4.5.6 Festival of Colours

 
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park hosts 2014’ s Holi-inspired Festival of Colours and looks set to help revivify the feel-good vibe that permeated east London during the 2012 London Games. What you get is live bands and DJs plus booze plus licence to pelt your mates and complete strangers with coloured powder. Last year’s event took place at Battersea Power station – another great venue, but as the organisers point out, there the fun took place on concrete while at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park there will be soft green grass underfoot. They don’t really need to sell the event at all: more than three quarters of the tickets were gone within the first hour of going on sale. There are still some left , though, with various packages available, from basic entry to tickets including T-shirts and packs of powdered colour. Attendees must be over 18. It will be on Sturday June 28 at 12 am. 

Young boy enjoying the Festival of Colours

4.5.6 Lee Valley White Water Centre

 

Marvel at just how fast some people can paddle at this first stage of a canoe slalom world cup tour. It's the first major event to be held at the recently re-opened Lee Valley White Water Centre, a London 2012 Olympic venue, and some of Team GB will be competing once again. Kids activities will be available in case they tire of watching the professionals tackle the technically demanding 300m course.

More information: http://www.timeout.com/london/sport-fitness/lee-valley-white-water-centre 

4.5 London Zoo Lates

 

London Zoo's late-night openings return for 2014, with events taking place every Friday during June and July. Zoo Lates offers a chance to visit the animals (175,000 of ’em, apparently - we admit we haven’t actually counted) after-hours (including the Sumatran tigers in the zoo's Tiger Territory enclosure), as well as enjoying a programme of entertainment covering talks, improv comedy, physical theatre, roving performances, carousel rides and an acoustic stage. There are wine-tasting opportunities and pop-up bars – and street-food stalls serving global cuisine mean human feeding time's well catered for. Age 18+.

4.5 Should London be the world’s first urban national park?

 

London is many things. But is it a place of outstanding natural beauty, such as the Yorkshire Moors, Yellowstone National Park or the Sahara desert? Anyone who has taken a train through Croydon or driven along the North Circular will answer that question with a fervent, resounding and forceful ‘fuck, no’. And there’s no denying that London’s natural beauty is oftenoverlooked in favour of its grand buildings, dingy back alleys and myriad public houses. But perhaps people just aren’t looking hard enough, or in the right places. That’s certainly the idea behind a campaign which aims to have London declared the world’s first urban national park.

4.5.6 London Marathon

Sun Apr 13. Starts in Greenwich Park, SE10 8XJ

This annual slog of a race starts from three different points in Greenwich Park but the biggest crowds of spectators gather at Tower Bridge, Embankment and at the emotional finish line on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. This year, prepare for mass Mobots along the route as double Olympic champion Mo Farah makes his full marathon debut. If you're not taking part in the marathon this Sunday, be sure to show your support for those who are (come on, running 26.2 miles dressed as a chicken is hardly the simplest of tasks, is it?). Check out our race route to find the best spectating spots and track down nearby pubs and bars for when all that cheering and applauding leaves you gasping for refreshment.

Around 35,000 runners take part, nearly 80 per cent of whom are fundraising for charity (Marathon places are allocated by ballot; the ballot to run in 2014 is closed).

Discover where to watch the London Marathon this Sunday.