The weekend kicked off on Saturday 16 March with the Russian Maslenitsa Festival. Maslenitsa is the Russian Sun Festival, a celebration of waving farewell to winter and where Russian's all over the world say "Zdravstvui Maslenitsa!" to Spring, welcoming the start of warmth.
The Square was transformed into a bustling bazaar and the stage hosted performances of traditional songs and dance. The event in Trafalgar Square was the grand finale of Russian Week in London (11-17 March).
The Alpha mobile stage built in five hours, ensured that production had maximum time to load in and the quick de-rig of the stage meant that the Square was cleared within a few hours of the event finishing on the load out.
The St. Patrick's Day celebrations began on Sunday 17 and the city came to life with green, orange and white in honour of the patron Saint of Ireland.
A spectacular parade of marching bands, floats and street theatre groups representing all 32 Irish countries left Piccadilly at midday and followed a route along lower Regents Street, Pall Mall, finishing in Trafalgar Square where an afternoon of top Irish comedy and music on took place stage.
(Jim Evans)
