You know it's the start of Christmas when the tree arrives in Trafalgar Square
I love December in London, it’s easily one of the best months for events and things to do. I don’t know what it is about this year but there seems to be more things than ever before and many of them are free.
As more events are announced I’ll post them here and on the daily blog.
Although many fantastic Christmas events have already started such as the Winter Wonderland, the Covent Garden events and the Cologne Market. Christmas hasn’t really arrived in London until the giant Christmas tree is put up in Trafalgar Square.
This year the tree goes up on Thursday 3rd with carol singing and the turning on of the tree lights starting from 6pm.
Also from Monday 7th to Tuesday 22nd there will be carol singing by different choirs and groups at the base of the Christmas tree. Anyone can join in with the singing and it takes place each evening.
December in London also sees a lot of film premieres, they’re mainly family orientated, but this year they have the premiere of Sherlock Holmes. It stars Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr so you know it will be a packed event for the red carpet dance. The premiere is on Monday 14th. Have a look at our London Film Premiere Guide for tips on going to premieres.
Various funfairs also turn up in London this month. You have the funfair in Leicester square, although small is a lot of fun, the funfair at the Winter Wonderland is always good and the O2 funfair is huge and partially indoors so if the weathers bad you’ll be ok.
The Chocolate Festival is a must for you chocoholics, it’s at the Southbank between Friday 11th and 13th. You’ll be able to buy and try excellent chocolate and take part in demonstrations/workshops.
This next event says so much about London at Christmas. I mean who’s ever heard of a Christmas Pudding race. Well if you head to Covent Garden on Saturday 5th you’ll see what a Christmas Pudding race looks like and you’ll shake your head in disbelief.
As if having the tree in Trafalgar Square wasn’t enough, there will also be a full size Polar Bear ice sculpture in the Square from Friday 11th for about 10 days. It’s there to highlight the effects on global warming and when it melts will just leave an iron carcass.
Also in the Square on Wednesday 16th an events called Feeding the 5,000 is on to highlight the amount of good food that is wasted. Go along and you can get a free lunch.
You shouldn’t forget about the theatre in London either at this time of year because it’s the best time to go. Many shows are quite full which makes the whole atmosphere a lot better which the actors seem to respond to. Also with our 2 for 1 offers you’ll see a show at a great price.
So far and a big surprise to me is the lack of book signings for this month. Usually there are multiple signings going on each week up to Christmas, but so far I’ve only heard of two big name signings. The first is Twiggy, she’ll be at the National Portrait Gallery on Friday 4th doing her only signing. The second is Delia Smith doing a signing on Thursday 3rd at John Lewis.
The Barbican Centre is one of those venues people often forget about even though that have great events there. One of the best things they have on from Wednesday 16th to Thursday 31st is a children’s cabaret with music, comedy and magic. The children will love it and you’ll love the venue.
As much as I love London one of the things I never look forward to is Christmas shopping. In December it doesn’t matter what day or time you go, it’s going to busy. My advice to you is to try and do the shopping on Saturday 5th because it’s a traffic free day. More space on Oxford and Regent Street makes the whole shopping thing a lot easier.
You know one of the things you have to admire about Selfridges, is that they realise we live in the Internet age. So unlike other stores that just sell things, which you can get over the Internet, Selfridges puts on events to get you in their store and then sell you something.
Here’s a taste of what they have planned for December. On Thursdays they’ll have the Queen of Drag, Jonny Woo and his friends doing comic versions of various pantomimes, all on stilts. Fridays sees Jonny host a Gay Bingo event. While on Saturdays they’ll have short Panto performances of Aladdin, live music by bands, and Children’s workshops with face painting.
The World Press Photography exhibition is a must see event and is on at the Festival Hall until Sunday 13th. It’s a free event an will open your eyes to what’s happening in the world.
December isn’t the best month to visit comedy clubs because many of them either close early because of Christmas or they’re booked out for office/company parties.
However the comedy club I’m highlighting this month is open all through December and because it’s held in a theatre it doesn’t get booked by office parties too often. The clubs called Just the Tonic and it takes place every Friday and Saturday.
There’s no real need to tell you about the New Years Eve Fireworks as your guidebook should have all the details. What I will say is, if you want to get a good view and be right by the river you’ll need to get to the river at least 3 hours before midnight to get a really good spot.
Enjoy London this month it will be fantastic. 
You might also like these:
