Showing posts with label London Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London Christmas. Show all posts

Thursday, January 12

London During Christmas Celebrations

Christmas is celebrated around the world with a lot of enthusiasm. Traditional Christmas festivities, foods and events remain the major things to focus on during the yuletide season and London is the best place in the world to enjoy all these at their best.
London’s Christmas celebrations are widely written about as millions throng the city to indulge in them. London is where you can fill the stockings with interesting Christmas presents while sipping on mulled wine or hot chocolate. With Christmas festivals, fairs and events taking place at the various parks, museums, theatres, high streets and cathedrals of the city, London turns into a dazzling core of fun and activities.

The chic English capital is famous for its fashion weeks. Londoners are highly fashionable people and love to shop for the latest fashion clothing and accessories. The city is home to the best high streets in the world that become popular tourist attractions during the Christmas season due to festive lightings and shopping. Oxford Street remains the highlight every year with all the major stores including the Selfridges, Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser and John Lewis offering special promotions to attract shoppers. Children are presented with exciting gifts at many stores and shops on taking part in interactive games and puzzles.

For pantomime fans, London becomes a paradise during the Christmas season with many theatres hosting stage adaptations of world famous folk tales. Children and adults alike are sure to have loads of fun in the capital watching the panto version of Aladdin, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Wittington, The Gruffalo and The Snowman. Even CBBC’s popular duo, Dan Clarkson and Jeff Turner will also be back this year to make everyone roll on the ground with laughter with their hilarious panto performance. Tickets for all the pantomimes to be held in the city are already up for sale and you must lay your hands on them as soon as possible or you will repent later on.

Family holidayer’s can take their children to the various grottos hosted in different shopping districts of the city. Nothing can give you more pleasure than seeing your child sit in the lap of Santa and have his/her wish list fulfilled by Santa himself. You can look forward to take your children to Harrods department store to see an exquisite grotto there. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland also offers you a true dose of Christmas as anyone can access Santa’s grotto installed there without any cost. Even the legendary Selfridges will not leave any stone unturned in pleasing its young visitors by letting them meet the man in red, his elves and a cheeky snowman in its premises.

One of the major highlights of Christmas activities in London is ice skating. London boasts an amazing array of ice rinks that will see hundreds of people spinning on ice in Christmas 2011. The most favorite ice rink remains the one at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland where skating buffs can enjoy twirling under a starlit sky. Visitors have many fantastic options to choose from when it comes to ice skating. Skating at the ice rink in the Tower of London also offers you a great opportunity to skate in the backdrop of popular London attractions. Other popular ice rinks in London are hosted at the Somerset House and the Natural History Museum.

Last but not the least thing to do during Christmas celebrations in London is to enjoy in the festive glow of glittering Christmas lights. All the high streets of the city are illuminated with especially designed lighting displays and the lights are turned on by popular Hollywood celebrities at major locations in the city.

Thursday, November 17

London Christmas Pantomimes

Christmas pantomimes in London offer a lot of fun and laughter to children and adults alike.
Christmas in London is full of fun and entertainment activities. From the world’s largest Christmas tree at Trafalgar square to catch everyone’s fancy to festive food deals at hundreds of restaurants; there is so much to spoil yourself in the festive spirit in the English capital. Depending upon your interests, you can enjoy musicals, serious drama, cultural shows, comedy, ice-skating or shopping at the various offbeat Christmas markets of the city. One unique form of art that is exhibited in London’s various cultural venues is pantomimes that are equally enjoyed by children and adults alike. A pantomime is a form of theatre show in which the actors mutely express their feelings, emotions, etc. via gestures. Along with the interactive actions of the actors the background music keeps the audience glued. This Christmas and New Year, you can enjoy pantomimes on a variety of classical tales in popular London theatres.

From 6th December 2011- 31st December 2011, the Shaw Theatre of London will present a pantomime on Jack and the Beanstalk. Everyone will surely like this hilarious version of the popular tale of old Jack, the big beanstalk, the magic beans and the golden goose. Keeping with its image, the Shaw Theatre promises a spectacular pantomime show that will tickle everyone’s funny bone.

The Peacock Theatre of London will bring to you a fun-filled pantomime on The Snowman from 1st December 2011 - 9th January 2012. People of all ages will be thrilled to see a boy’s snowman coming to life and accompanying him to meet Father Christmas. Children will especially find themselves in the air grooving to Howard Blake’s original songs that will be played in the background.

The Hackney Empire will be offering a mesmerizing visual treat to all Cinderella lovers from 26th November 2011 – 8th January 2012. This century old theatre (opened in 1901) will be hosting the traditional Cinderella pantomime show and giving a hilarious time to audiences. Popular stage and screen actors will be presenting this exciting version of the much loved Cinderella story with charming background music.

Aladdin fans will surely have a great Christmas this year. Continuing on its tradition to offer amusing pantomimes the Beck Theatre will be hosting a Christmas pantomime show on the story of Aladdin, a favorite with families. There will be three shows taking place every day at 2pm, 5pm and 7pm from 17th December 2011 – 08th January 2012. Mark Jones will be again playing Wishee Washee and delight everyone with his enchanting act. Tickets for Aladdin (£10.00 per ticket) are already up for sale online.

Another popular London theatre that will be continuing its highly popular yearly pantomime is The New Wimbledon Theatre. The audiences at the theatre will enjoy a panto version of the Dick Wittington classic tale. This Christmas panto has already won hearts of many Londoners, and this year again it will be enthralling locals and visitors alike from 9th December 2011 - 15th January 2012. The ticket will cost you £8.00 - £11.00.

Monday, November 14

London Christmas Shows 2011

The capital of England, London is a city of traditions and festivals. Round the year a number of celebrations take place in traditional British style throughout the city and attract millions from different parts of the world. Undeniably, the major event of the year happens to be Christmas and the whole city turns into a breathtaking spectacle of lights during the winter season.

Londoners celebrate Christmas with enormous enthusiasm and so do visitors in London. The city virtually gets caught up in shopping, eating and dancing fever and everyone loves to indulge in festivities. Apart from firework displays and Christmas lights at the popular high streets of London, visitors can enjoy a range of spectacular shows that take place throughout the Christmas season at the various cultural centre’s of the city.

The Royal Albert Hall (from 12 December 2011 - 24 December 2011)
Lend some blissful Christmas music to your ears at the Royal Albert Hall where traditional corals will be sung by popular artists. Lesley Garrett will offer a special performance singing Christmas corals, operatic songs and some selected arias. A thrilling live music concert will take place every day. A Royal Choral Society Christmas carol concert will kick of the show and visitors will also be enthralled by Natasha Kaplinsky hosted BT charity Christmas concert. The London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Philharmonic Choir will delight the audiences with classic corals during the festival at the hall. The concert will conclude with everyone singing O Come, All Ye Faithful and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing in an evocative ambience by candlelight.

Royal Philharmonic Christmas Cracker (21 December 2011 - 23 December 2011) 
Continuing on classic music, London’s Cadogan Hall will pull a huge crowed of orchestral music lovers. The popular Royal Philharmonic Christmas Cracker will present a delightful selection of yuletide tunes to immerse everyone in some festive warmth. Orchestra enthusiasts can expect to enjoy sing-a-long corals in a charming ambience to cheer everyone around. Performances of It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Mary's Boy Child will remain the highlight of the concert and so will recitals of the Hansel and Gretel Overture and the Skater's Waltz Overture by Engelbert Humperdinck. Ticket price ranges from £12.50 to £37.50.

A John Waters Christmas (05 December 2011)
Celebrated cult film maker and gay icon, John Waters will take people at Southbank Center on an insanely funny ride and present his weird love for Santa. Entertaining the audiences with his one man show, Waters will set the tone of the show with his unusual humor, rapid-fire monologue and crazy Christmas stories. The popular raconteur will also be sharing his bizarre interest in real life festive horror stories with the audiences. Ticket price range is £15.00 - £25.00.

Bollywood Trip (12 December 2011 - 18 December 2011)
Indian music and Bollywood dance are greatly enjoyed in London. Even Queen Elizabeth II is known to have showered praises over Bollywood dancing. So, if you are also fascinated with Indian culture then reach the Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank centre to enjoy The Bollywood Trip, a stage version of the love story of Parminder Singh, a collaborative work of Gauri Sharma Tripathi, a kathak choreographer, and Rolf Heim, an award winning stage director.

What else!
All of you who wish to enjoy a memorable Christmas this year, make hotel bookings in London as soon as possible. With so many exciting and adventurous activities to enjoy you can expect a life time experience in London this December. One of the major attractions will be Hyde Park Winter Wonderland where visitors can enjoy dining in London makeshift restaurants, shopping and ice skating in a starry night. Bonfire Night will be another popular event taking place during the Christmas season. Even before the Christmas fever will subside, Londoners will indulge in New Year celebrations. In fact, a number of events will carry on even after New Year.