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!

This week, I was invited to the launch of Chinese Cricket Club, a new restaurant at the Crowne Plaza in The City.

The venue has unusual decor for a Chinese restaurant, with pictures of cricketers behind the bar and a distinct hotel feel that belies the quality and general scrumptiousness of the food. 

Head Chef Brendan Speed (formerly of Zuma Istanbul) and his team provided wonderfully spicy orange beef, steamed prawn dumplings, succulent lobster in the shell, soft shitake mushrooms, zingy squid, miniature hot and sour soups, and a light coconut mousse with tropical topping. 

As far as I could see, the hungry work crowd thought it was simply delicious, and so did I!

Guests quaffed champagne and Jim Barry wines while they watched one of the chefs whip up dumplings. 

It was extraordinary how he picked an identically sized piece of pastry off a roll, smacked it with a cleaver into a circle, and filled and pleated it so evenly. 

Chinese Cricket Club is named after the newly formed Chinese national cricket team and also celebrates the recent translation into Mandarin of the laws of cricket.

The association with Jim Barry wines extends the cricket theme: one of the Jim Barry vineyards has a cricket pitch in the middle, and the wine of choice at the launch was Cover Drive cabernet sauvignon.

We head to the Old Vic for this week’s video recommendation. The wonderful Kevin Spacey stars in Inherit The Wind, a fab courtroom drama about the freedom of thought.

When it opened in September this year, the show got some great reviews. It’s currently running until 20 December. If this little snippet whets your appetite, book your tickets now. You won’t be disappointed.

Wave your Union Jack with pride and swing into the 1940s with London’s Blitz Party, a night of uplifting community spirit, live bands and fabulous 40s fashion, at the air-raid proof “bunker” offered by Shoreditch’s railway arches.

It’s red lippy, rolled tresses and tea dresses for the ladies; brylcreem and braces for the gents. Men in uniforms (Allied Forces only please) gad about with head-scarved land girls. Blackout curtains and sandbags line the walls, while oil lamps, ration books, tea urns and sandwiches all add to the atmosphere of courage, camaraderie and East London cool.

We felt a real wow-factor on arrival, and spent much of the night people-watching – ogling the “officers” and admiring everyone’s amazing attention to dressing-up detail.

The venue is vast, leaving plenty of room for lindy-hopping along to the bands on stage. Seemingly professional dancers twirled past at top speeds, encouraging the rest of us to give it a go, imagining we were in Christina Aguilera’s video for Candy Man.  When all the jiving and jitterbugging left us parched, we needed our best Blitz spirit to withstand the bar queues – authentic 1940s cocktails take time to prepare… and there’s a war on, y’know!

The next Blitz Party will be on December 5, so chaps – roll up your sleeves, and chap-esses – slip on silk seamed stockings, and join the convivial crowds at London’s truly unique celebration of 40s fashion, frolics and fun.

Check out www.theblitzparty.com for more info, but no dithering: these events sell out fast!

We’re too young to know anything about the original(!) but we’ve heard our parents talking about it, recognise the songs (Aquarius and Let The Sunshine In) and it all the stories about it from the 60s sound incredible. (Plus, anything starring Elaine Paige, Richard O’Brien, Tim Curry and Paul Nicholas must’ve been amazing!)

It’s also exciting to have the first entire Tony-award-winning Broadway cast opening a musical in London. We’ve got to wait til April, but it’s down in our diaries to get tickets!

In other theatre news, Dreamboats and Petticoats, the musical inspired by an album of 50s songs, is due to reopen in January. From a successful touring show, this musical was so popular at the Savoy this summer, it extended its run by seven weeks!

And now it’s coming back: book your tickets to see it at the Playhouse from 6 January. Anyone out there seen it and want to tell us about it? We’re yet to catch this one.

If you’re looking for a shorter-term theatre fix, Panto season is very nearly upon us! We’ve had news from the Lyric that the rehearsals for Jack and the Beanstalk are well under way. Backstage, the Dame’s seven (count them!) dresses are almost finished, and the 4-metre-tall Giant is getting close to being brought to life…

Over at the New Wimbledon Theatre, we’ve heard news their panto has added another jewel to its star-studded Aladdin’s lamp. Anita Dobson (fresh from baring all in Calendar Girls, but best-known to the world as Angie Watts from EastEnders in the 80s) is the final star to share the role of the Genie of the Lamp alongside Ruby Wax, Pamela Anderson and Paul O’Grady.

Do you have plans to see any of London’s fantastic Pantos? Let us know which baddie you’ll be booing and hissing at over the Christmas season…

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.

Leicester Square welcomed some cool customers this week to celebrate Christmas in the West End: click on the thumbnails above to see more…

Artists created four 1m-tall ice penguins enjoying the various attractions of the West End: shopping, dining, culture and entertainment.

The star attraction was a penguin sculpture based on the most popular West End show – as voted by more than 2,000 people in an online comp – a penguin in a Wicked witch’s hat!

The shopping penguin held a giant ice shopping bag with Christmas gifts frozen inside (including a Paul Smith notebook and socks, a Molton Brown gift box, a Pingu and a mini wooden frog on wheels). The dining ice penguin was enjoying an ice-cold meal; while the cultural penguin got himself in the picture by holding onto an icy picture frame.

Did you get any snaps of these chilly stars? Drop them into our flickrpool…

The weather is getting cold and dark – so it’s the perfect time to go to the movies!

Luckily for Londoners, ’tis the season for film festivals. Here’s our pick of 10 film fests that are either happening right now, or very soon. As you can see, it’s a global smorgasboard of cinematic choice!

1. UK Jewish Film Festival, 7-19 Nov
The annual UK Jewish Film Festival ends today, and if you’ve got a ticket to tonight’s closing gala, you’re in for a treat. The final two movies to be shown will be Israeli director Shelley Kling’s 2008 film Gefilte Fish (Hebrew with English subtitles) and the UK premiere of Hello Goodbye (French with English subtitles) at Tricycle Cinema. If you missed out, get the jump on next year’s programme at www.ukjewishfilmfestival.org.uk.

2. London Kurdish Film Festival 20-30 Nov
This event is in its sixth year, and showcases movies from both Kurdish and non-Kurdish directors. Films (127 in total) will be screened in six London cinemas: Rich Mix, Riverside Studios, Amnesty International UK, Birkbeck College Cinema, Shortwave Cinema and Spring Studios.
www.lkff.co.uk

3. Festival of German Films 27 Nov-3 Dec
There’s a diverse mix of German filmmakers’ work at London’s 12th Festival of German Films, which is held at Curzon Soho. This year’s programme kicks off with Same Same But Different – a love story shot in Cambodia that stars David Kross from The Reader – and includes films ranging from costume dramas to action flicks to comedies, as well as the latest in cutting-edge German filmmaking. The festival will also pay tribute to popular German actress Romy Schneider by showing a selection of her films.
www.germanfilmfestival.co.uk

4. Discovering Latin America Film Festival 26 Nov-6 Dec
London’s 8th Latin American film festival kicks off next week. The festival will show films from South American countries including Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela that often wouldn’t make it to the big screen in the UK. Special guests include awarding winning Argentine director Amat Escalante, the world-renowned Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, and new Colombian sensation Jorge Navas.  Screenings will take place at London venues including Tate Modern and the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
www.discoveringlatinamerica.com/film-home.html

5. London African Film Festival 26 Nov-3 Dec
The African Film Festival is all about cutting-edge technolgy, young filmmakers and new narrative forms. Held over eight days at five London locations, a mix of feature films and documentaries will be shown. The festival is being held in conjuction with the conference Producing and Distributing African Film in the Digital Era, at the University of Westminster’s Africa Media Centre.
www.africaatthepictures.co.uk

6. French Film Festival 8 Nov-20 Dec
In its 17th big year, the French Film Festival takes place across three cities, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Running for more than a month, the festival presents French-language films from blockbusters, to classics, to innovative new cinema. In London, the festival’s tribute to director Jacques Tati ties in with the Barbican’s Tati Directorspective, which runs throughout December.
www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk

7. Pan-Asia Film Festival, 27 Nov-11 Dec
Presented by Asia House, this festival aims to provide a snapshot of current filmmaking across Asia. The programme includes the latest work from Oscar-nominated director Zhang Yimou (House of the Flying Daggers, Hero) and films from China, Japan, Iran, Taiwan, Bhutan and the Philippines – all with English subtitles. Screenings will be at London’s Apollo Cinema in Regent Street.
www.apollocinemas.com/filmfestival

8. Turkish Film Festival 5-19 Nov
This is another one you’ll have to be quick for, as it ends today! You can still catch some of the finest in Turkish filmmaking at the Apollo Cinema tonight, though.  The festival has been going for 15 years now and shows no sign of abating, so if you want to start planning for next year, or even think about submitting a film, visit the website:
www.ltff.org.uk

9. Darwin, Evolution and the Movies Film Festival 20-28 Nov
This is part of this year’s celebrations of Charles Darwin’s 200th “birthday” this year. The Darwin, Evolution and the Movies festival features films and live comedy with “evolutionary” content, such as Alien, Jurassic Park and  2001: A Space Odyssey. In keeping with the anniversary theme, the first day of the festival – 24 November – marks 150 years since the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species.
www.filmlondon.org.uk/events_details.asp?EventsID=1428

10. ¡Mira México! 21-27 Jan
One to look forward to: in January The Barbican, in partnership with the Mexican Embassy to the UK presents a Mexican film season. The programme shows both new and archive films including recent, highly acclaimed works such as the darkly comic Meet the Head of Juan Pérez, the unmissable Lake Tahoe and a rare screening of Mexican silent film Ghost Train (El Tren fantasma) with live music accompaniment.
www.barbican.org.uk/film

Want more movies? Read our  feature on Film Festivals in London.

The Royal Ballet’s triple bill of Agon, Sphinx and Limen at the Royal Opera House last night was an interesting lesson in the how modern classical ballet has developed. It was also, unexpectedly, an insight into the behaviour of today’s ballet audience…

The programme seemed designed to educate, starting with Balanchine’s Agon – choreographed in the 1950s, then moving to Glen Tetley’s 1977 work Spinx, and finishing with Wayne McGregor’s brand new ballet, Limen.

Agon felt very much in line with the avant garde art movements of the late 50s and early 60s. It was apparently quite revolutionary for its time. However, the stark look (costumes were basic black leotards), feel (no discernible storyline) and soundtrack (Stravinsky) left me a bit cold. And my next-door neighbours must have been completely frozen; they didn’t return after the interval.

Sphinx started off a lot better – there was actually a set. And quite an impressive one too, with two gorgeous, sweeping wings made of metal and glass, and a gleaming “altar” in between. Edward Watson as Anubis stole the show for me here – looking incredible and otherworldly even when he removed his Egyptian dog-god mask.

Limen by the Royal Ballet Company’s resident choreographer Wayne McGregror also began promisingly. A scrim with digital numbers floating across it fronted the stage, while dancers were randomly illuminated in puddles of light behind. Unfortunately, this show of technology prompted another near neighbour to bust out her digital camera, the glowing screen of which proved such a distraction I had to politely remind her it wasn’t a rock concert, while physically restraining my friend from biffing her one.

Situation averted, we settled back to the ballet, which was a celebration of lighting effects, block colours and clever movement. Thinking about it afterwards, I could see the correlation between all three ballets – each one visionary for its time; pushing the boundaries, while drawing on tradition. I might not have loved Agon but you could see that without Baly’s Ballet back then, we wouldn’t have the McGregor of today.

A quick straw poll at VL towers of audiences behaving badly has people chatting, texting, snoring and even vomiting in the theatre. What’s the weirdest thing that you’ve experienced as an audience member?

This week’s photo is of the Lord Mayor’s impressive state coach being returned to the Museum of London after last weekend’s Lord Mayor’s Show. The coach is normally pulled by horses but required specially designed skates and plenty of manpower to manoeuvre it back into the museum.

The coach will be on display in the windows of the new modern galleries which open at the museum in spring 2010.

If you’ve seen anything shiny in London this week, snap it and add it to the Visit London Flickr pool and we could be featuring your photo!