The weekend guide - things to do

Our tips to help you plan ahead and get the best out of your weekend in the city: Friday 6 - Sunday 8 November.

Fireworks displays

Remember, remember the fifth of November. We do, and invariably do so again as festivities spill over to the nearest available weekend.

So it is this year, with the daddy of fireworks displays taking place at north London's Alexandra Palace, where hordes of people are drawn each November by its elevated panorama and focus on entertainment for all the family.

A private terrace ensures a weather-proof view of Ally Pally's fireworks

Outside in the park are funfairs and bouncy castles and a children's disco; in the Great Hall inside you'll find a German Bier Festival with live music from an oompah band and Chas Hodges, formerly one half of cockney duo Chas n Dave.

Families wanting a weather-proof view on the night can book ahead to enjoy the pyrotechnics from a dedicated enclosure inside the palace and on a private terrace outside.

Saturday 7 November, Alexandra Palace, Wood Green N22, gates at 4.30pm, fireworks display 7.30pm. Admission by donation - suggested donation £4 adults, £2 children at the gate. Family area viewing £5 adults, £3 children, £12 family ticket. Call 020 8365 4326/ 4315.

Alexandra Palace

More fireworks displays across London:

Friday 6 November, Bishop's Park, Fulham SW6, gates at 6pm, children's show 7.15pm, main display 8pm. Admission £6 for everyone aged 5 and over.

Also Friday: Kingsmeadow Athletics Stadium, Kingston Road, Kingston upon Thames, gates at 6.30pm, display 8pm. Admission £6 adults, £4 children aged 5- 11.

Saturday 7 November, Battersea Park, Albert Bridge Road SW11, gates at 6pm, display 8pm. Admission £6 adults, £1 children under 10.

Also Saturday: Blackheath Common, Shooters Hill Road SE3, display 8pm. Free admission.

And at: Carshalton Park, off Ruskin Road, Carshalton, gates at 6pm, display at 7pm. Admission £6 adults, £4 children.

And: Ealing Cricket Club, Corfton Road W5, gates at 6pm, display at 7.30pm. Admission £5 adults, £3 children under 14.

And: Enfield Town Park, Cecil Road, Enfield, gates at 6pm, display at 7.30pm. Admission £5 adults, £3 children.

And: Morden Park, London Road, Morden, gates at 5.15pm, displays at 6.30pm & 8.15pm. Admission £7 adults, £4 children, under-4s free.

And: Ravenscourt Park, Ravenscourt Road W6, gates at 6.30pm, displays at 7.15pm & 8pm. Admission £6, under-5s free.

And: Victoria Park, Grove Road entrance E9, funfair from 2pm, display at 7.30pm. Free admission.

And: Walker Cricket Ground, Waterfall Road, Southgate N14, gates at 5pm, display 8pm. Admission £6 adults, £4 children under 16.

London Fireworks Displays

London Fire Brigade: fireworks safety advice

Remembrance weekend

The second Sunday in November falls this weekend and all eyes will be on The Cenotaph in Whitehall, the focus for the nation's annual commemoration of those who fought and died in war.

Ahead of the day's wreath-laying comes an evening of music and reflection at St Martin-in-the-Fields, where a candlelight performance of Mozart's Requiem will be led by London's Belmont Ensemble and the English Chamber Choir in a programme that also includes pieces by Handel and Purcell.

The blood red poppy has a long association with Remembrance Day

The two-minute silence and the sounding of the Last Post is a sombre marker of Remembrance Sunday itself, enacted of course in Whitehall in front of the Royal Family and at ceremonies at war memorials across London; church services will mark the moment and everyday locations such as shops and supermarkets may invite customers and staff to fall silent at 11am.

At the Imperial War Museum, commemorations include a performance of the winning piece from the In Memoriam Young Composer's Competition, played to honour the last remaining veterans of the Great War who passed away this year; it is accompanied later by a free afternoon art activity for families using military buttons to create special remembrance poppies.

Mozart Requiem, Saturday 7 November, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square WC2, 7.30pm. Tickets £12 - £26. Box office: 020 7766 1100.

St Martin-in-the-Fields evening performances: November 2009

Remembrance Day Service & Parade, Sunday 8 November, The Cenotaph, Whitehall SW1, open from 8am; two-minute silence 11am.

Ceremony of Remembrance, also Sunday, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road SE1, 11am; family art activity 2.30pm - 4pm. Free admission to both.

Imperial War Museum

Out and about

Did you know that Bermondsey was once nick-named 'London's Larder'? But that was back in the early years of the 19th century when three-quarters of the capital's butter, cheese, bacon and canned meats would land in the nearby docks before being processed in local factories.

The market specialises in food produced within 100 miles of the M25

Appropriate then for the food business to return to the area with the opening of a new farmers' market in Bermondsey Square.

There's a wealth of experience behind the venture: organisers London Farmers' Markets (LFM) have been going for ten years, specialising in food produced within 100 miles of the M25.

Pick from organic and outdoor reared meat, game in season, dairy, juices, hand-made preserves, herbs, cakes and savouries, free range eggs and straight-from-the-fields fruit and vegetables.

Bermondsey Farmers' Market, Saturday 7 November and each Saturday thereafter, Bermondsey Square SE1, 10am - 2pm.

Bermondsey Square

Film festivals

Movie fans suffering withdrawal symptoms after the recent end of the London Film Festival will be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of more big screen thrills heading our way.

First, the UK Jewish Film Festival, now in its 13th year and boasting a varied selection of films, taking in everything from citizenship and identity, forbidden love and the Holocaust to gefilte fish, barmitzvahs and the Jewish/Palestinian divide.

Of note this weekend is a screening of the Coen brothers' playful new feature A Serious Man, about a put-upon university professor who finds the world turning against him.

Tidal Wave (2009) is a box office mega-hit back in Korea

Then there's the London Korean Film Festival, with a programme of dark-humoured horror, quirky comedy, documentary and animation; a special archive focus looks at themes of modernisation, patriarchy and religious faith.

Korea's first major budget disaster movie, Tidal Wave - what's that on the horizon? - is an edge-of-the-seat highlight on Sunday.

UK Jewish Film Festival, A Serious Man, Saturday 7 November, Odeon Swiss Cottage, 96 Finchley Road NW3, 8.30pm. Tickets £9.80 - £12. Festival continues to 19 November at various London venues.

UK Jewish Film Festival

London Korean Film Festival, Tidal Wave (Haeundae), Sunday 8 November, Barbican Centre, Silk Street EC2, 8.30pm. Tickets £7.50 online, £9.50 full price, concs available. Festival continues to 12 November.

London Korean Film Festival