The 2011 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Congress, held in London, UK, from May 25–28, covered a wealth of original clinical and translational research, as well as topic reviews by experts in specialist fields. This meeting report focuses on a selection of the areas of clinical research presented this year in the arthritides: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis, osteoarthritis (OA), and crystal arthropathies.