This weekend is the last before the Olympics begin – make sure you soak up all the culture London has to offer before the city goes sport mad.

BT River of Music
The BT River of Music is a huge weekend music festival is a one-off to welcome the world to the Olympic city. Six stages – each hosting music from a different continent – will be set up along the Thames at venues like the Tower of London and Battersea Park. Artists representing every Olympic and Paralmypic nation will perform, including the Scissor Sisters and Noisettes. Tickets are free but you’ve got to book them in advance: at the time of writing, there are still some left for Asia Stage at Battersea Park and Oceania Stage at Old Royal Naval College, and for Africa Stage at London Pleasure Gardens on Sunday only.
21-22 Jul

Blue Peter’s Big Olympic Tour
Catch Blue Peter presenters Helen and Barney this weekend on the kids TV show’s Big Olympic Tour. They’ve been following the Olympic torch on its journey around the UK for special live programmes and events, and will touch down in Central Park in East Ham this Saturday and Sunday. From 10am to 4pm, there’ll be free family activities like Olympic sports, learning about the history of the Games and having a go at being a sports commentator.
21-22 Jul

Shakespeare: Staging the World at The British Museum
The British Museum has teamed up with the Royal Shakespeare Company for this major Shakespeare exhibition which explores the playwright’s London through his plays. It gives a taste of what going to the theatre was like 400 years ago, and how it connected London with the rest of the world as international trade, colonisation and diplomacy increased. The exhibition includes performance and objects from paintings and rare manuscripts to everyday items like maps and coins, all piecing together the world of the famous dramatist and his characters.
Until 25 Nov

Floating Market on Regent’s Canal
From tomorrow, a magnificent floating market will moored in Mile End near the Olympic Park. A collection of narrowboats and barges will be selling everything from books and hats to vintage frocks and handicrafts. If strolling along the official Olympic walking route makes you peckish, you can sample various foodie delights on offer, including sausages from a barge called “Marilyn”, Slovakian delicacies from “Vareska” and a selection of candyfloss, popcorn and other fun-fair based treats from The Zebra Boat.
20 Jul-16 Aug

What will you be doing this weekend? Let us know by commenting below.

Richmond
Richmond has a plethora of London 2012 events thanks to the Mayor of London’s Showtime festival, which is visiting Richmond Riverside on its tour. Visit the outdoor arts festival on 22 July to catch acts including kids performers Plunge Boom, who could invite audiences to pet vegetables in Victorian prams for their act the Vegetable Nannies. Choreographer Rosie Whitney-Fish will be offering dance workshops from 4-5 August for the Dear Lido project (also part of Showtime) at the borough’s  Diamond Jubilee Gardens. If you want a rest after the exercise, there will also be vintage tea parties.

Hounslow
The Olympic torch relay will reach Brentford at 11.40am on 24 July, which calls for a gold-themed celebration. Stilt-walking dragons, jugglers and living statues will turn Brentford Market Place into a carnival. Sit on some hay bales around the main stage for the final two-hour programme of live music including jazz, pop and reggae.

Barnet
Victoria Park is the setting for the Labyrinth Youth Festival on 28 July – once again thanks to the Mayor’s Showtime festival. One stage will be dedicated to local performers and another will have an open mic session and DJs for young people with learning disabilities. You’ll bump into other acts all over Victoria Park, including the fabulous paper hats of Chapeau Magique and the RASPO Steel Orchestra, one of the UK’s leading steel drum ensembles.

Redbridge
Redbridge is not being put off by the fact that the Olympic Torch relay arrives in the borough at 7.19am on 22 July. It’s celebrations for the arrival of the torch are particularly impressive, including a dawn chorus, breakfast barbeques, a mass Tai Chi display and early morning sports, should you be so inclined. It is also celebrating the arrival of the Paralympic torch on the evening of 29 August with sports and arts activities in a Paralympics Extravaganza Festival in Ilford Town Centre from 2pm that day.

Will you be celebrating the Games away from the centre of London? Let us know how below.

While the lucky ones amongst us have Olympic tickets, the rest of us can still enjoy much of the Games-time fun. The Olympic Games is the world’s largest event and spills out far beyond set competitions in set venues at set times. Even without tickets, there are plenty of ways to get close to the action.

Road Events

Olympic events like the road cycling races on 28 and 29 July take place on public roads and are free to watch along most of the route – get there early to nab a good spot. The race travels through six London boroughs and starts at The Mall. The Triathlon takes place in Hyde Park on 4 and 7 August and the Marathon pass through the city’ streets on 5 and 12 August. Find out about more free Olympic events here.

BT London Live

Hyde Park and Victoria Park will be buzzing with activity when they become the London Live sites during the Olympics. Huge screens will show all the sporting action and there will be sports to try out and free gigs from the likes of Tom Jones, Alexandra Burke, The Feeling and Amy Macdonald. Not to mention Cadbury House which will see huge inflatable purple domes, hopefully filled with chocolate. For the Paralympic Games, London Live will shift to Trafalgar Square.

Olympic Torch Relay

The Olympic torch will be making its way around London for a week from 21 July, and you can line the streets to soak up the atmosphere and cheer it on its way to the Olympic Stadium. Read our post about where to see the torch in London to make your plans.

A Summer Like No Other

Mayor of London Boris Johnson is presenting a packed schedule of events to celebrate 2012, most of them free. WorldPride 2012 kicks off on 28 June, bringing a two-week party in celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. You can develop a taste for opera at BP Summer Big Screens, take a stroll along some of London’s most scenic streets with free Discovery Trails and cheer the parade of Olympic and Paralympic athletes through central London on 10 September.

London 2012 Festival

The festival is a 12-week extravaganza marking the climax of the Cultural Olympiad (a sort of arty version of the Olympics) and is on now until 9 September.  The variety is endless – there are portraits of athletes and Stratford residents at the BT Road to 2012 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, an Indian take on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at the Noel Coward Theatre and a screening of the classic sporting movie Chariots of Fire at the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square.

Ceinwen Giles, 37, will be carrying the Olympic torch in her home borough of Lewisham on 23 July, as part of the Olympic torch relay around the UK. She was chosen to be a torchbearer following her recovery from blood cancer.

How did you become a torchbearer?
I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma just after I had my daughter. It was really advanced so I had to stay in the hospital for five months after she was born, but it’s now been two years since I went into remission. I used to be a long-distance runner before I got sick and my husband nominated me as a torchbearer because he thought it would be a nice present for me to carry the torch.

How does it feel to be chosen to carry the torch?
A lot of the people who have been chosen have amazing stories, so to be in their company is a big honour. Being a runner, I’ve always been a big fan of the Olympics. I’m probably never going to make it to the Games, so this is the closest I’ll ever get!

What will happen on the day?
The torch is coming to Lewisham early in the morning, so I’ll get picked up in a bus with the other torchbearers. I’m running in Lewisham where I live – the route is really close to our flat so I have friends in the area which is great. The relay organisers haven’t said the exact distance I’ll be running but the average is something like 300m. They drop people on and off in a van and have a party in the evening. I’m looking forward to that and to meeting new people.

Have you done much preparation?
I’ve been watching the relay online and everyone else has been running their section so I want to run the whole thing. So I’ve been going for some runs and making sure I’m fit – carrying the torch is good motivation to get back into shape.

You’re a trustee of a cancer charity – will the relay help raise awareness?
You’re not allowed to wear a sign or a banner during the relay, but we might do some fundraising like asking people to donate if they get their picture taken with the torch. The charity is Shine Cancer Support – it supports adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s who have had cancer. There are a lot of cancer charities out there but most of them care for people who are much older or much younger, so it fills a big gap.

What will you do with your torch after the relay?
I won’t be selling it on eBay! I think I’m going to keep for my daughter. She’s two and a half now and I’d like her to have it as a souvenir of everything we’ve been through.

The Olympic Torch is making its way around the UK on its 70-day relay and is set to arrive in London on 21 July, the weekend before the Games begin. You can line the streets to cheer it on or visit an evening celebration when it stops for the night. Here are some of the top spots to catch a glimpse of the symbolic flame.

21 July: Greenwich to Waltham Forest
The torch will set off from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (7:21) and pass through Newham and Tower Hamlets. In the afternoon it will visit The One Hackney Festival (16:48) in Clissold Park, before passing Hackney Town Hall (17:56). The ballot for tickets to the evening celebration at Chestnuts Showground in Waltham Forest closes on 21 June – anyone can apply although priority is given to local residents.

22 July: Redbridge to Bexley
The second London leg of the tour begins at Redbridge Cycling Centre (7:19) before crossing the lake in Fairlop Waters Country Park (7:50). It can be spotted on the light railway at Barking Park (9:50) and will lead the Carnival Parade at the Dagenham Town Show (11:42).

23 July: Deptford to Tooting
The morning route begins near Deptford Creek (7:20) and heads to Bromley and on to Crystal Palace Park (10:35). It will journey to Croydon and Sutton before it can be seen at Wimbledon’s All England Club (5:32) which is hosting the Olympic tennis.

24 July: Chessington to Ealing
The flame starts moving again at Hook Community Centre in Chessington (8:22). It will be carried through the heart of Brunel University campus (14:46) and past Hillingdon Town Hall (15:41).

25 July: Wealdstone to Haringey
Headstone Manor and Museum in Wealdstone (9:17) kicks off the day’s relay, which heads through Harrow, onto Brent and past White Hart Lane.

26 July: Camden to Hyde Park
The torch will begin the penultimate day outside the Roundhouse in Camden and will travel by barge along Regent’s Canal. It will visit landmarks including St Paul’s Cathedral, the Museum of London and Shakespeare’s Globe, finally passing Buckingham Palace before the final evening celebration – a huge finale concert in Hyde Park featuring artists including Dizzee Rascal and Katy B. Tickets are now on sale priced at £15.

27 July: Up the Thames to the Olympic Stadium
The torch will take to the Thames for its final journey on a boat from Hampton Court (11:30) to Tower Bridge (12:30). It will arrive to appear in front of 80,000 people – and a worldwide TV audience of millions – at the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

To make your torch relay plans you can see a list of every borough the torch will pass through or the detailed street-by-street map here.