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 Don't let the autumnal chill put you off going outside in November; from fireworks to ice-rinks, there's loads to tempt you out, just remember to wrap up warm. The pinnacle of the pyrotechnics is the Lord Mayor's Show, a fantastic outdoor parade and free fireworks display. Christmas starts to kick in during this month too so look out for festive lights popping up over the capital.
 Medieval and Renaissance Galleries Victoria and Albert (V & A) Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL 2nd December 2009 The Victoria and Albert Museum is undergoing a series of renovations and improvements throughout 2009 costing a whopping £120 million. Plans for improvements include ten new Medieval and Renaissance galleries to showcase the V & A's collection of treasures from the period 300-1600. In the east wing of the museum, the galleries, due to open on 2nd December, will house historic art works including textiles, paintings, sculpture, glass, metalwork, prints, manuscripts, furniture, ceramics and jewellery. With 145 galleries to explore and over 4 million items, the V & A is one of the most influential museums of decorative and applied arts in the world and this new addition will help to promote the remarkable collection to a worldwide audience. Address: Victoria and Albert (V & A) Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL Phone: 020 7942 2000 Timing: Daily 10am-5.45pm (Fri 10pm) Pricing: FREE Nearest Station: South Kensington Medieval and Renaissance Galleries - Information   Spirit of Christmas FairOlympia, W14 8UX 4th - 8th November 2009 Get all your Christmas shopping done under one roof - and get it out of the way more than a month before Christmas. Backed by 'House & Garden' magazine, you can expect the finest seasonal products ranging from Christmas decorations and home accessories to children's toys and seasonal eats at this festive fair. With over 600 companies presenting their wares, you'll find something for everyone on your Christmas list and plenty you won't find in the shops. The Food Hall is bound to tempt with its Christmas-y gourmet treats to taste and stock up on. Look out for traditional sweets, specialist cheeses, fine cuts of meat and artisan produce. Venue: Olympia Address: Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX Phone: 0871 230 1089 Date: 4th - 8th November 2009 Time: Wed to Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-5pm Pricing: 2009 TBC. 2008 Prices - Advanced tickets - £15 (Adults), £8 (Over 12s), FREE(Under 12s) | On the Door - £17 (Adults), £8.50 (Over 12s), FREE (Under 12s) Nearest Station: Olympia Tube/Rail Spirit of Christmas Fair - Information  Bonfire NightVenues across London, 5th November 2009 (and other dates in November) November is the month that likes to go with a bang - and an explosive one at that. November 5th marks Guy Fawkes' failed plot to blow up Parliament with the kind of pyrotechnics Mr Fawkes could only dream of. This year there's a host of fireworks displays, processions, festivals and fun fairs planned across the capital on dates during the month. There are always huge displays in Ravenscourt Park, Clapham Common and Victoria Park. It's not strictly for Bonfire Night but the biggest of the capital's fireworks is the finale to the Lord Mayor's Show with a parade and RAF flypast as well as the pyrotechnics. With more than half a tonne of fireworks released in half an hour, sky rocketing over the Thames, it's an awe inspiring sight that can be seen for miles around. For full details click here. Venue: Venues across London Date: 5th November 2009 and other days throughout the month Time: Various Pricing: Various. Many events free. Nearest Station: Various Bonfire Night - Information  ATP World Tour Finals 2009The O2, SE10 0PE 22nd-29th November 2009 For the first time in the history of the sport, tennis is to have a World Champion - and he's going to be selected in London. The eight most successful players over the gruelling twelve months of the standard tennis circuit will meet at the O2 this November and, while injuries take their toll, we can confidently predict that the winner will be one of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray. Going by the publicity material, this is going to be presented more like a Vegas boxing match than the strawberries-and-cream gentility of Wimbledon, and the noise levels should be as phenomenal as the ticket prices. Venue: The O2 Address: Peninsula Square, SE10 0PE Phone: 0870 534 4444 | Outside UK: +44 161 385 3211 Date: 22nd-29th November 2009 Time: 12.30pm or 7pm | Finals - 29th Nov 12.30pm Pricing: £40-£80 Nearest Station: North Greenwich Tube ATP World Tour Finals 2009 - Information  Country Living Magazine Christmas FairBusiness Design Centre, N1 0QH 11th-15th November 2009 In preparation for Christmas, Country Living magazine brings a taste of rural England to the Business Design Centre, with all the cosy traditionalism that goes with it. With over 400 exhibitors there's everything you need for a perfect Christmas. There are handmade toys, limited edition decorations, and, of course, plenty of seasonal food - from smoked salmon and tender ham to the delights of Cornish cheese, mulled wine, sloe gin, fudge, chocolate and traditional Christmas puddings. With all that tartan and tinsel, this is the perfect place to begin getting into the Christmas mood. It also gives you the chance to deal with all those traditional seasonal nightmares long before the last minute. Venue: Business Design Centre Address: 52 Upper Street, N1 0QH Phone: 0844 848 0169 Date: 11th-15th November 2009 Time: Wed to Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 9.30am-6pm, Sun 10am-3pm Pricing: In Adv - £11.50 (Adults), £7 (Children 5-16), FREE (Under 5s) | On the Door - £15 (Adults), £8.50 (Children 5-16), £11.50 (Concs) Nearest Station: Angel Tube Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair - Information  London Jazz Festival 2009South Bank and around London, SE1 8XX 13th-22nd November 2009 If jazz is dead, someone forgot to tell the thousands of performers and fans who flock to London for the annual London Jazz Festival. Now in its 17th year, the 10-day festival returns to the capital with a flamboyant programme which reflects the diverse roots of our great city. The many Southbank venues lead the way, but there will be shows (more than 250 of them!) throughout London, including old favourites the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, jazz stalwarts Ronnie Scott's and 606 Club, newly established exciting enterprises such as The Forge and artsdepot, and even some restaurants. This year's evolving line-up includes the likes of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, Aaron Parks, Claude Deppa, Kiran Ahluwalia, Robert Glasper, Carla Bley, Napoleon Maddox, Vijay Iyer, Leszek Mozdzer and Robert Mitchell. As usual, the organisers have manage to attract some rare performers and blend them together with both newcomers and mainstays of the British jazz scene - from stars of the American jazz tradition to key players of the European scene and free musical thinkers. Given the obsessive nature of ardent jazz fans together with the small venues, tickets often sell out straight away so be sure to check www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk for a full programme and ticketing information. Venue: South Bank and around London Address: Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX Date: 13th-22nd November 2009 Time: Various Pricing: Various Nearest Station: Waterloo Tube/Rail London Jazz Festival 2009 - Information  Lord Mayor's ShowMansion House, EC4N 8BH 14th November 2009 This annual event has been taking over the streets of London for nearly 800 years now. The parade involves over 6,000 people, military marching bands, Chinese acrobats, a procession of decorated floats and a gilded State Coach that the Lord Mayor travels in. This event features possibly the most dangerous and amazing of all the public shows in the capital; river barges are piled high with explosives and set adrift on the Thames with several fearless firework-ers on board. The best vantage points tend to be around the Embankment and Gabriel's Wharf. The procession leaves Mansion House at 11am after an RAF flypast and travels via St Paul's to the Royal Courts of Justice before returning along Victoria Embankment at 1pm, reaching Mansion House at about 2.30pm. Then for the grand finale, the day finishes with one of London's most impressive fireworks displays at 5pm, set off from a barge moored in the Thames between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridges. Venue: Mansion House Date: 14th November 2009 Time: Procession starts 11am | Fireworks display on the Thames 5pm Pricing: Free along the route | Tickets for Grandstand at St Paul's Nearest Station: Mansion House Tube Lord Mayor's Show - Information  Kienholz, 'Hoerengracht'National Gallery, WC2N 5DN 18th November 2009 - 21st February 2010 'The Hoerengracht', a replication of Amsterdam's red-light district by American artists Ed and Nancy Kienholz, may at first seem an unlikely work to display alongside the Old Masters at the National Gallery. But that's what you get when you walk into the Sunley Room from 18th November. On closer inspection the positioning of the seedy streets, brick walls and dimly lit mannequins alongside the 17th-century Dutch Masters takes on an added poignancy. The juxtapositioning of the old and contemporary works in such close proximity prompts the visitor to draw parallels between the two. Venue: National Gallery Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN Phone: 020 7747 2885 Date: 18th November 2009 - 21st February 2010 Time: Daily 10am-6pm (Wed 9pm) Pricing: FREE Nearest Station: Charing Cross Tube/Rail Kienholz, 'Hoerengracht' - Information  London Children's Film FestivalBarbican Centre, EC2Y 8DS and various venues throughout London 21st & 22nd, 28th & 29th November 2009 This is one of those events that makes you wish you were young again. London Children's Film Festival is the cinema equivalent of going to the Science Museum with opportunities galore for kids to explore, touch and see for themselves. Now in its fifth year, the festival is hosted by the Barbican and runs for two consecutive weekends. It's the kind of thing the creative brains over there do so well that the screenings, events and workshops (taking place at venues across the city) are bound to bring alive the art of filmmaking in all its guises. From getting to grips with what happens behind the scenes to stealing the limelight, there are workshops to suit all tastes. The programme ranges from animated shorts for toddlers to stories about growing up for young teenagers. If you're aged ten and over you can even make your own film in a day and get a copy of your film on DVD to take home with you. Venue: Barbican Centre Address: Silk Street & venues across London, EC2Y 8DS Phone: 020 7638 8891 Date: 21st & 22nd, 28th & 29th November 2009 Time: Various Pricing: £5 (Films), £2-£10 (Workshops), £20 (Make a Film in a Day Workshop) Nearest Station: Barbican Tube London Children's Film Festival - Information  London's Christmas Ice RinksVarious locations across London 14th November 2009 - 10th January 2010 The city gets its skates on in winter with many of the capital's most attractive and monumental landmarks putting up a temporary outdoor ice rink wherever there's enough outside space including, new for 2009, Parklife Winter Ice Skating off Oxford Street and ICExperience at Wembley Stadium. Somerset House was among the first to ice over their magnificent courtyard and remains one of the most beautiful places to glide around outdoors in the icy cold. The Natural History Museum, Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace also provide wonderfully scenic settings for a skate and usually come complete with a rink-side cafe - perfect for spectators or for defrosting with seasonal fare like mince pies, mulled wine and hot chocolate. With most ice rinks opening from November to January, it's a great way to get some exercise in the great outdoors during the chilly winter months. For full details see our Ice Skating in London feature. Venue: Various locations throughout London Date: 14th November 2009 - 10th January 2010 Pricing: Various  London's Christmas LightsVarious venues across London 3rd November 2009 - Early January 2010 Well before Christmas, the city's main shopping streets start to sparkle with an array of fairy lights and impressive illuminations. This year, for the first time ever, the lights on intersecting Regent and Oxford streets are being switched on at the same time with events taking place at St Paul's Cathedral and Leicester Square to tie in. It's all part of a huge event called A Christmas Carol, held to mark the world premiere of Disney's latest blockbuster animated film. Celebrities including Jim Carrey, Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins will be on hand to switch on the lights with live singing attracting a large crowd for the turning-on ceremony on Tuesday 3rd November. Nearby Bond Street is a rather more upmarket affair with its designer shops putting on a show. But there are also pretty side shows across the city centre on streets like Marylebone, Carnaby Street, Jermyn Street and in Covent Garden, all of which host their own street festivals to mark the switching on of the lights. See our London Christmas Lights 2009 feature for full details. Venue: Various locations throughout London Date: 3rd November 2009 - Early January 2010 Pricing: Various |
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