Here's my seasonal newsletter for January, February and March 2016 with highlights and a range of events, shows, exhibitions that might brighten up your winter!
SPECIAL EVENTS
JANUARY A big tradition of the
festive season is the January sales with massive bargains at all stores from
the small to the very grand, from a local shop to Harrods. Watch out for Burns
Night on 25th when you’ll find Scottish traditions breaking out all over London
so why not try some haggis this year!
FEBRUARY Love
is in the air with arrival of Valentine’s Day so watch out for special lovvie
events. Ready yourselves for Pancake Day
races around London, one of the best being at the Guildhall in the City where
the livery companies race and toss pancakes while wearing their very special
traditional costumes! February also brings us the Chinese New Year, a big event
in London, as we welcome the year of the Monkey.
MARCH St Patrick’s Day is big
all round the world and London is no exception as the Guinness flows and we
have a huge parade and dancing and bands so get out that green outfit and join
in the fun in Trafalgar Square. The 162nd annual Boat Race will see
the river Thames and the local pubs full of cheers as the 2 crews zip past.
THEATRE
January Shakespeare’s Globe
kicks off 2016 with The Winter’s Tale. Eddie Izzard, perhaps one day Mayor of
London, brings his Force Majeure Reloaded show to The Palace Theatre for an
evening of surreal brilliant comedy. Acclaimed writer Caryl Churchill’s new
play Escaped Alone opens at the Royal Court. Ralph Fiennes stars in Ibsen’s The
Master Builder brought to the stage by David Hare at the Old Vic.
February Hopefully not
reflecting the weather, The Tempest opens at The Globe in their beautiful
indoor Sam Wannamaker Playhouse. Former Friends star Matthew Perry brings his
own play The End of Longing to the Playhouse theatre and also stars in it. The
Dominion theatre stages War of the Worlds by H G Wells with a score by Jeff
Wayne who will conduct a live orchestra – I wonder how they will portray the
Martians! The National Theatre brings us Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, charting
this blues singer’s struggles for recognition. Battlefield at the Young Vic is
based on the Mahabharata, a dramatic tale of a family torn apart by a great
war.
March Charting the story of the
famous record label, Motown the Musical at the Shaftesbury theatre will have
you singing along. I’ve got tickets already for Les Blancs at the National, a
powerful African story. One of last year’s most impressive, if disturbing,
plays and performances returns to the stage at the Wyndham’s so don’t miss
Denise Gough in People, Places and Things. The Old Vic continues to showcase
key British talent with Timothy Spall in the Caretaker.
ART GALLERIES
January One of my favourite
painters is featured in a new show at
the Royal Academy called Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Outside
of the galleries the London Art Fair 2016 at the Business Design Centre
Islington is a major event in the art calendar with over 100 galleries
represented with modern and contemporary work. There are few other new openings
this month so it’s time to catch a number which close soon, including The
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize show at the National Portrait
Gallery, The World Goes Pop at the Tate Modern and Liotard at the Royal
Academy.
February Delacroix
and The Rise of Modern Art opens at the National Gallery. Vogue 100: A Century
of Style can be seen at the National Portrait Gallery with beautiful
photographs commissioned by the magazine since 1916. The Courtauld Gallery has
2 openings this month – Botticelli and the Treasures from the Hamilton
Collection, including his drawings for Dante’s Divine Comedy. Their 2nd
show is Bruegel in Black and White: Three Grisailles Reunited, a rare chance to
see these 3 paintings together.
March A display of Tracey
Emin’s work, including My Bed alongside 2 of Francis Bacon’s work chosen by
Emin can be seen at the Tate Britain. The National Portrait Gallery is showing
Russia and the Arts: The Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky, a selection of great
works on loan from Moscow. The new
exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery is Scottish Artists: from Caledonia to the
Continent with works from the Royal Collection from 1750 through to 1900.
SHOPPING, FASHION, MARKETS
January The January sales are a
big event and massive bargains are to be found in the grand department stores,
designer boutiques and the reliable chain stores.
February The
big news for February is the winter London Fashion Week which will showcase the
spring/summer collections followed by London Fashion Weekend when they let the
likes of us in to peruse what’s new.
It’s a good month for fashion as Somerset House are hosting The
International Fashion Showcase for emerging fashion designers on the theme of
Imaging Utopia, spread over 15 galleries.
March As the days get longer
and the temperatures warm up, make the most of London’s street markets: Portobello on Saturdays; Camden market any
day; Spitalfields most days but best on Sundays; Borough food market Wednesday
to Saturday; and, Columbia Road flower market on Sundays.
MUSEUMS AND EXHIBITIONS
January An exhibition from last year
which slipped through the net is at the Museum of London Docklands where The
Caribbean’s Great War looks really interesting in their impressive gallery
called London, Sugar and Slavery. There are some key closures this month: The Victoria and Albert Museum’s Fabric of
India exhibition and their Shoes: Pleasure and Pain; and, Celts: Art and
Identity at the British Museum.
February The Science Museum’s new show
Leonardo Da Vinci: The Mechanics of a Genius explores his incredible inventions
with models, drawing and interactive games as you would expect at this creative
museum.
March At the Victoria and
Albert Museum a major show called Botticelli Reimagined will explore his
enduring influence, looking across the centuries his impact on art, =fashion,
design and film through 500 of his work and examples of those who have been
touched by his art from William Morris to Andy Warhol.
FOODIE THINGS
January The Swan at the Globe
with its great views of the Thames and St Pauls reopens after refurbishment. A
new restaurant on a familiar site sees 100 Wardour Street, a new D&D
venture, take on the old Floridita site, carrying on their tradition of music
in the lower floor. London favourites the Galvins are turning their
Spitalfields venue into a pub called Hop tho’ not your average pub as the food
and drink will be posh and they will be serving de luxe hot dogs! January sees Burns Night so seek out some
Scottish food to celebrate and bravely try some haggis!
February Duende
from the Bravas Tapas folk of St Katherine’s Dock opens in Covent – I really
like this place so hope the new opening lives up to their original restaurant. Tom
Sellers of the massively successful Restaurant Story opens a new place called
Restaurant Ours in Kensington and promises to have a dramatic design with 3
enormous interior trees! Close to me
will be a new Italian restaurant with a menswear upstairs when Chucs opens with
a garden terrace and coffee bar. Oliver Maki, big in Kuwait and Bahrain, opens
in Soho with his contemporary sushi. Good news for those who like to plan, Pitt
Cue Co are opening a new venue in the City as we hear they will take bookings!
March Sourced Market is a new
deli/café/wine and beer shop in Marylebone stocking 100 small artisan food and
drink suppliers fine goods. Some of the
February openings say ‘late Feb’ which usually means March so check the
February listing just in case……
PARKS AND GARDENS, ROYAL PALACES
January Twilight Tours of the
Tower of London will open your eyes to the spooky and gruesome history of this
historic site but please don’t have nightmares.
February A Charity Gala at the Tower of London brings
the stars of the West End stage into the Tower for 2 nights of variety acts
including some with the famous Beefeaters. The Tower is busy in the evenings this month
as Nightwatchers returns, an after-hours immersive experience of a shadowy
world of surveillance in modern and Tudor times – sounds scary but fun.
March Sporty times at Hampton
Court Palace where their half marathon takes in the palace grounds and the
Thames paths. More sedate fare but still
needing some endurance is their Dusk til Dawn Sleepover with entertainment,
tours of the palace, a meal and a chance to sleep inside the palace. Kew Palace
reopens at the end of March after its winter hibernation.
SPORT
January The World Snooker – The
Masters comes to Alexandra Palace, snooker’s biggest invitation event. Also at
Alexandra Palace are the World Championships of Ping Pong where unsung hero
Englishman Andrew Baggaley is defending his title. The football season pushes
through the 2 cups with key rounds being played in the League Cup and FA Cup
with plenty of London teams on show. NBA Basketball can be cheers on at the 02
Arena where Orlando Magic face the Toronto Raptors.
February The
Six Nations starts with matches at Twickenham where we will be looking to
England to offer more than they managed in last year’s World Cup. The football
League Cup will be played at Wembley.
March The Six Nations continues. The annual
University Boat Race sees Oxford v Cambridge for the 162nd time with
Oxford leading Cambridge 81 wins to 79 (for those of you good at maths, there
was one dead heat in 1877 which makes the numbers right). The Velodrome in the
Olympic Park is the venue for the UCI Track Cycling Championships, full of the
top names - mostly British hopefully!
MUSIC
January Trevor Nelson’s Soul
Nation comes to the Jazz Café. The reformed (ie back together, I can’t speak
for anything else being reformed!) Libertines play at the O2 Arena. Also coming
back are the Corrs, also at the 02 Arena. Hozier are at the 02 Brixton as are
the Maccabees. Ron Pope and the Nighthawks take on Koko
February Jess
Glynne plays the 02 Brixton as do Twenty One Pilots, and Jo Harman plays the
Jazz Café. Jason Derulo comes to the 02 Arena and Gabrielle Aplin is at the 02 Empire
Shepherds Bush. Old favourites Fun Lovin Criminals can be seen at the 02 Empire
Shepherds Bush and Massive Attack take on 02 Academy Brixton supported by Young
Fathers. (Check the 02 Shepherds Bush as they have roof problems so some shows
may be moved)
March Rudimental come to the
02 Arena with ’We are the Generation’ and Ellie Goulding plays there too. Leona
Lewis comes to the stage of the London Palladium. Wolf Alice is at the Forum
and Lianne La Havas is at the Royal Albert Hall. C2C – Country to Country music festival rolls
into the 02 Arena and old favourite The Stranglers take to the stage at the 02
Brixton Academy.
Enjoy
London!
Sue
@itsyourlondon
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk
