mar

Park in Progress Tour at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Take a peek behind the scenes of the Olympic Park transformation on this fascinating tour. Not only will you get an exclusive insight into what the future holds for the site, but you will also take a trip up the ArcelorMittal Orbit, from where you’ll have a great view over London. Tickets start from £15. 29 Mar – 6 May

Partly due to debate as to the best location for a race, the competition only took place sporadically over the next 25 years, on a variety of different courses. Out of the 12 races held during this period, Cambridge won seven - even though there was one year in which the teams raced twice as Oxford were keen for a rematch! In 1856 the race became an annual event, held around Easter every year. With very few exceptions the boat race has since been held on the same stretch of the river Thames - the Championship Course between Putney and Mortlake. Competitors row upstream, and the two sides of the course have different names: the north side of the Thames is known as the Middlesex side, while the south is the Surrey side. Before a race the team captains toss a coin to decide which side they will be rowing nearest, which is an important factor in team tactics as due the bends in the river, each side has different advantages.

Despite being a fairly simple competition on paper, the boat race has not been without incident and controversy. In 1879, the two boats crossed the finish line at the exact same time, forcing the race to be declared a tie. This prompted some spectators to suggest that the judge had been asleep under a bush when the boats passed him! More recently, the 2012 race was brought to a standstill by a man who had decided to take a swim in the river. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the crews’ problems, as shortly after the race was restarted, a collision between boats resulted in a broken oar for the Oxford team. Although advances in technology have enhanced the boats, oars and kit used by the teams, the tradition of racing in all weathers still means that there is a chance they will sink. Seven boats have sunk during the race’s history, with the most dramatic occurring in 1912 when both teams sank and the race had to be re-run.

This year’s race, which promises to be as dramatic as those which have gone before it, will take place on Easter Sunday at 4.30pm. Historically, Oxford have won 76 races compared to Cambridge’s 81, so the dark blues will be eager to close the gap. You’ll be able to see the action at any publicly accessible point between Putney and Mortlake, and you can find the best spots on our event page.

A wax figure of FC Barcelona’s top goal scorer, Lionel Messi, was unveiled today at Wembley Stadium, the venue for next year’s UEFA Champions League Final.

The figure, which portrays Messi in his signature goal celebration pose, cost £150,000 and took four months to create. It will go on display at Madame Tussauds from 24 September, alongside a figure of Messi’s Real Madrid rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Team GB Olympian Laura Trott and London Mayor Boris Johnson took to their bikes today to launch the 2013 London cycling festival RideLondon.

RideLondon is London’s new cycling festival which includes traffic-free cycling past major London attractions for families and amateurs, as well as the opportunity to spectate while some of the world’s best athletes race through the capital’s streets.

Cycling in London is one of the best ways to travel, on a hire bike, with a cycle tour, or on your own bike. RideLondon will be an entire weekend devoted to getting out and about on your bike.

Gold medalist Laura said, “It’s great to think we may have inspired people to get on their bikes and RideLondon is a great opportunity for the public to get out and join us on the roads. Cycling has always been a huge part of my family’s life and I hope that having watched the Games lots more people will be encouraged to have a go.”

RideLondon takes place between 3 and 4 August 2013. Visit www.ridelondon.co.uk for more information.

Greenwich Park was resplendent yesterday for a day of equestrian competition. As a local, I was very keen to see how this beautiful Royal Park was adapted for the Olympic Games and the results are amazing.

The main grandstand and arena are set against a spectacular backdrop: the world heritage site of Maritime Greenwich. The Queen’s House is perfectly framed and beyond that are the Wren domes of the Old Royal Naval College. Also visible are the National Maritime Museum and 3 masts of the recently reopened Cutty Sark, along with the impressive modern architecture of Canary Wharf - simply breathtaking.

After the Dressage event was over, the crowd was invited to inspect the Cross Country course. It is laid out across the park, overlooked by the home of Greenwich Mean Time: the Royal Observatory.

The course uses the surroundings to brilliant effect for example going through the flower garden, which is in full bloom. There are beautiful and humorous elements such as the jump near the bandstand featuring musical notes and instruments. The water section has a Wind in the Willows theme and uses the boating lake where you can usually hire pedaloes in the summer months.  

Great care has been taken to preserve the park and it will be returned to its former state once the excitement of the Games is over. 

Which is your favourite venue of the London 2012 Games? Will you be visiting Greenwich next time you’re in London?

This week we love this little gallery of Wimbledon pictures shared with the group by fabienne & co.

Tennis fever has gripped London and the 2012 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships are in full swing.

If you’re out having fun in London this summer, take lots of great photos and share them with the Visit London Flickr group!

Even on the final day, there was no let-up in the style stakes at Royal Ascot and, in the Royal Enclosure at least, it seemed as if the new, stricter, dress code was being adhered to. Almost 80,000 people filled the racetrack; the women’s colourful array of hats and dresses providing a bright contrast to the sombre background of the men’s jackets and tailcoats.

Despite the poor weather and gusting wind which carried off many a woman’s carefully-arranged millinery, the raceday atmosphere, congenial company and ample refreshments on offer ensured that everyone was in high spirits. Even before the racing started, the huge cheers that greeted The Queen’s carriage procession demonstrated the crowd’s enthusiasm and admiration for the monarch in her Diamond Jubilee year. 

For many people, the highlight of the day was the 3.45pm Diamond Jubilee stakes, and the audience was peppered with black and orange banners and Australian accents in support of the legendary Black Caviar. There was a huge cheer as we caught a first glimpse of the mare, who had been flown in by chartered plane, and by the time the race was ready to commence the crowd bristled with a palpable tension.

Racing in pursuit of her 22nd victory, Black Caviar made a strong start on the pristine course but faltered near the finish, ensuring that most of the spectators had chewed off their nails by the time she won by a thrillingly narrow margin. Watching from the grandstand, it seemed as if the whole thing had happened in a flash, yet the 2012 Diamond Jubilee stakes and its world-famous victor will surely find a deserved place in racing history.

Masterminded by British director Danny Boyle, who is famous for films such as Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later, the Olympic Opening Ceremony looks set to be a colourful celebration of English life.

Entitled Isles of Wonder after a line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the ceremony will see the stadium transformed into a rural idyll that features grass, giant maypoles and flowers that represent each British nation. There will even be clouds that will produce rain if the English weather is not obliging!

The striking vista will be populated by morris dancers, families having picnics, villagers playing cricket and a menagerie of farm animals that includes 12 horses and 70 sheep. Music will be integral to the ceremony and there will be a pre-recorded score from Underworld as well as live music from famous faces.

Two mosh pits will also be created at either end of the arena, one themed around the Last Night of the Proms and one around Glastonbury Festival. These will be filled with ticket holders, although details of how to obtain tickets have not yet been announced.

A 23-tonne bell, which is the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world and was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, will be rung to open the ceremony.

It has been reported that the show will evolve to display more of Britain’s urban scenery but in any case, with a cast of 10,000 that has already done 157 rehearsals, it should be nothing short of spectacular.

What do you think of the plans so far?

What ho! Did you see these splendid folk out and about on their bikes last weekend enjoying the annual London Tweed run?

Nonusual shared a set of cool photos of the cyclists with the Visit London Flickr group.

Elegant tweed triumphs over sweaty spandex as participants are encouraged to wear traditional British cycling outfits and embrace a more refined, classic style.