Autumn London activities for kids
Tips on how to make the most of London in the autumn with kids.
With the evenings gradually getting darker, the leaves beginning to curl up at the corners and a crisper feel in the air, signs that autumn is lurking are starting to emerge in the UK. If you are in London you may worry that there will be less to do with the kids with the arrival of autumn and the colder weather. On the contrary, autumn can be a great time to be in London with children, the trick is knowing where to go and what to see.
Take a look at the following autumn London activities for kids.
Visit a London park
London parks are a fantastic place to visit all year round with children, but particularly during the autumn when the ground is carpeted with a sea of golden leaves.
Letting the kids let of steam by running through and kicking the leaves in the likes of Kew Gardens, Hyde Park and Clapham Common, can be an invigorating experience for all the family.
Visit the Lord Mayor’s Show
This popular annual event dates back as far as 1215! With a colourful procession of dancers, floats and marching bands making its way through London’s streets, the Lord Mayor’s Show, which takes place in mid-November, is an exciting day out for children and adults alike.
Will there ever be a London Grand Prix again?
A London Grand Prix has not taken place since 1938. Although according to an announcement made by Formula One boss, Bernie Ecclestone, plans are in motion to return Formula One to the streets of London.
Under the £35 million scheme, Formula One cars would speed around the capital, with the likes of Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton shooting past some of London’s most iconic landmarks, including the Ritz Hotel, Hyde Park Corner, Buckingham Palace, Parliament Square, the Embankment and Trafalgar Square.
The London Grand Prix proposals took place at the Royal Automobile Club in London. The exclusive automobile club was founded in 1897 and was designed to develop motoring in Britain. Today the Royal Automobile Club is one of the UK’s finest private motoring clubs and the London Grand Prix proposal event was a star-studded affair, which was hosted by two leading names in the world of motor racing – McLaren drivers, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
The announcement that Formula One racing is to return to the British capital has, however, come under criticism, namely because similar plans were made eight years ago but failed to materialise.
In 2004 the former London mayor, Ken Livingstone, backed plans for a London Grand Prix to be re-introduced to London in 2007, plans which of course never took place.
Confident a Grand Prix will arrive in London this time, Ecclestone insists the race will surpass the Monaco Grand Prix in terms of glamour and prestige, which is of course currently the most high-status motor racing course in the world.
Shakespeare’s London – ‘Shakespeare: Staging the World’ exhibition
Have you ever wondered what life was like in Shakespeare’s era?
According to historical accounts, between 1585 and 1592, William Shakespeare left his home in Stratford and came to London, where he joined a theatre group as an actor and playwright. It was around the late 16th century that many theatres in London closed because of the plague.
Despite the theatre-circuit in London being somewhat non-existence during this bleak period in the capital, it was during this time that many scholars have attributed several of Shakespeare’s plays to this troubled time in London.
A glimpse of what Shakespeare’s London was like can be found in Thomas Dekkar’s text, entitled “The Seven Deadly Sins of London”, which reads:
“Carts and coaches make such a thundering din as if the world ran on wheels: at every corner men, women, and children meet in such shoals that posts are set up to strengthen the houses lest with jousting with one another they should shoulder them down. Besides, hammers are beating in one place, tubs hoping in another (the noise made by coopers or barrel makes), pots clinking in a third, water-tankards running at tilt in a forth… Tradesmen, as it they were dancing galliards are lusty at legs and never stand still”.
A more comprehensive exploration of what life was like in London when Shakespeare was alive can be found at the British Museum, which is holding the ‘Shakespeare: Staging the World’ exhibition. This unseen before event explores what life was like in London four centuries ago through the works of the legendary playwright.
The ‘Shakespeare: Staging the World’ exhibition is being held in the British Museum until 25 November 2012 and provides a wholly unique angle on London life through Shakespeare’s eyes.
Carnaval del Pueblo 2012 – The largest single Latin American festival in Europe
If all the hype, mayhem and madness of the Olympic Games is beginning to weigh you down, then why not take some time away from the Olympics and experience a touch of Latin America in London? On Saturday August 18 the Carnival del Pueblo 2012 will be taking place in London Pleasure Gardens, the largest single Latin American festival in Europe.
This one-day event is simple ‘unmissable’ as the whole of the London Pleasure Gardens comes alive with music, colour, Latin flavour, crowds and noise. In typical Latin style, parade floats will make their way around the park with true Latin dancers whipping the crowd into a frenzy of joyousness and elation.
Also true to traditional Latin culture, Carnival del Pueblo 2012 will see entertainers from the likes of Brazil, Cuba, Paraguay and other Latin American countries entertaining the throng of festival revelers that are there for one reason only, to have a good time!
The Carnival del Pueblo 2012 is a free event and is suitable for all the family, as activities, shows, music and food is put on to cater for every age and taste.
London is prepared for an onslaught of visitors for the London 2012 Olympics
With the London Olympics now just round the corner, London is fervently making last minute preparations for what is to be one of the biggest events in city has ever hosted.
According to recent research, it is predicted that an onslaught of hundreds of thousands of extra visitors are to arrive in the capital during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, despite earlier perceptions that potential visitors or even Londoners themselves may be put off by the prospect of being so close to the Olympic Games and there might even be fewer coming to London than normal.
In a report published by market researchers at Forward Data, the number of tourists arriving in London during the Olympic and Paralympic Games looks set to rise by approximately 30% over previous years, which equates to some 250,000 extra visitors.
In preparation for the unprecedented increase in visitors to London this August and September, Heathrow Airport is to recruit almost 500 new passport checkers.
