I send out a seasonal newsletter to subscribers but I wanted to share with with my blog readers too so here's the It's Your London Newsletter for Spring 2016. It's full of great listings for April, May and June so I hope you'll find some stuff you will enjoy:
SPECIAL EVENTS
April Over 35,000 runners in
the London Marathon take over the streets and the nation’s hearts as they
struggle past the sights of London to raise incredible amounts for charity,
keeping going long after the elite runners have reached the end on the Mall.
The crowds are huge and it’s great fun to join in to cheer them on to the
finish.
May The magnificent Chelsea
Flower Show is the greatest flower show in the world and it gets us in the mood
for gardening with all that fabulous colour and design. Let’s hope we get some
London sunshine too. Don’t miss the very
British Canal Cavalcade when scores of brightly decorated canal boats gather in
Little Venice for two days of fun.
June Our Queen has 2
birthdays, her real one in April and her official one in June and this year
it’s her 90th so there will be all kinds of celebrations as well as
the usual royal event called Trooping the Colour. You can see the royals ride
past if you get to The Mall well ahead of the start and don’t forget to take
your flag to wave at them. The end of June sees the start of Wimbledon when we
all go tennis mad for 2 weeks and SW19 is the place to be.
THEATRE
April Lots of excitement
about Sunset Boulevard coming to the Coliseum starring Glen Close and I have a
ticket so let’s hope it lives up to the hype. Transferring to the West End at
the Savoy is Funny Girl starring the excellent Sheridan Smith – I also have tickets
for this so April is looking good. Doctor Faustus at the Duke of York’s is also
getting a lot of attention due to its star Kit Harington from Game of
Thrones. More musical fun from Show Boat
from the great Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein at the New London Theatre.
May I was surprised to see
that the version of Jekyll and Hyde opening at the Old Vic is a dance
production, an intriguing option. At Shakespeare’s Globe you can catch
Midsummer Night’s Dream and hopefully it will keep dry for those standing in
the uncovered section, which is a lot of fun.
More Shakespeare at the Garrick where Romeo and Juliet has stars turns
from Derek Jacobi and Lily James. The Print Room is staging Beckett’s novels in
their festival Beckett in London bringing his prose to the stage.
June There is always a lot
of Shakespeare on the London stage but this year it’s the 400th
anniversary of his death so even more plays are being staged. The Open Air Theatre
in Regent’s Park brings us Henry V with a female actor in the role of Henry, a
nice twist from when the bard wrote his plays and all roles were played by men.
On a lighter note, Breakfast at
Tiffany’s at the Haymarket Theatre Royal stars Pixie Lott. Michael Crawford
returns to the stage for the first time since 2011 to star in a musical version
of The Go Between at the Apollo.
ART GALLERIES
April To celebrate the
arrival of spring, a free exhibition at the National Gallery brings us Dutch
Flowers, exploring Dutch painting from its beginnings in the early 17th
century to its peak in the late 18th. The Tate Britain has Conceptual Art in Britain
1964-1979, exploring this pivotal period in British art and its legacy. The
Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, the world’s largest photography
exhibition, showcases over 500 of the winners and shortlisted photos across all
categories from photojournalism through to fine art landscape. Let’s not forget to mention the Saatchi
Gallery’s blockbuster Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones sure to be the most
visited in London this month.
May Painting with Light at the
Tate Britain looks at art and photography, and the interplay between these
forms, from the Pre-Raphaelites to the modern age, a wide sweep indeed. More
photography at Somerset House when Photo London opens, bringing together 80 of
the world’s leading galleries and offers specific exhibitions such as the war
photographer Don McCullin. Damien
Hirst’s gallery Newport Street hosts a Jeff Koons exhibition called Now.
June At the Courtauld
Gallery you can see paintings by Georgiana Houghton, a spiritualist medium
whose abstract watercolours were ‘guided’ by artists including Renaissance
masters – intriguing! The National
Portrait Gallery hosts the annual BP Portrait Award, the most prestigious
international exhibition of contemporary portrait painting. The National Gallery’s Painters Paintings has
work from the collections of artists such as Matisse, Reynolds and Van Dyck,
exploring the motivations for collecting and the influence of these works.
SHOPPING, FASHION, MARKETS
April This year’s St George’s
Day has a special Shakespeare theme to celebrate his 400th so look
out for events across London offering food, fun and market stalls. Borough
Market is one to head for as they will be going all out to celebrate.
May Carnaby Street’s
Shopping Party promises to be the ‘ultimate shopping experience’ with
restaurants and bars joining the array of cool boutiques and live music for
their evening of retail therapy.
June The Spirit of Summer Fair at Olympia
exhibition centre has everything you never knew you needed for your home and
garden and yourself. The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane hosts the 25th
Annual Graduate Fashion Week so check out what the latest trends will be and
spot some up and coming names.
MUSEUMS AND EXHIBITIONS
April The British Museum’s new
major exhibition is Sicily: Culture and Conquest, telling the fascinating
stories of how the waves of invaders have shaped the cultural identity of this
Mediterranean island. The Victoria and
Albert Museum will be expecting a lot of interest in their new exhibition
Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear tracing developments from the 18th
century to the present day.
May Another big show from
the British Museum is Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds with wonderful
artefacts from two recently rediscovered sunken cities at the mouth of the
Nile. May sees the enjoyable Museums by
Night event where a wide range of museums in London and across the country
offer late specials over a 4 day period. This is a great opportunity to see
some of the smaller museums out of hours.
June There is an Engineering
Season at the Victoria and Albert Museum, highlighting the contribution and
importance of engineering in our everyday lives. There will be a special garden
installation in the courtyard, an exhibition looking at the life and work of
Ove Arup and a gallery looking at London’s role as an engineering centre. One museum to catch up with is the Museum of
Brands, Packaging and Advertising which has moved to new larger premises to
give their displays more room to breathe.
It’s a nostalgia fest and fascinating to see how packaging has changed
and yet stayed the same since Victorian times.
FOODIE THINGS
April Let’s hope it’s a warm spring
as Four Winters opens in Gloucester Road offering liquid nitrogen ice cream
with its roots in Jordan. Ex Nahm chef
Andy Oliver opens a new Thai restaurant Som Saa in Spitalfields after
successful temporary versions. Also moving on from temporary to permanent basis
is Walter and Monty in the City, billed as ‘street food with Michelin
expertise’ they offer charcoal grilled meat and fish with eastern flavours. A
first London site for Mexican Cielo Blanco, inspired by the barbacoa markets of
Oaxaca.
May Foleys in Fitzrovia,
run by ex Palomar chef Mitz Vora, will be "experimenting with food from
around the world with trade route twists and influences". Also branching
out on his own is ex Bar Boulud maitre’d Paulo de Tarso, opening a rustic
Italian restaurant in Covent Garden. A new Galvin opens at the revamped
Athenaeum on Piccadilly. New city wine
bar called Humble Grape offers wine and small plates off Fleet Street.
June Listed for ‘late
spring’ or ‘early summer’ are several new restaurants which are not committing
themselves to an exact date, often the way….
Samarkand will be a new place in Charlotte Street offering Uzbeki
cuisine in the old Fino location. Tandoor Chop House planned for Covent Garden
from the team behind Hoxton Hotel and Egg Break looks interesting – and English
chop house with a touch of Indian spices. Farang in Borough is part of the new
development in Flat Iron Square where Seb Holmes will be offering Thai food at
its best.
PARKS AND GARDENS, ROYAL PALACES
April The London Marathon
starts and ends in royal parks – Greenwich and St James’s – so if you are
watching the race, enjoy the parks as well. April sees the reopening of The
Banqueting House after several months of restauration work so now’s a good time
to admire its amazing painted ceiling by Rubens and hear of the role this room
has played in dramatic historic events. Hampton Court Palace is celebrating 300
years of Capability Brown, the palace gardener (!) with a special exhibition of
his drawings.
May Richmond Park is a wonder and is home to a
large herd of deer, in May you can take a guided walk to learn more about it.
Kensington Gardens is hosting the Vogue Festival with shows and talks from
leading international designers including Tom Ford and Donatella Versace.
June Regent’s Park is home
to the annual foodie extravangza that is Taste London. St James’s Park is where you will find the
Trooping of the Colour, an extra special event this year as it marks the
Queen’s 90th birthday. A week
before the main event they hold the rehearsal which offers a great chance to
catch the pomp and circumstance with a closer view – no royals tho’.
SPORT
April The big event in April
is the London marathon with over 35,000 runners and thousands more lining the
streets throughout the course to cheer on the brave souls who battle on to
raise millions for charities. County Cricket is starting its season and the Harlem
Globetrotters come to the 02 Arena to show off the basketball skills. Also at
the 02 Arena is the mad world of American WWE Wrestling, although I’m not sure
it really is a sport is it?
May It’s a big summer for
football with the Euros next month but we have the small matter of the FA Cup
at Wembley to round off the English season and the Football League
play-offs. Twickenham hosts the Rugby
Union Premiership finals and the World Rugby Sevens Series is also in London
.Golf’s PGA is at Wentworth, just outside London
June England take on Sri
Lanka at cricket at Lords in the 3rd Test, Men’s and women’s Hockey
Champions Trophy take place in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. However, June
is all about tennis as we are treated to 2 major events in London, Queens which
is the warm up on grass for the main event, Wimbledon starting at the end of
June.
MUSIC
April Good to see Tinie Tempah is
back with a new album and shows at the Brixton 02 Academy. The Vaccines are on
a the Royal Albert Hall as part of the big annual Teenage Cancer Trust bash as
are New Order, Everything Everything and Simply Red and Dave Gilmour. Bryan
Ferry brings elegance to the London Palladium.
Adele brings her major to London’s 02 Arena as part of her major UK tour
– tickets like gold! Brit award winner James Bay plays the Apollo and Muse’s
well reviewed tour comes to the 02 Arena.
May Donovan Turns 70 tells
you want you need to know about his show at the Palladium. Not quite as old but
still been around a while is Bryan Adams playing at the 02 with his oddly named
‘Get Up Tour’! Talking of strange tour names, Iggy Pop has this nailed with his
‘Post Pop Depression Tour’ at the Royal Albert Hall. May is quite the month for
older performers with Ralph McTell, Elvis Costello, OMD, Yes, Rita Coolidge to
name but a few.
June. The oldies theme continues as the festival
season kicks into gear. One of my favourites is back: Bonnie Raitt at the
Apollo where I saw her many years ago.
Check out this list of big names in town this month: Coldplay, Bruce
Springsteen, AC-DC, Tom Jones, Foreigner, Adam Ant, Neil Young, Van Morrison,
Barry Manilow on his ‘Last Time’ tour and Art Garfunkel.
Enjoy
London!
Sue
@itsyourlondon
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment