At the opening of Beer Exposed last night we earnestly hoped to have our palates wowed and our beer knowledge enhanced. The expo has the strapline "explore, educate, enlighten" but we can reliably report that what's actually going on is a whole bunch of people getting delightfully drunk on many different types of beer and only realising it when they start giggling at a man dressed in a Chinese jacket with the nametag "Angus".......

Dubbed “the first independent event of its kind to be held in London,” Beer Exposed aims to bring beers, brewers and connoisseurs from around the world together for a unique experience “designed to expose you and your friends to the incredible diversity of tastes and flavours that beer can offer.” How thoughtful. The idea behind this bevvy exposé is to showcase up-and-coming artisanal beers, celebrate the UK’s favourite beers and demonstrate how to choose......

The London Art Fair opened to the public today in Islington. It's a massive art trade fair with modern and contemporary art to buy. There were many smart, be-scarved or brightly tie-d artsy types manning stalls looking bored or eating sandwiches and lots and lots of interesting art to ponder, point at and take photos of, which is apparently acceptable (I'm taking a photo to see if Flavia likes it, yah....). This is a......

The Londonist weekly Culture Crawl is crawling with things to see, do and enjoy: this week, we have dogs, more fireworks (but not dogs AND fireworks combined because that would be unpleasant) and the first mention of Christmas shopping. Let's start with some wagging tails... Saturday and Sunday Described by the Kennel Club as "best fun dog event this year," Discover Dogs is a two-day event at Earls Court for dog lovers, dog owners,......

Last week we told you you had to go New designers show at the Business Design Centre. So, did you go? Well if you didn't here's the dealbreaker: designs inspired by London's transport network. According to the Beeb, the pieces are the finalists in a competition to create a Transport for London related product, and at some point today they're going to announce a winning product which will be maufactured and sold in the......

For all you design nerds out there, you should know that the "largest and most exciting graduate design event in the UK" just opened today at the Business Design Centre in Islington. New Designers 06 is basically one huuuuge event, incorporating 4,000 "of the brightest young UK designers from 20 creative disciplines to 14,000 industry professionals and design enthusiasts". Mmmm design orgy. So right now you've got part one which lasts until July 2......

The eighteenth annual London Art Fair is on at the Business Design Centre in Islington today and this weekend, showcasing some of the best of Modern British and Contemporary Art. Ninety eight galleries are taking part this year’s fair - the place oozes art. When Londonist had a sneak preview this week, they were still putting the finishing touches to the displays and we half expected to see an artist here and there applying......

You may remember that we recently highlighted the imminent bidding frenzy for the 125-year lease to Alexander Palace. Actually, you probably don’t, as a surfeit of TV shows with the words ‘bid’ and ‘property’ in the title have forever diluted our interest in such things. For those of you who do care, the palace is set for a much-needed rejuvenation after a chequered lifetime of fires, flops and financial failure. The bidding parties have......