LondonTown.com highlights the best events taking place in London this August

RideLondon brings Olympic cyclists to London and the Notting Hill Carnival turns 50

LONDON, 2014-8-4 — /Travel PR News/ — RideLondon cycles into town, and Notting Hill Carnival celebrates 50 years since it all started, these are two events among the top 42 highlighted by LondonTown as the best events taking place in London this August when there’s a Bank Holiday weekend to enjoy. Anyone are planning to travel to the city and looking for overnight accommodation can find a hotel in London to suit their needs, including family friendly hotels.

Olympic medallists return to The Mall, but RideLondon is not just for the professionals. Five biking events staged over one weekend, on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th August, RideLondon includes FreeCycle inviting everyone with a bike to ride through London’s traffic-free streets.

Many of London’s parks, landmarks and rooftops become pop-up cinemas in summer, see LondonTown’s Outdoor Film Screenings to get an idea, and the National Theatre is getting in on the act screening two of its most celebrated shows on The Deck. ‘E.T.’ won the 10th anniversary public vote for Somerset House Film4 Summer Screen and is one of 17 films screened in the courtyard over 14 days, supplemented with talks, events, and DJs. There’s more big screen action as Southbank Centre’s Festival of Love continues with a Film Series, throughout August.

The Great British Beer Festival is on at the same time as the London Craft Beer Festival this August, bringing over 900 real ales and 24 breweries to London between them. On the same weekend, 15th to 17th August, you can FEAST and meet Michelin starred chefs at Battersea Park where the Foodies Festival sets up a feasting tent, cider farm and a chilli food market.

Two new London music festivals launch in August 2014: Jabberwocky is brought to you by All Tomorrow’s Parties; and Greenwich Music Festival is staged at the historic Old Royal Naval College where The Australian Pink Floyd Show, Russell Watson, Jools Holland, and Goldfrapp all headline – the electropop outfit also wrote the score for Medea, currently on at the National Theatre.

Meanwhile The Proms continues throughout the month of August, highlights include the War Horse Prom, and a late night prom by singer-songwriter Laura Mvula. And London’s largest free jazz festival, the Canary Wharf Jazz Festival returns for one weekend in August.

Summertime in London means magical outdoor theatre and this season’s picks include ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ at Regents Park Open Air Theatre, and ‘The Comedy of Errors’ at Shakespeare’s Globe staged by director of the moment Blanche McIntyre. Other hot theatre tickets this summer include ‘Shakespeare in Love’ “the best British comedy since One Man, Two Guvnors” (The Telegraph), and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson’ which has already sold out leading to a daily lottery.

Art lovers should head east for Hackney WickED a free festival of art, music and riverside BBQs, and there’s not one but two free exhibitions at the Photographers’ Gallery – ‘Primrose: Russian Colour Photography’, showing over 140 works created over a century, ties in well with the ‘Malevich’ exhibition at Tate Modern. Tate’s great Turbine Hall hosts ‘Up Hill Down Hall’ this month, bringing a sense of carnival to the gallery. It’s not just the newly reopened Imperial War Museum staging poignant WWI displays, the National Maritime Museum opens its ‘Forgotten Fighters’ exhibition this month.

Looking for ways to spend the August Bank Holiday weekend? The Notting Hill Carnival celebrates its half-century this year so it’s sure to be bigger and better than ever, and the South West Four on the same weekend is possibly the best dance festival in London.

Other Bank Holiday highlights include Greenwich Music Time, the National Theatre’s ‘Watch This Space Festival’, the BBC Good Food Festival brings top chefs and tasty morsels to Hampton Court Palace, and the Challenge Cup Final which will be watched by 80,000 rugby fans at Wembley.

Families coming to London this August should sign up for the excellent Kids Week which gives one child’s ticket free with every full paying adult to see top West End shows. August also brings ‘Hetty Feather’ and ‘I Believe in Unicorns’ to the West End where the National Theatre’s ‘Elephantom’ continues. ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ and ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ are both ideal entertainment for young children, and there’s a free family weekend of storytelling at Moomin Summer Madness in Covent Garden featuring puppets from with the Polka’s ‘Moominsummer Madness’.

If that wasn’t enough there’s more fun for kids with two festivals: Lollibop which moves to stately home Hatfield House just 20 minutes outside London from King’s Cross; and the brand new Bounce Festival comes to Richmond’s Old Deer Park on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th August 2014.

For more information on these and other great events beginning in London in August 2014, go to LondonTown.com where a wide choice of London hotels to suit all budgets is given as well as information on restaurants, attractions and all the latest London happenings.

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RideLondon brings Olympic cyclists to London

RideLondon brings Olympic cyclists to London