This week's best things to do in London, from shopping specials to a chess championship Southbank Centre's Winter Festival, South Bank Culture in all its guises comes to the forefront at the Southbank Centre this month, with the arrival of the annual Winter Festival. There's something for all ages there - and the South Bank's Christmas Market is also now up and running - so a visit should provide plenty of distraction for any family get-togethers due to take place this Christmas. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park Hyde Park is again transformed into a festive escape with this week's arrival of Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. As ever, the winter event sees an expanse of the park transformed into a Christmas-themed carnival, with rides, markets, ice rink and food stalls laid out until early January. New additions the site this year include "The Magical Ice Kingdom," a chilled environment complete with ice sculptures and ice stalagmites. Christmas shopping special, St Martin's Courtyard Shopping districts throughout London have been holding special events to lure big spenders, and this week it's the turn of St Martin's Courtyard and Seven Dials in Covent Garden. On Thursday, a special '20% Discount Christmas Shopping Night' will see some 120 shops and venues in the area offering 20 per cent off their merchandise. As well as the in-store discounts, shoppers will be able to avail of other treats including complimentary Couvoisier cocktails from a pop-up bar, goodie bags, competitions and manicures from WAH nails. This week's event precedes St Martin's Courtyard's Culture Shots programme, which will see special events take place in the locality throughout December. When: November 29 Where: All around St Martin's Courtyard, Covent Garden, London WC2 Tube: Covent Garden; Leicester Square London Chess Classic 2012 Chess fans will be descending upon London this week, with the return of the London Chess Classic scheduled to take place from Saturday. Hosted by the Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) charity, the championship draws some of the world's greatest chess Grandmasters - this year the World No1 Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Vishy Anand and leading all-time female player Judit Polgar will all feature. When: December 1-10 Where: Olympia Conference Centre, Kensington, London W14 8UX Tube: Kensington (Olympia) How much: £15-£20 per day, or £100 for a 10-day pass. Under-16s are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.