The ianVisits guide to January's unusual events, tours, lectures and exhibitions happening around London.
Wednesday 1st January
Chosen and led by Ramblers and Walking for Health volunteers, the walks aim to showcase Britain at its wintry best.
All Day
More than 10,000 performers representing 20 countries world-wide will assemble for the Parade.
11:30am to 3pm
More London events on Wednesday 1st January
Thursday 2nd January
The weekend-only tours will run on a few mid-week days during the Christmas Holidays.
7pm to 8pm
More London events on Thursday 2nd January
Friday 3rd January
The weekend-only tours will run on a few mid-week days during the Christmas Holidays.
7pm to 8pm
More London events on Friday 3rd January
Saturday 4th January
Chosen and led by Ramblers and Walking for Health volunteers, the walks aim to showcase Britain at its wintry best.
All Day
More London events on Saturday 4th January
Sunday 5th January
£10.50
During this 75 minute tour you will discover the usually unseen backstage spaces of the Barbican.
Starts at 1pm
£1612.50
Visit some of London's best ghostsigns (fading advertisements painted on walls) on this walking tour
1:20pm to 3:30pm
Stoke Newington
Twelfth Night is an annual seasonal celebration - mixing ancient seasonal customs with contemporary festivity.
2:30pm to 9pm
Southwark
Gather round the bonfire as the darkness falls and warm yourself with hot apple drinks and apple cake.
3pm to 5pm
Bexley
The Geffrye's own traditional burning of the holly and the ivy, with carol singing, stories about Epiphany and a taste of mulled wine and cake.
3:30pm to 5pm
Bethnal Green
More London events on Sunday 5th January
Monday 6th January
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Monday 6th January
Tuesday 7th January
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Tuesday 7th January
Wednesday 8th January
A lecture about dinosaurs.
6pm to 7:30pm
Aldwych
Watch the silent film with live music accompaniment inside a medical museum.
Starts at 6:30pm
Barbican
More London events on Wednesday 8th January
Thursday 9th January
Scott Wood tells tales and dissects legends of the walking statue of Brandy Nan, insulting sculptures, sculptors driven to suicide by a mistake,
8pm to 10pm
Southwark
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Friday 10th January
There will be the ever popular ice carving Masterclasses, the fun, snow-filled snowpit, an interactive ice graffiti wall, ice chess.
All Day
Poplar
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Saturday 11th January
£10.00
Presentations based on archival documents, are followed by an afternoon treasure hunt that will help you uncover London’s hidden past.
All Day
£16.00
Star gazing though the Observatory's 18-tonne Victorian telescope
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There will be the ever popular ice carving Masterclasses, the fun, snow-filled snowpit, an interactive ice graffiti wall, ice chess.
All Day
Poplar
Starts at 7pm
Dartford
More London events on Saturday 11th January
Sunday 12th January
There will be the ever popular ice carving Masterclasses, the fun, snow-filled snowpit, an interactive ice graffiti wall, ice chess.
All Day
Poplar
Annual tradition to ride the London Underground wearing just underpants.
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Gather on London Bridge for the Annual Ceremony of the Blessing of the River and those who use it.
Starts at 12:30pm
More London events on Sunday 12th January
Monday 13th January
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Monday 13th January
Tuesday 14th January
No events are listed for today. Sorry.
More London events on Tuesday 14th January
Wednesday 15th January
A consideration of classical music that has been created with advertising in mind.
1pm to 2pm
Barbican
London photographer Niki Gorick talks about her new photography display at Guildhall Library, which shows the amazing diversity of daily life within t
2pm to 3pm
What is spectroscopy? How can it help us to understand the nature of the universe?
6pm to 7:30pm
Aldwych
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Thursday 16th January
A talk highlighting case studies from dinosaur evolutionary history.
Starts at 6pm
An interview with the famous explorer
6:30pm to 10pm
South Kensington
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Friday 17th January
This annual exhibition is regarded as one of the leading model shows in the UK.
All Day
A film that looks into the places where food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and bizarre sounds.
Starts at 7pm
Southwark
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Saturday 18th January
This annual exhibition is regarded as one of the leading model shows in the UK.
All Day
£16.00
Star gazing though the Observatory's 18-tonne Victorian telescope
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The newly completed RAF museum that is still only open occasionally will be open this Saturday.
10am to 5pm
Stanmore
A chance for residents and rail users to see the latest design proposals at a public consultation event.
11am to 5pm
Peckham
Explore Bloomsbury’s rich Art Deco heritage, including Senate House, the former Daimler Car Hire garage and a reconverted petrol station.
2pm to 4pm
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Sunday 19th January
This annual exhibition is regarded as one of the leading model shows in the UK.
All Day
This walk will focus on some of the Park’s burials and their associated history.
2pm to 4pm
£3.00
Raise a glass of port to the Immortal Memory of Admiral Lord Nelson in the Painted Hall, where his body lay in state after the Battle of Trafalgar.
3:30pm to 4pm
Free
Join us to find out about these elusive birds and the work happening in the Lee Valley to conserve them.
Starts at 4:30pm
Waltham Abbey
Calling all Doctor Who fans come and meet Nicola Bryant aka Peri Brown from Doctor Who.
7:30pm to 9pm
Lewisham
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Monday 20th January
Performance artist Mat Fraser on a journey through the history of disability – a history lesson with a difference
Starts at 6pm
A debate on the merits of Grammar.
Starts at 7pm
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Tuesday 21st January
Free
An overview of the Egyptian Students who attended the Slade School of Art and modernist artists in Egypt
1pm to 2pm
Euston
Screening of the classic sci-fi film with an introduction and visit to the museum.
6:30pm to 9pm
More London events on Tuesday 21st January
Wednesday 22nd January
John Pearson, international cheese judge, shares his passion for cheese and cheesemakers.
2pm to 3pm
The lecture will explore the perception of politicians in general, and ideas about who it is they are serving.
2:30pm to 4pm
£12.00
Richard Barnett uncovers the hidden history of animal minds in the human sciences.
6pm to 7:30pm
Aldwych
Join Harper's Bazaar for champagne and a private guided tour of the exhibition.
Starts at 6pm
In this talk Ewan argues that we may have badly under-conceived what writing is and how it actually works.
Starts at 7pm
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Thursday 23rd January
This talk will introduce non-specialists to the rich bodies of writings which attest to practices of translations in and out of Sumerian & Babylonian
6pm to 7:30pm
St Pancras
Nick Foulkes explores what it was like to be at the very hub of events when Europe’s fate hung in the balance.
Starts at 7pm
Jonathan Dimbleby asks whether the world of literature is becoming more, or less, closed.
7pm to 8:30pm
Russell Square
Dr Johnson's House hosts an evening of poetry recitals in the atmospheric Garret.
Starts at 7pm
Vigils have been held on the 23rd of every month since June 2004. They are inclusive, secular events, open 'to all faiths and none'.
Starts at 7pm
Southwark
More London events on Thursday 23rd January
Friday 24th January
£10.00
A day of talks, presentations and document viewing which maps aspects of the lives and stories of Scottish people living and working in London.
All Day
For one limited weekend only you have the chance to see the secret derelict spaces of the 140 year old people’s palace.
All Day
Join Dan Cruickshank for an exploration of Georgian architecture with a detailed look at the emblematic Georgian area of Spitalfields in East London
6:30pm to 8pm
Andrew Cartmel, script editor during Sylvester McCoy’s tenure as the Doctor the 1980s gives a talk about the programme.
Starts at 6:30pm
Islington
More London events on Friday 24th January
Saturday 25th January
For one limited weekend only you have the chance to see the secret derelict spaces of the 140 year old people’s palace.
All Day
Free
Over 30 free guided walks covering London’s seven top walking routes.
10am to 6pm
Come and see the work of the engineers at National Grid at Hackney Substation.
11am to 1:30pm
Clapton
Free
A festival of literature, music and visual art inspired by the less celebrated side of the capital city.
2pm to 11pm
Stoke Newington
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Sunday 26th January
Free
Over 30 free guided walks covering London’s seven top walking routes.
10am to 6pm
One of the great spectaculars to watch -- as around 500 people in civil war costume march down the Mall.
Starts at 11am
Whitehall
Free
Learn how to identify species from their buds, bark and tree shape, as well as gaining an insight into the natural history of Sydenham Hill Wood
2pm to 3:30pm
Sydenham
Discover the history of the building and climb the 135 stairs for the best view of Hackney.
2pm to 4:30pm
Hackney
More London events on Sunday 26th January
Monday 27th January
In this talk, curator Hazel Forsyth explores how 21st technology can aid our understanding of this extraordinary collection,
2pm to 3pm
Bertie Pearce (also a member of the Inner Magic Circle) talks on the relationship between art and magic.
6pm to 8pm
Clerkenwell
More London events on Monday 27th January
Tuesday 28th January
Historian Dr Matthew Green will take the audience on a verbal tour of London's original - and best - coffeehouses.
6pm to 8pm
This is a talk about computer science and why it is interesting and important!
Starts at 6pm
Euston
Panel debate on the topic of scientific development in the Arab world.
6:30pm to 8pm
Come along to the Royal Institution to hear why Einstein may have rejected quantum physics even though he discovered many of its important ideas.
7pm to 8:30pm
More London events on Tuesday 28th January
Wednesday 29th January
See a full size mock-up of a future Thameslink train during a public showcase.
2pm to 8pm
Victoria Dock
This seminar addresses issues of stone preferences during antiquity and crafting through an object handling session.
6pm to 7:30pm
Euston
A talk devoted to the conservation and repair of Georgian buildings in Roupell Street, SE1.
Starts at 6pm
Southwark
The speakers will focus on the geotechnical and hydrogeological conditions for the Lee Tunnel.
Starts at 6pm
On the eve of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, a panel discusses the on-going threats to LGBT rights in Russia.
6:20pm to 8pm
A talk about two distinctive buildings both predominantly built from concrete.
Starts at 6:30pm
Rooms evocatively lit with an array of candles will transport visitors back into the Victorian era at the evening openings.
Starts at 6:40pm
A screening in a pathology museum of the classic medical-murder mystery film.
Starts at 6:45pm
Barbican
Free
Monthly late night adults only opening at the Science Museum.
6:45pm to 10pm
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Thursday 30th January
A tour of the historic building, including areas not usually seen by the public.
tba
Putney
Dan Hurley investigates the new field of intelligence training, and asks: can we really boost our brain power?
Starts at 1pm
This volume traces a cross-section of characters, their religious life, their occupations and their contacts with the rest of the community.
6pm to 7:30pm
£10.00
This walk, part of the Literary Footprints Festival looks at the London locations that have featured in dystopian and post apocalyptic fiction.
7pm to 9pm
Southwark
Hear from the first person to sail non-stop single-handed around the world.
Starts at 7:45pm
Prof J Gordon Melton explores religion's continuing relevance in today’s vampire novels and films.
8pm to 10pm
Whitechapel
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Friday 31st January
A note to send off your ballot request to attend the Trooping the Colour later this year.
All Day
