Looking for something special to do this August Bank Holiday (Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th August 2018)? Then head over to the City of London for a very special free event celebrating 150 years of Smithfield Market.
Smithfield is London’s oldest meat market, working with countless restaurants and shops to provide the very best meat. If you want to see it at work, then you have to get up very early in the morning as most traders have finished for the day by early morning. City Guides, for example, offer a walking tour of Smithfield Market and start at 7am.Other tours are provided by the Museum of London focusing on the area’s historical links including executions, bodysnatching and the plague as well as Sherlock Holmes, Henry VIII and Hogarth for this area once included the lively St Bartholomew’s Fair.
There has been a market here for over 800 years. As the centuries passed, the area became more built up and in time, specific buildings were created to house the meat market. This year, the City of London is celebrating the creation of the Victorian meat market buildings.
The result is London’s biggest birthday party! It is set to be quite spectacular with everything from roller disco, games and fairground rides to giant puppets, birthday cake, cooking demonstrations, tours and pop up markets. There are lots of children’s activities especially on the Saturday.
An eye catching carnival parade, brass band, majorettes and the Batholomew’s Carnival of Delights is guaranteed to provide lots of entertainment, along with a comedy club, choirs, and Kinetica Bloco procession. The event organisers promise a selection of the most exciting talent, music and food sourced from throughout the capital. Among the unusual offerings is Henna House, which will be creating all kinds of henna art from intricate florals to bold tribal art.
Want to find out more about the history of the area? Then book any of the short stay serviced apartments London and head for the Horrible Histories section where all kinds of stories and characters can be discovered. Equally entertaining is the Kino van, a traveling cinema on wheels which has lots of archive footage on the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK.
Listen to some Electropop, cowbells, multicultural bands and funky brass. Watch a 15 piece female marching band and a spectacular sheep procession all of which is set against a stunning Victorian backdrop.
Finding your way to Smithfield is quite easy especially when you book a stay at Earls Court serviced apartments London. It is located close to the Barbican, St Paul’s Cathedral and St Bartholomew’s Hospital and is well signposted.
