English Festivals: London Events
Notting Hill Carnival, The Boat Race, Trooping The Colour & More
From the London Marathon in April to the Chelsea Flower Show in May, the UK capital has lots of great festivals going on throughout the year to base travel plans around.
London has events and festivals going on throughout the year, and they vary tremendously. From admiring floral displays at the Chelsea Flower Show in May to dancing amongst the Jamaican-style sound systems at the Notting Hill Carnival in August, there’s something for everyone. The sporty can check out the Boat Race or London Marathon, whilst lovers of pageantry and royalty will find Trooping The Colour in June unmissable.
London’s Best Five Events: Notting Hill Carnival
Taking place on the Sunday and Monday of the last weekend in August, the Notting Hill Carnival is where London’s huge Afro-Caribbean community celebrate their culture in style. It takes the form of a giant street party, held in the roads of the now-trendy Notting Hill suburb, with huge Jamaican-style sound systems providing the sound, and a large procession providing the colour. Over recent years, the Carnival has moved from being a purely community event into becoming a major international party.
London’s Best Five Events: The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
An annual event that has been going since 1829, the Boat Race is a quintessentially English event. It is a rowing race between the boat clubs of Oxford and Cambridge university, and takes place along the River Thames. The two opposing teams, comprising eight rowers and a cox, battle it out over a four-and-a-quarter mile course from Putney to Mortlake. The Boat Race has an appeal way beyond the students of Oxford (dark blue) and Cambridge (light blue), and around 250,000 people line the banks of the Thames to watch the race. It takes place in March or April every year.
London’s Best Five Events: Trooping The Colour
Trooping The Colour is a typically British display of pomp, ceremony and pageantry. Involving military processions, brass bands and 41 gun salutes, the event marks the Queen’s official birthday in June. It takes place outside Buckingham Palace and by the Victoria Memorial as well as in Pall Mall and Green Park.
London’s Best Five Events: The London Marathon
Elsewhere in the world, marathon-running is for serious athletes, dedicated to the sport. And, while the London Marathon is still regarded as a big event on the athletics calendar, it’s not really about the elite runners. The joy of this 26 mile race every April is that members of the public enter, raising thousands of pounds for charity in the process. They may be dressed as animals or giant fruit for the run, but that’s what makes it special.
London’s Best Five Events: The Chelsea Flower Show
Taking place every May in the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, there are few better ways to welcome in spring than the annual Chelsea Flower Show. It is arguably the most prestigious gardening exhibition in the world, run by the Royal Horticultural Society. Some come to get ideas for their gardens, while others just come to browse through incredible floral displays. Either way, they’re dressed up – this isn’t an event for the riff-raff.
SEE ALSO: The Wimbledon Tennis Championships; The FA Cup Final
Want more festivals? Here are the five best in…
Australia: Sydney
France: Paris
Greece: Athens
Italy: Sicily
UK: London
USA: Denver
