LONDON CALLING

While the balmy weather nurtures an overwhelming desire in most of us to get out of town, the City of London Festival looks like being one of the few reasons for staying in the capital. The event celebrates the City's variety of musical and cultural life, in historic venues within the Square Mile. Activities range from concerts of orchestral, choral, opera and chamber music, cinema celebrating Dracula's centenary (below), open-air events, jazz, dramatic readings and workshops for schools. One of this year's highlights promises to be the British premiere of Sarajevo Circle, a platform performance of a new musical, born out of the effects of the war in Bosnia. Other must-sees include the acclaimed Uzume Taiko Ensemble from Canada and Japan who beat a path to the festival's newest venue in Spitalfield's Market, and the Gogmagogs (left), "seven virtuoso string players [who] take classical music out of the concert hall and explode onto the stage...".

19 Jun-10 Jul, booking: 0171-638 8891