59 unmissable things happening in London this weekend
[Camden Lock. Pic: Francesco Camardo]
The rain might be back, but don’t let that dampen your end-of-week spirits. Instead, enjoy our amazing list of supercool things to get up to this weekend…
All weekend
Get colour-chucking at pop-up paint pod, The House of Holi, Devonshire Square.
Ease your eardrums at the Classical Spectacular, Royal Albert Hall.
007 heaven: Check out wheels worthy of a secret agent at the Bond in Motion exhibition at the London Film Museum.
It’ll be paw-some: The Company of Dogs Pet Portrait exhibition, 81 Leonard Street, Old Street.
Embrace the season: The Country Design Spring Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington.
Martin Parr’s pop-up diner: The Art of Dining ‘Say Cheese‘ at the Rose Lipman Building, Haggerston.
Encourage action for a good cause at Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games, Queen Elizabeth Park, Stratford.
Films to change the future: Catch Human Rights Watch screenings at cinemas across London.
Get a feel for the feminine: Spirit of Womanhood exhibition at the Gallery@oxo, Waterloo.
Also opening this weekend: In Hampstead 1994-2014: Photographs by Dorothy Bohm, Burgh House, Hampstead.
Friday
John Bishop vs Sebastian Coe: Clash of the Titans, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford.
Gigs: Claudia Aurora at the Southbank Centre, South Bank; Half Man Half Biscuit at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire; Pigfoot at the Vortex, Dalston; and 39 more.
Clubs: Thunder at Dance Tunnel, Dalston; The Get Down at The Book Club, Old Street; Oval Space Music: Chapter 1 – Evian Christ; and 62 more.
Saturday
Green-fingered gardeners grab your trowels for Big Dig Day at community gardens across London.
Choo-choose to head to the London Festival of Railway Modelling, Alexandra Palace.
Take in the eighteenth-century design, sculpture and metalwork at William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain, V&A, Knightsbridge.
Roll on over to the roller-coaster reopening at Thorpe Park.
Save some dough on kids’ clothes at the NCT Nearly New Sale, Westbourne Grove Church.
Charleston and Lindy Hop at vintage swing dance, The Savoy Ball, Battersea Arts Centre.
For the DIY drinker: Urban Wine Making Classes at The AHOY Centre, Deptford.
Don’t do a Pennywise, be a happy clown at a Circus Experience Day, Circus Space, Old Street.
Work it like Beyoncé at a Seen on Screen: Drunk in Love dance session, the Dominion Theatre, Holborn.
Gigs: Lee Scratch Perry at Jazz Café, Camden; Yoko Ono at Café Oto, Dalston; Dave Swarbrick at the Exmouth Arms; and 35 more.
Clubs: Old School Indie at the Islington Academy; FACT LDN at Egg, King’s Cross; The Big Lebowski Party at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes; and 81 more.
Sunday
There’ll be traditional stories, tasty food and powder paint as Dishoom Does Holi, Hawker House, Haggerston.
Take shelter in the Waterloo tunnels for undead war-horror game Zombie Blitz 1940, The Vaults, South Bank.
The funnies continue for the third year in a row: it’s Impro Fest 2014 at the Tristan Bates Theatre, Leicester Square.
Yoga, music and food at the Secret Yoga Club, the Royal Academy of Arts, St James’s.
Gigs: Earl Sweatshirt at Electric Brixton; Samuel James at Constitution, Camden; Fletch’s Brew at Ronnie Scott’s, Soho; and 27 more.
Other ideas
Immerse yourself in WWI history at For King and Country?, newly opened at the Jewish Museum, Camden.
Check out the week’s best new art: Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice at the National Gallery; Miroslaw Balka: Die Traumdeutung 25,31m AMSL at White Cube Mason’s Yard; Peter Doig Early Works at the Michael Werner Gallery; and 12 more.
Catch the best theatre: ’Riverrun‘, The National Theatre; ‘Good People‘ at the Hampstead Theatre; ‘I’d Rather Goya Robbed Me of My Sleep than Some Other Arsehole‘ at the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill; And seven more.
See the latest films: ‘Starred Up‘, ‘Yves Saint Laurent‘, or ‘Labor Day‘.
Catch comedians: Nina Conti at Tricycle; Tim Key at the Duchess Theatre; David O’Doherty at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire; and many more.
Suit up at the Brooks Brothers and Harrods Made-to-Measure events.
Enjoy brunch at Hawksmoor, Kopapa, Fabrique or one of our top ten breakfast venues.
Or, eat out at one of London’s newest food joints!
And don’t miss the best of the blog!
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The Country Living Spring Fair is at the Business Design Centre in Islington this weekend. There are lots of things to do – demonstrations by experts such as Frances Quinn from the Great British Bake Off showing how to create her stunning cake decorations. Jane Means presenting perfectly wrapped presents. And there are also 300 individual stalls selling unique goods and ideas you won’t find on the high street. What a great day out!