Te Royal Choral Society Christmas Classics 2017 is calling your name. Special guest, actor Timothy West, is set to deliver some festive readings and the Royal Choral Society and Fanfare Trumpeters of the Royal Logistics Corps will perform your favourite carols and seasonal classics. O come, all ye faithful. Tose not so faithful are welcome, too. 7.30 pm. 13 December 2017. Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, SW7 2AP. Tickets from £19.50. If you’re in the mood to take in a show
over the Christmas period, but don’t want to overdo the festive feeling, the award- winning, much acclaimed by every man, woman, child and dog show, Hamilton, opens in November at the Victoria Palace Teatre. Although the first release of tick- ets has been sold, producers are hoping to offer more tickets nearer the completion of the theatre’s refurbishment in early au- tumn. Tere is also the option of a ticket lottery, giving you the chance to win tick- ets in person at the theatre prior to the performance every day and a weekly online lottery. Take a leaf out of Alexander Hamilton’s book and don’t throw away your shot. 21 November 2017-30 June 2018. Victoria Palace Teatre, Victoria Street, SW1E 5EA. Tickets from £32.50.
For those looking to escape the clichés of Christmas, some alternative festive activi- ties might be more your cup of tea. Watch as teams of six manoeuvre round an obsta- cle course without dropping their pud- dings, at London’s 37th annual Great Christmas Pudding Race in Covent Garden. Tere are prizes to be won and celebrity guests to ogle, all in aid of Cancer Research UK. 11am. 2 December 2017.
www.xmaspuddingrace.org,uk. If you fancy yourself as a Christmassy
Alternative
Brian Cox, head to the Royal Observatory Greenwich for An Evening with the Stars. At London’s one and only public planetar- ium, you can take a glance through the Great Equatorial Telescope at the elements of the night sky. Astronomers are available to answer any space-related queries. November 2017-February 2018. Peter Harrison Planetarium, Greenwich, SE10 9NF. Admission £18.
8 FOCUS The Magazine November/December 2017 ✶
Winter has officially arrived at
Hogwarts. Te Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – Te Making of Harry Potter opens its grand doors for a very magical festive celebration, Hogwarts in the Snow. Set out in the Great Hall is a replica festive feast, fireplaces with special-effect fires and glittering Christmas trees. You can get up close and personal with the props that were used and explore the sets in the exact arrangement featured in the films. Moaning Myrtle might be floating about in the toilets dressed as an elf. You never know. 18 November 2017-4 February 2018. Studio Tour Drive, Leavesden, WD25 7LR. Tickets from £69 for adults and £64 for children. We bet you never thought you would see
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Te Lion King’s Simba anywhere other than the Pride Lands of Africa. Well, think again. Disney on Ice invites you to join some of your favourite Disney characters as they skate through their fairytale worlds to award-winning music in Passport to Adventure. 20 December-30 December 2017. Te O2, Peninsula Square, North Greenwich, SE10 0XD. Tickets from £32.23.
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If staying inside watching Christmas TV and arguing about who’s eaten all the good chocolate out of the box isn’t what you fancy doing this year, you don’t have to. Observe from the sidelines as the crazy divers from Te Serpentine Swimming Club brave their 154th Annual Christmas Morning Race for the Peter Pan Cup. Te 91-metre swim takes place on the south bank of the lake, close to the Serpentine Café. Termals are advised. 9am. 25 December 2017. Hyde Park, W2 2UH. Let’s face it: some of us don’t actually
Christmas Day
want to cook a Christmas dinner big enough to feed the cavalry. Tankfully there are plenty of places open on the 25th to take the stress out of your day. York and Albany in Camden, part of Gordon Ramsay’s repertoire, and Browns restau- rant in Covent Garden have festive five- course menu as do many other restaurants around the capital. Cruising down the Tames isn’t solely reserved for the sum- mer months. City Cruises does a three
Swimming in the Serpentine
Montague Hotel Ski Lodge
hour and fifteen minute Christmas Day Traditional Lunch on one of their boats. Complete with festive music, carols and a licenced bar, you can sing along with Te Pogues about the boys of the NYPD choir and how you could have been someone, drink in hand, while bobbing along the water. Te boat departs from Westminster Pier at 12:00 and returns at 15:15. Westminster Pier, Victoria Embankment, SW1A 2 JH. Tickets from £119.00.
www.citycruises.com One of the few attractions open on
Christmas day is Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Spread over five floors, there are plenty of weird and wonderful things to see to liven up the day. From the world’s heaviest man to a two-headed calf. Kids shouting about being bored will cease to exist…for the day, anyway. Te London Pavilion, 1 Piccadilly Circus, W1J 0DA. Advance tickets from £23.79 for adults, £17.48 for children.
Hayley Harrison is a freelance writer and fashion intern and can be reached at
www.hrharrison.com
www.focus-info.org
Great Christmas Pudding Race
Cruise on the Thames
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