Boat Race Means Easter in London in 2013 is Much More Than a Chocolate Marathon

LONDON, ENGLAND, February 19, 2013 (Press-News.org) Easter comes so early this year that the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge is the pick of the Bank Holiday weekend events in London. Around a quarter of a million spectators will line the banks of the Thames to watch England's two elite universities battle it out on Easter Sunday at 4.30pm - hoping this year's gruelling duel will not be ruined by crazy campaigner trying to test the durability of the oars with his head.

The Boat Race is just one of numerous outdoor events set to keep Londoners and visitors to the capital entertained over the Easter weekend, which starts with Good Friday on 29th March and runs through to Easter Monday on 1st April. Visitors arriving from outside London over the Easter weekend can conveniently book their accommodation on LondonTown.com, where there's a wide range of hotels in London available to suit all budgets.

As is the tradition, chocolate takes centre stage throughout the Easter period with many of London's stately homes and townhouses laying on special egg hunts for those delectable chocolate treats. There are Easter egg hunts and trails at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, Ham House, Sutton House, Fenton House, Osterley House, Morden Hall Park, Kew Gardens, London Wetlands Centre and Battersea Park Zoo.

A more immersive Easter egg trail takes place throughout London from Friday 22nd March to Monday 1st April, with 101 eggs decorated by leading artists, designers, architects and jewellers hidden in different parts of the city. The Big Egg Hunt has its centre in Covent Garden, where you can pick up a map and get some hunting tips from a series of 'Eggsperts'. If you're cunning enough to find Humpty Dumpty you'll be in with a chance of winning a year's supply of Lindt chocolate!

Easter isn't just about gorging on chocolate - it's an important date in the Christian calendar commemorating the day Jesus Christ died and rose again. On Good Friday, Trafalgar Square hosts The Passion of Jesus, an incredible recreation of the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus - and a poignant reminder as to why we give chocolate eggs in the first place. Also on Good Friday, at 2.30pm, the 140th anniversary of Handel's Messiah is remembered with the Royal Choral Society's annual rendition of the famous oratio - a Royal Opera House tradition stretching back to 1878. Taking place simultaneously over at The Barbican, the Academy of Music performs Bach's masterpiece St John Passion, which musically narrates the events leading to the crucifixion of Christ.

Besides the Boat Race (and the Spitalfield's City Farm spin-off Goat Race) there are other sporting challenges taking place over the Easter weekend, with Bank Holiday Monday seeing the conclusion of the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Challenge and Regent's Park hosting the London Easter 10K run. Other highlights of the Easter weekend include the opening of the British Museum's Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition and the second weekend of David Bowie Is... at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

For children in need of distractions from sweet treats, both London Zoo's brand new Tiger Territory and the revamped London Dungeons open in time for the Easter holidays. Grown-ups can enjoy the blues rock of fabled American guitarist Joe Bonamassa at Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 30th March, or take in one of the many shows featured in the annual London International Ska Festival. Foodies can also sample tasty treats from all corners of the globe in the Real Street Food Festival on the South Bank throughout the Bank Holiday.

And if you've found the whole weekend rather stressful and serious, then lighten up - Easter Monday is also April Fools' Day and there's a special Comedy Concert taking place at the Royal Festival Hall.

This press release includes extracts from LondonTown.com's Easter in London feature - a comprehensive guide to everything going on in the capital over the Easter Bank Holiday. Whether you want to find out which churches are putting on special Easter services, where to book a family friendly hotel in London, where to take your own little bunnies for an Easter egg hunt to savour, or where best to stock your Easter larder full of hot cross buns, simnel cake, fish, roast lamb or other treats, LondonTown.com's Easter in London feature is the answer.

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