I send a seasonal newsletter directly to members of my friends club but want to let my blog readers have the chance to enjoy it too. So here's a few of the great things happening in London over the winter.
IT’S YOUR LONDON NEWSLETTER FOR WINTER
2017.
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IT’S YOUR LONDON NEWSLETTER FOR WINTER
2017.
Here’s
your winter 2017 newsletter giving you a taster of the exciting events coming
up in the next 3 months in our capital. If you want to hear more about anything
listed, or any other things you may have heard about, do send me an email
(sue@itsyourlondon.co.uk) and I’ll get right back to you.
A warm
welcome to new subscribers!
Have a
look a Sue’s blog on the website (www.itsyourlondon.co.uk) to read about what
I’ve been up to lately – a peek into life in London. I’m also on Twitter at @itsyourlondon
so do join my 4080 followers for all the latest news!
Hope
you enjoy your newsletter, let me know what you think.
Best
wishes,
Sue
Hillman
SPECIAL EVENTS
JANUARY One popular tradition
following the festive season is the January sales which offer 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! This year the Chinese
New Year falls in January, it’s a big event in London and in 2017 we will welcome
in the year of the Rooster.
FEBRUARY Love
is in the air with arrival of Valentine’s Day so watch out for special lovvie
events and menus at most restaurants.
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!
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. Mother’s Day in the UK falls in March so treat
your mum to a special meal in one of London’s fabulous top class restaurants.
THEATRE
January The Kite Runner opens
at the Wyndhams Theatre and it will be interesting to see how they stage this
powerful story. Also tackling tough
issues, BU21 at the Trafalgar Studios explores a massive (but fictitious)
terrorist attack and the reactions of 6 Londoners who survive. To lift the
spirits, Thoroughly Modern Millie comes to the New Wimbledon Theatre, based on
the 1976 Oscar winning film and starring Joanne Clifton from Strictly Come
Dancing. Somewhere in between is a comedy at the Park Theatre called which is
based in a family’s frog farm in rural England and their 6 foot frogs,
terrorism and the mystery of the long dead mother!
February There’s quite a build
up for Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s theatre as it is an acclaimed
transfer from Broadway starring Tony Award winner Cherry Jones. The Boys in the
Band opens at the Vaudeville starring Mark Gatiss of Sherlock fame, offering razor
sharp witty entertainment – they say – its first west end outing for 20 years. Tom
Stoppard’s Travesties comes to the Apollo starring Tom Hollander, from The
Night Manager, and Stoppard’s dazzling comedic writing. The story that inspired
the film Calendar Girls comes to the Phoenix Theatre as The Girls with a
musical contribution from Gary Barlow.
March I’m really looking forward to
Don Juan in Soho starring the wonderful David Tennant at the Wyndhams Theatre
and have tickets for this already! The multi award winning musical La Cage aux
Folles returns to London at the New Wimbledon Theatre to lighten our
hearts. The indoor theatre at The Globe,
the Sam Wannamaker Playhouse, hosts Othello and the Old Vic takes on
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead starring Daniel Radcliffe. The Harold
Pinter Theatre brings us Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf starring Imelda
Staunton and Luke Treadaway and Conleth Hill.
An American in Paris, a new musical lands at the Dominion Theatre starring
Jane Asher
ART GALLERIES
January The annual London Art
Fair at the Business Design Centre in Islington is a big deal showcasing modern
British art from the early 20th century to now. January is when a lot of the big autumn shows
close so hurry to catch: Wilfredo Lam at the Tate Modern; Beyond Caravaggio at
the National Gallery; Rodin and Dance at the Courtauld Gallery; and, Malik
Sidibe at Somerset House.
February Two
new and contrasting shows open at the Royal Academy: Revolution: Russian Art
1917-1932; and, America After the Fall: Painting in the 1930s. The former looks
at the revolutionary art breaking boundaries, through Kandinsky, Malevich and
the Socialist Realism movement through other media including film, until
Stalin’s clampdown in 1932. The latter show has 45 iconic works from Pollock,
O’Keeffe and Hopper among others, and American Gothic by Grant Wood which has
never before left America. It explores post-crash
America in flux, with rapid social change and financial insecurities through
what is being billed as a ‘once in a generation’ exhibition. The Tate Britain
brings us a comprehensive David Hockney show, bringing together 60 years of
painting, video, sketches and photography. Wolfgang Tillmans work is in display
at the Tate Modern
March The National Gallery
will be exploring the artistic relationship between 2 great Renaissance
masters, Michelangelo and Sebastiano del Piombo from 1510 to 1540 in a new
exhibition called Meeting of Minds, through their collaborations. 2 excellent
exhibitions close in March: Paul Nash at the Tate Britain and Australia’s
Impressionists at the National Gallery.
SHOPPING, FASHION, MARKETS
January The January sales are a
big event and massive bargains are to be found in the grand department stores
such as Harrods and Selfridges, designer boutiques all around town 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 and what we will be wearing very soon.
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 Alexandra Palace is hosting a
London Model Engineering Exhibition, so lots of railways but also planes,
tanks, trucks and boats. The Victoria and Albert Museum has a new show opening
in January looking at the Arts and Crafts in the Punjab and London. The new
Design Museum just opened late November so make a trip west to check out the
beautiful renovated building in Kensington.
February The Science Museum’s big new
show will explore the last 500 years of robots from the scientific and artistic
viewpoint. From a 1500s articulated mannequin to the state of art 2017 life
changing machines, there will be 100 robots, 15 of which will be working
models. At the Victoria and Albert Museum you can visit Collecting Europe
examining the big question ‘What is Europe now?’ by travelling 2000 years into
the future courtesy of 12 international artists who then look back to now from
then to answer that question – sounds intriguing….
March Book early for the
adult sleep overs at the Natural History Museum, Dino Snores! The British Museum
has a new show called The American Dream: Pop to the Present, showcasing for
the first time the museum’s outstanding collection of American prints from the
1960s through this turbulent time in the country’s history.
FOODIE THINGS
January January sees the
marking of Burns Night and not just in Scotland, so seek out some Scottish food
to celebrate and bravely try some haggis in restaurants such as the Boisdale
and Hix restaurants. Kricket, a modern Indian in Soho offers small plates.
Tommi’s Burger Joint in Soho offers a change to the USA brands with Icelandic
burgers! Mere in Fitzrovia comes with a good pedigree as Monica Galetti, known
from Masterchef but mostly as ex Gavroche chef, opens her own place. Six
Storeys is one of the easily named places as, you’ve guessed, is an entire
townhouse in Soho Square will be offering all day dining and drinking. One of
my favourite French restaurants, Casse Croute, has a new location round the
corner, offering breakfasts and brunches every day called Pique-Nique which is
a little delayed from its original opening plan.
February Steve
Parle from the Dock Kitchen (where he cooked me a wonderful meal recently!)
opens Palatino majoring on Roman cuisine in Clerkenwell. The Cheese Bar, a food
truck, settles down in Camden Market with top grilled cheese toasties. Nape in
Camberwell will serve cured meats, a deli and bottle shop, the meat will be
great as Cannon and Cannon run the place are famous for their quality
charcuterie. Rail House Café from the Riding House Café folk will be opening a
large venue in the Victoria area which is in need of some good new places.
March Several advance listings say
‘early/spring 2017’ so it’s quite a safe bet that March onwards will seem them
hit the restaurant scene but apologies if they get their acts together and hit
February. Maple and Kings in Kings Cross will offer healthy eating – salads,
cold press juices and gluten free desserts. The luxurious Stafford Hotel is
having a refurb and upping its restaurant game with the James Durrant run The
Game Bird, expecting a very British menu. Another well-known chef, Claude Bosi
formerly of Hibiscus (now sadly closed) will be running both floors at the
glorious Bibendum building. A huge opening in terms of scale will be Ned in the
City from the Soho House group. Called Ned after Edwin Luytens, always called
Ned, who designed the building, it is a massive site and will have 8, yes 8,
restaurants, private members club and private dining (making 9 restaurants) , a
252 room hotel and a Cowshed spa and a gym.
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. Adult Ghost Tours at Hampton
Court Palace continue the scary theme….
February Also at the Tower of London is Conquest, a
costumed live activity aimed at half term crowds who will be called upon to
help defend the Tower against enemies on all sides! The Banqueting House hosts
a big Palace Pub Quiz, such an impressive room to spend a fun evening in. If you are near Green Park at midday on 6th
February, hurry there to hear the gun salute to mark Accession Day to celebrate
when the Queen took on the throne – there will be at least 41 rounds!
March. Kew Palace reopens at
the end of March after its winter hibernation so combine it with the wonderful
sight of spring flowers at the Kew Botanical Gardens.
SPORT
January Darts kick off the
sporting year at Alexandra Palace with the last rounds of the world
championship final. Then the Dafabet Masters comes to Alexandra Palace, snooker’s
biggest invitation event. Also at Alexandra Palace in a busy month are the
World Championships of Ping Pong where they say the game is returning to the
mainstream! The football season pushes
through the 2 cup competitions with key rounds being played in the League Cup
and FA Cup with plenty of London teams on show. NBA Basketball can be cheered
on at the 02 Arena where the Denver Nuggets face the Indiana Pacers .
February The
Six Nations starts with matches at Twickenham where we will be looking to
England to continue their winning ways – apologies to the other home nations
but I’m English. The football League Cup final will be played at Wembley. Netball
comes to the SSE Arena Wembley when England play Australia and New Zealand take
on South Africa in the Quad Series.
March The Six Nations continues and completes all
the matches through March, England’s last game will be against Scotland at
Twickenham. The England football team are on the trail to the 2018 World Cup
with a qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley. In boxing David Haye fights Tony Bellew in a
heavyweight clash at the 02 Arena. The
FA Cup reaches quarter final stage and I hope some London clubs are still in
the draw.
MUSIC
January Black Sabbath and Ozzy
Osbourne take on the 02 Arena for their ‘last ever tour’ called The End! Also
at the 02 is Drake. Several venues have David Bowie tributes on this 1st
anniversary of his death, including the Jazz Café. Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna
with its combination of music and death defying acrobatics takes on a long
stint at the Royal Albert Hall. Ronnie Scott’s has some good shows including
Ruby Turner, Claire Martin, Manu Katche and Booker T Jones.
February Blast
from the past Donny Osmond comes to the Apollo with Soundtrack of My Life. Also
at the Apollo are Busted and Bon Iver. LeAnn Rimes plays one night at the
massive London Palladium venue. Green Day are at the equally big 02 Arena
March The Kaiser Chiefs come
to the 02 Arena as does Craig David and Olly Murs and the C2C massive country
music festival with some of the biggest names. Elbow play 3 nights at the
Apollo. A R Rahman takes on the Wembley
SSE Arena and The Who play an acoustic version of Tommy at the Royal Albert
Hall. Old favourites The Stranglers play their biggest hits on their Classic
Collection Tour at the Brixton Academy. The atmospheric venue Union Chapel
hosts Macy Gray and G4, and top reggae band Aswad play at Under the Bridge.
Enjoy
London!
Sue
@itsyourlondon
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk
v Everything
is current at the time of writing but dates, events and venues may change
