Fun in London this February 2013:
Board Games and Beyond!, Brixton
Everyone loves settling down to a mammoth session of Risk or Monopoly. Nothing beats defeating your friends in a global conquest or siphoning away all their fake cash through plastic property investment. Except that is, if you add a few pints to the equation. So why not head down to the Ritzy Bar on February 11th to combine these two fantastic pastimes.
Board Games & Beyond! will see the Brixton bar dust off its old sets for punters to play, or they can bring their own games if they have a personal favourite. The event kicks off at 18:30 GMT and those looking to get through a complete worldwide domination game with Risk would be sensible to turn up early to make sure they can fit it in.
Great Spitalfields Pancake Race, Spitalfields
The one true way to celebrate pancake day is not to just cover them in lemon and sugar and get them down your throat as quickly as possible. It is, in fact, all about crossing the finish line first while tossing your pancake in a pan in one of London's famed races.
The Great Spitalfields Pancake Race is one of the most exciting pancake races in the city, kicking off from Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane at 12:30 GMT on February 11th. Participants will need a team of four people dressed suitably for competing (we're talking chef outfits and such) and their own frying pan. The organisers will provide the pancakes. There will be heats and then the final, with the winner getting an engraved frying pan and the best dressed team receiving a prize. Everyone gets to chow down on some pancakes though, which makes one and all winners.
Zarathustras Live Sessions, Camden
Head to Bar Solo in Camden on February 13th to hear some of the capital's best acoustic jazz and soul musicians play to audiences for free. Kicking off at 19:30 GMT and running to 23:00 GMT, Emily Capell, Jake Isaac, Billy Keane, Jackson Nightmountain, Indigo Children, The Gloomers, Lanre and Charlie Hole will be performing on the packed out line up.
Those who have an eye for a bargain should head down early too, as Bar Solo runs a happy hour between 17:00 and 21:00 GMT that puts a selection of wines, spirits, cocktails and beers available at two for one.
Love in the Natural World, South Kensington
If you and your loved one would like to do something a little less conventional in London for Valentine's Day, then you should head down to the Natural History Museum for a talk entitled Love in the Natural World on February 14th.
The discussion, which kicks off at 14:30 GMT in the Attenborough Studio will look at the weird and wonderful ways in which animals love. Whether they get stuck with a mate for life or end up getting eaten by their other half, love is an unpredictable force in the animal kingdom.
Anti-Valentine's Day Party, Hackney
For those who feel that Valentine's Day exists for the sole purpose of making them feel forlorn about their own romantic situation, then the Anti-Valentine's Party at the White Rabbit Cocktail Club is for them.
The Stoke Newington Bar is opening up to hopeless romantics at 21:00 GMT on February 15th for them to forget all their woes dancing to the best heartbreak tunes and party classics.
Barbara Nessim: An Artful Life, South Kensington
Art enthusiasts should head down to the Victoria & Albert Museum on February 16th to catch the newly opened exhibition on the American artist and designer Barbara Nessim.
Located in Room 74, Barbara Nessim: An Artful Life looks at her career's work, from the 1960s all the way up to the present day. Her unique style has been used to produce covers for Time, Rolling Stone and the New York Times, as well as on adverts for Levi's and Ralph Lauren. Visitors will be able to see her sketchbooks, prints, photographs, drawings, computer graphics and ceramics.
Free And Funny On Sunday: Katerina Vrana, Islington
There's no better way to end the week than with some wide smiles and belly laughs watching some of the capital's best stand-up comedians. Free and Funny on Sunday takes place at the Camden Head in Islington, beginning at 20:00 GMT.
Performing on February 17th is Katerina Vrana, a finalist at Funny Women Awards 2009. She comes recommended by Time Out, which said she has an intelligent, quick-witted comedy style. Also playing on the night is Barry Ferns.
