Freshly Social

Do you love London? Are you proud Londoner who enjoys the thrills of this beautiful city? Then joining other Londoners at the Thames Festival is a great way to enjoy a festival that is jam packed with arts, music, food and friendly people. This is not a festival that you should attend alone though, so we suggest that you take the remote away from your husband, drag your kids away from their activity play table or their beloved childrens workbench and visit the Thames Festival from the 11th to the 12th September.

Also known as the Mayor Thames Festival, the River Thames Festival is the largest outdoor festival in London that is free for all who are interested in attending. The festival highlights arts and entertainment as well as the cultural life of the city. For two days, the River Thames is transformed into a festival spectacular as areas around the river and the streets come alive with street performers, installations, food stalls, musicians performing and more.

Faithless have been wowing crowds worldwide for years now, selling multi-platinum albums and performing to packed stadia on every continent of the world. This autumn however sees the mighty Faithless music coming to the Oxjam festival at the Coronet theatre, Elephant and Castle, on the 1^st of October. A local Kennington estate agent who deals with rentals and flats for sale Battersea, tells us that this is a smallish venue and the opportunity to see Faithless up so close and personal is a once in a lifetime opportunity not to be missed.

Fashion can be far out. We have seen models slinking down the runway looking like gothic zombies and fashion shoots that are made out to look like they were shot in a dump site. But it seems that the Italian Vogue magazine and their new August shoot is making waves for all of the wrong reasons and by thinking that they were pushing their boundaries in their new controversial fashion shoot, they may have just stepped over the line.

Have you ever heard of the pop band The xx? If you are shaking your head and feel slightly confused, the fact is that you probably have heard of this indie band, but don’t even know it. This three piece London based indie band are making it big in the UK as well as the USA, but their unassuming presence and down to earth nature makes this indie band unlike other famed starved music wannabe bands fighting for the spotlight.

Stag and hen parties are a popular and traditional occurrence around the world and even though people in different countries celebrate the act of getting married in different ways, there is no doubt that there is some sort of pre wedding celebration or party, no matter the religion or location. Here are a few hen party tips in order to make sure that you are fully prepared for a night out on the town with the girls!

Dress as a team! Dressing up together is a great way for others to see that you are a part of the hen party and is also a good way of making sure that gets lost when the night gets rowdy. Hen party organisers suggest that you get the names of the hen party members printed on the back of a t shirt or contact a company who deals with embroidered workwear. Another idea is to dress according to a theme, but always making sure that the bride to be at the hen party stands out! Dress her in Dickies workwear overalls or even a clown suit with accessories; just make sure that she is the centre of attention!

The South African police and other trained security companies have been placed on high alert in the past few days owing to numerous death threats that have been made towards Nigerian player Sani Kaita during the Soccer World Cup 2010. Over one thousand emails related threats have been made towards the midfielder after he was given a red card for injuring Greece player Vasileios Torosidis during their World Cup clash.

Most of us will remember when we first heard Norah Jones and her sultry yet soothing voice with the music single “Come Away with Me”. There is no doubt the thousands, even millions of Norah Jones lovers out there will be thrilled to know that she will be performing a concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London tonight!

We know that for quite a few years now, designers have been experimenting with various alternative fabrics that are eco friendly and that reduces its impact on the environment. We use solar water heating in our home and drive eco friendly cars, but do we adorn eco fashion? Fabrics such as hemp are nothing new but now, designers and manufacturers are pushing the boundaries and developing fabrics and materials that take eco fashion to an entirely new level. Once only thought of as “hippie fashion” eco friendly fashion is now becoming more trend conscious and the results are turning the catwalk ramp into a feast for the eye.

Sonic Fabric:

There’s a great topical live news entertainment show on Channel Five called ‘Live From Studio Five’ which is hosted by the lovely Jayne Middlemiss alongside Ian Wright and Kate from the Apprentice.

It’s a fun show but I worry that the audience might think it goes on air at 5.00pm as the title might suggest when in reality it is live at 6.30pm.  I really hope people find the show as it’s such an entertaining and easy watch.  It appeals to all ages and you can imagine an entire family sitting down to enjoy the show – they have guests to suits everyone and cover light entertainment stories in addition to current affairs.

If you are a part of the extremely privileged minority lucky enough to have experienced a safari adventure, there is no doubt that you have witnessed some of the majestic animals that can be seen at game reserves around South Africa including a Sabi Sands safari and Kruger Park Tour. South Africa is lucky enough to be home to an array of wildlife animals, all with their own unique animal facts, making every animal in these African game reserves different. If you are a fact fundi and enjoy learning about animals, then here is a list of weird and wonderful animal facts about the wildlife that inhabit game reserves around South Africa.