The Time Out London blog team

Great news for fans of London Gay Men’s Chorus: its annual Christmas concert will go ahead this year, after months and months of utterly scuppered plans.  But now, sixteen socially distanced singers (from the two-hundred-strong group) will be able to bring a ‘dollop of cheer to a difficult year’ this December by belting out some of the classics in a show called ‘Homo Alone’ at the Clapham Grand. The lads are determined to end the year on a high note.  LGMC was born when nine friends came together at Angel tube station in 1991, carolling to raise funds for UK Aids charity the Terence Higgins Trust. Fast forward twenty-nine years and the gang have become Europe’s largest gay choir, regularly performing to sell-out audiences at venues such as the Southbank Centre and the Roundhouse, duetting with the legendary Dolly Parton and appearing on daytime TV’s ‘Lorraine’.   Here’s the choir’s performance of ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to Town’ at last year’s Christmas show: So if you like your festivities totally fabulous and covered in glitter, you’d better book quickly. Snowballs all round!  London Gay Men’s Chorus will perform an afternoon and an evening show of ‘Homo Alone’ at the Clapham Grand on Dec 20. Tickets are available here. Feel safer watching a virtual concert? Check out Shelter’s fundraising carol service. Looking for more Christmas events? We’ve wrapped up some plans for you in this handy list.

Over the past few months, you likely will have heard about the UK’s ‘air bridges’ for quarantine-free travel to around 60 countries. For anyone eager to get out and explore the world again, it sounds like the stuff of lockdown-induced dreams. Look closer at the details, however, and your options don’t seem quite so expansive. Just because the UK has opened up a ‘travel corridor’ with a country – removing a mandatory self-quarantine period on arrival back to the UK, and revoking the official advice against travel – doesn’t mean you’re welcome there. In fact, in many cases, countries on the UK’s safe-travel list still have their borders closed to tourists and no flights available. In other places, you’re free to travel but you’ll still face a 14-day quarantine on arrival. So the question is: where can you actually go, and not have to quarantine either when you land or when you return home? Here are all the countries and territories currently open to UK tourists, along with information on flights, testing, and health and accommodation forms you may have to fill out. (An up-to-date list of UK ‘travel corridors’ can be found here. But remember that, as in the case of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Belgium, France and Turkey, the British government may choose to reimpose restrictions at a few hours’ notice, meaning you could still have to quarantine when you get home. Note also that rules may differ slightly for travellers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ire

Of all the many ice rinks London hosts during the winter months, none are quite as iconic as the Natural History Museum’s, with its towering Christmas tree presiding over the ice against the backdrop of Alfred Waterhouse’s spectacular cathedral-like buildings. Which is why we’re truly gutted to learn that the rink won’t be making an appearance this year, thanks to that whole global pandemic thing you might have been hearing about.  The team at the Natural History Museum had been working hard to bring London some much-needed festive fun on the rink in a safe and responsible manner, but in light of ongoing health concerns and uncertainty, they have taken the decision to skip this year’s event. Thankfully, the museum itself remains open in line with government guidelines, with a timed entry system in place to keep you safe, and is free to visit throughout the festive season (except for Dec 24-26). We look forward to celebrating the ice rink’s triumphant return next winter, but in the meantime, there are still plenty of other ways to channel your inner Torville and Dean this Christmas. Here are the best ice-skating rinks in the capital – get your skates on!  Christmas isn’t cancelled yet: Actual Christmas concerts plus ‘The Nutcracker’ return to the Royal Albert Hall. The National Theatre saves panto season with ‘Dick Whittington’.