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 Like Minded Friends with Tom Allen & Suzi Ruffell, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating, Beef and Dairy Network and Drunk Huns Solving Ghosts. Your ears are in for a treat.

Lyle’s isn’t like other Michelin star restaurants. There are neither bells or whistles at this brazenly industrial warehouse space – not even tablecloths. What you will find is utterly heroic British food. Opened by James Lowe in 2014, the chef’s history as head chef at St John Bread & Wine seeps from every surface and into the razorsharp dedication to sourcing the best-of-the-best seasonal produce and plating it up with less of a flourish, and more of a nonchalant shrug. An eight course tasting menu (£119 a head), is delivered with charm and care but also an expectation that this is how everything could be if only people gave enough of a damn. As an icon of the new wave of British dining greats, Lyle’s is very, very hard to beat.

London’s spectacular free outdoor Greenwich + Docklands International Festival finishes its 2024 run this week with a bang. Look out for a street roller skate show ‘Wheels and Cello’ (Sep 5-6), physical theatre performance ‘From Here On’ created by world-renowned theatre companies Good Chance and Gecko (Sep 6 & 8), a celebration of London’s watery main artery – ‘A Ballad of Thamesmeade’ (Sep 6 & 7) and a day of outdoor dance in Stratford (Sep 7). 

If you're a theatre lover, you’re probably familiar with the all-time Broadway hit Guys & Dolls. However, you might not have experienced it quite like the recent run at the Bridge Theatre. Step into the Hot Box and be transported to the streets of Manhattan and the bars of Havana, as you become part of the show itself in this immersive, show-stopping favourite. Whether you’re a long-time fan or eager to see it for the first time, Time Out has you covered with an incredible offer on all standing tickets. Grab your tickets now and be part of the magic. 

Get £19.50 standing tickets for Guys & Dolls, only with Time Out Offers.

Next to Umberto D., Chinese director Guan Hu may just have made the enduring masterpiece of man-and-dog movies in this soul-filling homecoming odyssey set on the windswept fringes of the Gobi Desert. Taiwanese heartthrob Eddie Peng plays brooding, shaven-headed ex-rock star and stunt biker called Lang. He returns to his remote hometown after a stint in prison for manslaughter. The town hangs under a cloud of its own: this is the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the populace is being relocated, and the local packs of stray dogs need to be rounded up. Lang soon signs up to join the hastily assembled dog catching squads, which offers Lang a path to rediscovering his sense of self. Black Dog was the deserved winner for this year’s Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes, the prize for the most innovative, daring work of the festival. You’d be barking to miss it.

Say konnichiwa to Six by Nico’s latest culinary adventure, celebrating the capital of Japan: Tokyo. Each dish is inspired by a research trip, Nico and the team took to the busy city, with each plate adapted and curated to celebrate Japanese food and ingredients. Taste modern takes on chicken Karaage and a twist on a classic Ramen, as you journey through the special menu. Plus, it comes with a refreshing glass of prosecco.

Save £20 on this six-course tasting menu at Six by Nico, only through Time Out Offers. 

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 £20!

Save £10 on tickets to Frameless: London's ultimate immersive art experience, only through Time Out Offers.

You can contain the whole history of a nation in a tarpaulin. At least, Rheim Alkadhi can. The artist, who grew up in Iraq, uses the sturdy plastic material to recount endless stories of colonial exploitation, capitalist greed and ecological disaster, twisting it into floor-based sculptures or hanging it as filthy canvases. Alkadhi’s point is a powerful one, and it’s when the art is given room to speak that its voice echoes the loudest. See it now, before it closes on Sunday. 

You may not be able to jet off to Latin America right now, but Chayote can bring you a Mexican Fusion experience right here in London for a fraction of the price. Take your tastebuds on a journey with five courses inspired by Mexico, Peru, and Spain with high-end ingredients in every dish! Enjoy a concoction of flavours, with dishes including Lamb Barbacoa, Wild Mushroom croquetas, Squid ink hake taco, Passion fruit cheesecake and more. To top it all off, you can enjoy your choice of cocktail With a picturesque view of Tower Bridge and St Katherine Docks.

Enjoy five courses and a cocktail for an exclusive £24.95, only through Time Out Offers.

Climb aboard 40 vintage sailing boats and yachts – including the Dunkirk Little Ships, and motorboats from the Bates Starcraft range – usually closed to the public at this annual Classic Boat Festival. There’ll also be a load of family fun, live music, nautical face painting, drop-in canoeing and tasty street food. 

London’s history is rich and sprawling. For every glossy skyscraper, there’s a slew of ancient stories, legends, landmarks and hidden curios dotted through the city that have shaped its DNA. London Heritage Open Days is a celebration of these pockets of antiquity. Over ten days it opens up some of London’s oldest spaces for walks, tours and talks so we can get to know our city better. This year’s programme includes everything from culinary tours of Willesden Jewish Cemetery, nature walks around the ancient Manor Farm House, tours of restored 18th-century houses in Spitalfields and rides on old Route Master buses around south east London. If you thought you knew London, get ready to be surprised.

Southbank Centre Unlimited Festival is programmed and created entirely by disabled and D/deaf artists. The five-day event boasts new commissions, bespoke one-off events and showcases of existing works. This year, highlights include ‘Precarious Moves’, a performance exploring the relationship between women’s bodies and tattooing practices, FlawBored’s Edinburgh Fringe crowd-pleaser ‘It’s A Motherf**king Pleasure’, and the comedy extravaganza ‘Abnormally Funny People – IRL’. 

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 mudlarking masterclasses, kayacking taster sessions and live performances in the beautiful Crossness Pumping Station.