Things to do in London this weekend (15-16 November)

Every year, the EFG London Jazz Festival brings together the best and brightest of the genre in venues across the city, from the capital’s arts venues like Southbank Centre and Barbican, to atmospheric gig spots like Village Underground and Union Chapel. This year is no different. The 2025 line-up promises a bounty of bops, whether you’re looking to discover new artists on the scene or want to witness some legends in action. As well as tons of concerts every day, there’s also sessions, workshops, talks and more to take part in and enjoy. 

Amazing news for lovers of neat symmetry, loud primary colours and twee outfits. West London’s Design Museum will be staging a blockbuster show delving into the iconic aesthetic of another of Hollywood’s most distinctive auteurs, the Texas-born Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning director Wes Anderson. The film director’s first official retrospective promises to be a different beast. A collaboration between the Design Museum and Cinémathèque Française, it has been curated in partnership with Wes Anderson himself and his production company American Empirical Pictures and follows his work from his early experiments in the 1990s right up to his recent Oscar-winning flicks, featuring original props, costumes and behind-the-scenes insights.

Adoh! (Sri-Lankan for ‘oi!’) is loud. Sat on Maiden Lane in frenetic, tourist-packed Covent Garden, this Sri Lankan spot from Kolamba duo Eroshan and Aushi Meewella fits right in. Its goal is to emulate the rapid, chaotic energy of Colombo and its street food culture. The decor is raucous – the tables a striking shade of red and the walls busy with storybook murals depicting hand-painted trucks of South Asia. As for service, it’s full speed ahead. The menu features a blend of authentic bits (isoo vadai, mutton rolls or roti and curry) and some milder hybrid dishes (fried chicken and curry leaf waffles are best suited to less adventurous members of your party). The must-order main? The crab kothu, a late-night classic in Sri Lanka. These are comfort dishes lifted from the late-night stalls of Colombo. 

Halloween is over, but witches are still haunting the Kiln Theatre. Well, alleged witches, the victims of the 1633 Pendle Witch Trials, whose half-known stories have been set to music by composers Rebecca Brewer and Daisy Chute. It’s a very rare thing: a brand new musical that isn’t based on an existing book or film, with an original score and, rarest of all in musical theatre, an entirely female cast and creative team. You can put it in a bracket with Sylvia and Six as a defiant feminist retelling of history, but it’s doing its own thing in a weird and interesting way.

It’s weird, in the year 2025, that it seems necessary to point out that the Nazis were bad. But Nuremberg, an old-fashioned and satisfyingly complex morality tale in the guise of a courtroom drama and spy thriller, does that job in impressive style. Supercharged by James Vanderbilt’s smart script and snappy direction, and with an on-form cast, it plots a course through the immediate aftermath of World War II and into the legal nightmare of holding its German perpetrators to account. Russell Crowe plays avuncular Nazi second-in-command Hermann Göring, and delivers his best performance since The Nice Guys a full decade ago, while Rami Malek returns to something like Bohemian Rhapsody form as the American psychologist, Douglas Kelley, who is sent to the Allies’ high security Nuremberg prison to evaluate Göring and his fellow Nazis. It lends authenticity and intellectual rigour to this extraordinary, century-defining event. 

The third Thursday of November might not mean much to you, but for the wine world, it’s one of the most exciting days of the year. It marks Beaujolais Nouveau Day – the day that the first vintages of wine produced in the Beaujolais region of France are released. Beaujolais Nouveau is a simple, fruity red known for being the world’s ‘fastest’ wine. It’s a ‘vin de primeur’, best consumed as soon after harvesting as possible. It’s illegal to sell ‘Bojo’ before 12.01am on Beaujolais Nouveau Day, so when that time finally does roll around, wine lovers rush to get their hands on a bottle and festivities erupt all over France and beyond. London’s wine-lovers have started celebrating too. Every year, some the capital’s finest restaurants and wine bars host tastings, suppers and parties to welcome the newest batch of Beaujolais. This year, Bojo Novo falls on Thursday. Here are all the best places in London to celebrate.

Director Matthew Dunster and a top-notch creative team do a pretty damn good job of finding a way to stage the titular Games of Suzanne Collins’s smash 2008 YA novel The Hunger Games, deploying aerial work, pyro, video screens, some tightly drilled choreography, the odd song and a highly mobile, rapidly changing set, creating a sequence that’s coherent and gripping. It’s hard not to admire the quixotic but skilled attempt to translate something so action-packed to the stage. Dunster is not a subtle director, and in many ways that suits Collins’s novel. He picks out the themes of class oppression between the gaudy dandies of the Capitol and dirt-poor folk of District 12 with day-glo aplomb. Smartly, the set of the in-the-round show is steeply raked to resemble a sports stadium and the audience is cast as spectators. A lot of creative talent has been poured into this. 

This traditional fair will help you have a very Scandi Christmas with its stalls selling all sorts of festive Swedish treats, gifts, and decorations. A pop-up café in the church hall will serve open sandwiches with meatballs and cheese and the Swedes' take on mulled wine: glögg. On Sunday, join a special short service at the church ahead of the market opening. 

Hannah Doran’s drama about small-time tragedy among immigrant Americans in the age of Trump is set in Cafarelli & Sons, an NYC butcher’s shop that’s been in the family of owner Paula (Jackie Clune) for decades. She’s a badass with a heart of gold and has a benign tendency to hire staff with criminal records who other employers wouldn’t touch. Business is struggling, though, and only one of staff members JD (Marcello Cruz) and Billy (Ash Hunter) will be hired permanently at the end of the summer. When it kicks into gear, it becomes a taut thriller that’s also an ode to America’s open-heartedness and immigrant-based spirit. There’s also a solid cast. It’s a solid play that grows in stature. 

Dreaming of a kitsch Christmas? New York’s famous Miracle on Ninth Street bar is popping up in London for its seventh year, ‘50s Christmas decorations, nostalgic accessories and creative new spins on beloved cocktail favourites in tow. Past years have seen the bar slinging the likes of a Snowball Old Fashioned or a Christmapoliton, which includes cranberry sauce and absinthe mist – a take on Christmas trimmings that’s not for the faint-hearted. If you’re failing to get into the Christmas spirit, this is one great place to find it.

Maggi Hambling and Sarah Lucas are good friends. Since meeting on their shared birthday, they have portrayed each other in paint and sculpture, shown their work together multiple times and, perhaps, developed something of a shared sensibility. On the surface, Hambling’s gestural, subconsciously macabre canvases have little in common with Lucas’ euphemistic sculptural assemblages. This year, though, a joint presentation at Sadie Coles HQ and Frankie Rossi Art Projects on Bury Street will tease out hidden commonalities between the two canonical British artists.

Step into the historical world of Fulham Palace for its fifth annual Christmas fair for a taste of Crimbos past. There’ll be a grotto tombola, tuck shop full of festive treats, carols in the courtyard and a host of activities to take part in. The main attraction, though, is still the market itself, which celebrates small businesses and local traders. Shop til you drop as you peruse the handicrafts and fine foods up for grabs, then retire to the drawing room café for a well-earned glass of mulled wine. 

Shih-Ching Tsou, long the secret weapon of Anora director Sean Baker since the pair met on a filmmaking course in New York, gets her moment to shine in this directorial debut, a family drama. The connections don’t end there: the pair co-wrote this film and it’s very much in the spirit of Baker’s own 2017 gem The Florida Project, which Tsou produced. Oh, and Baker edits too. Left-Handed Girl pits a young girl’s naivete against the hard edges of adult life, zeroing in on the messy, tender dynamics of mother-daughter bonds. Shot on iPhones (just like Baker’s 2015 breakthrough Tangerine), the result is a gorgeously colourful Taipei-set film that threads drama, comedy and heart, landing as a rare ‘life sucks’ relationship drama with a genuinely uplifting afterglow.

’Tis the season for rampant consumerism, but if all the covetable clobber, shiny new tech and luxury knick-knacks are failing to fill the void, you’d do well to swing by the Choose Love store during your Christmas shopping spree. First set up in 2017 by Help Refugees, the clever pop-up doesn’t peddle fancy beauty products or the latest trainers. Instead, its shelves are filled with emergency blankets, children’s shoes, sleeping bags, toiletries, mobile phone credit, nappies, education supplies and other essentials needed by refugees around the world. Once you’ve bought what you can, the products are distributed via more than 80 projects that the humanitarian aid organisation works with across the globe. After several successful years on nearby Carnaby Street, the pop-up has moved into a department store-sized space on Regent Street for its biggest ever edition this year. Head down to check out a beautifully-designed space which is once again designed by Misty Buckley (The Oscars, The BRIT Awards) and will be set across two floors, with the usual roster of surprise celebrity volunteers working on the tills, and to do your bit to spread some Christmas cheer to those who need it most.

Remember five years ago when, in the deep depths of lockdown, former postman Nathan Evans’ took over TikTok with his version of 19th-century sea shanty ‘Wellerman’? His viral rendition lit us all with a new appreciation for maritime folk songs. Of you want to hear those guttural tones and soothing accapellas in real life, hit up the Sea Shanty Festival at Cutty Sark. Shanty bands from across the UK will convene to sing trad maritime songs onboard the iconic Cutty Sark tea clipper. Listen to the choirs, or join a drop-in workshop to master the shanty yourself. Stick around for the mass sing-along to finish the day. 

Documentary films are some of the most impactful cinema out there; giving us insights into worlds and lives that are often under our radar, and shaping public opinion, inspiring social change, and building communities in the process. This small film festival focuses on nonfiction cinema, with a programme of 10 films reflecting on how memory and time shape our relationships. Starting with Come See Me In The Good Light, Ryan White’s poignant love story about poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley, other notable screenings include a special ‘sneak preview’ screening of King Hamlet, Elvira Lind’s intimate exploration of her husband, actor Oscar Isaac, Brittany Shyne’s debut Seeds, the Sundance award-winning portrait of Black generational farmers in the American South, and Cinema Kawakeb, a documentation of the final days of a crumbling cinema in Jordan. There’s also a shorts program highlighting Palestinian filmmakers, and most screenings will finish with special Q&As. 

Every year, thousands of professional and amateur photographers around the world submit their best portraits to The Taylor Wessing Photo Prize – a contest that has helped launch the careers of many top photographers. Around 60 finalists are selected and put on display at the National Portrait Gallery, giving an insight into the lives of friends and family of those behind the lens, or capturing a moment in time with stars in the spotlight. One image will take home the big prize, while the annual ‘In Focus’ display will feature a new work by an established photographer.

★★★★ 'Frameless has managed to create something genuinely exciting' – Time Out

Escape reality through maximum immersion and experience 42 masterpieces from 29 of the world’s most iconic artists, each reimagined beyond belief, through cutting-edge technology. Situated in Marble Arch, Frameless plays host to four unique galleries with hypnotic visuals and a dazzling score. Enjoy 90 minutes of surreal artwork from Bosch, Dalí and more for just £24!

Get £24.80 tickets (originally £31), only through Time Out Offers.

The Southbank Centre is shining a light on some great artworks this winter – literally. In its annual Winter Lights exhibition, the institution will be bringing a selection of pieces to the streets surrounding the venue. Everything on display uses light and colour to dive into topics like identity, environment and tech, making it both an attention-grabbing and thought-provoking exhibit. Among the works at this free exhibition are ‘Beacon’ by Lee Broom, which invites you to pause and reflect as you examine the chandelier of light, and Jakob Kvist’s ‘Dichroic Sphere’, a geodesic dome that is illuminated by only one single energy-efficient light bulb, but is still lit up in various colours.

If you haven't yet set foot in the Institut Français, housed in an ornate red-brick building in South Kensington, then its annual film bonanza is a great excuse to visit. This November, its French Film Festival returns for its 33rd year with a hefty programme that showcases the freshest and best new films from across the Channel. Taking place across two weeks, this bigger-than-ever edition features more than 76 screenings of 33 Gallic cinematic treats, including plenty of UK premieres of newly released films, a number of which were released to critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. 

Each year, the bright lights of Leicester Square get a little bit more dazzling with its massive festive pop-up, which boasts a Christmas market, tons of scrumptious food and drink, and live entertainment. The square is also switching things up a bit this year, replacing its circus and cabaret venue The Spiegeltent with an ice skating rink. Wrapping around the Shakespeare statue in the centre of the square, London’s newest pop-up skating venue for nine weeks over the festive season, encircled by the market stalls. 

A month-long feast of contemporary Czech cinema, the Made in Prague Festival is back for its 29th edition with a thrilling selection of high-calibre dramas, comedies, docs and family films, hosted by venues including BFI IMAX, BFI Player, ICA, Regent Street Cinema, The Garden Cinema. This fest opens with the UK premiere of Jiří Mádl’s historical drama Waves, an intriguing-sounding drama about the journalists who risked everything to keep broadcasting during the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, followed by a Q&A with its director and lead actress. It'll also include Zuzana Kirchnerová’s feature directorial debut Caravan, a portrait of a mother and her disabled son which was warmly recieved at Cannes. Browse the full line-up for more.

Though it would be pushing it to say Tom Morris directs Othello as a comedy, he certainly wrings more laughs than usual out of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. The title role is played by David Harewood, who returns to the part 28 years after he was the first Black actor to star as the doomed Moorish general at the National Theatre. His new Othello is a precise, confident, seemingly unflappable man who shows little sign of jealousy or doubt for a long time. But his extreme rationalism proves his downfall: once Toby Jones’s Iago presents ‘proof’ of Othello’s wife Desdemona (Caitlin FitzGerald) being unfaithful, her husband simply accepts it, something that speaks as much of misogyny as insecurity or insanity. It’s a solid commercial show. 

Love sushi, dumplings or noodles? Inamo’s got you covered. This high-tech spot in Soho or Covent Garden lets you order from interactive tabletops, play over 20 games while you wait and even doodle on your table. Then it’s all you can eat pan-Asian dishes like Sichuan chicken, red dragon rolls and Korean wings with bottomless drinks. Usually £113.35, now just £33 or £26 if you're in early at the weekend!

Get Inamo’s best ever bottomless food & drink brunch from only £26 with Time Out Offers.

Born in a fishing village in Denmark in 1859, Anna Ancher painted and memorialised life on the coast, cementing herself as a Danish household name. Now Dulwich Picture Gallery brings Ancher’s work to a UK audience in her first ever British exhibition, which will showcase over 40 of her luminous paintings, many of which are reminiscent of the coastal community where she grew up. Also featuring in the exhibition will be four of Ancher’s contemporaries: Marie Luplau, Emilie Mundt, Marie Sandholdt, and Louise Bonfils. 

Every winter the Southbank Centre turns the banks of the Thames into a frosty wonderland, full of little wooden Alpine-style cabins selling gifts, warming drinks, and snacks. You’ll find huts serving up truffle burgers, duck wraps, mulled wine, Dutch pancakes, churros and many more tasty morsels to nibble on while you look through gifts, jewellery and decorations made by independent craft traders. Or, once you’re done browsing, snuggle up at pop-up king Jimmy Garcia’s riverside venue Fire And Fromage, where you can snaffle all you can eat raclette, sip on seriously decadent hot chocolates, and even toast your own marshmallows round a cosy fire pit. 

Director Michael Grandage and playwright Jack Holden’s stage adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s seminal novel of the ‘80s does a tremendous job of cutting Hollinghurst’s period odyssey into a gripping, flab-free two-and-a-half hours of theatre. It is, above all, a great piece of storytelling. If you’re not familiar, The Line of Beauty concerns Nick Guest (Jasper Talbot), a young gay man who in 1983 moves into the ultra fancy home of his uni mate Toby Fedden’s parents as a lodger. The story charts his journey through the decade: adjacent to the ruling classes but not a member of them, he is further removed from the mainstream by his sexuality, which he is open about, but also othered by. It’s a fine, sensitive articulation of the novel. 

Anna Ziegler’s play The Wanderers makes its UK debut at the Marylebone Theatre after becoming an off-Broadway hit in 2023, starring Katie Holmes. Tracking the lives and loves of two Jewish couples from different generations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it is a crafty, gradually intensifying drama that examines the values we embrace and reject. Directed here by Igor Golyak, it’s staged on two sides of a translucent screen, with the tensions from the separate eras overlapping and reverberating across time.