The Time Out London blog team

Step aside Moo Deng, because a new zoo animal has won the hearts of the internet. In case you’ve been living under a rock, people online are going bananas for a seven-month-old Japanese macaque named Punch after videos showing him being rejected by his mother went viral last week.  Since the rejection, Punch has been given a stuffed orangutan toy by zookeepers at Ichikawa zoo where he lives. Punch has won worldwide adoration mainly because people feel sorry for the baby monkey. The zoo has been posting updates of the macaque, with videos showing him playing alone, being hit by other monkeys and dragging his plushie around everywhere he goes.  So, what if you could catch the live version of all this monkey drama for yourself? Obviously, in London you wouldn’t be able to see Punch himself, but you can catch the same kind of monkey at a location very close to the capital. London Zoo did have macaques until as recently as 2023, but according to the zoo’s most up-to-date stocklist (taken in 2025), it no longer has the primates in residence. If you do want to see macaques in London, your best bet is to visit Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire. Just an hour from London by train, Woburn is home to a troop of Barbary macaques. The hardy creatures can be spotted all year round as they can survive in both arid and freezing cold conditions. They can be found roaming freely in the ‘African Forest’ in the safari drive-through.  Did you see that London is getting the city’s ‘first’...

Start stocking up on BuzzBallz now, because day festivals in London live to fight another day. Four Brockwell Park music festivals will be going ahead this summer, as Lambeth Council has unanimously granted planning permission to event organisers Brockwell Live. On Tuesday evening (February 24), after an hour of debate, council members voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving Brockwell Live temporary planning permission to build the festival site in Brockwell Park. Four events – Field Day, Cross the Tracks, City Splash and Mighty Hoopla – will take place from May 23-31.  Summer Events Ltd, which runs the Brockwell Live series, submitted its first full planning application in 2025. This was the first time that planning permission had to be granted for the festivals to run in the park – until the legal battle which was won by anti-festival campaign group Protect Brockwell Park (PBP) in 2025, day events in the park operated under permitted development rights.  Summer Events Ltd has now been given the green light to use the park for 32 days from May 9 until June 9 2026, which will including set-up, show days and ‘wet weather buffer days’. The approval comes as a relief to the festival organisers, as PBP had already sent a new objection to Lambeth Council after Summer Events applied for planning permission as was required.  Sadly, alternative indie music festival Wide Awake will not be going ahead in 2026 as organisers said it was ‘taking a break for 2026’, while free community...

This week south London’s very own RAYE will kick off one of the capital’s biggest music residencies of the year. The previous Time Out cover star is set to play a whopping six dates at the O2 Arena in Greenwich between February and May 2026. Since the This Tour May Contain New Music Tour was announced back in September, RAYE has confirmed that she has a new record on the way. Her sophomore album This Music May Contain Hope., which was previewed with last year’s hit single ‘Where Is My Husband!’, will be released at the end of the March. Heading to see RAYE at the O2 between now and May? Here’s what you need to know about the shows, from timings and setlist to any remaining ticket availability. When is RAYE playing at London’s O2 Arena? London is first in the capital for four shows between February 26 and March 2. She’ll then go off to tour North America before returning to London for two more dates in May. Here’s the full list of shows: Thursday February 26 Friday February 27 Sunday March 1 Monday March 2 Tuesday May 19 Wednesday May 20 What time do doors open? For all shows apart from March 1, doors open at 6.30pm. On March 1 – as it’s a Sunday – doors are at 6pm. As always, you’ll be able to get into the venue (but not the arena) earlier, with all its shops, restaurants, bars etc. When will RAYE come on stage? Previous tour dates have seen RAYE take to the stage at around 8.30-8.40pm. Expect similar timings at the London shows. The only exception is Sunday March 1,...