The Snowman | Christmas at Kew | Making Beyoncé | The Art of Rest | Ugly Butterfly...
Flying snowmen, spectacular light shows, sustainable eating, a podcast about Queen B and a book about how to get some well-deserved rest. The Week in Colour is full of fun ways to round off November and kick start the festive season.
WATCH The Snowman. Nothing feels more Christmassy than a cosy, warm fire, a massive tin of Quality Streets and Howard Blake’s Walking in the Air booming out of the telly. But what if – for a nice change - you could go out on the town to get your fix of the Raymond Briggs’s timeless family favourite instead? Well the good news is you can, as The Snowman hits the stage once again with a charming ballet adaptation produced by Sadler’s Wells and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The Peacock Theatre has played host to productions of this delightful and enchanting seasonal classic for 20 years, and for many families Christmas just isn’t Christmas until they’ve seen their tangerine-nosed hero up on stage. Everything from the set design to the lighting, costume design to the choreography, is magical, awe-inspiring and guaranteed to get you in the Christmas spirit. So whether you’re looking for a fun outing with friends or a festive activity for the family, book your tickets sharpish before they all get snapped up.
The Snowman runs at the Peacock Theatre until 5 January 2020. Visit https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2019/the-snowman/ to book tickets. Follow @Sadlers_Wells on Twitter for updates.
SEE Christmas at Kew, a glittering winter trail of stunning light installations, now open at Kew Gardens until January 5. Now in its seventh year, this hugely popular after-dark event takes visitors on a magical journey through a series of mesmerising displays. Expect immersive vines, striking laser projections, dazzling arches, flickering fire gardens and larger-than-life tunnels of light. Along the trail, there will be a variety of street food vendors serving up all your favourite festive food and drink, from mulled wine and spiced cider to marshmallows and chestnuts. For kids, there’s a fairground on site complete with a carousel, helter skelter, and a special visit from Santa and his elves somewhere along the way!
For more information, visit https://www.kew.org/ and follow @kewgardens on Twitter and Instagram.
LISTEN to Making Beyoncé. This fabulous new three-part podcast follows the stellar career of the world’s fiercest diva. Performing in local talent shows, this shy girl growing up in Houston, Texas, embarked on a path that would see her become one of the most famous performers in the world – but how did she do it? What drove her to get there? And what was she like before she became a star? From Girl's Tyme to Destiny’s Child and her career as a solo artist, the twists and turns of Beyoncé's life and career make for great listening and a fascinating chance to get to know the real person behind the record-breaking superstar.
Making Beyoncé is available to download via Apple Podcast. Episode two is out now. For more information, follow @WBEZ on Twitter.
READ The Art of Rest by Claudia Hammond. Award-winning broadcaster and psychology lecturer, Claudia Hammond, brings us a fascinating and important new book about why rest matters more than ever in our relentless digital world of packed schedules, where exhaustion often becomes the daily status quo for many. Being constantly busy means resting comes last and, frankly, do we even still know how to do it? The Art of Rest draws on the author's own research The Rest Test - the largest global survey into rest ever undertaken, with 18,000 people participating across 135 different countries. The findings revealed that the amount of rest you get has a huge impact on your well-being. So restless souls and busy bees take note, and keep a copy on your bedside table!
The Art of Rest: How to Find Respite in the Modern Age by Claudia Hammond is published by Canongate. Follow @claudiahammond and @canongatebooks on Twitter for updates.
DINE at Ugly Butterfly, a 24 seater ‘no waste’ restaurant recently opened in Chelsea by chef Adam Handling. Making good use of ingredients such as bread, milk, eggs and bananas that would have otherwise gone to waste in his other fine-dining restaurants, Adam will create a short, simple and regularly changing menu. The idea is to serve up deliciously prepared dishes that don’t quite fit with his high-end Chelsea and Covent Garden menus. It includes broccoli stalk Caesar salad, lobster shell soup, cheese doughnuts, banana bread and chicken butter, retired dairy cow tartare and crispy potato peelings, among others. While the de-boned crispy fried chicken feet with caviar might not tickle everyone’s fancy, it’s great to know that eating more sustainability is becoming easier. The menu will donate 2.5 per cent of its revenue to the Felix Project, a charity which helps reduce food waste and feed local communities in London. And if that’s not enough incentive, there’s a champagne bar to indulge in – it is King's Road after all, darling!
For more information, visit www.uglybutterfly.co.uk and follow @adamhandling on Twitter for updates.
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