Lindt GOLD BUNNY hunt

This Week in London – Gold bunnies at Hampton Court; St George’s Day at Trafalgar Square; and, ‘Food Season’ at the British Library…

by exploringlondon

Wishing all our readers a happy Easter!

Hampton Court Palace. PICTURE:  Karen McKeogh/Unsplash

• The Lindt GOLD BUNNY hunt has returned to Hampton Court Palace this Easter. People visiting the palace can seek out the gold bunnies hidden around the gardens – currently also the location of the Tulip Festival – and those children who believe they have found them all will be rewarded with a chocolate treat. Included in general admission. Runs until 21st April. For more, see https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/

• A free, family-friendly event celebrating England’s rich heritage through music, dance, and workshops will be held in Trafalgar Square on Monday to mark St George’s Day. The event, which runs from noon to 6pm, will be hosted by singer-songwriter Harleymoon Kemp and includes performances by The Nigel Grice Jazz Collective, the English Folk Dance and Song Society, singer-songwriter Matilda Garcia, South London-based dance company Bird and Gang, spoken word artist Palacio de Poetas, West End Kids, and harmony group Vocal Shack. St George and the famous Dragon will also be roaming the square and the event also features traditional Morris dancing from the Belles of London City, the chance to meet the Pearly Kings and Queens and a closing ceilidh led by Cut A Shine, a troupe of traditional musicians and dancers. There will also be a variety of food and beverage stalls. For more, see www.london.gov.uk/events/st-georges-day-2025

• The British Library’s ‘Food Season’ – featuring a programme of live talks, panel discussions, workshops, and exclusive tastings – kicks off today. Now in its seventh year, events include a conversation with cookery icon Dame Prue Leith who will be talking about her life in food with journalist Jimi Famurewa, an expert panel discussion on the impact of weight-loss injections on our society, a contribution from cult food magazine Vittles looking at the point of a cookbook?, and a conversation between chef Nadiya Hussain and celebrated author Candice Brathwaite. There’s also an event celebrating the late Californian feminist food writer, MFK Fisher, with her daughter, Kennedy Golden, Alastair Harper from band Extradition Order (who will be performing as part of the event) and authors Rebecca May Johnson and Gurdeep Loyal. The final weekend (31st May to 1st June) will feature the ‘BIG WEEKEND’, a two day celebration of food through words, sounds, cultures, ideas and tastings. For tickets and the full programme of events, head to https://events.bl.uk/whats-on/food-season.

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This Week in London – Hampton Court’s bunny hunt returns; vintage prints at the National Portrait Gallery; and, ‘Sounds of Blossom’ at Kew…

by exploringlondon
Gardens at Hampton Court Palace. PICTURE: edwin.11 (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

• The Lindt Gold Bunny hunt returns to Hampton Court Palace this Saturday with families once again invited to search the gardens for those elusive Gold Bunny statues. Each statue offers a chance to match the names of influential characters from Hampton Court Palace’s history to the distinctive red ribbons and a small Lindt bunny chocolate awaits those who succeed in finding the bunnies. Visitors will also have the chance to encounter a selection of the characters roaming the palace over the Easter period. The Gold Bunny hunt is included in general admission. Until 14th March. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/whats-on/easter-lindt-gold-bunny-hunt/.

• Rare vintage prints by two of art history’s most influential photographers – Francesca Woodman (1958-1981) and Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) – go on show at the National Portrait Gallery today. Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In showcases more than 160 rare vintage prints including 97 by Woodman and 71 by Cameron as well as artist’s books by Woodman which have never been exhibited before in the UK. Key works include Cameron’s self-declared “first success” – a portrait of Annie Wilhemina Philpot taken in 1864, Woodman’s Self-portrait at thirteen, taken during a summer holiday in Italy in 1972, images from Woodman’s Angel series and Cameron’s ethereal portraits of actor Ellen Terry taken in 1864. Also featured are Woodman’s Caryatid pieces and Cameron’s portraits of her niece and favorite model Julia Jackson, Alice Liddell as the goddess Pomona, a portrait of John Frederick William Herschel called The Astronomer (1867), and those of her frequent muses, May Prinsep and Mary Ann Hillier. Runs until 16th June. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.npg.org.uk.

• A new collaboration with the Royal College of Music blends music with spring blooms at Kew Gardens. Sounds of Blossom: Awaken your senses, the first ever spring festival to be held at the gardens, features six bespoke commissions that celebrate Kew’s unique landscape in the spring emerging from locations such as Cherry Walk, Asano Avenue and the Japanese Landscape. And on weekends during the festival, visitors can enjoy live musical performances from the Royal College of Music as they showcase a varied repertoire from classical favourites to jazz melodies. Included in general admission. Runs until 14th April. For more, see www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/sounds-of-blossom.

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This Week in London – Canaletto at the National Maritime Museum; the story of the postcode; Easter hunts at royal palaces; and, superheroes and orphans…

by exploringlondon
Canaletto, ‘View of the Grand Canal from the Palazzo Bembo to Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi‘ © From the Woburn Abbey Collection

• Twenty-four of Canaletto’s Venetian views which are normally found at Woburn Abbey form the heart of a new exhibition opening at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich on Friday. Canaletto’s Venice Revisited explores some of the most iconic view paintings of Venice and how tourism, which helped establish Canaletto’s career, today threatens Venice’s future. The views from Woburn Abbey were painted by Canaletto for Lord John Russell, the 4th Duke of Bedford, in the 1730s and this is the first time the paintings, which are thought to be Canaletto’s largest single commission, will be on display in their entirety outside of the abbey. As well as 22 smaller views of Venice depicting iconic landmarks such as Piazza San Marco and the Grand Canal, as well as campi, palazzi and churches, the works include two monumental views, A Regatta on the Grand Canal and The Grand Canal, Ascension Day: The embarkation of the Doge of Venice for the Ceremony of the Marriage of the Adriatic. Runs until 25th September. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.rmg.co.uk/canaletto.

• The story of the postcode is the subject of a new exhibition at The Postal Museum. Sorting Britain: The Power of Postcodes charts the journey of postcodes in the UK, from the post postal districts in London, Liverpool and Manchester and the first trial of postcodes in Norwich in 1959 to how postcodes are used today as an indicator of social standing. Highlights in the display include ELSIE, one of the only original 1950s Electronic Letter Sorting Indicating Equipment left in existence, images of ‘Poco the Postcode Elephant’ – one of the biggest advertising campaigns of the 1980s and unseen maps of London from the 19th century. Runs until 1st January. Included in admission ticket. For more, see www.postalmuseum.org.

• The Lindt GOLD BUNNY Hunt is returning to both Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace this Easter for the first time since 2019. Children aged four to 12 are invited to use a trail map to explore each palace and gardens and find the Lindt GOLD BUNNY statues while learning about people from the palaces’ past and, on successfully completing their mission, claim their chocolatey reward. Check the website for details of dates. The hunt is included in palace admission. For more, see www.hrp.org.uk.

• The representation of foundlings, orphans, adoptees, and foster children in comics and graphic novels comes under scrutiny in a new exhibition at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury. Opening Friday, Superheroes, Orphans & Origins: 125 years in comics looks at traditional orphan superheroes ranging from Superman and Batman to Spider Man and Black Panther along with characters from early newspaper comic strips, Japanese Manga and contemporary graphic novel protagonists. The display includes historical newspapers, original artwork and contemporary digital work as well as examples of international comics rarely exhibited in the UK. There are also three new artistic commissions specifically made for the exhibition. Can be seen until 28th August. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/event/superheroes-orphans-origins/.

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