CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ACROSS THE WEST END London's West End has a magic like nowhere else, especially at Christmas. This year you can celebrate the festive season with lights and illuminations while you enjoy the best shopping and entertainment in town. See the detailed events listing for dates and times of individual "switch-ons". WHERE BOND STREET CARNABY STREET MARYLEBONE VILLAGE OXFORD STREET REGENT STREET SOUTH MOLTON STREET WHEN Nov - Dec ++ READ MORE WEST END ICE RINK Get your skates on and head to Hyde Park, at the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street, to whiz round the first ever West End Ice Rink - the largest outdoor ice rink this year in the capital. Look out for a Santa's Grotto, Christmas markets, observation wheels and fun fair rides. WHERE HYDE PARK WHEN 1-31 Dec, 1-6 Dec ++ READ MORE COVENT GARDEN CIRQ-U-AERIAL Forget high-wire acts, this is more like ballet – only forty feet up in the air. Hanging in the air, twisting gracefully in white silk, Cirq U Aerial performs exquisitely choreographed pieces, far above your head. WHERE COVENT GARDEN - SOUTH HALL WHEN 23-25, 30 Nov, 1-2, 7-9, 14-16, 21-23 Dec ++ READ MORE HELIOSPHERE This, ladies and gentlemen, is truly spectacular – acrobats, suspended from giant balloons high in the air. They give the illusion of flying, swooping down (they’ll steal the sugar off your table if you’re not careful), then soaring back into the air. WHERE COVENT GARDEN - EAST PIAZZA WHEN 23-25, 30 Nov, 1-2, 7-9, 14-16, 21-23 Dec ++ READ MORE STRANGE FRUIT Strange Fruit is a Melbourne-based performing arts company that produces and performs a remarkable style of work that fuses theatre, dance and circus, using a unique elevated medium. Perched atop 4 metre high flexible poles of original design, the troupe delivers a sublime performance, bending and swaying in the air, captivating and engaging the audience in absolute fascination. WHERE COVENT GARDEN - WEST PIAZZA WHEN 14-16, 21-23 Dec ++ READ MORE MARIA NOAKES Maria has played in some of the best venues in the world, and we are delighted that she will be gracing our ears with the delicious sound of the harp in the South Hall. WHERE COVENT GARDEN - SOUTH HALL WHEN 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23 Dec ++ READ MORE HOT BUTTER SOUL COLLECTIVE The Hot Butter Soul Collective is a contemporary London-based gospel choir, featuring a human beatboxer who performs traditional Christmas classics with a modern edge. WHERE COVENT GARDEN – WEST PLAZA WHEN 12, 19 Dec ++ READ MORE MATT SCOTT Performing at the successful summer night markets at Covent Garden this year, we are delighted to welcome back this talented Accordion player, wandering through the market serenading the festive shoppers. WHERE EAST and WEST PIAZZA WHEN 13, 15, 18, 20, 22 Dec ++ READ MORE