Snakes and . . .

The Year of the Snake has uncoiled and Chinese New Year events will be taking place worldwide this weekend. Expect dragon dances, music and entertainment in London's Gerrard Street and Leicester Square, all day Sunday.

Information: 07765 257618.

. . . dragons

Join the Edinburgh Chinese School in its annual new year visit to the Festival Theatre. Traditional Chinese music, Chinese dancing, an acrobatic display and a martial arts demo all welcome the new year.

Sun, 1pm. £3.50. Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 13-29 Nicolson St, Edinburgh (0131-529 6000).

Northern exposure

Take your woolly hats to the traditional Viking fire festival, Up Helly Aa, in Shetland, where a day of festivities and concerts culminates in a torchlit procession and the burning of a replica Viking longboat.

January 30. Evening procession 8.30pm. Lerwick, Shetland. Tourist Office: 01595 693434.

Current account

Fans of Steve Redgrave and Kenneth Grahame should be fascinated by the River and Rowing museum in Henley-on-Thames, which celebrates the past, present and future of the river and the sport of rowing.

Open daily 10am-5pm (10.30am weekends). £4.95/£3.75/family £13.95. Mill Meadows, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon (01491 415600).

East End memories

London's East End Jewish heritage is imaginatively illustrated by a collection of photographs from award-winning photographer Sam Tanner in What Remains, a new exhibition at The Jewish Museum.

Open Mon-Thurs 10.30am-5pm (Sun 4.30pm). Exhibition until April 22. £2/under 12s free. The Jewish Museum at the Sternberg Centre, 80 East End Road, London N3 (020-8349 1143).

Sown up

A brand new Millennium Seed Bank exhibition has sprouted at Wakehurst Place - the Royal Botanic Garden set around a striking Elizabethan mansion in Sussex. Its aim is to save wildflower species from extinction.

Open daily 10am-4pm. Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex (01444 894067).

Hit parade

It may be a highly futuristic building, but the National Centre for Popular Music devotes itself to history, starting with the 1950s and working up today's hi-tech sounds. The Making Music Zone is the most interactive and should be a big hit with children.

Open daily 10am-6pm. £5.95/£4/ family £18. Paternoster Row, Sheffield, Yorks (0114 296 2626).