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In an English National Opera season populated by seabourne operas, Wagner's early success The Flying Dutchman heaves into view at the London Coliseum in Jonathan Kent's new production, conducted by music director Edward Gardner. James Creswell stars in the title role.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek brings his tenure to a close at the Barbican Hall. In a touch of his Bohemian homeland, this follows his acclaimed Martinu symphony cycle and opera Julietta, and Smetana's The Bartered Bride.

The Chelsea Flower Show is the gardening Mecca of Europe. Some of the greatest exponents of the art exhibit imaginative garden designs over an 11-acre site at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, creating a floral wonderland for the public to explore.

London's Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music takes over the churches of St John's - Smith Square, St Peter's - Eaton Square and Westminster Abbey every summer. Concerts range from little-known gems of early 17th-century repertoire to large-scale masterpieces of the late baroque.

Anthony Minghella's acclaimed English National Opera production of Puccini's 1904 weepie Madam Butterfly is revived at the London Coliseum. Minghella's original Cio Cio San and Pinkerton, Mary Plazas and Gwyn Hughes Jones return, under Oleg Caetani's or Martin Fitzpatrick's baton.

Lindsay Duncan returns to the West End as Judith Bliss in Howard Davies' revival of Noël Coward's Hay Fever at, appropriately, the Noël Coward Theatre. She is joined by Kevin McNally (David Bliss), Jeremy Northam (Richard Greatham) and Olivia Colman (Myra Arundel).

Anthony Minghella's acclaimed English National Opera production of Puccini's 1904 weepie Madam Butterfly is revived at the London Coliseum. Minghella's original Cio Cio San and Pinkerton, Mary Plazas and Gwyn Hughes Jones return, under Oleg Caetani's or Martin Fitzpatrick's baton.

To mark the Queen's sixty years on the throne a number of ev3ents are being organised. Perhaps the largest will be when she leads a flotilla of up to one thousand boats assembled from across the UK, the Commonwealth and around the world, down the River Thames in London. 

Open your mind and release your body at the annual Mind Body Spirit Festival at Earl's Court. A huge range of 'alternative' goods, concepts, companies and individuals persuade you to embrace a spiritual future and a healthy lifestyle.

London's Southbank Centre and the International Guitar Foundation celebrate six-string wizardry from around the globe at this festival of the guitar. Past performers have included award-winning guitarist Tom Kerstens, Allan Holdsworth and one of Spain's leading flamenco guitarists, Gerardo Nunez.

Eve Best returns to the Old Vic to play the title role in Webster's The Duchess of Malfi - just shy of the revenge tragedy's 400th birthday. Jamie Lloyd directs, following his recent musical hits at the Donmar: Piaf and Passion.

Over 1000 naked, body-painted and scantily clad cyclists turn out for the annual World Naked Bike Ride in London, protesting against climate change and the tyranny of the automobile. Motorists stuck in traffic jams may get more than they bargained for...

World-class polo players come to Fulham's Hurlingham Park for the three-day Polo in the Park event. The London event aims to shed the sport's elitist image, and make it accessible to more people. Polo players from all over the world will battle each other over three exhilarating days to gain the winning title.

Stella McCartney, Antonio Beradi and Sheila Maloney all launched their careers at London's Graduate Fashion Week, Britain's springboard for major new designers, held at Earls Court 2. Competition is fierce as students battle to impress buyers, headhunters and the press.

This 6K fun run (or 2x3K relay race) benefits homeless charity Crisis. Starting at Paternoster Square, runners in the Crisis Square Mile Run pass the Tower of London and Tate Modern before finishing on the Millennium Bridge.

Trooping the Colour is a quintessentially English experience of pomp and ceremony. A parade of the Massed Bands and Troops of the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry takes over Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's birthday.

The annual Meltdown festival of contemporary music, organised by London's Southbank Centre, is programmed each year by a celebrity curator. In 2011 the artistic director is Ray Davies, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of The Kinks.

Lovebox Weekender brings love, tunes and happy people to London's Victoria Park, making the most of a summer weekend with a quality line-up and plenty of festival fun. Away from the main stage you'll find DJs filling the dance arenas.

Browse paintings including Old Masters, ancient Chinese ceramics, Art Deco jewellery and other sought-after treasures exhibited by British and international galleries at the annual London International Fine Art Fair. Buyers, curators and fine art aficionados fill the Olympia Exhibition Centre.

Those with an eye for a real fashion bargain visit the Designer Warehouse Womenswear Sale at Islington Studios. Find catwalk samples, international designers and current collections at up to 80% off original prices. Major names include Prada, Armani and Missoni.

Every year around 27,000 riders take part in the London to Brighton Bike Ride. This huge fundraising cycle event covers a distance of 54 miles. The ride departs from Clapham Common in South London and finishes on Brighton's seafront.

Bringing to London some of the finest vocal talent around, the Rosenblatt Recital Series is now an established part of London's classical music season. The one-a-month, mid-week concerts (usually Wednesdays) bring top singers to St John's, Smith Square.

The Hurlingham Club hosts the BNP Paribas Tennis Classic, a mainly seniors tennis tournament with all-time favourites. Pat Cash, Ilie Nastase and Henri Leconte have graced the courts here, and high-calibre tennis is guaranteed.

Sinc 1976 Brick Lane and, more particularly, Nicholas Hawksmoor's iconic Christ Church Spitalfields has resounded with a summer jamboree of exceptional music making.  Old and new, and both professionsals and comuunity performers come together for the annual Spitalfields Festival.

In advance of Britten's centenary in 2013, English National Opera teams up music director Edward Gardner and director David Alden again, after the exceptional success of their 2009 Peter Grimes. This time they bring Britten's Billy Budd to the London Coliseum.

The Taste of London festival returns to the beautiful surroundings of Regent's Park for another four-day celebration of fine food and drink. Forty of London's top restaurants serve sample-sized dishes and celebrated chefs reveal the tricks of the trade.

West End Live transforms Leicester Square into an extravaganza of theatre, dance and music. While the stage offers free fun and family-friendly entertainment for all, the whole area is out to impress with shopping and eating to boot.

First seen at the 2011 Manchester International Festival, Damon Albarn's second opera, Dr Dee, based on the life of Elizabethan polymath John Dee, comes to co-producer English National Opera's London Coliseum for its London première. Albarn himself stars as troubadour-narrator.

East London erupts every summer at the award-winning Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, London's longest-established free outdoor extravaganza. Spectacular performances, encompassing theatre and music, fill spaces across the Thames, connected each year by a different theme.

In advance of Britten's centenary in 2013, English National Opera teams up music director Edward Gardner and director David Alden again, after the exceptional success of their 2009 Peter Grimes. This time they bring Britten's Billy Budd to the London Coliseum.

Despite all those cuts and closures it's not all doom and gloom for London's cultural calendar. Venues throughout the city this summer play host to the inaugural Bluesfest. Featuring BB King, Booker T and others, its soundtrack is blues, soul and jazz.

The pride and joy of London's "Square Mile" are its exquisite guild halls and churches, which resonate every summer during the City of London Festival. Also spilling onto the streets, the closing concert takes place at mighty St Paul's Cathedral.

First seen at the 2011 Manchester International Festival, Damon Albarn's second opera, Dr Dee, based on the life of Elizabethan polymath John Dee, comes to co-producer English National Opera's London Coliseum for its London première. Albarn himself stars as troubadour-narrator.

Base Logic's BLOC Weekend party is set to ftake to London's new Pleasure Gardens with two days of cutting-edge dance music. With DJs and live acts playing 24 hours a day, even hardcore music fans may find it hard to keep up.

Widely considered the world's greatest tennis tournament, top-seed players, traditional strawberries and cream and the infamous rain delays set Wimbledon apart from other Grand Slams. Some of the greatest matches of all time have been fought out here on Centre Court.

The Pride parade has firmly established itself in London and is the biggest event in the UK gay diary. The carnival atmosphere transforms central London with a flamboyant parade of floats representing the full force of Great Britain's GLBT community.

The Wireless Festival in London's Hyde Park is another of the capital's addictive outdoor summer festivals with a top line-up of international performers. There is also a market, side shows and chillout zones.

Leading architects join London's local authorities in revitalising the public's view of the city's key buildings and spaces at the biennial London Festival of Architecture. Exhibitions, walks, performances and installations aim to refresh the common view of architecture and design.

In advance of Britten's centenary in 2013, English National Opera teams up music director Edward Gardner and director David Alden again, after the exceptional success of their 2009 Peter Grimes. This time they bring Britten's Billy Budd to the London Coliseum.

From Bollywood Queens to Pearly Kings, the East End Film Festival is a celebration of local and international film. Screenings depict locations throughout the world but they're all inspired by the vibrancy and diversity of London's East End.

Harrods Summer Sale draws thousands of bargain hunters to the Knightsbridge store every year. Shoppers sniff out cut-price designer clothes, kitchen appliances and other goodies in the world-renowned prim and proper emporium. Arrive in the small hours, prepared to queue.

The Standard Chartered Great City Race is a 5km corporate running challenge in London's square mile. Over 6000 competitors are expected to take part in the event, which is designed to encourage teamwork and a healthier workplace.

Enjoy all things book-related at the Southbank Centre's two-week London Literature Festival. Get involved with writing workshops and debates, or sit back and enjoy specially commissioned performances and readings by famous authors and poets.

Hard Rock Calling in London's Hyde Park is a veritable rock music extravaganza on two huge stages. Top international stars perform every year on the park's east side, near Park Lane. Tickets sell like hot cakes, so book early.

Liberty's summer sale offers discounts of up to 50% across the whole range of goods: from china and glass to linen, furniture and furnishing fabrics, fashion and jewellery.

The London International Festival of Theatre brings the world of ground-breaking innovative theatre to venues and open spaces across London. Expect the unexpected in a healthy corrective to West End musicals.

Six waterboatmen race with the tide from London Bridge to Chelsea's Albert Bridge during the annual Doggett's Coat and Badge Race, competing for the prize of scarlet livery with a large silver badge. This traditional rowing race started in 1715.

Free Range at London's Old Truman Brewery brings the very best of the country's creative talent together on one site and boasts visitor numbers to rival some of the capital's top art shows. You might even spot the next Tracey Emin!

DMC stage the DMC/Technics UK Finals at Islington's 02 Academy. Diehard fanatics meet to see the country's finest turntablists unleashing their skills in six-minute routines, battling to win the chance to compete at the world finals later in the summer.