West End Live 2015

West End Live brings the musical theatre into the open air with activities and performance taking place in Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square. The event ran on the weekend of 23 and 24 June 2015.

In Leicester Square, there were many of a variety to do with make-up demonstrations, photo booth, kid’s activity zone and a chance to view as well as wear some of the props and costumes from musicals and theatre on display. Props and costumes on display come from The 39 Steps, Wicked, Bugsy Malone, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and War Horse.

There are other activities to enjoy such as an interactive children’s area for the family to enjoy with different arts and crafts activities. What I particularly liked was the photo booth where can dress yourself up (I’m gonna dress you up in my love!) and take groovy snaps.

On main stage in Trafalgar Square, theatre shows and musical groups and troupes take centre stage providing performances throughout both Saturday and Sunday. Some of the acts include The Phantom of the Opera, Disney’s The Lion King and Thriller Live.

Refreshments are available and provided by Fortnum and Mason. There are many actitivities for the family to enjoy such as puppet shows and science experiments to get to grips with. 11 canopies have been set up with many freebies to get and many things to do. The 11 canopies house different businesses and associations to the event:

• Everything's Rosie
• Ripley's Believe It or Not!
• Heart
• Science Museum
• Oxford Street
• Little Angel Theatre
• Forbidden Planet
• Picturehouse Central
• London Film Museum
• The Theatres Trust
• Benjamin Pollock's Toyshop

#WestEndLive

Burlington Gardens Festival 2015

The Burlington Gardens Festival is part of Brown’s London Art Weekend with a series of events held at the entrance on Burlington Gardens to the Royal Academy of Arts. The festival was held on Saturday 4 July 2015.

Outside on Burlington Gardens, the road had become a car-free zone with activities and food stalls with a picnic table. A drawing workshop is set up outside which encourages participants to draw the movements of acrobats make as they enact the movements of the Unexpected Hill art installation. There are colouring in activities for the children to get stuck in to.

 

 

 

 

There is also the Raze Bloom by Rachael Champion which explores landscapes and architecture, which is a look at how real estate developments bring down the natural landscapes in order to build properties.

On the inside, there are other art installations to set the eyes on such as Unexpected Hill by SO? Architecture and Ideas, which is a wall of ceramic tiles which are all in different shapes and sizes and are able to position them to form different structures.

 

An Interactive T-shit printing area has touch screens with preloaded print designs which can be adjourned to the materials creating a customisable T-shirt. It is brought together by Epson and YR-STORE with designs by the Royal Academy Schools students, tutors and associated artists.

There are performances with one which I absolutely loved was HERD by Richard Wilson RA + Breathing Space which were the use of voice, metal and cello playing on the acoustics of the architectural structure of the building.

#BLAW2015

Grosvenor Square Garden

Grosvenor Square Garden is one of London’s Royal Parks and is the September 11 Memorial Garden, which is overseen by the Roosevelt Memorial Act of Secretary of State. It is a property of the Duke of Westminster hence getting its name from the family.

In the 1720s, some of the Grosvenor family member begun developing the park, as a focal point to their estate. Initially, there was only limited access given to local residents to look after and care for. The design of the park took up a shape of an oval which is the shape it is to this day. During the 19th and 20th century, trees were introduced with the park taking upon a simpler form.

From the 1930s, the park started to have a strong association with the USA with the embassy being established at 1 Grosvenor Square by the park. The President Roosevelt Memorial and the Eagle Squadron monument have been erected since then.

During World War II, the park was severely damaged from the onset of war. In 1946, the park was made a public space as part of the peacetime celebrations. The Ministry of Works looked after the park during this duration.

Sums of contributions from all over the United Kingdom were put forward to erect the President Roosevelt statue through a memorial committee, as a way to remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In the presence of King George VI, the statue was unveiled by Mrs Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on 12 April 1948.

The Eagle Squadrons Memorial was created to commemorate the 244 Americans and 16 British fighter pilots and other personnel serving USA during World War II in the 3 Royal Air Force Eagle Squadrons. It was erected in 1985.

The September 11 Memorial Garden was created in memory of the lost ones during the attack of 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in USA as a testament to their love and courage. Consultations were sought with family members and the Memorial Garden was opened on 11 September, 2003. The columns of the pergola are made of a single oak trunk. 67 British citizens lost during the attacks are commemorated on the 3 bronze plaques on display at the pergola.

The Memorial Stone, carved by hand, has an extract from the American poet Henry Van Dyke. Under the Memorial Stone contains a steel girder preserved by resin, which was recovered from the World Trade Center. In the surroundings in the Garden contains flowers with their unique representations: Coneflower, Ivy, Lily, Phlox, Rosemary and White Rose Sally Holmes. The flowers were inspired by a posy presented to the Queen at a special memorial service.

#RoyalParks

Pride London 2015

London Pride took place this year on Saturday 27 June 2015 with both the parade and concert starting at 1pm. Organised by Pride in London, this year’s theme is Pride Heroes which celebrates individuals and organisations “who’ve contributed to LGBT+ rights over the years”.

I would have to say my Pride Hero is Lady Gaga and not because she has such lovely ways with her words and support for the LGBT community, but her boundless love she has for everyone. Her Born This Way was released in 2011 and it gave me enough strength to come out to my friends and family.

My volunteering experience for this year’s Pride wasn’t really on par as the previous 2 years I volunteered for Pride in London, which I sense was because of the wrong sense of direction partly due to being short on stewards. Good thing about Pride in London is that they listen to their volunteers so I will definitely be voicing my feedback. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun with fellow stewards in the team with lots of freebies and group photos on the way.

Packs donated to Pride in London volunteers were put together by Tesco consisting of food, water and summer essentials such as wipes, sun cream and rain poncho (thrown in for good measures after last year’s poncho gate). Baristas at Starbucks were put into overdrive as volunteers flocked to the nearest Starbucks for their free drinks and I, for one, really appreciate it.

The arrangements for the flags in the parade were re-arranged in light of recent events in USA which saw a Supreme Court ruling allowing all gay and lesbian couples the right to get married across all the states. They are joined by Ireland which too in light of recent events saw votes in legalising gay marriage. The love can be felt in Trafalgar Square where the concert were taking place where many artists were taking the stage to voice their happiness of the USA’s ruling.

The spirit of Pride doesn't end there, you can find other information on the website where you can also find out information on how to volunteer.

#PrideHeroes

Cally Festival 2015

The Cally Festival, first started in 2011, is a festival held on Caledonian Road in London which features art, activities, performances and workshops. This year it was held on Sunday 14 June 2015 from 12pm to 6pm.

The festival is funded by local businesses in and around Caledonian Road bringing live music, art and children activities, performances from local groups and bands, a procession as well as stalls for businesses, charities and sellers. Many artworks were on display created by different groups such as wooden structures created by a university in London.

#CallyFestival

Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival 2015

The Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival is an annual event held in and by St. Paul’s Church in Covent Garden West Piazza. It’s a celebration of Samuel Pepys’s first sighting of Mr. Punch 353 years ago with this year being the 40th anniversary of the event. It was held on Sunday 10 May 2015.

The event holds many activities for everyone alike to enjoy. There are puppet shows which are shown throughout the day which brings Judy and Punch professors and puppeteers across the country together for this occasion. There are many other things run throughout the day such as a procession accompanied by a brass band which starts at 11am and followed by church service at 12pm. Other activities throughout the day are music from folk groups, maypole dancing for the children, stalls selling various animate objects (puppet galore!) and many clowns (coulrophobia beware!).