Three Upcoming ‘Can’t Miss’ London Events.

I’m not gonna lie. I need me some London.

The past two months have been really tough and have left me feeling pretty blah. All recent travel plans were cancelled due to my father’s health and it’s seems I often find myself day dreaming about going somewhere – even if only for a few days. Hopefully we’ll be planning the next leg of our trip out again in the near future but the past few weeks I’ve been warding off stress by looking up random travel ideas and wishing I had a big pocketbook so I could bounce around on mini trips of just a few days in exotic locales.

London is a place that is never far from my mind. What’s not to like? It has an interesting history, awesome accents and lots of great beer. I’ve spent some time in London but only briefly – I’ve never had a real one on one with the city or England for that matter. Even though I haven’t spent longer than 36 hours at any given time in London there is something about it that I like. Something that feels comforting and easy. I really hope that at some point I can live there and really take it all in.

In my research I’ve found three events going on this summer in London that sound really fun. If you happen to be in England over the next couple of months these budget friendly London events would be great to check out!

1. Pride London

Photo by smartmonkey.

It’s fun to celebrate Pride wherever you are in the world but celebrating in London just sounds like a blast! With over 1,000,000 people taking to the streets to celebrate diversity and equality how can you not have a good time? I love hitting up Pride celebrations and it seems like this one would really take the cake! The festival itself runs from June 24th – July 3rd with the  parade being held on July 2, 2011. There are tons of events going on including concerts, comedy routines and parties going on so be sure to check this out if you are in the area.

Dates: June 24 – July 3rd, 2011        Cost: Free

2. Great British Beer Festival

Photo by Rikkis_Refuge.

How can you not go to a festival put on by CAMRA aka Campaign for Real Ale? You can sample 1/3 of a pint of various real ales for under £1. You’ll need to pay an entry fee but even at £10 on the day of it’s pretty cheap! You can cut that cost down to £8 if you get your tickets in advance. Not that you need to be a connoisseur to hit up this awesome event but if you want to get your learning pants on you can sign up for a ‘tutored tasting’ (costs about £17) and learn to taste like the pros! Better hurry up though, a lot of those tastings are already sold out. The Great British Beer Festival runs from August 2 – 6 2011 and takes place at Earls Court in London.

Dates: August 2 – 6, 2011                  Cost: £10 & £1 per sample

3. Notting Hill Carnival

Photo by the12thplaya.

This well known festival has been going on since the 1960’s. It started by London’s Caribbean immigrants as a way to band together against racism. It’s a two day event that takes place the last weekend of August. The carnival is complete with parade floats, sound systems, dancing and traditional Caribbean food including curries & jerk chicken. When the parades end the party moves into bars and clubs. It’s a free event but draws in massive crowds of up to 2,000,000 people! The streets close due to the size of the carnival and tube stations may also close due to overcrowding. With so many hostels & hotels in London you might be better off trying to find a place within walking distance so you don’t have to think about transportation.

Dates: August 28 – 29, 2011           Cost: Free

*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers & Beans Travel Website, Nariko’ s Nest Weddings & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

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