Wishing you all a very happy new year. May 2023 be healthy, more joyful, full of kindness and full of adventure. I feel January is a month for hunkering down. Yet at the same time, I have a yearning to get out and enjoy a new year. I hope it is a year filled with newness for you all.
Talking of new… London will have its first Coronation in 70 years, that will be something to celebrate and very new for many of us. With lots to look forward to on the art front, and I have already booked some fantastic theatre I want to see. Grange Park Opera tickets are the first opera festival to go on sale at the end of January.
Finally before you head down to the January Super Seven, I have written my first ‘Best Meals in London‘. They are the restaurants you will want to eat at in 2023.
Last call to see these exhibitions before they close at the end of January:
Beatrix Potter at The V&A : 8 January
Strange Clay at The Southbank : 8 January
Lucien Freud at The National Gallery : 22 January
David Shrigley at the Hang Up Gallery : 27 January
Black Vanguard at Saatchi : 22 January
St Martin in the Field’s is hosting a Peter Walker son-et-lumiere experience produced by Luxmuralis 31 Jan – 4 Feb. Tickets are going fast. Exploring our relationship with Planet Earth and the galaxies beyond. They also have silent disco’s planned in The Crypt from the 20 January.
Lights of London. While I don’t love dark winter evenings, they make an amazing set for the light installations popping up around London this January. For the seventh year running, Canary Wharf will be transformed by 20 glowing masterpieces. A super fun way to see London in a new light this new year, and look out for the food offers at the local restaurants.
Green Lunar New Year | Museum of the Home. 28 January : This East London museum will host a spin on traditional East and Southeast Asian celebrations. From a flower seed bombing class, to learning Chinese memory and strategy games, creative workshops will be available to all.
Spain and The Hispanic World at The Royal Academy | 21 Jan – 10 April : Discover Spanish and Hispanic art and culture through 150 masterpieces. The colourful and vibrant exhibition will feature sculptures, silk textiles, ceramics and precious jewellery to name a few. Tickets here.
Unwind at the Aire Ancient Baths. Ease into the new year at this Covent Garden hidden gem. Ditch the busy streets, and into step into a sensory haven that will melt away any winter-stress. I was amazed by how relaxing it was – add a 30minute massage and you leave fully revived. It was utter bliss. Book here.
London International Mime Festival 2023. 24 January – 5 February. The Barbican will play host to this much-loved, eccentric festival of mime. Catch a screening of a silent-film reimagined with live piano accompaniment. Or book in for a lively performance from one of Belgium’s Olivier Award-winning dance-theatre companies.
Burns night. Celebrate Scotland’s national poet on 25 January – if you can face the haggis that is!
Chinese New Year 22 January 2023. It’s the Year of the Rabbit, so expecting some hopping good festivities in Chinatown and further afield all day in Greenwich on 21 Jan at the RMG. Free.
Swan Lake at the London Coliseum 12-22 January.