Circusfest 2012
Escape the egg- hunting circus with a very different kind of spectacle. Contemporary groups from around the globe fill the Roundhouse for one month. With world and UK premieres, talks and films, the bill is packed with exciting performers. Over the Easter weekend, you’ll find Cirque Mandingue performing their energetic acrobatics and street dance to West African drumming and hip hop. Theatrical dancers Cirkus Cirkor (below) will also be there.
March 28-April 29
Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8EH
Tube | camden / Chalk Farm
roundhouse.org.uk
Body & Soul
Make the most of a having Monday off by partying through Sunday with New York party experts Body & Soul, who are returning to London for the day. The house-party-style event, held at 2932 East is devoted to disco, techno, house, funk and soul. And there’s only one rule: have fun.
Sun, Apr 8. 4pm-12am
29-32 The Oval, E2 9DY
Tube | Bethnal Green
need2soul.com
The Big Egg Hunt
This is the hunt to end them all – you could take home a flashy Faberge Diamond Jubilee egg worth more than £100,000. Get a map from Selfridges or the website, then start hunting out one of the 200 giant eggs hidden around London. The event is brought to you by the charities Elephant Family (responsible for all the painted elephants around the capital) and Action for Children. When you find an egg, text the keyword on the plaque to have a chance to win – the more you discover, the more chance you have of scooping the big one. And even if you don’t win, it’s still a brilliant excuse to explore the city.
Until Tues, Apr 3
thebigegghunt.co.uk
Torture Garden Easter Ball
Snap on your latex (street clothes are banned) and head to Ministry of Sound for Easter’s installment from
this renowned fetish club.
Thurs, Apr 5. 10pm-6am
Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP
Tube Elephant & Castle
torturegarden.com
Sweethearts: Artist Couples
Check out an exhibition of pieces created by artist couples from around the world.
Until Apr 21. Mon-Fri 10am-6pm
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery,
6 Heddon Street, W1B 4BT
Tube Piccadilly
houldsworth.co.uk
Catch an open-air easter play
More than 100 actors – some on horseback – will perform the Lent classic Passion Of Jesus, which tells the traditional Easter story of Christ’s crucifixion. Flying back from playing Jesus in Perth, Australia, James Burke-Dunsmore will lead actors from Surrey’s Wintershall Players theatre group. They’re professionals at religious shows, having performed the passion plays every Easter for more than 20 years. It’ll all be held outside – in Trafalgar Square – and is guaranteed to be a big performance, drawing crowds from everywhere.
Fri, Apr 6. 12pm and 3.15pm
Trafalgar Square
Tube | Charing Cross
passionofjesus-trafalgar.co.uk
Watch oxford and cambridge go head to head
Grab your spot along the Thames to catch a British institution in action. About 250,000 people will watch the universities’ rowing teams battle it out on the four-and-a-quarter-mile course between Putney and Mortlake, so get there early. Watch the race on screens in Hammersmith’s Furnivall Gardens or Bishop’s Park in Fulham. Or spectate with a pint in hand from a pub such as Hammersmith’s Blue Anchor, where there’ll also be a South African braai.
Sat, Apr 7. 2.15pm
theboatrace.org
Take a mayan chocolate trip
Anyone with a sweet tooth should take a couple of hours out to learn about chocolate’s origins with a Mayan-themed trail around the Kew gardens. Then get down to eating the sugary stuff with a Easter Sunday egg hunt.
Until Apr 15. 9.30am-6.30pm
Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AB
Tube | Kew Gardens
kew.org
Get cross
Sick of chocolate? Hit The Crooked Well in Camberwell (it’s Florence Welch’s local, by the way) for a special Easter bread and butter pudding made with hot cross buns.
Easter weekend. Lunch 12.30-230pm; dinner 6.30pm-10pm
16 Grove Lane, SE5 8SY
Denmark Hill
thecrookedwell.com
2020 vision easter special
Noticed the graffiti-slathered Jubilee line carriages on a roof in Shoreditch? Underneath, is Village Underground in a renovated Victorian warehouse space. When it’s not hosting live art, theatre and exhibitions, it’s home to some serious clubnights. And this Easter Sunday, it’s just the spot to make the most of having the Monday off work, with 2020 Recordings’ latest offering of greats and new acts. And you’ll need the day off after the full-on techno rave with DJs Sebo K, Ralph Lawson and Greek producer And.Id, plus newbie UK purveyor
of garage, Huxley.
Sun, Apr 8. 6pm-6am
54 Holywell Lane, EC2A 3PQ
Liverpool Street
villageunderground.co.uk
Tour of Lord’s cricket ground
Let a clued-up guide show you around the renowned cricket ground, which holds hundreds of years of the sport’s history. You’ll get to marvel at the legendary Ashes urn, shirts of greats such as Glenn McGrath in the Long Room and view the wicket close up.
Throughout Easter, excluding Sun. 10am, 12pm and 2pm
St John’s Wood Road, NW8 8QN
St John’s Wood
buyagift.co.uk
Nine hours of non-stop electro
Erol Alkan’s Easter club night at Fire gets bigger every year. A nine-hour marathon of vintage disco and boundary-pushing techno will provide the soundtrack to your epic night. Party on.
Thurs, April 5. 10pm-6am
38-42 Parry Street, SW8 1RT
Vauxhall
erolalkan.co.uk
The Creche Easter reunion
No, not that kind of creche. This one’s for adults, and it’s soundtracked by No Name Djs. Head to The Brickhouse at the Old Truman Brewery for a night of house, disco and techno.
Sun, Apr 8. 3.30pm-2am
152c Brick Lane, E1 6RU
Liverpool Street
thebrickhouse.co.uk
Lindt bunny hunt
Get up early for your ultimate Swiss chocolate fix – and you can forget egg hunts. This one’s all about Lindt bunnies, which can only taste better when you’ve had to look for them. If you’re game for some craft, try fashioning your own bonnet while you’re there.
Sat, Apr 7. 10am
Tooley Street, SE1 2NN
London Bridge
lindt.com
British Design
Featuring British design since the Second World War, including Zaha Hadid’s Aquatics Centre for the London
2012 Olympics.
Mar 31-Aug 12.10am-5.45pm
Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL
South Kensington
vam.ac.uk
Join a Christathon
Easter makes one fine excuse to dress up like Jesus and wobble from one biblically named pub to another – especially as it’s all in the name of charity. You choose the price of the donation to turn up to this holier-than-holy pub-crawl-cum-flash-mob. The day starts at The Trinity on Borough High Street and after that you’ll taste the barrels of pubs such as St Christopher’s Inn, down the same road, and The Angel and Crown, near Trafalgar Square. If the Christs are still walking, they’ll drink their last pints at Whitehall’s Silver Cross.
Sun, Apr 8. 2.30pm
202-206 Borough High Street, SE1 1JX
Tube | Borough
koobaradio.co.uk
Animal Inside Out
This exhibition opens on Good Friday at the Natural History Museum. Animal Inside Out lets you see how things work inside the bodies of nature’s greats – from giraffes to ostriches.
Apr 6-Sep 16. 10am-5.50pm
Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD
Tube | South Kensington
nhm.ac.uk