Special Events in London

January to February

London New Year Day Parade
More than 10,000 dancers, acrobats, cheerleaders, musicians and performers assemble in the heart of the city for a "celebration of nations." Young people from the US, Japan and Europe come together with those from London for three hours of pomp and frivolity. The parade starts in Parliament Square at noon, as Big Ben strikes the hour and proceeds along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, Cockspur St, Pall Mall, Lower Regent St, Piccadilly Circus and Piccadilly.

London International Mime Festival
Internationally recognised as the world's leading showcase for innovative and entertaining visual theatre, the London International Mime Festival, founded in 1977, is the largest event of its kind in the world. Artists perform in a number of venues across the capital including the South Bank Centre, Royal Opera House and the ICA, attracting an annual audience of around 16,000 people.

Chinese New Year
London's Chinese community celebrates the New Year with a series of events around the city centre. Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square are the focus of the revelry, with stages featuring an array of Chinese talent, including music, lion dances and martial arts demonstrations.

March to May

Great Spitalfields Pancake Day Race
Spitalfields Market. 12:30pm. Nearest tube: Liverpool Street.

London Marathon
Greenwich to Westminster Bridge via the Isle of Dogs.

London Harness Horse Parade- Easter Monday

Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race
Britain's oldest two universities battle it out in this yearly event to see who can make it from Putney to Mortlake the fastest.

Queen's Birthday Gun Salute
Hyde Park and Tower of London. A 41-gun salute to mark the actual (not the oficial) birthday of The Queen, fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park (opposite the Dorchester Hotel), and a 62-gun royal salute fired by the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London.

May Fayre and Puppet Festival
Gardens of St Paul's Covent Garden, Bedford Street.

Oak Apple Day
The Chelsea Pensioners honour Charles II, founder of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, on the anniversary of Charles II's escape after the Battle of Worcester. The king's statue is decorated with oak leaves in memory of the fact that Charles hid in an oak tree to escape his pursuers.

Covent Garden Festival
Takes place throughout May and includes a wide range of operatic musical concerts.

June to August

Trooping the Colour
Horseguards Parade, Whitehall

Wimledon Lawn Tenis Championships
Wimbledon's centre court is world famous and for the last two weeks in June the whole of London goes tennis mad. Tickets are available on the day and discount tickets are available for the afternoon session.

City of London Festival
The City of London Festival brings together the very best in music and the arts to promote the cultural diversity and wide-ranging talent of some of the world's leading artists in some of the City's most beautiful and historic venues.

Party in the Park
A huge open-air pop festival to benefit the Prince's Trust, takes place on the first Sunday of July, featuring big name acts on one ticket.

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
The world's largest and most vibrant annual flower show. The idyllic setting in the parkland of Henry VIII's favourite palace is transformed for six sumptuous summer days. The spacious grounds showcase an exciting range of flowers, plants and gardening accessories, giving you the opportunity to both browse and buy.

Henley Royal Regatta
The Henley Royal Regatta is the oldest rowing regatta in Europe. First held in 1839 the event has been held annually in the month of July ever since. It takes place in one of the most beautiful towns in Oxfordshire, Henley-on-Thames.

Swan Upping on the Thames
This ancient ceremony of counting and marking the swans along the River Thames takes place over five days during the third week in July.

Notting Hill Carnival
The world's largest carnival. It takes place over the August bank holiday weekend, and attracts almost 2 million people. It has a distinctly Afro-Caribbean flavour, and highlights include a competition between London's steelpan bands and a 3 mile street parade with dancing and music.

September to December

Great River Race Thames Festival
A 22-mile international River Thames 'marathon' for traditional rowed and paddled boats, propelled by a minimum of four oars or paddles, without sliding seats or riggers. Starting at Richmond, it passes down river, under Tower Bridge and past the magnificent Docklands skyline before finishing at historic Greenwich. Good views of the finish are to be seen from Greenwich and Island Gardens.

Regent Street Festival
London's elegant Regent Street closes for a musical and theatrical extravaganza.

The Mayor's Thames Festival
South Bank, Bankside & Pool of London. The annual festival running from Westminster to Tower Bridge closes busy streets and transforms the river, parks and open spaces with a rich programme of new creative commissions, a riverside bazaar and night market, family oriented activities, street theatre, music, and more.

Horseman's Sunday
It's horses galore in Hyde Park on Horseman's Sunday as the vicar of St John's Church appears before his congregation on horseback and leads a cavalcade of over 100 horses and riders to the church…

Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival
Witness a spectacular display as the original Pearly Kings and Queens gather in their buttoned suits for the annual Harvest Festival Service, held at the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square.

Trafalgar Day Parade
Every year the Sea Cadet Corps lead the Trafalgar Day Parade through Trafalgar Square to celebrate one of the most famous British victories in history, when Lord Nelson vanquished the French and Spanish fleets at Cape Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain.

Noisy Kids
London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra stages a special concert for children at the Royal Albert Hall in October every year.

October Plenty
An autumn harvest celebration presented by the Lions Part theatre company, mixing ancient seasonal customs and theatre, beginning on the Bankside near Shakespeare's Globe and ending among the food stalls of Southwark's Borough Market.

State Opening of Parliament
Parliament is reopened after the summer break in October by the Queen with great pomp and ceremony. The Queen wears her crown and rides down to Parliament from Buckingham Palace in a lavish coach. The ceremony offers the best opportunity to see the royal family.

Bonfire Night
The 5th of November sees the celebration of Guy Fawkes' attempt to blow up Westminster and the monarch. Events take place all over the capital starting a few weeks before the day. Expect a lot of local fireworks.

Festival of Remembrance
First held in 1927, the Royal British Legion welcomes members of the Royal family, Government Ministers and the public to join in the annual Festival of Remembrance and two-minute silence at the Royal Albert Hall, in honour of those who have given their lives in the service of their country.