Things to do in London this week

Tired of merely listening to your favourite podcast hosts yabbering away? Now you can watch them at it IRL at London Podcast Festival, which is hosting some of the best podcasting talents from the UK and US live at Kings Place. This year get a front seat at plenty of big shows in the audio world, including No Such Thing As A Fish, Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil, The Empire Film Podcast and History Hit.

This new comedy drama from state-of-the-nation playwright Mike Bartlett is an amusing but bleak satire about middle-aged couple Ruth (Hattie Morahan) and Lip (Sam Troughton), who have left behind the Big Smoke to plough Ruth’s inheritance into setting up an organic, regenerative farm. Farming requires dedication and an understanding of the land, Juniper Blood tells us. And most of us are slaves to capitalism and too reliant on technology to be able to go back to basics anyway. It’s not one big lecture, though. Directed by Barlett’s regular collaborator James Macdonald, it’s really very funny while holding a mirror up to the gaping chasm between idealism and pragmatism.   

Part of an ongoing series of group exhibitions featuring artists not represented by the gallery, this show will see three painters – Koak, Ding Shilun and Cece Philips – fill Hauser & Wirth’s vast Savile Row space with windows into imagined interiors. All taking domestic architectures as their starting point, each artist’s work becomes a meditation on the psychology of space.

Applebee’s has been doing its quietly impressive thing since 2000. Starting life as a fishmonger, it casually morphed into a cutesy family-run seafood restaurant. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Applebee’s had a bit of an interior spruce up in 2025, and is now a light, bright space in which to plough through a superlative seafood offering from executive chef, Frankie van Loo. Super-sustainable, the menu at this Borough Market mainstay charges regularly, depending on what the Devon and Cornwall dayboats have brought to Brixham Fish Market. Our oysters were hearty and fresh, a starter of wild seabass ceviche came meaty-thick, brown crab rarebit was delightfully chunky and we clock a massive fish and chips complete with a tower of tartate. 

Asked to guess who directed Caught Stealing, you might get through a long list before landing on Darren Aronofsky. The usually distinctive filmmaker – Black Swan, The Wrestler, Mother! – is in unflashy form for this solid, starry thriller about one man’s very bad night. Based on a novel by Charlie Huston (also the film’s screenwriter), it follows Hank (Austin Butler), a New York barman drifting through life and into alcoholism. When he and his girlfriend, Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), agree to cat-sit for their neighbour (Matt Smith), they get far more hassle than anticipated. Soon, violent thugs are crashing through their door. Aronofsky gives the film a strong sense of authentic grubbiness and keeps the pace brisk, as well as attracting a weighty, eclectic cast. 

Ally Pally is collaborating with British-German composer Max Richter for two very special overnight events celebrating the tenth anniversary of his epic composition SLEEP. Comprising 204 individual tracks, SLEEP, the mammoth epic, 8 hour and 30-minute-long lullaby, was created for listeners to fall asleep to, and has already been performed live at some of the world’s most iconic concert venues, including Sydney Opera House and the Philharmonie de Paris. Now it’s north London’s turn to host more of his truly special all-nighters. Fancy bunkering down in the Grade II-listed Great Hall for the night? 

Part of White Cube’s ongoing series that sees them present solo exhibitions with emerging artists from outside of their roster, Korean painter Suzanne Song’s forthcoming show will comprise a selection of her precise, illusory abstract paintings. Expect intricately painted geometric patterns disrupted with the appearance of shadows, creases and folds, paradoxically creating three-dimensional space within flat patterns and images. 

Every year, London’s famous river gets a whole festival of art installations, performances, and talks devoted to her watery charms, many of which are free to check out. This year’s Totally Thames Festival has scores of events throughout September, all dotted along riverside locations from Richmond to Barking & Dagenham. This week, look out for St Katharine Docks Classic Boat Festival (Sep 6) which lets you clamber aboard ancient vessels. You can also visit a mudlarking exhibition, walk and masterclass, take boat tours and listen to special lectures. 

Black on the Square, London’s massive free celebration of Black culture, returns for the third year in 2025. Taking over Trafalgar Square, expect a day full of activities, workshops and live music. Main stage performances will include DJ sets from Born n Bread, a performance from the queen of Lovers Rock Janet Kay, ballet from Pointe Black and spoken word from OPAL. This year’s theme is ‘Inter-generate’, which brings Black nightlife to the forefront, culminating in a live garage music showcase honouring Black London’s electronic legacy. 

CelebrASIA is taking over Battersea Power Station with a celebration of South East Asia that shines a light on the cuisines, culture and creativity of the region. Held both inside and outside of the art deco power station, the whole area will get a colourful transformation in the form of lanterns, sculptures and immersive installations, transporting you straight to the continent without actually having to leave London. Street food stalls will serve up bites from cult favourite London restos, craft workshops will teach the arts of Batik painting and other traditional crafts, and there will be traditional dance and music performances throughout the weekend.  

The unstoppable rise of sober socialising continues with new Hackney festival ALIVE : LDN, from rave and wellness outfit Daybreaker. Over in New York, Daybreaker has been making waves with its sauna raves and morning dance parties. ALIVE : LDN is its biggest London event yet, running from sunrise to sunset with a full line-up of yoga, ice baths, rituals, talks, sound baths and dance. Highlights include live performances by Madame Gandhi and FACESOUL, plus a DJ set by Groove Armada as the sun sinks below the horizon at 8pm: leaving you with plenty to time to get home for a virtuous early night. 

Immersive entertainment franchise Secret Cinema has taken things back to basics, putting the classic 1978 film musical at the heart of this evening. In Secret Cinema’s Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical, the original film is shown on large screens dotted around the cavernous new Battersea Park venue Evolution, which has been lavishly tricked out to serve as Rydale High. Then there are live actors who pop up to take over singing and talking duties in key scenes. The live band is a nice touch. It’s a good natured and lively, geed along by well-drilled actors, with a funfair to boot!

Looking for a wholesome, creative night out that doesn’t involve a hangover (unless you BYOB)? Token Studio in Tower Bridge offers relaxed, hands-on ceramics classes where you can spin, shape and decorate your own pottery piece. Whether you fancy throwing a pot on the wheel (£32) or painting a pre-made mug or plate (£23), it’s the perfect mix of fun, mindful and surprisingly therapeutic. And to top it all off, you can sip while you sculpt as it’s BYOB and super chill.

Buy a Token Studio session from just £23, only through Time Out Offers. 

Hidden somewhere between a theme park, an escape room and a real-life video game, Phantom Peak isn’t just your average day out. This open-world adventure based in Canada Water invites you to explore a fictional steampunk town at your own pace, chatting to quirky characters, uncovering mysteries and slowly piecing together your own story.

With 11 unique trails, a rotating calendar of seasonal storylines, and a cast of live actors guiding your experience, no two visits are ever the same.

Get discounted adult tickets exclusively through Time Out Offers

Want a drink? You've come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, featuring the buzziest bars in the capital right now. These are the 50 places we’d recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many, many times over. From classy cocktail counters to delightful dives, London’s got them all.

If you fancy switching things up a bit and find yourself near Borough, why not roll up your sleeves at Comptoir Bakery's London Bridge workshop space? Choose from sessions where you’ll learn to craft buttery croissants and pain au chocolat, the cult-favourite Brionuts, or delicate tartelettes. Expert bakers—trained under culinary legends—will guide you through every step, from mixing the dough to perfecting the fillings. You’ll also nab a slick £20 apron to keep and plenty of fresh pastries to take home. Starting at just £69 per person or £118 for two, with over 30% off, it’s a delicious way to spend a few hours.

Get discounted workshop sessions, only through Time Out Offers

It’s one of those Fringe successes people dream of mimicking. Since debuting in Edinburgh in 2014, Duncan Macmillan Every Brilliant Thing – co-written with its original star Jonny Donahoe – has earned rave reviews and performed all across the globe. Now it’s on the West End. Over the course of its three-month stint, Donahoe, Ambika Mod, Sue Perkins and Minnie Driver will all take the lead role, but we see Lenny Henry. Dressed in a colourful patterned shirt, he sends smiles soaring across the crowd from the outset. The conversation about mental health has moved on since 2014. Nevertheless, the play’s message still lands today. For all its sorrow, the play gleams with hope. It is a truly brilliant thing.

‘The sleep of reason produces monsters’. The Turner Prize-winning artist Tai Shani’s new commission for Somerset House takes the sleep of reason as its starting point. In the grand Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, she has installed a ten-metre-tall blue figure, who lays supine, gently breathing with closed eyes. We’re told that this ethereal, childlike giant has slept through ‘warnings of present and imminent catastrophes, political and social disaster and environmental collapse.’ Art with a message often risks being didactic, prioritising its statement over its aesthetic experience. Here, though, is a deft balance of content and form: a nuanced message, contained within immediately impressive and accessible art.

Jean-Francois Millet was an artist of the people. Born to a farming family, he spent his life painting rural workers and the conditions of their labour. This exhibition, marking the 150th anniversary of his death, presents an impressive array of his work, which went on to inspire Vincent van Gogh among other artists. Heads down and backs bent, there is a melancholic, weathered beauty to Millet’s characters.

Another year, another spectacular line-up of classical music. In 2025, the orchestral extravaganza will feature 86 concerts across eight weeks, with over 3,000 artists taking to the stage, with the majority of the action taking place inside the grand surroundings of London’s Royal Albert Hall. This week, look out for an all-night prom running from 11pm to 7am featuring cellist Anastasia Kobekina, pianist Hayato Sumino and Norwegian ensemble Barokksolistene, a The Planets and Star Wars prom with music from John Williams’ Star Wars score and Holst’s The Planets and Edward Gardner conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.