Sunday 13 June 2010: 1100-1900: Vauxhall's large Portugese population - and their neighbours - celebrate their national day, Portugal Day, in Kennington Park:- food, stalls and excellent music.
This is a calendar of free events (or nearly-free events) in/around the Vauxhall/Kennington area, month by month throughout the year. See also separate web pages listing local places to visit and things to do, and places to go, and places to eat, with children.
Note: Please check the year in the following dates as some of the entries relate to events which have already happened, and whose future dates have not been confirmed.
Saturday 1 January 2011: New Year's Day Parade departs Piccadilly from 1200, arrs Parliament Square between c.1240 and c.1500
Saturday 20 March 2010: The highly popular Children's Easter Egg Hunt takes place in Vauxhall Park. Registration begins 1030 and ends shortly afterwards:- You must be there early to avoid disappointment. The event itself begins at 1100.
Sunday 11 April 2010: The historic Wanderers Football Club is playing the UNICEF Central London Group from 1000 in Kennington Park. Wanderers were founded in 1859, won 5 FA Cups between 1872 and 1878 and, after folding in 1883, were reformed in 2009 with the blessing of the founding brothers' descendants with the aim of raising money for UNICEF UK. They played their first match in 126 years against Oxford University in November 2009 and raised £500 for charity. They have three matches arranged for this year and aim to treble that total. Further information is on the the club's very interesting website.
|
|
Sunday 13 June 2010: 1100-1900: Vauxhall's large Portugese population - and their neighbours - celebrate their national day, Portugal Day, in Kennington Park:- food, stalls and excellent music. |
Saturday 19 June to Sunday 27 June 2010: There are numerous local events as part of Bike Week:- the UK's annual celebration of cycling, which is this year promoting everyday cycling for health and fitness. Many fun events will be aimed at novice or lapsed cyclists, including children and young families.
Sunday 20 June 2010: 1400-1700 : Vauxhall Park Summer Fair:- This event goes from strength to strength and now includes lots of children's games, a giant bouncy castle, go-karts, Punch and Judy, a space ball, face painting, fire engines, various stalls and refreshments.
Saturday 26 June 2010: There is a rare opportunity to view the Lambeth Palace Gardens if you visit the North Lambeth Parish Fete from 2-5pm. Spend the afternoon in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s beautiful gardens, listen to local jazz steel bands, browse the stalls, try your hand on the sideshows or have your face painted. Stalls include home produce, plants, books, bric-a-brac and the ever popular tombola. Enjoy ice cream and spicy hot food, or a cup of tea and a cake from the tea tent. Entry is via garden gate, facing the river. Admission £3 (or concessions) includes a guide to the garden.
|
|
Sunday 11 July 2010. The The British 10km London Road Race features 20,000 runners who start in Piccadilly at 0935 and finish in Whitehall. |
|
|
Sunday 11 July 2009: Lambeth Cemetery Open Day, 1100-1700, Blackshaw Road, SW17. Historic hearses and other vehicles, demonstrations of memorial masonry, tours and refreshments. Sat/Sun 17/18 July 2010: The Lambeth Country Show, near Herne Hill station:- see photos on left. It's hard to imagine a "country show" in Lambeth but this one works well on the side of the hill in Brockwell Park. There is something for everyone, including farm animals, a fun fair, a steam engine parade, a battle re-enactment, a circus, and lots of craft, food and beer tents. Open 1100-1830. |
|
|
Sunday 1 August 2010: The Carnaval del Pueblo - London's premier festival featuring Latin American music and dance features a parade leaving City Hall, off Tooley Street SE1, at around lunchtime, before arriving at Burgess Park mid-afternoon. The event continues well into the evening. Check the festival's website for detailed timings and lists of performers |
Saturday 4 September 2010: Bolney Meadow Community Fun Day offers lots of free family-friendly activities, including music, a mini-farm, a bouncy castle, a talent contest, henna, threading and face-painting. It takes place from 1200-1600 on the grassed area near the corner of Meadow Road and Dorset Road, SW8.
Saturday/Sunday 11/12 September 2010: The Thames Festival gets bigger and better each year. It includes lots of events on/near the river and ends with a Notting Hill-style Lantern Procession on Sunday evening. The head of the procession leaves Embankment Tube Station at around 1930 and crosses Blackfriars Bridge around 2015 before turning into Upper Ground around 2030.
Saturday/Sunday 18/19 September 2010: The London Open House Weekend is a London-wide event in which many fascinating buildings normally closed to the public open their doors. A leaflet giving full details is usually available in public libraries two to three weeks beforehand or much earlier via the web site, which also contains a useful search facility. You need to book for some visits, and queue for others, but most of the smaller venues are readily accessible on a "turn up and enter" basis. Local attractions may include:-
Incidentally, there is a similar event for buildings outside London over the weekend before this one. Full details are on the Heritage Open Days website.
|
|
Saturday 25 September 2010: "Less po-faced than the Oxbridge race and much more colourful":- The Great River Race features 300 boats with crews from around the world including replica Greek galleys, Chinese dragonboats and Viking longboats! Check the website for timings. The slowest craft start first and reach Vauxhall Bridge around two hours after leaving Ham. They finish at Greenwich. |
Saturday 26 September 2009: The Stockwell Festival will take place in Larkhall Park from 1300-2000. The centrepiece attractions will be a music stage and a Colourdome - an interactive structure featuring light and sound. There will also be lots of arts and crafts and other stalls, activities for children, and Portuguese food and drink.
Saturday 26 September 2009: Lambeth Archives Open Day, Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, SE5. A "must see" for all those even vaguely interested in local history. The exhibitions are open from 1000-1700, and there are 4 or 5 themed talks spaced throughout the day. Further details from 7926 6076.
Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 October 2010: Lambeth Open enables you to see inside artists' studios and exhibition spaces for a unique personal insight into the individual creative processes. It is a great way to discover the fantastic range of creative talent tucked away in our borough, and to explore the various art spaces too often hidden in our neighbourhood. Doors will be open from 1100 to 1800 both days.
Sun 1 November 2009: The London to Brighton Run: Veteran cars - built in or before 1904 - drive up Kennington Road, past Kennington Park, and up the Brixton Road. The first and oldest reach Kennington Cross at about 0720 and the last pass through at about 0830.
Saturday 14 November 2009: The Lord Mayor's Show is a great spectacle, featuring a long and entertaining procession culminating in some beautiful horse-drawn coaches. No Londoner should miss it!
Please contact me by email if you would like your event or venue listed on this site.
