For some reason September is always one of the busiest months for special events in the capital. This year the Mayor and his tourist chiefs have gathered them all together under one big umbrella and are promoting them as September in London. Some will be great, some will be good ways to pass the time and some will be underwhelming over-sponsored rubbish. See if you can work out which might be worth attending.
• Sunday 4th: The Tour of Britain comes to London for the final stage of this round Britain cycle race. After all the thrilling scenery of Scotland and Northern England, today the competitors have to put up with circling Whitehall 45 times. • Sunday 4th: Regent Street's been paved with grass today as it pretends to be an English country garden for the Regent Street Festival. There'll be farmers market stalls selling rural(ish) produce, but also a lot of posh shops hoping you'll go home laden with designer carrier bags instead of chutney. • Tuesday 6th:Texas (that's the middle of the road pop group) will be playing a special concert on Tower Bridge - appropriately in the middle of the road. • Sunday 11th: The 10th Brick Lane Festival mixes southern Asian culture, dance, music and curry (although hopefully not all simultaneously). • Thursday 15th: At last, a statue will be unveiled on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, the one that's been empty for years. It's Alison LapperPregnant, eight tons of big marble woman - and arrestingly armless. • Thursday 15th - Friday 30th: The London Design Festival showcases the capital's creative flair in architecture, product and graphic design. Includes the intriguing From Here ToHere collaborative arts project (about the 27 stations on the Circle line) appearing on posters at all 27 Circle line stations. • Friday 16th: 200 years after his death, Nelson's funeral flotilla is being recreated on the Thames today. The Lord Mayor will be joining some authentic-ish boats on their way from Greenwich to Westminster (but why oh why is this being held on a Friday morning?). There's a more modern Trafalgar River Race between Richmond and Greenwich on the Sunday afternoon. • Saturday 17th - Sunday 18th:London Open House is the public architectural highlight of the year, with 500 hard-to-get-into properties open for one weekend only. Last year I got to go down Churchill's Neasden bunker (hi Louise!), take a tour of the building site at St Pancras and queue for hours to see the view from the top of the Gherkin. I'm still flicking through this year's 72-page catalogue, but I'm sorely tempted by Crossness sewage pumping station. • Saturday 17th - Sunday 18th:Uncle Ken's Thames Festival is one of those wholesome multicultural family-based extravaganzas of the kind that councils can justify spending their taxpayers money on (you know - ethnic drummers, face-painting and strange food). Best time to visit is probably after dark on the Sunday for the Night Carnival and big fireworks. • Thursday 22nd onwards: The Riverfront Jazz Festival is a ten day series of concerts in the Greenwich area, for those who like their music soulful and out of time. • Sunday 25th: Bethnal Green hosts the Green Spaces festival, which is a festival in some of Bethnal Green's local green spaces. There's no website and the whole thing sounds desparately underplanned, but hey this is London and it'll probably all pull together.
