This first post is for small businesses in London and it’s about some business events going on at the City Business Library over the next few months, it’s aimed at helping small businesses get ahead and it’s covering every topic you could think of to do with running your business, with special events about Twitter, LinkedIn and creating a blog.

The majority of the events are free and it’s worth you running down the list because I’m sure you’ll find something there that’s worth going to and because the events are only for 2 hours it’s not like it’s going to take a huge amount of time out of your day, plus you’ll get a chance to network with other business owners, it’s a win, win really.

For more information about the events click City Business Library.

Now for the parents

Looking through some of our recent posts I noticed we haven’t really mentioned events aimed at children for some time, so to make up here’s reminder about one of the nicest places to go with your children in London on a Saturday morning and that’s the Barbican Family Film Club.

Do you remember when you were a child and went to the Saturday morning cinema, well the Barbican have been doing something like that for years now and it being the Barbican, it’s safe and not full of rowdy children because each child has to be accompanied by an adult.

I’ve mentioned it before and although it’s changed slightly it’s still a great place to go and do something different, which explains why when there’s a popular film it gets booked up quickly, the Bugsy Malone film on the 11^th being a good example of that.

If you’ve never been visit the Barbican Family Film Club website, it’s free to join and the cinema tickets are only £3.

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If you’re a movie buff the Apple store on Regent Street is the place to go this week.

Last year they held some amazing talks there like Colin Firth talking about the Kings Speech and some of the Harry Potter cast talking about Deathly Hallows.

Well this year they’re kicking off their Meet the Filmmakers season with the director of Shame, Steve McQueen and the director of War Horse, Richard Curtis.

Both directors will be talking about their films and doing a Q & A. All I can say is if you were thinking of going to see these films, these talks are a must.

The Steve McQueen event is on today starting at 7.30pm and ending at 8.30 and the producer of the film will also be there.

While the Richard Curtis event is on this Friday 13^th and starts at 6.30pm and is again on for an hour. However this time one of the actors in the film, Tom Hiddleston, will also be there.

These events are always very busy and it’s best to get there well before the time because seating’s on a first come basis.

With the Richard Curtis event also having Tom Hiddleston it’s bound to be extra busy. So that you don’t miss out it might be a good idea to get there a couple of hours before just to be sure of getting a seat.

That’s about it and as you’d expect from Apple both events are free. Click here for more details.

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You can go to the London Ice Sculpture Festival and learn all kinds of things

But why not close your eyes and pretend you’re a sculpturing king

Living an ice sculpturing dream.

–

Baby you did it last year and you were so cool

You sat there and looked so beautiful

Making all the others feel like fools

Will you do it again for me?

–

Make me feel like the King

Do it again in front of them

So soft to the touch

I’ll carve out my love

Even though it won’t last forever

–

Baby you did it last year and you were so cool

You sat there and looked so beautiful

Making all the others feel like fools

Will you do it again for me?

–

With their eyes full of sin

Wishing you were with them

And a body they’d die for

You’ll be the queen in this Festival dream

And the sculpture to be seen

–

Baby you did it last year and you were so cool

You sat there and looked so beautiful

Making all the others feel like fools

Will you do it again for me?

–

The weather’s doesn’t matter

I’ll keep you under cover

I’ll do whatever you ask

I know it’s a hard task

So baby will you sit for awhile

And let me see your beautiful smile

It won’t take forever

–

The London Ice Sculpture Festival is on at Canary Wharf on the 13^th and 14^th January and looks like it will be the best ever. It starts at 10am and goes on until 6pm each day and is free with lots of opportunities for you to have a go at doing your own bit of sculpturing at free masterclasses.

For full details click London Ice Sculpture Festival

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With the London weather set to be good for the weekend and with the popularity of Strictly Come Dancing, tomorrow and Sunday are good days to go to the National Theatre because they have a free outdoor dance weekend event taking place.

There won’t be any celebrities or anything like that just proper dance companies and performers showing us all how stories can be told with dance and how dramatic the Tango really is when performed properly.

I don’t know anything about dance so there’s no way I can suggest which act to go and see but because of how the National has organised things, if you do decide to go down there for a few hours you’ll get a chance to see various sets from the different companies performing.

With the event being free, outdoors and the nice weather I’m sure it will be pretty busy so get there early and see what it’s like, if it’s not too busy you could always check out the Press Photographers exhibition inside the foyer and then get out for the main events that start from 1pm.

The closing act on Saturday, A Fuego Lento, sounds really interesting and I had a quick look at the website of the closing act on Sunday, Tango Siempre and they have pretty impressive reviews so that might also be one of the acts worth seeing, but for a complete run down of who is on and when and links to their websites click National Theatre Dance Week.

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As I said in my post a couple of days ago, the weather for today and tomorrow isn’t going to be great, it’s rain, rain, rain so I thought this would be a good time to remind you of a couple of really interesting indoor things you can go to and salvage the weekend and if you didn’t read Ronnie’s take on The Tree of Life, Brad Pitts latest film, read that just in case you were thinking of going to see it.

Not much has been written about the small exhibition in Chelsea titled Kate and other women, Rainbowsurfer did a nice little piece about it and today would be an excellent day to go down there but you’ll have to be quick because it closes at 5 and it’s not open on Sunday.

Also if you haven’t gone to see the Miro exhibition yet at the Tate Modern what better time to go than now over this weekend and Rainbowsurfer did a good post about why this is the best time to consider getting an annual member to the Tate Galleries.

Finally if golf’s you’re thing or you’ve been inspired watching the Open on TV why not go along to Urban Golf on Sunday and have a go on one of their simulators, normally they’re around £40 an hour but on Sundays they have a promotion going and it’s half price at the Soho and Kensington sites.

For other ideas of things to do in the rain you can read our other posts starting with What to do in London when it’s raining Part 1 and don’t forget to read Chris’s post he did on Thursday about the Getty Images Gallery F1 exhibition.

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London can be a miserable place when it rains and if you’re planning on going to one of the outdoor events it’s even worse because everyone’s got an umbrella, you can hardly see a thing, you’re getting wet and it’s really not fun.

Well the other guys have already written about some things that you can do in London if it rains, part one – head to Westfield, part two – the o2 Centre and part three – bowling and I wanted to throw in my suggestion which I know no one would ever think about because most people don’t know about it and that’s to play some golf!

That’s right that wonderful outdoor game that millions of people play and watch that’s what I’m suggesting you play right here in the middle of London on a rainy day and you can do it any day of the week and you won’t need your own set of clubs either.

By now only true Londoners will have guessed what and where I’m talking about, do you know – well it’s Urban Golf, they have three locations in London, Smithfield, Soho and Kensington where you can play a round of golf, just a few holes or even just do some putting on the green and it’s all indoors, undercover and away from the crowds and rain.

I’m not going to go into all the details about the simulators that they have etc, what I want you to really know about is the half price offers and lunchtime promotions that they have on Sunday’s and Monday’s where you can book a simulator for £20 or £25 per hour or on weekday lunchtimes when it’s £10 per hour.

To me I think this is the best one of the suggestions for things to do in the rain in London because it’s central, Westfield and the o2 no matter what the other guys say, you still have to travel a distance to and the bowling is ok but it’s not as nice as the golf centres.

So if you’re planning on going to go to West End Live or the Marylebone Fayre and the weather turns nasty you now have an alternative to consider.

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Wow. What a month April was. Best event of the year, best weather so far. I just can’t see another month being as good as this.

However May’s giving it a shot with some excellent events and things to do and a few of the highlights are below.

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There are two big film premieres in May, Water for Elephants and Pirates of Caribbean 4, but as a sign of changing times neither of them are at Leicester Square.

They’re holding both of them at Westfield shopping centre which I think is a huge mistake. I don’t see how Westfield will have the space for the crowds or how fans will get the chance to get up close to the stars for autographs.

Also in Leicester Square tourists and passers by get a chance to be part of the occasion, that’s not going to happen at Westfield.

Huge mistake. But if you want to go, Water for Elephants is on Tuesday 3^rd and Pirates of the Caribbean on the 12^th.

In case you didn’t see the article we did on the World Photography Awards, this has to be one of the must see things to do in May. Have a read and you’ll see why you should make plans now because it ends on the 22^nd.

If you’re into the artwork of Jack Vettriano you’ll be pleased as the Heartbreak gallery have a new exhibition by him starting on the 14^th. Nice staff and gallery that doesn’t get too crowded even on a Saturday.

With the UEFA Champions League Final being at Wembley it means London get to also host the UEFA Champions Festival. The festival takes place in Hyde Park from the 21^st with mini tournaments, trophy exhibitions and skills workshops. It’s free to go and past players will also be there.

It doesn’t seem like a month can go by without there being something at Trafalgar Square. This time round it’s the Sikh New Year Festival of Vaisakhi, which will be on the 15^th.

We haven’t mentioned the Rush Hours concerts at the Southbank Sinfonia for awhile. However their Porgy and Bess set on the 12^th deserves a mention and will be a nice way to chill out on that Thursday. The set’s only an hour or so from 6pm – 7.15pm.

Finally something you only usually get to see at the seaside, a Punch and Judy show. Well on the 8^th the Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival takes place with various puppet shows on throughout the day. It’s a free festival and something different to take the kids to.

I hope that gives you a few ideas for things to do in London in May. Full details for most of them will appear near their start date.

Thanks for your time.

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