Not only are there lots of fun, tasty and quirky events on this weekend, but it also contains two significant dates on which you can celebrate the women in your life. On Friday 8 March London will be hosting numerous events to mark International Women’s Day, then on Sunday it’s time to show your mum how much you care by taking her to a special event or meal for Mother’s Day.

Feast at Tobacco Dock

This weekend there’s only one place foodies should be – the Tabacco Dock in Wapping. Here, renowned food festival Feast will be gathering London’s most exciting restaurant chefs and street food stalls for a four day dining extravaganza. You can either buy lunch or dinner tickets, which get you access to a range of tasty dishes from London favourites such as Bone Daddies, Dishoom and The Last Days of Pisco, as well as a variety of experimental cocktails and live music. If meandering between food stalls isn’t your thing, Rita’s Supper Club is providing a ticketed dining experience at the venue, at which you can enjoy a structured meal from their international menu and a range of drinks for £45. Tickets for general entry to Feast are £8. 7-10 Mar

Ballet Revoluciόn at the Peacock Theatre

Catch the first matinees of the Cuban Ballet Revolucion at the Peacock Theatre in Aldwych this weekend. Back in London for a limited three week run, the thrilling fusion of ballet, contemporary dance and hip hop is sure to make an impression with its dynamic choreography, sensual moves and humour. A pop music soundtrack, played by a live Cuban band, completes the memorable show. Tickets start from £15. 6-23 Mar

Fairtrade Market at the Divine Pop-Up Shop, Covent Garden

Head to the Divine Chocolate pop-up shop in Covent Garden – home to many cocoa-based delights until 9 March – for a special fairtrade food market on Saturday. Between 10am-5.30pm you’ll be able to buy tasty treats, wines, fashion and skincare products that have been produced in the developing world under the Fairtrade ethical purchasing scheme. You also have the chance to take home Divine’s two new chocolate flavours before they officially go on sale – yum! 8 Mar

Florimania at Hampton Court Palace

Inspired by their newly re-created model of Henry VIII’s crown, Hampton Court Palace is staging a colourful weekend festival of flower arranging along their Tudor route. Not only can you admire a series of magnificent displays as you explore the Royal Palace, but there are also regular flower arranging demonstrations at which you can learn the art for yourself. There will also be an oyster and champagne bar and opportunities to enjoy afternoon tea, making it a perfect option for a Mother’s Day treat. Access to the festival is included in the ticket price, which is £16.95 for adults. 8-10 Mar

Tudor Food Sampling at Eastbury Manor House

There’s even more Tudor-related fun to be had this weekend at Eastbury Manor House, where you can enjoy a free taste of what food from the era would have been like. The event is Lent-themed and you’ll be able to sample traditional fasting foods such as Kent Lent pie, tartes owte of Lent and almond biscuits. Sampling takes place between 2 and 3.30pm, and access to the event is included with a regular ticket to the historic house. (£4 for adults or free for National Trust members.) 8 Mar

More events in London

Fed up of the cold, dark days of winter? Get ready to say goodbye to them with vodka and blinis (pancakes) at the Russian Maslenitsa Festival in London!

Maslenitsa is the Russian sun festival, marking the end of winter and the start of spring. In London, the Maslenitsa Festival has become a week-long celebration of Russian culture in the capital, marking the contribution of London’s 160,000-strong Russian population.

This year’s festival takes place from 19 to 26 February and offers Londoners the chance to experience many aspects of Russian culture including:

• Food: Try a Russian-themed afternoon tea at the Kensington Hotel or The Dorchester, including caviar blinis, and berry and honey pavlovas (from £25 per person)
• Fashion: See some of Russia’s most celebrated designers in a fashion show at The V&A, 22 Feb
• Nightlife: Experience a Moscow club as top Russian DJs come to DSTRKT, 25 Feb

The main Maslenitsa event takes place in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 26 February. This free event promises fun for all the family, with stalls offering traditional Russian handicrafts, souvenirs and art plus music, dancing and singing on the main stage.

Visit www.maslenitsa.co.uk for more information about the festival.

Where else can you find Russian culture in London? Let us know in the comments below.

The show features contemporary dance performances from an array of talented new choreographers and allows them to show their pieces to a London audience.

I was fortunate enough to see a preview of one of the works by Shaun Boyle & Artists entitled See, Myself & I which will be performed at Resolution! on 5 February along with Haptic Dance and Beyond Repair Dance.

See, Myself & I is an imaginative and moving piece that examines women’s self-perceptions by questioning the manufactured images of females in society. It is a beautiful work and the New York choreographer, Shaun Boyle, is an experienced dancer and a recent graduate of The Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

Resolution! is a wonderful show and a chance to support upcoming dance talent. Prepare to be amazed by the quality of the work and performances and treat yourself to an entertaining evening.

Resolution! until 18 February at The Place. Book tickets

Last weekend the Mayor’s Thames Festival whipped up a blissful, celebratory spirit along central London’s riverside, helped along by good weather (I even managed to get a touch of sunburn), rhythms originating from the Balkans to Cuba, and plenty of cold beer.

The two-day long party surrounding London’s waterway featured an al fresco dance floor enjoyed by jive and swing dancers and a feast taking place all the way across Southwark Bridge in which diners where serenaded by mariachi singers.

To top off the weekend, samba dancers, drumming troupes and even a group of zombie walkers paraded down the streets from Victoria Embankment to the South Bank, celebrating the last of the summer.

Did you go to the Mayor’s Thames Festival? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Another successful Ben and Jerry’s Sundae on The Common came and went this weekend. Millions of calories of delicious free ice cream were consumed (if the amount we ate was anything to go by!), there were great sets from the likes of Doves and Idlewild, and there was all the usual Ben and Jerry’s fun to be had (toe wrestling anyone?)

Festival-goers paid their respects to gone-but-not-forgotten ice creams at the Flavour Graveyard, and were rewarded with pieces of the legendary ‘Wich (ice cream sandwich) which was resurrected for one weekend only.

This year’s event had a Fair Trade focus as the ice cream brand is committed to making all its products Fair Trade by 2011. As if we needed another reason to eat ice cream!

This week’s photo is for anyone reminiscing about last weekend’s Lovebox festival, with Dizzee Rascal playing his headline set on Friday night.

Keep adding your photos to Visit London’s flickr pool and we might just feature one of your pics as our Photo of the Week.

On Tuesday night, I popped along to a festival event – Flaming Nora’s corsage making class in the Earl Ferrers pub. The class was a roaring success – more and more people arrived and soon the entire pub was full of over-excited sewers rummaging in boxes of fabric and producing amazing floral creations!

Nora is running a second fun workshop for the festival week – making scary sock monsters, this one is for kids over the age of 5.

The Streatham festival runs to the 11th July and there are talks, walks, quizzes, photography and more. (We think Shakespeare in the Rookery looks brilliant!)

Streatham Festival 3 – 11 July 2010. www.streathamfestival.com

And after the warm weekend, our thoughts can’t help but turn to summer festivals and gigs.

Which London gig are you headed to this summer? Will you be watching Dizzee Rascal at Lovebox or Florence and The Machine at Somerset House? Were you lucky enough to get tickets to see Kings of Leon in Hyde Park?

Let us know…

A giant mechanical octopus will take over London’s Trafalgar Square this September as part of the London Design Festival.

Created by German designers Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram, the creature will have six robotic arms taken from Audi’s production line. The arms will have lights at the end and will create stunning “light paintings” in the air as they move. “Removed from their normal industrial context, they become mighty ambassadors from a foreign land,” says Kram.

Another festival highlight will be sculptures in the shape of huge shiny pennies by Paul Cocksedge, which will be on display outside the Royal Festival Hall. The sculptures will be magnetic, so, as Cocksedge explains, “as you go near them with a penny, they will take it from you”. All pennies stuck to the sculptures will be donated to charity.

There will also be a provocative Anti London Design Festival in East London, organised by Neville Brody. Based in and around Redchurch Street, events will include a “microplex” cinema seating just five people. Brody says, “You can see us as an ugly sister or an ugly cousin of the Design Festival. It’s time to tear up the plans and see what happens. You’re all invited!”

Top international designers are expected to flock to London for the world-leading festival. There will be more than 200 events across the capital.

London Design Festival runs from 18 to 26 September 2010 www.londondesignfestival.com

We’re happy to hear that with no Big Beach Boutique in Brighton this year, he’ll be throwing all his energy (and budget) into the Clapham Common festival!