Free things to do in London this weekend

Hang out after-hours and discover art, film, music talks and workshops at this regular late night arty party at Tate Modern. This month’s late takes inspiration from Christian Marclay’s The Clock. 

The festival of Japanese culture returns for 2018, filling Trafalgar Square with martial arts, traditional crafts, live music and family activities. Kids will get to try their hand at origami, manga art and calligraphy, before displaying their creations in front of the National Portrait Gallery. Food and drink stalls will introduce visitors to delicious Japanese cuisine with plenty of tasters of popular dishes and products too.

A lovely hall on Stoke Newington’s Church Street is transformed into a knick-knack hunter’s paradise, with tables and rails brimming with anything from vintage dresses to jewellery to antique suitcases and furniture. And it’s not all second-hand – local creatives can also be spotted selling their wares at reasonable prices too. An on-site café selling homemade food and a swinging soundtrack provided by live DJs makes it a sweet place to linger.

Cultivate your green fingers at this botanical market filled with over 30 stalls selling indoor and outdoor plants, pots, botanical art and horticultural supplies. Once you've stocked up on succulents, you can grab drink then get stuck in making macrame hangers and feasting on brunch baps. 

The Gardening Society on John Lewis's Oxford Street store's rooftop is turning into a live music venue. Rock up for garden gigs, immersive studio spaces, DJ sets and fried chicken from 'Butchies', all a world away from the hustle and bustle below. 

This year’s Notting Hill Carnival already feels like a hazy memory, but here’s something that’ll get your pulse pumping for next August. Showcasing snaps by local legends and partygoers, ten-day exhibition ‘Jump Up!’ (curated by youth culture archivists Youth Club) also features heritage film and flyers from the ’60s onwards. With bird’s eye views by Babycakes Romero, vibrant crowd scenes and ads for the Red Stripe-sponsored night bus, it’s an airhorn blast of west London history. Only 339 sleeps till NHC 2019…

The established South London art-fest returns with another ambitious line-up of exhibitions and events in galleries, studios and other venues across Deptford. This year's special project comes from Lousie Ashcroft who is turning the festival's Data Protection Policy into a series of performances and experimental social experiences. This plus dazzling site-specific installations from Shawanda Corbett, Georgia Lucas-Going, David Steans, NT and Laura Yuile whose work will be popping up in weird and wonderful locations across Deptford. 

This week of foodie events showcasing the restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs and delis of SW12 returns for another dose. Balham Food Festival's highlights include The Balham Banquet on Hildreth Street with exquisite street food, alfresco bars, live music, circus skills workshops and cookie decorating (Sun Sep 23). 

The Deptford food scene has bubbled over in the past year. The arrival of Marcella – sister restaurant to Peckham’s acclaimed Artusi – and Winemakers Deptford (reopening September, yay!) brought a new touch of refinement with their elegant small plates and banging wine lists. The area’s railway arches also got in on the act with craft breweries and bars filling up Resolution Way. Then there’s the swish, newly redeveloped Deptford Market Yard, whose arches pack in all sorts of traders selling everything from cocktails to tandoori fried chicken. Now a new weekly food and craft market Deptford Bites, curated by the events collective Eat Me Drink Me, is about to call the Yard’s cobbles home. Every Saturday between 10am and 4pm, the courtyard will be filled with fresh farm produce, piping hot street food and crafts. Be sure to head to the launch day, where the Guardian’s restaurant critic Grace Dent will lead a series of talks tackling topics including regeneration and food porn for Deptford Bites Live. With live music and workshops also in the mix, it’ll be a debut worth crossing the river for. And if you’re lucky enough to live there, then stay put and order a dosa.

Pore over the Wellcome’s collection of zines about aging, anxiety and autism before whipping up your own creation. Browse the collection (open for one day only) and take inspiration from the pages exploring physical and mental health and the human condition.