8 alternative Pride events you won’t want to miss

It’s typically a bit of a dry spot for LGBTQ+ nightlife, but leafy west London’s getting a dose of Pride action with this boisterous night at a local history museum. There’ll be a drag king Freddie Mercury, a queer pub quiz and DJs from Unskinny Bop, all housed in the splendour of a manor once owned by a Rothschild. Gunnersbury Park Museum. Tube: Acton Town. Fri Jul 5. £6.

Saint Sebastian became an unlikely queer icon for the likes of Oscar Wilde, who pored over paintings of his topless, arrow-pierced body. Now a new generation of artists are responding to the holy hottie using paintings, video and sculpture; see their work for free at this group exhibition. Horse Hospital. Tube: Holborn. Fri Jul 5-Jul 20. Free. Find out more here. 

Hello, sailor – it’s time to pay tribute to the navy’s glorious (if unofficial) gay past with this night out at the Greenwich Maritime Museum. Its historic boats will rock to a vogueing demo, dancing and the sounds of new musical ‘Deptford Wives’, which follows an eighteenth-century woman who dressed up as a boy and ran away to sea. Greenwich Maritime Museum. Cutty Sark DLR. Fri Jul 5. £15. Find out more here. 

Introduce the kids to queerness and high culture in one rainbow-tinted afternoon at the Royal Opera House’s mini festival. There’s an adorable-sounding ballet about two gay penguins, a mini-opera about women who wear the trousers, and drag queen story time. Royal Opera House. Tube: Covent Garden. Sun Jul 7. £8-£10. Find out more here.