Things to do in London this week

A longstanding Soho tradition – going back more than half a century – this annual neighbourhood knees-up is organised by volunteers from the Soho Society, and sees the garden of Soho’s St Anne’s Church bursting with live music and entertainment. The main draw of the day is the Soho Waiters’ Race. A tradition dating back to 1955, it starts at 3.15pm outside the French House, and sees a gaggle of waiters pelt through the streets of Soho, each holding a tray stacked with a bottle of champers, a glass and a napkin, all of which must be intact when they cross the finish line. Another crowd favourite is the Soho Dog Show, which awards eight different prizes, including ‘Dog who looks most like their owner’. 

The Victory has a rousing origin story. Much-loved local restaurant Franklins was a jewel in East Dulwich’s dining crown, but closed earlier this year after 26 years in business. Aghast, the locals rallied, including restaurateur Jamie Younger of the nearby Begging Bowl. Within weeks, the place was his. This is by no means Younger’s first rodeo, and he’s got former Noble Rotter Seán Breen in to exec chef the menu, which is a little bit French. In the elegant but not overblown back room, classic cocktails are sipped in dainty Nick & Nora glasses as we snack on perfect melba-toast like soldiers topped with chopped egg mayonnaise and silky Cantabrian anchovies. The main event is a whole roast poulet jaune (that’s a yellow, corn-fed chicken to you and I), served in two parts. Welcome back to the neighbourhood, The Victory. This one’s a keeper. 

It’s nearly time to find out which country has won the FIFA World Cup! This week, France face Spain in the first semi-final match on Tuesday, and England take on Argentina on Wednesday. Then, this weekend, the third-place playoff match lands on Saturday, before the big final on Sunday.

Whether England make it through or not, it’s still very much worth pulling up a stool for. Click through to see where in London is showing all World Cup fixtures. And if you’re sizing up England’s potential route to the final, check out who the Three Lions could take on next. 

Another year, another spectacular line-up of classical music. This year, 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. There'll be the chance to hear visiting ensembles from all over the world, including The Met Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Mahler Academy Orchestra and the Spanish National Orchestra, as well as innumerable concerts and recitals from the classic music world's biggest stars. There's also a renewed focus on more modern music styles, with celebrations of musical icons including Miles Davis and Marvin Gaye, the first ever Prog Rock Prom, and psychedelic rock from Grammy-nominated Dutch-Turkish band Altın Gün.

If you’re in the market for a meticulously accurate, 100 percent culturally sensitive drama about the events that led to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand… then approach US playwright Rajiv Joseph’s play with caution. That’s not to say Joseph hasn’t done his research. His absurdist account of the recruitment and radicalisation of Ferdinand’s would-be assassins in the name of Yugoslav nationalism is very, very obviously not how it went down exactly. But this pointedly surreal play never pretends otherwise. This production – enhanced by a wonderful Es Devlin set that starts in the sewers and ends in a gilded train carriage – is simply so enjoyable. It’s a delicious cackle in the dark, at a subject that’s not becoming irrelevant anytime soon.

It’s difficult to talk about Ana Mendieta’s work without first mentioning her death. The Cuban-American artist was just 36 years old when she died in suspicious circumstances in 1985, after allegedly falling from the 34th-floor Manhattan apartment she shared with her husband, the revered modernist sculptor Carl Andre. As a rising star of the avant-garde art scene in 1980s New York, there’s no knowing what brilliant work Ana Mendieta might still be producing if her career hadn’t been cut tragically short. Great news, then, that the Tate Modern is putting the art front and centre this summer, in the largest UK exhibition of Ana Mendieta’s work to date, featuring many pieces never exhibited in this country before. 

Staged across five nights and two weekend afternoons, top-tier comedians will descend on the Old Royal Naval College for London’s largest and longest-running comedy festival. Take your pick from stellar line-ups fronted by a succession of proper comedy A-listers, heavy on the television faves. Tom Allen, Josh Widdicombe, Alan Davies, Sarah Pascoe, David O’Doherty, Jack Dee, Chris McCauseland and Ross Noble each headline a bill of four comics. The setting is pretty spectacular, too – performances take place on an outdoor stage with the Royal Naval College as the backdrop. Get there early to take advantage of the food stalls, bars and breezy summer vibes.

Though he wasn’t born until almost 20 years after Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical theatre romp debuted, Sam Ryder’s eclectic, guitar-heavy pop should theoretically position him well to front this loveably mercurial rock opera. This production actually started 10 years ago at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. It’s a pretty damn good production. Sheader’s cast look like sexy apocalypse survivors as they lock into Drew McOnie’s deliciously weird and angular choreography. Tom Scutt’s scaffold set is stark but ominously symbolic and the on-stage seating is very near, making members of the audience look like part of a teeming Judean throng. It slots into the Jamie Lloyd era of Sexy Lloyd Webber very nicely indeed.

Family can be hell. But tearing them apart on film is pure paradise for us bloodthirsty drama queens. A hunger that gonzo Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz is more than happy to satiate with his latest bonkers, horny offering. Leading the stacked cast is Callum Turner, who provides narration. He plays Ed, a sharp-suited, cold-hearted chap in an astonishingly privileged pack of cutthroat fashion-lovers. Under the imperious command of their blind patriarch father (Tracy Letts), the clan includes Ed’s older brother Jack (Jamie Bell), Epilepsy-prone baby bro Robert (Lukas Gage) and their pent-up sister, Anna (Riley Keough). Each wants shot of the rest, though Robert wants Jack to shoot his incestuous shot with him. It all yields plenty of Succession-style comedy. Taking a bite out of our obscenely capitalist era. It’s a fabulous feast for the eyes and ears. 

Feeling thirsty? Desperate for a funky sour, cheeky saison or a fruity IPA? You’re in luck. The capital’s biggest beer celebration is back for 2026, and it’s moving to a brand new venue. Set over two days in Southwark Park, London Craft Beer Festival promises four-hour sessions of non-stop-beer-drinking bliss, with visitors getting to sample London’s best beers as well as some international standouts, including our faves Gipsy Hill, Verdant, Deya and more. Hungry? The food line up is pretty serious too, this year featuring Meltdown Cheeseburgers, Bone Daddies and Chick N’ Sours. A ticket gets you a four-hour session and access to more than 800 beers from over 100 brewers, and there are group discounts available too. All the beer is included in the ticket price. Happy drinking, folks. 

If you’re more of a sit-back-and-watch kinda person as opposed to a get-stuck-in kinda person, we’ve got some good news. North Face is hosting a Climb Festival at Canary Wharf South Dock, but don’t worry – you don’t have to do any climbing. Instead, watch some of the world’s top climbers scale 16-metre walls and complete deep-water solo climbs, from the safety of the ground. There’ll also be talks from climbers, hands-on workshops and DJ sets from the likes of Rinse FM, Femi Keleoso and Girls Don’t Sync, which will go on into the evening. 

Somerset House Summer Series is back for another year. Held in the Edmond J. Safra Fountain court, in the enclave of the iconic Neoclassical building, this open-air series of gigs has long held space for both exciting up-and-comers and well-known trailblazers from the UK and beyond. Spread out over 11 nights, this year’s series starts on Thursday with a set from breakthrough pop sensation Naïka. She’s followed by Palace on Friday, Thee Sacred Souls on Saturday and Lightning Seeds on Sunday, who’ll hopefully pull out a very apt rendition of Three Lions. 

Always ready to bust a move? Head to Ravenscourt Park, where your quick feet can join a huge alfresco open dance floor, and you can take part in a whole host of free dance classes and workshops. There’ll be 42 events across the week-long festival, from silent discos and K-pop sessions, to Afrobeats and musical theatre. Special guest appearances will also be announced throughout the week, including dancers from Strictly. Audiences are also welcome to watch the performances, but be prepared for your toes to start tapping. 

In the middle of Disability Pride Month, BFI Southbank is putting on a programme that will showcase the best of disabled filmmaking, creativity and community. The weekend will feature the world premiere of documentary D-PUNK from the D-Punk Collective, the UK premier of Sundance selected film Joybubbles and the European festival premiere of comedy Lone Wolves by Ryan Cunningham which stars autistic writer-performer Matt Foss. On the final day of the fest, there’ll be a curation of short films platforming disabled-led animation, comedies and documentaries focused on resisting ableism. 

Journalists have been banned from entering Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. In Daniel Rugo’s new documentary, a group of international medics act as first-hand witnesses to the conflict. ‘You’re not seeing what I’m seeing,’ is the documentary’s opening gambit, delivered by the straight-talking Dr Victoria Rose, a British plastic and reconstructive surgeon. With the absence of international media on the ground in Gaza, Rugo claims that what most people are learning about Israel’s action in Gaza are ‘lies’. Filmed from October 2023 to 2025, the 10 physicians featured, which includes surgeons, paediatricians and obstetricians, are here to set their record straight. It’s not a happy watch, but Life Support is an urgent and essential piece of reportage. 

Three legendary south London nightclubs are coming together this summer to create a mega series of shindigs, proving that south London really is the capital’s clubbing epicentre right now. Phonox, MOT and Jumbi will join forces for 13 events taking place throughout May to August; audiences will be moved between venues, going from outside to inside and day to night. Circulate has curated a stellar line-up featuring a who’s who of world-class DJs including DJ Nobu, Young Marco, Soichi Terada, Angel D'lite, Optimo (Espacio), Derrick Carter, Josey Rebelle, Heléna Starr, Gerd Janson and many more. 

Edmond Rostan’s French classic is anything but stuffy in this RSC transfer. Co-adaptors Simon Evans (who also directs) and Debris Stevenson restore the work to 1640 France – a time when the country was stuck in the Thirty Years’ War – and yes, it comes with all the trimmings of that era (pocket swords! Mournful violin players!). It’s very much the romantic tragicomedy Rostand wrote, but despite its period setting, it feels wholly current. Adrien Lester’s Cyrano appears as a man of swaggering confidence and Susannah Fielding’s Roxane is sardonically chipper, with girl-next-door energy. It all makes for a five-star play, oozing with bittersweet longing and stirring down to its last jot. 

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, thanks to its atmospheric setting, eclectic programming and the fact that it doesn’t cost viewers a penny. Pop 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.

You need only look at the shelves piled high with unibrowed fridge magnets, tea towels, plant-pots and earrings in the average museum gift shop to know that Frida Kahlo is one of the 20th century’s greatest icons. 

Featuring over 130 works alongside documents, photographs and memorabilia taken from Kahlo’s archives, Tate Modern’s blockbuster summer exhibition Frida: The Making of an Icon will explore how the Mexican painter became the kind of cultural phenomenon whose likeness adorns everything from novelty socks to limited-edition eyeshadow pallets. The first major London exhibition on the feminist icon since the V&A’s fashion-focused 2018 show Making Her Self Up, it will include some of her most iconic paintings, as well as the work of more than 80 fellow artists, from her contemporaries to the later generations she inspired. 

All in all, it promises to be a fascinating exploration of the transformative role of women artists in the 20th century, as well as notions of fandom and the diverse communities who claim Frida as their own. Keep an eye out for the on-sale date as it’s sure to be a hugely popular show. 

Tucked inside the Pan Pacific London hotel, Ginger Lily Bar & Lounge makes a very good case for slowing down over the weekend. Available on Fridays and Saturdays, the experience pairs elegant surroundings with half a bottle of Taittinger champagne, served as sunlight pours through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

On the table, expect freshly baked scones, delicate pastries and neat finger sandwiches prepared by the pastry team. A selection of Newby teas and tea-infused mocktails rounds things off nicely, creating an easy, indulgent way to spend an afternoon in the City.

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