Hot picks from London's diary of events, Theatre, Fine Art Exhibitions, expos and fairs, compiled by OfftoLondon's Man About Town.

Remember, Remember The fifth of November Gunpowder Treason and Plot. We see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.

Festival of Remembrance
Venue: Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, SW7 2A
Date: 2 pm, 8 November. 2008.
Tickets: Check Online booking for availability. The televised evening performance attended by the Royal Family is reserved for Legion veterans.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Knightsbridge, Kensington High Street.
Description: The annual sell-out Royal British Legion Festival extravaganza is attended by the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and members of the Royal Family as part of the Remembrance Day weekend. The superbly produced and emotive show in honour of the Fallen in Battle is televised and inevitably brings a tear to the eye of every one of every veteran. It traditionally includes military displays by current members of the armed forces, choral and solo performances by celebrated singers, and ends with a solemn Drumhead Service of Remembrance for those who died in battle.
This is one of many November events, including symphonic, choral and pop concerts, taking place each year at London's historic and most prestigious hall, ending with the first Christmas Carol concert of the Festive season. Check website for tour details and onsite dining at this historic architectural wonder, the Royal Albert Hall, opened 1871 by Queen Victoria.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes. Check website for special seating arrangements. Make your requirements known when booking. Adapted Toilets: Yes.

Tower of London
Venue: London, EC3N 4AB. Tel: 0870 756 6060.
Date: Daily. Summer opening times 9am-5.30pm, (Tues-Sat); 10am-5.30pm, (Sun/Mon), 2009.
Tickets: £16 booked online (concessions), or £17 at portcullis.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Tower Hill. DLR: Tower Gateway. Bus routes: RV1 from Covent Garden, 15, 42,78,100. All sightseeing buses. Riverboat: Regular service from Westminster, Charing Cross, Greenwich Piers.
Description: London's top tourist attraction, and the custodians of the Tower are as expert at putting on a family show today as they were at chopping off the heads of discarded Queens in the days of Henry VIII and Tudor days of gore. The most famous attractions are the Crown Jewels, the 'Beefeater' yeomen in their ceremonial Tudor dress, and the celebrated ravens. Make sure you see the magnificent temporary exhibition Henry VIII, Dressed to Kill a display of Henry VIII's armour on show to mark the 500th anniversary of the monarch's accession to the throne.
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes. A limited number of wheelchairs are available at main entrance.

Hampton Court Palace: Henry VIII - Heads and Hearts
Venue: Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, KT8, 9AU. Tel: 0870 751 5175.
Date: Ongoing, 2009.
Tickets: £14, (Concessions and online discount). Book Online. Take advantage of the £39 annual membership giving unlimited entry to the Tower of London, Kensington, Hampton Court and Kew Palaces and Banqueting House.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Richmond.
Description: Hampton Court Palace really comes to life this year, the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne. Historic Royal Palaces, the organization which runs this and the infamous Tower of London where Henry had his cast-off wives beheaded, has marked the occasion with spectacular events, exhibitions and re-enactments here and at the Tower, (joint ticket discount available). Check online for specific dates and event highlights, Tudor Christmas, etc.
See also my article Hampton Court Palace and Tudor Banquets.
Venue Hire You can hire Henry VIII's magnificent Great Hall and other Palace venues with costumed guides, etc., for entertaining, conferences, wedding and civil partnership receptions, your own sumptuous banquets, functions or film location. Check Venue Hire at Hampton Court Palace for details.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes. The ground floor of the Palace is wheelchair accessible and there are limited facilities for viewing the upper floors with the use of an elevator. Accessible Toilets. See Palace Disabled Access for full details.

Kensington Palace
Venue: Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX. Tel: 0870 751 5170.
Date: Daily. Winter opening times 10am-5pm, 1 Nov 2009 - 28 Feb 2010.
Tickets: From £11, (concessions and online discount). Book Online. Take advantage of the £39 annual membership giving unlimited entry to the Tower of London, Kensington, Hampton Court and Kew Palaces and Banqueting House.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: High Street, Kensington.
Description: As well as the fascinating exhibition of Court Ceremonial dress which gives us a good idea of the splendour of the British Court, there is a great deal worth seeing, from the Cupola Room, where Queen Victoria was baptised, to the exquisite trompe d'oeuil ceiling executed by Palladian architect William Kent for George II, (1722). While the original State Rooms have been turned into a museum, this is still a working palace and Royal Residence, housing working members of the Royal Family. Princess Diana lived here after her divorce.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes

Banqueting House: Whitehall Palace
Venue: Banqueting House, Whitehall, SW1A 2ER, Tel: 0870 751 5187
Date: Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm, 2009.
Tickets: £4.80 (Concessions) Buy Online or at the door. Take advantage of the £39 annual membership giving unlimited entry to the Tower of London, Kensington, Hampton Court and Kew Palaces and Banqueting House.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Westminster, Embankment.
Description: The renowned monthly lunchtime concerts continue with the Dufay Collective - Medieval Christmas, ( 7 December); Hannah Francis - Sing a Song of Christmas, (21 December). This is the perfect way to admire the Rubens ceiling, a pictorial paean to the Stuart belief in the 'Divine right of Kings', a concept that cost Charles I his head. See website for concert details and Offtolondon's Banqueting House for descriptive details of this exquisite relic of the great Stuart Palace of Whitehall.
Venue Hire You can hire the historic and impressive Banqueting House for entertaining, conferences, wedding and civil partnership receptions, functions or film location. Check Venue Hire for details and bookings.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes for portable/standard size wheelchairs.

Kew Palace
Venue: Kew Gardens.
Access: Daily. 11am-5pm, Mon. 10am-5pm Tues-Sun, 2009.
Tickets: £5, (concessions). This does not include entry to Kew Gardens. Take advantage of the £39 annual membership giving unlimited entry to the Tower of London, Kensington, Hampton Court and Kew Palaces and Banqueting House.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Kew Gardens.
Description: The country palace of George III, (d.1820) and his Queen Charlotte, Kew Palace has been meticulously refurbished under the dedicated eye of Prince Charles, President of the Royal Collection and is a masterpiece of Georgian taste, decor and furnishings. Venue hire. The King's Dining Room and Queen's Garden are available for intimate catered events. Email: kewpalaceevents@hrp.org.uk for details.

Kew Gardens: 250th anniversary Walking tours
Venue: Kew Gardens (Royal Botanic Gardens), Richmond upon Thames, TW9 3AB.
Dates: Daily, 11am, 2pm throughout the year. Tours last approximately 1 hour.
Tickets: Free after payment of entry.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Kew Gardens. Carparking: Outside Brentford Gate, (Thames riverside), entrance.
Description: Each guide presents his or her own one hour tour, taking in the highlights of the season, exploring the exotic plants in the glasshouses and explaining the history and work of Kew.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes, for much of Kew Gardens. Tree top walkway is not disability accessible. Disability Concessions: See website. Hand operated wheelchairs are available on loan. Adapted Toilets: Yes, at Welcome centre.

The Golden Hinde
Venue: Pickfords Wharf/Clink St., London SE1 9DG. Tel: 020 7407 7056.
Date: Daily, 10am-5.30pm, 2009.
Tickets: £6. (Concessions).
London Transport: Nearest Tube: London Bridge.
Carparking: Union Car Park, 53 Southwark Street.
Description: This is an exact working replica of Sir Francis Drake's Naval Flagship the Tudor warship Golden Hinde in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world 1577-1580. This exact reconstruction, a fully working ship, was launched in Devon in 1973. Since then she has circumnavigated the globe and sailed over 140,000 miles - many more than the original. Her present berth is the St Mary Overie Dock on Thames South Bank, just a short walk from the Clink Prison Museum, Shakespeare's Globe and Tate Modern. This is a living history experience of particular interest to maritime history buffs. Explore the 5 decks and the 22 canons.
Venue Hire You can hire the Golden Hinde for entertaining, conferences, wedding and civil partnership receptions, functions or film location. Check website for details and bookings.
Wheelchair Accessibility: No.

The Royal Mews
Venue: Buckingham Palace, Westminster, SW1A 1AA, London. Entrance in Buckingham Palace Road.
Access: CLOSED to public until March 2010.
Tickets: Dates, prices and Advance Booking for the 2010 summer opening will be announced December, 2009.

Buckingham Palace State Rooms and Gardens
CLOSED to public until Summer, 2010. The famous west facade of the Palace is dramatically floodlit at night throughout the winter months. Check Shophound Alexia's FREE London for times of the Changing of the Guard in the Palace forecourt.
Venue: Buckingham Palace, Westminster, SW1A 1AA, London. Entrance in Buckingham Palace Road.
Tickets: Dates, prices and Advance Booking for the 2010 summer opening will be available December, 2009.

Clarence House
Access: CLOSED to public until Summer 2010.
Tickets: Dates, prices and Advance Booking for the 2010 summer opening will be announced December, 2009.

Palace of Westminster, (Houses of Parliament)
Venue: Westminster, London SW1A 1AA.
Access: CLOSED to public until 2010 Summer recess of Parliament except for private visits at invitation of a sitting Member of Parliament.

The Royal Opera: The Tzarina's Slippers
Venue:Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2.
Date: 20 November - 8 December, 2009.
Tickets: from £9.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Covent Garden.
Description: Gogol's enchanting Russian fairy tale Cherevichki put to music by Tchaikovsky. His colourful score offers one irresistible melody after another. Staged by Francesca Zambello, (who directed The Royal Opera's The Queen of Spades and The Bartered Bride), and choreographed by the Royal Ballet's Alastair Marriott, this is a rarity to savour this Christmas season.
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes.
Burlington Bertie's Tip: Dine at the ROH's excellent Amphitheatre Restaurant. Book your table and pre-order your food and wine before the performance.

Svapnagata Festival
Venue: Sadlers Well, Rosebury Avenue, EC1R. Tel: 0844 412 4322.
Date: 7.30pm, 16 - 28 November, 2009.
Tickets:. £10-£35, Book online. Discounted tickets for disabled patrons are not available online. Call 412 0844 4319.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Angel.
Description: Meaning 'dreaming' in Sanskrit, Svapnagata is a unique two-week festival of Indian music and dance curated by two multi award-winning artists - dancer and choreographer Akram Khan and composer Nitin Sawhney. With a wide range of events taking place in the main house and the Lilian Baylis Studio, the festival offers a dazzling array of performances from some of the finest Indian musicians, dancers and choreographers, presenting classical work in a contemporary context.
. Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes. Check website for special seating arrangements and any discounts. Make your requirements known when booking. Adapted Toilets: Yes.
Burlington Bertie's Memo: Book now to ensure your seats for Matthew Bourne's acclaimed Swan Lake which returns to Sadlers Wells for a limited Christmas season 10 December 2009 - 24 January, 2010. See video clip.

Duke Bluebeard's Castle - Rites of Spring
Venue: The Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, WC2N 4ES.
Date: 7 perfs, times vary; 6 - 28 November, 2009.
Tickets: £22 - £89. Book Online
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Covent Garden. Car Park: Drury Lane NCP.
Description: ENO takes advantage of owning what is arguably London's finest stage for dance to present two iconic works of 20th-century art. Following his South Bank Show Award-winning production of Birtwistle's Punch & Judy at the Young Vic, Daniel Kramer makes his London Coliseum debut directing Bartók's only opera, with Michaela Martens as the wife who sacrifices herself in seeking to unlock the secrets of her husband's bloody past. Michael Keegan-Dolan directs his Olivier Award-nominated dance theatre company, Fabulous Beast, in Rites of Spring, Stravinsky's darkly ritualistic ballet, in which a young girl is sacrificed on the altar of her community's future. Presiding over a hugely expanded orchestra, ENO Music Director Edward Gardner conducts what will to be a doubly explosive evening.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Check website for special seating arrangements and any discounts. Make your requirements known when booking. Mobility friendly toilets.

Oliver
Venue: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Catherine Street, WC2B 5JF.
Date: Bookings accepted until 11 February, 2011.
Tickets: From £32.50.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Leicester Square. Car Park St. Martin's Lane NCP.
Description: The sensational score is full of Lionel Bart's irresistible songs including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, You've Got to Pick-a-Pocket or Two, I'd Do Anything, Oom Pah Pah, As Long As He Needs Me and many more.
Rupert Goold (Best Director, 2008 Olivier Awards), has restaged Sam Mendes acclaimed production, and along with Tony award winning director and choreographer Matthew Bourne has used every inch of London's greatest musical stage with even more sensational sets by Anthony Ward.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Check website for special seating arrangements and any discounts. Make your requirements known when booking. Mobility friendly toilets.

Offtolondon Theatre Breaks and Offers
Venue: West End and City theatres
Date: Ongoing.
Tickets: Online booking for all seats, accommodation, etc.
Description: Your guide to London's theatre programs, concerts and events with online booking facility. A glittering array of top musicals continue to draw capacity audiences nightly. Book your tickets for these and Christmas shows online now.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Most London theatres, some hotels, (such as the newly refurbished Russell Hotel near the British Museum), and many restaurants are now wheelchair accessible with Accessible Toilets in their public areas, and also have special accommodation facilities for wheelchair users. It is however essential that you make your requirements known when booking.

Royal Academy: Anish Kapoor
Venue: Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W.1.
Date: 10am-6pm daily, 10am-10pm, Fridays; 26 September - 11 December, 2009.
Tickets: £13.50, (Concessions). Book Online or pay on the door. Tickets are time/dated.
London transport: Nearest Tube: Piccadilly, Green Park.
Description:. Elected a Royal Academician in 1999, Anish Kapoor is internationally regarded as one of the most influential and pioneering sculptors of his generation and is celebrated for works which enter into a profound spiritual engagement with the viewer. The centrepiece of the exhibition is the monumental Svayambh; a site specific piece tailored to the architecture of the Royal Academy's Main Galleries and reflecting the artist's exploration of sculptural works that actively participate in their own formation. Another highlight is Shooting into the Corner, an evolving work of extraordinary complexity and drama that constantly changes throughout the duration of the exhibition. The exhibition also contains a number of the artist's signature works from different moments in his career.
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes.

Tate Britain: Turner and the Masters
Venue:Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG
Dates: Daily 10am-6pm; 10am-10pm, Fridays/Saturdays. 23 September, 2009 - 31 January, 2010. Closed 24-26 December.
Tickets: £12.50, (Concessions). £15, combined with Turner Prize exhibition, (Concessions). Book Online Tickets are date/timed.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Pimlico.
Description: Featuring world-class masters such as Canaletto, Claude, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens and Titian, this magnificent show explores how Turner hoped to imitate, rival and outshine many of the greatest painters in history. In the first exhibition of its kind, this show pairs some of Turners' greatest paintings with outstanding works by old masters, as well as contemporaries such as Constable and Bonington, to reveal his debts and rivalries in exciting, even unpredictable, ways.  This is a truly unique opportunity to understand how Turner established and maintained his reputation as one of the greatest painters of landscape in the European tradition.
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes.

Tate Modern: Pop Life, Art in a Material World
Venue: Bankside, SE1 9TG.
Date: Daily 10am-6pm; 10am-10pm, Fridays/Saturdays. 1 October, 2009 - 17 January, 2010. Closed 24-26 December.
Tickets: £12.50, (Concessions). Book Online. Tickets are date/timed
London Transport: Riverboat to Bankside Pier. Nearest Tube Blackfriars; Cannon Street.
Description: A examination of how artists since the 1980s have cultivated their public persona as a product, and conjured a dazzling mix of media, commerce and glamour to build their own 'brands'. Beginning with the grandfather of Pop, Andy Warhol, the show includes Jeff Koons' infamous Made in Heaven series and his stainless steel Rabbit. sculpture, an iconic array of golden spot and butterfly paintings from Damien Hirst's record breaking 2008 auction, and a reconstruction of Keith Haring's Pop Shop in New York. Also included will be works by Richard Prince, Martin Kippenberger, and the notorious YBAs, and a special new commission by Takashi Murakami.
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes.

Adams Antiques Fair
Venue: Lindley Hall, Royal Horticultural Hall, Elverton Street, Victoria, SW5 9TA. Tel: 020 7385 1200.
Date: 8 November; 6 December, 2009.
Tickets: £4 at the door.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Victoria .
Description: London's most popular monthly antiques fair! Join real collectors and dealers as they get down to the business of buying and selling! Expect up to 150 specialist British and European dealers offering antiques and collectibles at prices that are considerably friendlier to your wallet and mine than at the antiques fairs in fashionably expensive Mayfair and Duke of York Square, Chelsea. This and the Adams Frock Me Vintage Fashion Fairs at Chelsea Town Hall, (1 November, 13 December 2009), are firm diary dates for Shophound Alexia on the look out for special or unusual gifts, and fashion with a difference.
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes.

Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair
Date: 11-15 November, 2009.
Venue: Business Design Centre, Islington, N1.
Tickets: From £10.50. Available August. Book Online, (Concessions) or at the door.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Angel.
Description: Visit a dazzling emporium filled with unique gifts, delicious food and beautiful decorations not available on Main Street. Browse the stalls of over 400 exhibitors and soak up the magical atmosphere while you buy everything for Christmas under one roof: beautiful hand-made gifts, stunning jewellery, unique home accessories and stylish clothing or Festive food.
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes.

17th Winter Fine Arts & Antiques Fair
Date: Times vary. 16 - 22 November, 2009.
Venue: Grand Hall, Olympia Exhibition Centre, Hammersmith Road, W14 8UX.
Tickets: From £10.Book online, (recommended), or at the door
London Transport: Nearest Tube. West Kensington.
Description: The Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia, now in its 17th year, is considered one of the most important art and antiques events of the year. Attracting over 20,000 visitors, and run in association with the UK's top two trade associations, the Fair features around 200 exhibitors from across the UK in a very elegant setting.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets. Yes.

Imperial War Museum: Terrible Trenches
Venue: Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, SE1 6HZ. Tel: 0207 416 5320.
Date: Until 1 March 2010.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Lambeth North; Elephant and Castle; Waterloo, (wheelchair accessible); Southwark, (wheelchair accessible). Carparks: Union Carparks/53 Southwark Street.
Tickets: £8.(Concessions). Book online. The rest of the museum is FREE.
Description: An unmissable family exhibition based on the Trenches Handbook, one of the books by Terry Deary in the bestselling Horrible Histories- series. Find out how soldiers coped with foul food, legions of lice, gruesome gas, sickness and sores. Try on the curious clothing of the British and German soldiers, see real items used by soldiers in the trenches, climb through a mining tunnel and explore an officers' dugout. Peer into no man's land with a periscope, experience the terrible toilets, smell the stenches and splat the rats!.
Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes. Adapted Toilets: Yes, on all floors bar the 3rd and 4th. Accessible cafe on ground floor. The Museum has a number of manual, folding frame wheelchairs that can be borrowed for the duration of your visit. Check online for full details

Linley Sambourne House
Venue: 18 Stafford Terrace, W8.
Date: Guided tours: Weds, 11.15am, 2pm; Sat/Suns, 11.15am. Costumed tours: Sat/Suns, 1p,, 2.20pm, 3.30pm. 2009.
Tickets: £6, (Concessions). Booking recommended. Call 020 7602 3316 (9am to 5pm) or email museums@rbkc.gov.uk
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Kensington; High Street, Kensington. Carparking: Olympia Hylton NCP.
Description: The former terrace house of Edward Linley Sambourne, noted Victorian artist, nude photographer and Punch illustrator, who lived here from 1874 - 1914 with his wife Marion. They decorated and filled it with art, artefacts and furniture in the then popular 'aesthetic' style. Victorian domestic life and culture of the 1880s and 1890s is preserved here as if in aspic at this fascinating museum run by the Victorian Society.
Wheelchair accessibility: No.

Blood & Tears Walk
Venue: Start from outside Barbican Tube Station. Ends Holborn
Date: Weds, 7pm & 945pm; Thurs/Fris, 2pm & 7pm. See website for details.
Tickets: £7, (Concessions). Online discount or pay your Guide at start.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Barbican, (Circle line, Metropolitan line and the Hammersmith & City line).
Description: This two hour long award-winning Horror London walk by qualified researcher and former professional actor Declan McHugh is now in its tenth year. The walk took years of research and covers sites connected with London's darkest past, including places associated with grave robbers, serial killers (including Jack the Ripper), secret tunnels, witchcraft and conspiracy. Learn about London's PHD - Prisons, Prostitutes and Punishment; Highwaymen, Hangings and Hauntings; Disease, Disaster and Death.

Jack the Ripper Walk
Venue: Aldgate, Whitechapel, Spitalfields. EC. Tel: 020 8530 8443
Date: Daily. 7pm-9pm.
Tickets: £6.50. Online Booking
London Transport: Aldgate East, (District, Hammersmith and City Lines).
Description: Guided Exploration of the Whitechapel and Spitalfields alleys and pubs where serial killer Jack the Ripper murdered at least five and possibly many more prostitutes in a reign of terror during 1888.

Free London
Permanent collections in many galleries and museums are entry free. Some individually mounted temporary exhibitions within specified rooms may carry a ticket charge however, (bookable online or at the door). Check Shophound Alexia's comprehensive Free London Diary for details.

The Olympia London International Horse Show, 15-21 December, 2009. London's annual Christmas equestrian event. Top show jumping competitions, World Cup Dressage, etc. 15/16 December will be the FEI World Cup Dressage Competitions and 17 - 21 December will be performances with jumping competitions.  Christmas Pantos at the Hackney Empire, (Aladdin); Peacock Theatre, (The Snowman); New Wimbledon Theatre, (Aladdin).