Free things to do in London this week
Patiently waiting for pay day? Make the most of these free things to do in London
London can be a pricey city. But there’s no need to hibernate at home when your purse is feeling a little empty. Our city is full of world-class free museums, incredible free exhibitions and attractions that won't cost you a penny to enter. And don’t forget all those wonderful green spaces you’re free to enjoy at no cost. Here are a whole load of incredible and totally free things to do in London this week.
RECOMMENDED: The best free things to do in London
Museum of the Moon
Luke Jerram’s six-metre glowing sculpture has Nasainspired detail. It’s lighting up the Natural History Museum for the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 11. We have lift-off!
River Walk Market
On the banks of the Thames and in the shadow of Battersea Power Station’s bombastic towers, you couldn’t ask for a more atmospheric setting for this weekly market. Head along to stock up on independent produce, tuck in street food, browse craft stalls and listen to live music.
The Floating Market
Back again for another year, Paddington Central's Grand Union canalside will be transformed into a bustling market, with barges turned to floating market stalls, all selling food and drinks, including artisanal and organic produce from local farmers over the weekend. As well as collectable records to snap up, an independent book shop nestled in a narrow boat and craft workshops to take part in onboard The Floating Showroom. Back on land, street food vendors will be cooking up tasty plates, and live music will play out across the day. Including the likes of top London sellers such as Lords of Poké, Vagabond Wines, PURE and more. Ain’t no party like a canalside party!
Hampstead Beach
Join JW3 and soak up the sun at their very own Hampstead urban Beach, complete with an in built paddling pool and splash areas. Expect food, cocktails and special events so you can get your summer fix for free.
Craft and Graft: Making Science Happen
Ever wondered how a science lab manages to breed, feed and store a million fruit flies for experiments? Well, prepared to be amazed. The Crick Institute is offering up a behind-the-scenes look at the methods and people driving the latest scientific advances. And it's not just flies either, with the lid lifted on laser guides, cell growers and tech fixers too.
Nineties Video Store Pop-Up
It’s been six years since Blockbuster closed all of its remaining video rental shops in the UK. Remember those simpler times spending evenings scouring the shelves trying to find just the right VHS tape to rent? It was like an IRL scroll through Netflix. Now you get a taste of nostalgia at this pop-up Nineties video shop at the BFI Southbank. Visit the wistful installation created by Young Cinema Rebels and students at the Wimbledon College of Arts to scan the shelves, watch films and TV shows on VHS, tuck into free snacks courtesy of Crate Brewery, Dalston’s Soda, Love Corn and indulge in this blast from the not-too-distant past.
Flea at Vinegar Yard
Formerly Flea at Flat Iron Square, this weekly vintage and makers market has moved to Vinegar Yard SE1, bringing its heaps of antiques, clothing, homeware, books, bikes and cameras with it. It's hunting ground for treasures and pre-loved artefacts. Can't make it this weekend? Visit its range of pop-up shops, open every weekday.
StrEATLife
Packed in the middle of its name like a big beef patty is the key to this festival. Yes, StrEATLife is all about food (and craft booze). Ally Pally will be bursting with over 25 stalls cooking up everything from Mexican street food to smokeyBBQ delights, while live performances soundtrack your visit.
Elizabeth Prentis
You’re going to leave Elizabeth Prentis’s show with sticky feet. And a sticky mind too, if you’re not careful. A bubbling tub of pink Nesquik foams and bubbles onto the blue carpet as giant alien broccoli sculptures loom over it, threatening to dip their fronds into the pink froth. An industrial-strength sex swing stands in the background, a black harness latched onto a mechanic’s hoist. The one painting in the room shows pasty white legs spread wide, being invaded by stalks of broccoli. There’s a karaoke machine there too, and a keyboard, all of it begging to be played with. Obviously, this is super-bodily, hyper-sexual stuff. The room is hot, it stinks of sweetness, it’s oppressively bright and grossly tacky. The whole thing feels like a heady, hilarious plunge into sensuality. There are ideas about power here, submission and control, like a broccoli monster is going to slither its way up your bits and strap you into the sex swing. But more than anything it feels like someone just saying ‘fuck it, let’s go’, and that’s pretty liberating. This is brilliantly messy, gungy, sticky, sexy art. The world around us is a terrifying shambles of politics, war and terrorism, and maybe Prentis’s revolting, light-hearted, kinky art is the perfect antidote.
The Cocoa Butter Club
The cabaret night spotlighting queer performers of colour decamps to the Southbank. Expect burlesque, drag and sideshows set to neo-soul, RnB and Motown all hosted by Sadie Sinner.
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