Cultural activities

I play trumpet in brass, punk, ska bands all around London. I also love the music, art, museums, street feastivals etc. of London. The thing that stops me going to more is public transport. It is either breaking down - how do we have so many failures for signalling (are we not installing a failover system), or RMT are again on strike for even more holiday or money. I have had to abort a significant amount of trips into London over a last few months due to public transport.

I love the theatre and the museums, but the former is so expensive and the latter are too busy. I realise that theatre is pricey for a reason - less seats per show etc. compared to the cinema but the big shows are stupidly expensive now. The museums are always stuffed with tourists who are probably shocked at the cost of everything else in the city and desperate to do something for free. I agree that discounts for Londoners would be a good idea. Maybe a lottery system to apply for a quiet Saturday once in a while, where visitor numbers are limited and/or entry is staggered into the museums. Travel is expensive too, which makes me stay in my area more than I probably would if our travel costs were closer to some other European countries' metro systems.
There is some brilliant grass-roots theatre in London, so more money supporting and encouraging small theatres and acts would probably be very well spent. Places like Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. I've seen some brilliant shows there for about £12, but you wonder how the performers manage to make a living. More grants for home-grown talent. But that will never happen under our austerity government.

When you ask about "Culture" everyone thinks of the theatre and moan about the price, However there are countless FREE world class museums in the city ( I wonder what they would charge in Paris to see the National Gallery or the Tate collection?). Also we have some magnificent parks. I resent however the "festivals" and Mayor (tax payer) sponsored "community events" which invariably see our roads closed and parks overrun with people from outside the area, and they are labelled "free!!".They are invariably targeted at a younger demograph and is it any wonder older residents don't feel the love of inclusion?

Love dancing Argentine tango. Wish there were more organised language exchanges where you can practise a language you are trying to learn with native speakers of that language who are trying to learn your language. The ones in cafes are too noisy to hear the other people or make yourself heard.

In answer to your question "what stops you doing more?" In these troubled times, I no longer spend much time in central London after dark...it is high time the mayor concentrated ALL his efforts on ensuring that ALL law abiding citizens are safe while pursuing cultural activities in our city, and no effort or time at ALL on appeasing the criminal elements and gangs who now own the streets, since he decided that appeasement was a better tactic than stop and search! Sadly, as a result, the rats have come out to play, armed with acid and knives! Cultural pursuits will have to take a back seat until the mayor does his duty and cleans up this mess...

Culture is such a broad term. People need to be able to afford to attend an event including the transport to/from. They need to feel safe and welcome. Good concrete bollards to prevent madmen in cars driving in, would help. Good policing to curb drunkenness and drugs so that events are family-friendly. A great big picnic in the park on e.g. Hampstead Heath or Wimbledon Common where mobile phones are banned for a day - with masses of traditional wheelbarrow races, three-legged races, rounders, soccer, cricket, etc and a token system of rewards for bridging the cultural, racial, age, divides would be wonderful. A Talk Card where e.g. a 60 year old woman can get five points for every person of every decade that she has a long conversation with, who is not from her own cultural roots e.g. a 10 yr old, a 20 yr old, a 30 yr old, a 40 yr old, a 50 yr old, a 70 yr old... and when the card is full with the other people's names and phone numbers or email addresses, she can hand it in to the organisers and get an ILoveLondoners scarf or Tshirt as reward. (yes some company would have to sponsor those - ideally made in UK not China) and people could wear them with pride because they'd reached out to other Londoners at the PicnicInThePark and made new friends and pushed aside assumptions and stereotypes and stopped focussing on Selfies but instead focussed on Self-within-Society. Wouldn't that be a brilliant Cultural event for our City? Maybe not even any media allowed in, until two hours after it began, so that people talk more than pose?

There is lots to be proud of & to visit in London but I find quite a lot of our cultural activities are aimed at 'tourists' and therefore overpriced and too busy so not very enjoyable. Whenever an area or an event becomes even a little bit popular, whether it be a music venue, art gallery or theatre or even a local or unique shop then the commercial guys quickly take over and soon it becomes like everywhere else. Our markets are dying out, our pubs are going the same way, and developers are moving in to make a quick profit. Please remember the existing residents and business owners in areas that are being developed or are planned to be developed: not everyone wants to live in a 24/7 world. We dont need coffee shops, restaurants, fast food outlets or even Tesco, Coop, Sainsburys (& any other brand supermarket) on every corner that is open to silly o'clock every day.

Personally I try to take advantage of the (very welcome) free entry to museums/galleries etc but do find that I sometimes have to limit my visits as transport is expensive (if travelling by bus you usually get stuck in traffic so the 2 bus journeys for £1.50 within one hour is not applicable). Although having said that I'm trying to increase my visits!

I also go to various sporting events in London - football at The Arsenal; Athletics at the Olympic Stadium; Cycling at the Velodrome; Basketball at the CopperBox; swimming/diving at the Olympic Pool.

The cost to get into these places, and the time travelling in from the suburbs are big dissuades for me, and of course always the possibility of being caught up in a terrorist attack or some other violent crime so no, I do not do as much as I would like. Locally I enjoy a walk around Trent Park, but that is soon to become a gated community with 100's of homes being built, so I will probably knock that on the head eventually, as the thought of going for a walk around a posh housing estate doesn't really appeal to me.

There needs to be more understanding of the fact that London's parks and green open spaces too are part of our cultural heritage. As we become more aware of how important it can be for our health and well-being to spend time among trees it is unfortunate that government cuts to parks spending is putting our parks at risk of degenerating and becoming less attractive. Whilst large concerts, such as the Wireless festival in Finsbury park, can actually damage the park and prevent public access for many weeks at a time, smaller scale events for maybe 50 to 100 people can be a way of bringing communities together. There are some free cultural events such as the Annual Summer Event at CREOS, N8, where a band performs voluntarily every summer and a small amount of money is raised to fund care of the open space. There could be many more events like this throughout London and throughout the year if there were grants available for local groups to perform in local parks.

It's a long time since I went to the theatre in London and came out thinking it was worth the money and the effort. I find the quality of dialogue and elocution of actors too difficult to hear (or believe); minimal projection or enunciation (a bit like like the BBC) and have not been "moved" by a production for many years. I think the whole cultural side of London is expensive and over-rated. My next booking is Imperium by the RSC in July and I hope that makes a change to my experience so far. However my worst experience was at the Opera Garnier in Paris to see Cosi fan Tutte when on holiday - a blank white stage and a modernist feel that totally distracted from the music; it was nicer to close ones eyes and listen rather than observe the singers and their dancing alter-egos on the stage - no emotion at all - come on you directors/producers - I for one don't want avantgarde productions when I don't go often enough to have seen traditional ones. Far too much of the "emperor's new clothes" around.

money! plain and simple, overpriced theatre tickets, the cost of travel and the lack of real quality when you actually get to the theatre- I love opera and ballet and gasp at the price of ROH live cinema tickets. This is nowhere near going live to the theatre. Art, I love art but exhibition tickets are impossible even with pensioner discounts, and most galleries attempt to add a donation on top of the hugely expensive ticket price. Surely, all we are doing is keeping the poor and the young away- in fact, killing off the arts- the very people needed to think and appreciate if the world is to become a peaceful and better place.

I'm lucky enough to live within a few minutes walk from one of the Royal Parks and about 3 miles from another one. So when I can I walk, run and cycle in them by myself or with family members ,particularly children. I have also supported and cheered on people in events like the London Marathon and volunteered to help in Ride London. I don't go to football games any more due to the high price of professional ones and I'm normally doing something else when amateur ones are played.

In regards to activities in the centre of London or the opposite side of London from where I live, as someone else has pointed out, due to issues with engineering works at the weekend on the London Overground and train network then it is difficult to get in and out so I don't bother. In fact using the bus replacement services when there are train engineering works can be terrifying.