Freshly Social

The month of October sees the return of the London Restaurant Festival, a culinary celebration designed to promote fine dining establishments throughout the city of London. The Festival was first established in 2009 and has rapidly grown to include more than 600 participating London restaurants and bistros. This year’s citywide celebration promises to be even bigger, with participating restaurants treating Londoners to special Festival Menus and hosting a delicious range of festival events for London diners. So snap up those West End festival tickets and treat your taste buds to some of the city’s most tantalising culinary offerings!

The baking industry is both highly creative and competitive, and any London baker knows how vital it is to stay on top of the latest consumer trends.

Whether you’re a seasoned industry professional who has long since mastered the art of baking, or a newcomer yet to see that first birthday cake delivered, there is plenty to look forward to in the coming months, with a number of industry-leading baking expos and competitions just around the corner!

Below is a look at three of the sweetest baking industry conventions and competitions taking place in London this year:

Baking Industry Awards 2011

Date: Wed 7th September 2011

Venue: Park Lane Hilton, London

Alan Carr has become majorly success and is quickly on the way to become a household name. The Manchester-based stand up comedian is being heralded as one of Britain’s fastest rising comic talents; he has been leaving audiences breathless the length and breadth of the country for the last couple of years. Since winning the BBC New Comedy Award for Stand-up 2001 and City Life Best Newcomer of the Year, Alan Carr has risen to become one of the hottest young stand-up stars in Britain.

Let’s just get straight to it then. What are the top West End Musicals which are currently doing the rounds in London? We have listed them below for your convenience:

We will rock you

Ben Elton, along with the remaining members of Queen have banded together in order to bring you one of the most spectacular musicals of all time. This all singing, non-stop show is the collection of Queens greatest hits and this show has remained as one of the most successful musical of all time, thanks to the lively cast work night and day in order to bring the music to life. The musical is set in a futuristic world where rock and roll is banned and it is up to the hero, named Galileo to save the day. This is an incredible show which simply gets better with time.

There are few things more exciting for film fanatics than the news that their all-time favourite movie will soon be brought to life on stage – particularly as a big-budget West End musical. From cult hits like Legally Blonde and Grease to classic animations such as Beauty and the Beast or Shrek, there are plenty of West End success stories that have set the bar high for future musical stage productions, and it’s important to remember that not all films are suited to this kind of adaptation. Below, you’ll find the scoop on two hit movies that have made the leap from screen to stage, and both are well worth a trip to the West End!

For theatregoers the opening of a new production instils a feeling of excitement akin to a child being promised a new toy. West End musicals are perhaps the most popular productions and many of them are family friendly. London is one of the best places in the world to experience musicals and the West End is renowned for its collection of theatres. However, choosing which musical to go and see can be a difficult decision. After careful consideration we present to you our top three current West End musicals.

Families from all over London will soon be flocking to Regent’s Park to enjoy a fun-filled day out at Lollibop, a London festival created specially for kids. While most London concerts and West End festival tickets are aimed at grown-ups, the Lollibop festival is billed as “The Big Bash for the Little People”, offering a wide range of entertainment and activities for kids… and the young at heart.

Lollibop 2011 promises to be bigger, brighter and better than ever! Here are just a few of the sweet surprises you can expect when you visit the popular family festival this August:

The Enchanted Forest
This magical woodland is filled with friendly creatures, and it’s here you’ll find the LollyBooks story reading area and get the chance to learn some magic tricks at the famous Lollibop fairy and wizard school.

From book, to animated adventure and then finally, Broadway and West End Shrek the Musical has most certainly had a successful journey over its many adaptations. In creating the Broadway adaption, Sam Mendes (hit director of Spiderman) spoke with Jeffery Katzenberg (Dreamworks Studio head) and tried to come up with an adaption of one of the world’s most successful cartoons. Shrek was released in 2001, therefore almost everyone had already seen the movie and having to readapt the Broadway show in order to better identify with the audience was unneeded.

We’ve already experienced the London leg of the annual UK Dive Shows that take place on either side of the diving season here in the UK, but the bigger and better Dive Show at the NEC, Birmingham on the 22^nd and 23^rd of October promises to be the one UK dive show that you do not want to miss in 2011.

With over 300 exhibitors strutting their stuff at this year’s diving show in Birmingham, there is absolutely no excuse to miss out. The Dive show promises, as usual, to cater for divers from all over the world looking to expand their knowledge of diving, expand their kit bags with some of the latest and greatest in dive gear that will be on sale, or simply looking to network and meet fellow divers.

It’s summer in London and however brief the season may be, this is the time to get out of the house and explore the busting capital of the UK. There are plenty of London events happening in and around the city and if you don’t feel like taking part, you can still be a spectator of the vibe and excitement. There is no excuse to stay indoors or complain about anything during this month of July with all the London events busting around the city. There are events to suit everyone’s palate and age in London and July is certain to be a month worth remembering. Here are the top three events during the summer month of July in London: