Things To Do In London New Year’s Day

First things first: if it was a heavy night last night, you’ll be wanting to visit the best places in London to deal with a hangover. Sorted? Good.

ICE SKATING: What better way to shake off a fuzzy head than by going ice skating? Twinkly lights, elegant gliding — it’ll have you feeling right as rain quick-sharp. London’s seasonal ice rinks are mostly open into the new year.

TWITCHING: If bird-watching is your new activity for 2015, head to London Wetland Centre in Barnes where the wardens are offering hour-long tours pointing out the best spots for catching sight of specific species. £2+admission, 9.45am

PARADE: The New Year’s Day Parade remains a mystery to those Londoners who spend their New Year’s Day under the duvet. If you’re feeing bright-eyed and bushy-tailed enough this year, the procession begins at Piccadilly at noon and ends at Parliament Square at 3.30pm. See route map here. Grandstands are located in Waterloo Place and Regent Street South — get a ticket for £30 (or watch along the rest of the route for free). This year’s line-up includes more than 8,500 performers representing 20 countries worldwide including marching bands, cheerleaders, clowns, acrobats and much more. Free, just turn up, 12pm-3.30pm

SOHO NOSES: Get 2015 off to a trivia-based start with Discovering London guide Peter Berthoud’s walk around Soho. The focus of the walk is hunting down the Seven Noses of Soho. Legend has it that if you manage to track down all seven, you will receive infintite wealth, which would be a peachy start to the year. This special adaptation of Peter’s regular tour incorporates four pub stops. £20, prebook, 12pm-3pm

SOUTHBANK CEILIDH: The Ceilidh Liberation Front’s New Year’s Startup takes over the Clore Ballroom for an all-singing, all-dancing party to welcome 2015. Free, just turn up,2.30pm-5.30pm

NEW YEAR GALA: Head to Barbican for a musical celebration of the new year. Classics such as Hornpipe, Rule Britannia!, Nessun Dorma and Land Of Hope And Glory will be played by the London Concert Orchestra. There’s a complimentary drink with every ticket. £19.50-£44.50, prebook, 2.30pm

COMEDY: Have a giggle at The Comedy Store in Soho’s Best In Stand Up show. MC’d by Sean Meo, the line-up includes Louis Ramey, Phil Nichol, Josh Howie and Jarred Christmas. £15/£10, prebook, 7.30pm

FAMILY FUN: London Transport Museum has organised special family activities for museum visitors. Your little ones will be able to enjoy free storytelling sessions for children aged 3-7 as well as free craft workshops for kids aged 4-12. The activities are included in the entry ticket price, which is £15 for adults, £11.50 for concessions and free for under 17.

source-http://londonist.com/

12 Best Predictions For London In 2015

January

Time Out declares Tottenham the new Bethnal Green, which was the new Peckham after Dalston stopped being the new Shoreditch. New Cross is the new King’s Cross, while Aldgate is accusing Aldersgate of plagiarism. Croydon is still Croydon, and nobody cares. In other news: Penge.

February

Gordon Ramsay comes to the aid of the Garden Bridge project, donating £10 million of his own money to ensure it gets built. The celebrity chef has two conditions. (1) It has to be renamed the Gordon Bridge. (2) Every pier must bear the likeness of his craggy little face. The scheme is eventually dropped as a hazard to shipping.

March

Work on the much-delayed Pinnacle skyscraper finally resumes, after its owners unveil radically reworked designs. The new-look tower is quickly dubbed “The Middle Finger”, and becomes a potent symbol of the banking sector.

April

Thameslink removes some of the mystery and adventure from its evening train service by positioning platform lights over station names. Passengers next to windows no longer need to consult their own GPS devices to find out where the fuck they are. The company is now exploring systems that would allow next-station names to be audibly announced, half a century after other operators discovered the technology. This will be rolled out on 50% of trains by August (the other 50% are cancelled).

May

It’s the General Election. In a shock result, Boris Johnson fails to win the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat and cannot return to Westminster. Instead, he makes use of his dual citizenship by putting in a late candidacy for the US Presidential elections, representing the Wiff Waff Party. Mayoral duties forgotten, he embarks on a six-month tour of the States, falling into ponds, getting trapped in elevators and generally endearing himself on the unsuspecting American electorate with his British buffoonery.

June

The new retail park above Canary Wharf Crossrail station opens to the public. Taking time out from his Presidential campaign, Mayor Boris Johnson likens the centre to “a giant arboreal basking shark, packed to the gunwales with exciting purveyances”.

July

After the success of the Cat Cafe, the Rat Cafe and the Cereal Cafe, the craze for gimmick-laden eateries reaches peak silliness with the opening of the Cafe Cafe. This post-postmodern memefeast serves up little sponge-and-icing facsimiles of all the other novelty cafes. Meanwhile the While-U-Wait Cafe sets up its first branch in Spitalfields. All food and drink is served during the queue to get inside. Once you finally gain entry, all that remains is to pay the bill and pretend you enjoyed the wretched venture.

August

In Spitalfields, signs that Banksy is 

September

The Rugby World Cup comes to London. The novelty goalposts are immediately declared “tragically kitsch”.

October

London wins every single spot at the World’d 50 Best Bar Awards. Most venues are in Penge. The “Best Bar in the World” title is bagged by Stone Penge, a Neolithic-themed Martini shack combining druids and fluids.

November

Accusations of cost-cutting still bedevil TfL’s project to improve step-free access to stations. Campaign groups dub the installation of slidepoles as a “shameless and shoddy alternative to proper working lifts”.

December

Struggling to find a suitable Mayoral candidate for the upcoming elections, the Conservative Party approaches Father Christmas. Mr Claus already has a strong public profile, and offers some novel aerial solutions to London’s transport problems. His proven track record of working on just one evening each year will also provide a sense of continuity with the current incumbent.

source-http://londonist.com/