Upcoming events in London 12.11.06

Santa Skate London 2006 This event in its third year is organized by London Skaters. Join hundreds of other rollerbladers dressed as Santa Claus for a two hour skate around central London on Saturday 16 December starting at 5pm from Hyde Park. Music provided by mobile sound systems.

Spitalfields Winter Festival The 30th year of this music festival features a programme of classical, jazz and gospel seasonal music taking place at various venues around Spitalfields including Christ Church Spitalfields, Shoreditch Church and Spitalfields Market. Running from 11-19 December, ticket prices vary with performance.

The London International Horse Show On from 12-18 December 2006 featuring showjumping , dressage, dog agility and Shetland Pony shows plus displays from the Kings Troop, the Metropolitan Police Horse Activity Ride and the Christmas Circus. On at Olympia in west London, tickets cost between £15-£45, performance times change during the week.

Christmas Past The Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch hosts an exhibition of ‘400 Years of Seasonal Traditions in English Homes’, and looks at why and how the rituals of a traditional Christmas evolved. The Geffrye Museum is free to enter and is open 10am-5pm Tues-Sat, Sun-Bank Holiday Mondays 12-5pm(they are closed on regular Mondays). The nearest tube is Liverpool Street.

Bound for Glory: America in Colour 1939-1943 If you’re around the Covent Garden area take a look in The Photographer’s Gallery on Great Newport Street at this free exhibition of recently unearthed colour photographs, taken by the Roosevelt administration in the 1930s and 40s chronicling the Great Depression. The photos were taken by photographers working for the federal Farm Security Administration. The show runs from 8 December-28 January, the gallery is open Mon -Sat 11am-6pm, Thu 11am-8pm, Sun 12-6pm. The nearest tube is Leicester Square.

Trafalgar Square Christmas Carols From 11-23 December every evening four or five different groups of carol singers will take turns to sing in Trafalgar Square next to the Norwegian Christmas Tree from 5-9pm. Free to attend.