Area & Events

Upcoming special events in London for 2012

• Animal Inside out at the Natural History Museum

  

  Animal Inside out at the Natural History Museum

  You might remember Gunther von Hagens' "Body Worlds" exhibition a few years back, which featured real human bodies posed in a plastinated form... well, "Animal Inside Out" is an animal version of that exhibit.  It features more than 100 anatomical specimens from a tiny frog all the way up to an enormous 4-tonne elephant. The skins have been stripped away so you can see the intricate inner workings of everything from a hare and a goat, to a giraffe, octopus and ostrich. The show runs from the 6th April to the 16th September 2012

   

• Farnborough International Airshow

  

  Farnborough International Airshow - 14-15 July 2012

  The Farnborough International Airshow 2012 is ready for take-off!  Bring family and friends to the biggest event of its kind in the world. Meet the pilots and talk to ground crew as you walk through static displays and get up close to an unrivalled gathering of aircraft and ground-breaking aviation technology. Take your place on the edge of the runway and hold-tight for a thrilling 4-hour display of aerobatics, vintage flying greats and some of the fastest aircraft in the sky. This year, for the first time, there are a limited number of public tickets available to our Jubilee Day on Friday 13th July 2012. Visitors on Jubilee Day will have the exclusive opportunity to experience the four trade exhibition halls, which will be closed on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 July. The public weekend will mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne and will include a patriotic flying display, themed activities on the ground and the inspirational ‘Innovation Day'. The weekend entertainment adds even more value, fun and excitement. On Saturday and Sunday a dedicated family arena has thrill rides, interactive exhibits and attractions for everybody young and old. And once you're in, it's all free.

   

• Wimbledon 2012

  

  Wimbledon 2012 It's that time of year again. Strawberries & cream with lashings of tennis.  Book now at 54 and enjoy 3 nights in London.  To make your stay a memorable one you will receive a limited edition mug and an official Wimbledon towel. The package rate includes VAT @ 20% and breakfast for two.  Standard double room from      £269 per person Deluxe double room from          £320 per person The package is based on 2 people sharing and is pre-paid, non-refundable. One mug and towel per person.

   

• RHS Chelsea Flower Show

  

  RHS Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is one of the most famous gardening shows in the world, a celebration of the highest quality horticulture and a feast for your imagination. Also known as the Great Spring Show, it is held every year in May, running for five days and receives over 157,000 visitors. The event is run by the Royal Horticultural Society and takes place on the large grounds (11 acres) of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, London. Popular features include the show gardens designed by leading names and the centrepiece of the floral marquee.  The Chelsea Flower Show dates are 22 - 26 May 2012 and all tickets must be purchased in advance. From 2005 the show was increased from four days to five, with the first two days only open to RHS members. The area of land devoted to show gardens has increased steadily between 1970 and 2000 and the show has become an important place for observing trends. New plant varieties are often launched at the show and the popularity of older ones are often revived.

   

• Jubilee Gun Salute at London Bridge

  

  Jubilee Gun Salute at London Bridge

  A fitting finale to the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant, the jubilee gun salute at London Bridge sees the Queen given a traditional military greeting as she leads over a thousand vessels along the Thames.Formal gun salute Taking place just downriver of London Bridge, the gun salute takes place just as the flotilla passes through an avenue of sail created by traditional Thames sailing boats, naval vessels, oyster smacks and other ships. The Queen's vessel and all of the other boats in the pageant will then continue past Tower Bridge.Bank holiday spectacular the river pageant and jubilee gun salute at London Bridge are bound to be one of the highlights of the special four day weekend created to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. The flotilla promises to create an unprecedented spectacle on the Thames, with over a thousand vessels dressed with streamers and Union Jacks making their way along a seven and a half mile stretch of the river, from Wandsworth Bridge to Tower Bridge.The jubilee gun salute at London Bridge takes place on Sunday 3rd June 2012, and is free to watch from the banks of the river.

   

• The oxford & Cambridge Boat Race

  

  The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual contest between two rowing crews from Oxford and Cambridge universities. The Race takes place close to Easter each year on the River Thames in West London between Putney and Mortlake. The first race took place in 1829 in Henley on Thames following a challenge between old school friends. Since the second race in 1836 the contest has taken place in London.  The 2012 Race on April 7th will be the 158th contest; Cambridge lead the series with 80 victories to Oxford's 76, with one dead-heat in 1877.

   

• Damien Hirst at Tate Modern

  

  Damien Hirst at London's Tate Modern

   

  Damien Hirst first came to public attention in London in 1988 when he conceived and curated Freeze, an exhibition in a disused warehouse which showed his work and that of his friends and fellow students at Goldsmiths College. In the nearly quarter of a century since that pivotal show, Hirst has become one of the most influential artists of his generation. This will be the first substantial survey of his work in a British institution and will bring together key works from over twenty years. The exhibition will include iconic sculptures from his Natural History series, including The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991, in which he suspended a shark in formaldehyde. Also included will be vitrines such as A Thousand Years from 1990, medicine cabinets, pill cabinets and instrument cabinets in addition to seminal paintings made throughout his career using butterflies and flies as well as spots and spins. The two-part installation In and Out of Love, not shown in its entirety since its creation in 1991 and Pharmacy 1992 will be among the highlights of the exhibition.

   

• A Diamond Jubilee Celebration

  

   Exhibition - Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration

  The photographs of the British royal family by Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) were central to shaping the monarchy's public image in the mid-20th century. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was still a young princess when she first sat for Beaton in 1942. Over the next three decades he would be invited to photograph the Queen on many significant occasions, including her Coronation Day in 1953.

  The most memorable of Beaton's images combine the splendour of historic royal portrait painting with an intimacy that only photography and film can convey. His detailed diary accounts reveal the complexities of each sitting, from the intense planning and excitement beforehand to the pressures of achieving the perfect shot.

  Beaton bequeathed his archive of royal portraits to his devoted secretary Eileen Hose. In 1987 she, in turn, bequeathed the archive to the V&A. Photographs, diaries, personal letters and press cuttings combine to tell the fascinating story of a magnificent collaboration between crown and camera.