Things to do in London this week

Ever wanted to have a nosy around some of London’s coolest private buildings? Open House London gives guests free access to architectural wonders that are not normally open to the public – from schools and offices to places of worship. It’s an often rare chance to explore iconic or just interesting buildings that make up the capital’s storied history, while the programme usually includes tons of workshops, exhibitions and more, as well as the usual tours.

The V&A East Storehouse opened in May this year. Spoiler: it’s amazing. But visitors have had to wait a bit longer for the arrival of the massive David Bowie archive containing more than 80,000 items and spanning six decades of the life of Ziggy Stardust. Now, the David Bowie Centre will officially open on Thursday September 13, with opening exhibits curated by BRIT-winning indie band The Last Dinner Party and living musical legend Nile Rodgers. Rodgers, who produced Bowie’s albums Let’s Dance and Black Tie White Noise has selected items including personal correspondence between himself and Bowie, a bespoke Peter Hall suit worn by Bowie during the Serious Moonlight tour and Chuck Pulin photographs of Bowie, Rodgers and guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan recording Let's Dance in New York. The free-to-enter gallery will have nine displays showing everything from photographs to clothing, and drawings, and will include insights into unrealised projects.

It’s been 25 years since Somerset House transformed from a government office into a cultural powerhouse. Celebrate it’s big quarter century at this birthday weekend extravaganza, which free, open-to-all invitation for people to explore and get to know the entire building. Guests will be able to discover the lesser-known spaces including the Deadhouse and Maker Street where you can meet Somerset House’s resident creatives. There’ll also be dance, music, performance, exhibition viewings, film showings, workshops, tours, family activities, retail and more. Phew. 

Kima is a Greek fish restaurant in Marylebone, sister restaurant to the more omnivorous Opso, which is across the road. Kima operates a ‘fin-to-gill’ philosophy of zero wastage, on our visit there’s a whole gilt head bream, prepared in a multitude of ways. We try toasted bread topped with bottarga (cured roe), lemon curd and white chocolate. There’s kakavia, an ancient fish soup, adorned with cubes of bream gently poaching in the broth and bream fillet is served sashimi-style in a puddle of olive oil. Next to a simple Greek salad and some warm bread, you can almost feel the gentle mist of Santorini seawater speckling your face. 

Dublin’s Dead Centre is a true marvel, a theatre company that makes intensely visceral works that feel like they’ve been wrenched from a beautiful dream and a screaming nightmare simultaneously. Written and directed by the company’s Ben Kidd and Bush Moukarzel in collaboration with BSL poet Zoë McWhinney, Deaf Republic is an adaptation of Ukrainian writer Ilya Kaminsky’s 2019 poetry collection of the same name, which concerns a town occupied by a hostile power in which the locals all go deaf after a soldier shoots a young deaf boy. The result is a ravishing and unnerving play about deafness, occupation, resistance, puppets and things that hover outside the edge of comprehension.

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.

Buy a Token Studio session from just £23, only through Time Out Offers. 

Created by the minds behind Brainchild Festival, Colour Factory, Orii Community and Voices Radio, Jazz on Wick is a new festival for 2025. Taking place across multiple venues in Hackney Wick, the day-to-night celebration of jazz and adjacent astral sounds features neo-soul singer BINA, genre-blending quartet oreglo, multi-instrumentalist Allexa Nava and a special edition of the Orii Jam (complete with special guests TBA). 

London is widely recognised as one of the design capitals of the world. Cementing this title is the annual Design Festival, a colourful and thought-provoking celebration of some of the world's best designers, who interrogate the boundaries of design through events, exhibitions and installations. This year, the fest will showcase how contemporary design intersects with technology, sustainability, and our shared cultural heritage. Phew. Look out for landmark projects including What Nelson Sees by Paul Cocksedge, which will let you see London from Nelson’s vantage point on top of his Trafalgar Square column and Beacon by Lee Broom, a site-specific sculpture at the entrance of the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, inspired by the area’s Brutalist architecture that will illuminate when Big Ben strikes. 

Looking to get your fix of Irish culture in the city? Irish pub Nancy Spains is hosting a massive shindig this September to celebrate the halfway point to St Paddy’s Day, promising live trad music, flowing pints of Murphy’s (split the M, anyone?) and spice bags. Irish snacks will be provided by Emerald Eats, sustaining the masses with the salty bags of chips and fried chicken, as well as chicken fillet rolls, and chips with curry sauce. Booze will be in abundance, with Beamish stout, more than 100 irish whiskies and signature cocktails on offer. Throughout the day 12 live bands will perform, including folk rock outfit The Peppered Aces, and the licence runs ‘till 5am. Tickets are only a tenner, so snap one up before they’re gone. It’s gonna be great craic. 

There’ll be burgers on burgers on burgers at Walthamstow’s Signature Brew, which is hosting the first-ever Burger Fest UK this weekend – London’s first burger festival in more than five years. Arrive ravenous. Each ticket holder will be summoned to vote for which burger they think should be named the People’s Champion, so it’s only right that you taste test as many as you possibly can. Each trader will serve up an OG classic burger and a more creative (read: absolutely filthy) chef’s special. Contenders include Strip Club Street Food, 7Bone and Baggio Burger. There’ll be an array of craft beers and cocktails to help you wash things down. 

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

The late Peter Jones’ labyrinth of polychromatic tunnels is returning for another UK tour, stopping in Clapham Common this September for a 36th year. Never been to Colourscape? Self-described as ‘Europe’s most unusual festival’, you wander around its big inflatable neon maze to see what musicians you can find inside. You might happen upon a flautist, a classical guitarist or, new this year, a Balinese gamelan accompanied by a troupe of Indonesean dancers. Who knows!? Those kaleidoscopic innards are designed to surprise. 

If you think a two-hander drama about Elizabethan legends Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare having a sexy, dangerous time while trying to write a play together sounds a bit slash fiction-y then you would have the number of Born with Teeth, a new drama by US playwright Liz Duffy Evans. There is more to it than that, though. For much of its running time Daniel Evans’s RSC production comes across like an outlandish workplace comedy. It stars a Ncuti Gatwa who makes a case for Marlowe as quite possibly history’s most annoying person. Hyper horny, hyper bawdy, and with the attention span of a gnat. His unfortunate colleague is Edward Bluemel’s mild-mannered William Shakespeare, who has been summoned by his (then) more famous peer to co-write the play Henry VI. It’s a lot of fun: two charismatic actors having a ball pinging off each other while chomping down on a script that spikes the trashiness with some genuine wit.

Organised by the people behind Percolate and Love International festival in Croatia, mid-September’s electronic music one-dayer Waterworks is a final chance to squeeze every last drop of festival fun out of the summer. Returning to west London’s Gunnersbury Park for its fifth edition, the festival’s line-up features DJs playing just about every genre of dance music, including the likes of Two Shell, Yung Singh, Special Request, Palms Trax, Skee Mask, Lukas Wigflex, Octo Octa, Eris Drew, Tash LC, DJ Stingray and Djrum. You’ll struggle to find a festival line-up more packed with world-class selectors than this. 

The fourth and (supposedly) final Conjuring film promises ‘the case that ended it all’. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as paranormal investigator couple Ed and Lorraine Warren in this recreation of the Smurl Haunting, a series of demonic possessions at a Pennsylvania home between 1974 and 1989. Last Rites promises to conclude the Warrens’ exploits, but don’t be fooled by the title: The Conjuring universe continues, with a Max series already in development.

Out Sep 5

London’s dogs tend to be rather spoiled enough already, but adoring owners can take the mollycoddling to the next level at The Big Woof. Returning to King’s Cross this September, the canine wellness festival involves a wide spectrum of dog-centric activities, from a programme of talks covering nutrition, gut health and travel tips to cooking demos, ‘nose-to-tail’ health checks, two giant ball pits and a wellness centre where pups and their humans can relax with soothing sound baths and doggie massages. The Canopy Market will be hosting a pooch-themed takeover featuring 35 of London’s best dog apparel, treats and accessories traders. Look out for a fun dog show with categories including ‘waggiest tail’ and ‘golden oldies’ and even a tarot reader offering ‘insight into how your dog is feeling’ – yes we will judge you if you post it on Insta. 

From the Institute of Contemporary Arts comes the brand new GLUE Book Fair. Aiming to showcase emerging indie and DIY bookmakers, there will be 70 publishers there, with special exhibitions and a packed programme of talks, workshops and parties. Hot Potato – the ‘newspaper for people who don’t read the news’ – is putting on an exhibition for the occasion, as is photographer Sana Badri. While you’re there, drop into a bookbinding workshop, have a go at self-portraiture or sit down for a talk from radical publishers Verso Books. All the events are free to attend but the ICA encourages anyone interested to book in advance.

Do you ever miss the adrenaline of playing tag or ‘Stuck in the Mud’ in the school playground? A new sports weekender in north west London is bring back that rush. Assemble a team of your fittest, nimblest friends and enter The Play-Offs, two days of ‘competitive socialising’ in Brent Cross. There’ll be a bungee run, a high ropes course, baseball and a ‘last one standing’ challenge, but the Play-Offs’ big headline event is World Chase Tag, which is basically tag with some hardcore parkour thrown in. Anyone up for the challenge is invited to go head-to-head with the world’s leading chase tag athletes and there’ll be free coaching sessions in the five weeks leading up to the event to help amateur entrants prepare. There’ll be a leaderboard tracking all the participants and yes, there will be prizes. 

This summer has already taken in a winning Naked Gun sequel and news of a Spaceballs II, and now spoof fans get to welcome back those loveable rockers Spinal Tap. Four decades on from Rob Reiner’s mockumentary masterpiece, he’s back to detail the loud and silly world of a heavy metal band (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer) on the comeback trail. With cameos from Elton John, Paul McCartney and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, we may just get more of the original’s high-decibel magic.   

Out Sep 12

If you fancy switching things up a bit and find yourself near Borough, why not roll up your sleeves at Comptoir Bakery's London Bridge workshop space? Choose from sessions where you’ll learn to craft buttery croissants and pain au chocolat, the cult-favourite Brionuts, or delicate tartelettes. Expert bakers—trained under culinary legends—will guide you through every step, from mixing the dough to perfecting the fillings. You’ll also nab a slick £20 apron to keep and plenty of fresh pastries to take home. Starting at just £69 per person or £118 for two, with over 30% off, it’s a delicious way to spend a few hours.

Get discounted workshop sessions, only through Time Out Offers