City of London Festival

Set against the awe-inspiring architecture of the City of London this annual three-week festival is dedicated to getting the cultural heart of the capital beating.  This year's event celebrates a rich array of music and culture from the Portuguese-speaking world, presents a new generation of classical music stars and gets the Square Mile buzzing in the International Year of biodiversity. From early May, 21 beehives are being installed in popular City locations with honey being harvested in outdoor lunchtime ceremonies with live music, commissioned bee poetry and honey tastings. The UK debut of the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra opens the festival, which continues its accustomed 'Trading Places' theme with a strong focus on Portuguese music, film and dance, and features more than 50 ticketed performances and a further 100 free outdoors events over three weeks. St Paul's will host a weekly concert - Monteverdi's Vespers 1610, Haydn's The Creation and Beethoven's Symphony No 9 - and there will be 12 early-evening concerts in City churches by the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. There will also be 21 street pianos located throughout the City, while composer Richard Causton will premiere The 21 Piano Nocturne to commemorate Chopin's 200th birthday. St Paul's remains the spiritual centre of the festival, but other City landmarks - such as the Guildhall, Finsbury Circus Gardens, the Barbican Centre, Paternoster Square - feature heavily. Events also go on before and after the festival's three-week duration so it is well worth checking what's on at www.colf.org because you'll be surprised at how many things will pique your interest and curiosity.