Author: admin

If you have never heard of a ‘mela’ before, let alone ever been to one, you should be prepared to have all of your senses stimulated and overwhelmed. ‘Mela’ is translated as ‘to meet’ in Sanskrit and really describes a large gathering of people who come together in celebration, in essence a festival. Just as the western world celebrates and has festivals on specific dates in the religious calendar so too the melas have their origins in religious occasions such as Eid, Diwali or Vaisakhi. The mela brings together all…

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The IncrEdibles event at Kew Gardens runs from May through to November and takes visitors on an occasionally surprising journey through the world of edible plants. Many people look at the glasshouses that fill Kew as places for the growth and housing of beautiful, rare and exotic plant life, failing to realise that there are also more than sixty different slightly weird and almost certainly exotic edible plants. This event is all about highlighting nature’s bounty and introducing visitors to the gardens and to some of the incredible 12,000 different…

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Everyone likes to spend time at the beach during the summer, and the population of London are no different. Luckily this year they have a beach right on their doorstep. No, London hasn’t somehow shifted to a coastal location, but it has come up with an enterprising way of getting sand into the city. There are a number of cities throughout Europe that have become regular locations for urban beaches and now Camden has joined the club. Though it may not sound quite as exotic as a beach in Paris…

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Canary Wharf is generally associated with the world of finance, but this summer it will be alive with the sound of live jazz. From Friday 16th to Sunday 18th August Canada Square Park in Canary Wharf will be host to the city’s biggest and best free jazz festival. This is a festival that is well known for the high quality of the performances that are given, not only from the world class jazz performers but also from the new talent, the up and coming musicians that are playing here for…

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As a nation we seem to be rather fond of sticking ‘The Great British’ in front of whatever we can, but when it comes to a beer festival it does seem rather appropriate. However this is not just one beer festival it’s two. The Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) is taking place in west London, organised by CAMRA the campaign for Real Ale. East London is hosting the London Craft Beer Festival. With a mix of the ancient and the modern, the long standing festival and the newcomer it’s going…

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If you have never heard of the Lollibop Festival then you probably don’t have children. The festival has been taking place for the last four years and it is the biggest and brightest festival designed for kids that you will find anywhere in the UK. The events and activities have all been designed with the under 10’s in mind as well as their families. Lollibop is a great way to introduce your children to the world of festivals without the need for muddy camp outs and the hassle of travelling.…

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What started as an event to keep the kids occupied during the long summer holidays has become an annual festival that delights the kids and their parents alike. The Bounce Festival is a great place to take the kids so that they can blow off some steam, especially if they are not yet old enough to play out on their own. Bounce may be a festival but there is no camping equipment required, simply turn up and enjoy all of the activities that are on offer. There is too much…

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As a result of the UK’s cycling success in the London 2012 Olympics, one of the legacies that the event left behind was that of getting people back on their bikes. Almost exactly a year after the closing ceremony of the games the Prudential Ride London event is taking place. This is a two day cycling festival designed and organised by the office of the Mayor of London. It has been designed to be an annual event and of world class proportions. Ride London takes place on Saturday 3rd and…

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From the 29th July to the 25th August the streets of Camden will be filled with laughter as it hosts the Camden Fringe Festival. The Camden Fringe has been a regular event for the past eight years and continues to get bigger and better every year. If you only make it to the one festival this summer, make sure it’s to the one that will leave you with a smile on your face. It’s Not Edinburgh! Seventeen different venues will play host to more than one hundred and eighty performances,…

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Finding somewhere to park your car in the city of London is notoriously difficult, especially if you are looking at parking outside of a recognised car parking area. When looking at the car parks in London you will notice that they are more than just bland and featureless structures, some of them are as close to being a work of art as a municipal building can be. Here are just a few of the more architecturally pleasing structures to be found in the city. The Daimler Hire Garage So this…

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