Things to do in London this week

After a nail-biting match against Sweden, England are through to the Women’s Euro’s semi-finals. If you’re not travelling to Switzerland for their match against Italy on Tuesday July 22, there are plenty of spots hosting screenings, fan zones and parties across the city. Here are our favourite places to celebrate the beautiful game, catch all the action and cheer on the Lionesses. Will it be coming home again? Keep your fingers crossed!

On Saturday, central London will turn pink and blue as London Trans+ Pride celebrates its seventh year. This event will be extra-important this year, as UK trans rights have been jeopardised by a recent Supreme Court ruling. So it's time you showed up, whether you're part of the trans+ community or an ally. In previous years, a parade has marched through central London, from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park Corner’s Wellington Arch.

You’ve probably heard of ‘Instagram face’. This summer, Somerset House is dedicating a whole exhibition to things like the internet’s inclination for everyone to look exactly the same. In Virtural Beauty, Somerset House will explore the impact of digital technologies on how we define beauty today. The show will display more than 20 artworks from the 'Post-Internet' era, an art movement concerned with the influence of the internet on art and culture. It will feature sculpture, photography, installation, video and performance art, with highlights including ORLAN’s Omniprésence (1993), a groundbreaking performance in which the artist live-streamed her own facial aesthetic surgery, and AI-generated portraits by Minnie Atairu, Ben Cullen Williams, and Isamaya Ffrench. 

The time is once again Nye, as Michael Sheen returns to the National Theatre to reprise firebrand politician and NHS founder, Aneurin Bevan, in Tim Price’s play, after it originally debuted last year. The state of the country’s health and that of Nye himself are intwined from the start, as we open to the bed-ridden deputy leader of the Labour Party. It’s July 1960. We’re here, it’s increasingly clear, for the end of his life. Plunging us into Nye’s unconscious, Price gives us a dream-like portrait of his life. Sheen is predictably great at combining Nye’s burning sense of belief in welfare for all and his irascibility within a single scene. This play is a rallying cry for the power of empathy and bloody-minded humanitarianism.         

For a country known for its elite cattle – the majestically marbled wagyu – there are far fewer Japanese steakhouses than sushi spots. Kanpai Classic laughs in the face of delicate nigiri and volleys back a robust barrage of meat. This place isn’t just about a serious slab of steak on your plate, but a whole wagyu experience. It has various cuts, all imported daily from Japan, displayed on a platter complete with name cards. But first, a series of wagyu-adjacent starters; a caviar-slathered hunk of beef tartate, wagyu gyoza and wagyu spring roll. Then, it’s time for the Jules Verne-worthy journey into wagyu. Each piece is cooked atop the mesh grill fitted into the table, then deftly flipped onto plates.

Looking for a wholesome, creative night out that doesn’t involve a hangover (unless you BYOB)? Token Studio in Tower Bridge offers relaxed, hands-on ceramics classes where you can spin, shape and decorate your own pottery piece. Whether you fancy throwing a pot on the wheel (£32) or painting a pre-made mug or plate (£23), it’s the perfect mix of fun, mindful and surprisingly therapeutic. And to top it all off, you can sip while you sculpt as it’s BYOB and super chill.

Enjoy your Token Studio session from just £23, only with Time Out Offers. 

Emily Kam Kngwarray, an Anmatyerr artist from the Sandover region in the Northern Territory of Australia, didn’t start making art until she was 70. Her prolific and vibrant output during the ensuing decade paved the way for Aboriginal artists, women artists and Australian artists – and is the subject of this, her first major solo exhibition in Europe. Expect monumental canvases adorned with batik and acrylic patterns whose networks of dots and lines are almost immersive.

One of London’s biggest dance music festivals is back to take over Boston Manor Park. If previous years are anything to go by, you can expect Junction 2 to provide a careful balance of massive names and hotly-tipped up-and-comers across the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of July. The festival has just released its final lineup, and it’s got some huge names on it. This year you’ve got a stacked selection of house and techno juggernauts like deadmau5, Christian Löffler, Ahmed Spins, Amber Broos and Kolter. They come alongside the likes of Nina Kravitz, Bashkka, Mount Kimbie, Moxie, Midland, DJ Koze and Soul Wax. Basically, it’s the holy grail of raves.

Lineup includes: deadmau5, Christian Löffler, Nina Kravitz, Bashkka, Mount Kimbie, Moxie, Midland, Palms Trax, DJ Koze. 

Writer-director James Gunn’s puckish and political blockbuster skips jauntily past the entire plot of Richard Donner’s 1978 classic, leaving out the basics of DC’s most righteous figure. There’s none of the scene-setting Smallville stuff, no early flirtations with girlfriend Lois Lane (the impressive Rachel Brosnahan) either, and not very much of Clark Kent. Instead, there are team-ups with Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and someone called Mister Terrific (House’s Edi Gathegi). The story cedes the floor to the villain: Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult as an alpha tech man-baby and David Corenswet, talented-spotted by Gunn playing Pearl’s creepy projectionist, makes the best Man of Steel since Christopher Reeve, a lovely balance of sweetness, strength and self-doubt bubbling beneath the surface. Gunn never shies away from the political optics of this immigrant hero and his zeitgeisty nemesis, a billionaire megalomaniac adept at manipulating talk shows and social media discourse alike.

Alanis Morissette has been one of music’s most influential songwriters since 1995, bagging seven Grammy awards over her career. Fresh off the back of her Glasto slot, she’s comin' to The O2 to wrap up the European run of her 2025 world tour. Her expressive music and electric performances have earned her critical acclaim, with standouts like ‘Ironic’ and ‘You Oughta Know’ promising to be particularly exciting.

The O2, SE10 0DX. Sun Jul 27, 6pm. From £71.31.

Respectable theatre? Not tonight. Plied and Prejudice is Jane Austen gone off the rails — and we mean that in the best possible way. Think corsets, cocktails and chaotic costume changes as five actors tear through 20 roles with a wink, a wobble, and maybe a whisky or two. Expect scandal, silliness, and the wettest t-shirt contest Regency England never asked for. Whether you're Team Darcy or just here for the drama, this one's a riot.

From June 28 to August 2 at The Vaults, Waterloo

Buy a £19 ticket through Time Out Offers

Deptford X, SE8’s beloved contemporary visual art festival, is back – but this time with a brand new format. For the first time, it’s going biennial, expanding the festival to 18 days packed with art, exhibitions, events, and a street parade. Plus, fringe art events will leave almost no part of Deptford untouched. 

Boy George and Culture Club will headline this family-friendly festival in Blackheath this July. As well as plenty of ‘80s and ‘90s pop nostalgia, the fun-filled day will see plenty of activities for little’uns including games and rides. The full line-up of activities and support acts hasn’t been announced yet, but Uptown promises to go heavy on the nostalgia, with ‘legendary’ acts programmed across three different stages. 

First-time playwright Shaan Sahota does a decent job of spinning an In The Thick of It-style yarn about Angad (Adeel Akhtar), a very junior British Sikh shadow minister who suddenly finds himself in play for the leadership of what is implicitly the Tory Party. The opening scenes thrum with an energy similar to a previous National Theatre triumph, James Graham’s This House, as it plunges us into an amusingly compromised world of sweary spads, cocky whips and malleable MPs. Helena Wilson is scene-stealingly entertaining as the apparently humble Angad’s shark-like head of comms Petra. It’s fun.

Roaming performers, street food and live bands will take over the Greenwich Peninsula at the weekend for a free-to-attend day of jazz and delicious eats. Musical acts include Steamdown, Shunaji, Knats, Queer Jazz, vinyl sets from community radio station LOOSE.fm, DJs Tim Garcia and Tina Edwards and more. Fueling the action will be food and drink in the form of fresh oysters, bites from the Shotengai Japanese Market, natural wines, New Orleans-inspired small plates and plenty of cocktails. 

Another year, another spectacular line-up of classical music. In 2025, the orchestral extravaganza will feature 86 concerts across eight weeks, with over 3,000 artists taking to the stage, with the majority of the action taking place inside the grand surroundings of London’s Royal Albert Hall. This week, look out for French Night with the Orchestre National de France, The Traitors Prom hosted by Claudia Winkleman herself and a world premiere of Tom Coult’s Monologues for the Curious. 

In Mansfield, the wedding of the year is about to take place. Local girl Sylvia (Sinéad Matthews) is marrying Polish lad Marek (Julian Kostov). The ceremony plays out in real time at Beth Steel’s Till The Stars Come Down, now running in the West End after debuting at the National Theatre. Director Bijan Sheibani sucks you right into this world through fast-paced dialogue and artfully constructed tableaus. It is heady, hilarious and emotional; the wedding itself might be a car crash, but this imaginative production is anything but. 

Hidden somewhere between a theme park, an escape room and a real-life video game, Phantom Peak isn’t just your average day out. This open-world adventure based in Canada Water invites you to explore a fictional steampunk town at your own pace, chatting to quirky characters, uncovering mysteries and slowly piecing together your own story.

With 11 unique trails, a rotating calendar of seasonal storylines, and a cast of live actors guiding your experience, no two visits are ever the same.

Get discounted adult tickets exclusively through Time Out Offers

Popping up each summer on the steps where the Regent’s Canal passes Granary Square, Everyman’s Screen on the Canal is one of the city’s best-loved outdoor cinemas. This year’s pop-up will be looking more Instagrammable than ever before, thanks to designer and architect Yinka Ilori, who has created an eye-popping screen design. Head down on a sunny afternoon to catch live coverage from Wimbledon every day of the tournament, plus the usual mix of live sports, classic movies, family-friendly flicks and recent hits.