Like it or not, October means autumn’s arrived – but no hibernating indoors now! If you’re visiting the capital, make like a tree and leave – get outdoors and see the city’s (ahem) leaves change colour on a stroll that ends with a bunch or breakfast around Paddington.
But then what? Well, if you’re staying at choice accommodation like the Grand hotel London Hyde Park, there’s just as choice things to be getting up to in the autumnal month of November; don’t doubt it…
BFI London Film Festival
(various locations/ 10th-21st October)
Undoubtedly the capital's – and the UK's – biggest celebration of international cinema. Pop along to a venue to check out an astute mix of the best movies from Cannes and the other major festivals, and prestige awards contenders from the major US studios.
Six Day London
(Lee Valley VeloPark, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Abercrombie Road E20 3AB/ 23rd-28th October)
London’s where the Six Day Series originated, so it’s a fitting – to say the least - when the thing returns each year. Over the six days then, globally renowned cyclists compete on a track in various races, the most popular being the ‘Madison’. During this particular event, they ride in teams of pairs, relay style, and try to rack up the most laps to take the title. The first six-day race took place in 1878 in North(ish) London’s Islington (yes, really!) in a hall that once stood where the current Business Design Centre is. Nowadays, it’s held here in Stratford at the purpose-built Lee Valley VeloPark in the Olympic Park and there are DJs and light shows to help create a lively, party atmosphere. Who could say no, honestly!
NFL in London
(White Hart Lane Stadium, 748 High Road N17 0AP/ 14th, 21st and 28th October)
Yes, it’s The American juggernaut that’s NFL (the National *American* Football League) crash-landing in the Smoke once more with three games of exciting matchups this month; namely, Seattle Seahawks versus Oakland Raiders (on the 14th), Tennessee Titans versus Los Angeles Chargers (on the 21st) and Philadelphia Eagles versus Jacksonville Jaguars (on the 28th).
London Cocktail Week
(various locations/ 1st-7th October)
Get all shook up (geddit?) along with the rest of the capital at this annual celebration of London’s best boozy concoctions. And, even better, throughout the week-day celebration, a £10 pass’ll entitle any tipple-triers to £6 cocktails in many of the city’s very best bars – a good number of them within Tube-taking and then walking (or, rather, staggering!) distance of Paddington accommodation London, no doubt.
Night and Day: 1930s Fashion and Photographs
(Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street SE1 3XF/ 12th October 2018-12th January 2019)
Kicking-off hallway through the month of October, this London Bridge-based event enables all comers to foxtrot their way between the eclectic but oh-so stylish and swish images captured on camera forever to remind us all now nearly a century later just how ebullient the era that linked the overblown Roaring Twenties to wartime austerity, despite the odds, managed to be. It’s all about the fabulous fashion and awesome art devo design here.
Diwali on the Square
(Trafalgar Square WC2N 5DN/ 28th October)
This is a fabulously vibrant and colourful celebration in the iconic Trafalgar Square, right in the heart of the capital, to mark the Hindu Festival of Lights. Expect absolutely lashings of Southeast Asian food, marvellous music, excellent activities and fantastic fun. Indeed, the live line-up promises to feature both traditional religious performances and contemporary Asian music and dance. Now that’s an inducement, indeed!
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