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All weekend
- There's thrilling circus, cabaret and family fun with Beyond Circus at the Albany in Deptford.
- Experience art blindfolded at St Leonard's Church with the Scrathedelia exhibition Blind Data – Please Do Touch (free entry).
- The Romanian Film Festival is showing at the Renoir in the Brunswick Centre.
- Look round the Winter Open Studios Art Show at Wimbledon Art Studios and buy art and design direct from the makers (free entry).
- Go mad for J-culture at Hyper Japan in Earls Court (tickets £12 online, £15 on the door).
- Spend a weekend exploring Dogme 95 films at the Ritzy in Brixton.
- The first Daredevil Tournament comes to London — a scavenger hunt for grown ups over 12 hours (last minute tickets £27.50)
- Make a giant, talk about death at Peckham Literary Festival (free).
- Visit the European Christmas Market and enjoy Harrow song festival (free).
- The "artist-led" Other Art Fair is at Ambika P3 in Marylebone enabling you to buy from 100 under-represented artists with pieces starting from £50 (tickets are £6 but there are still early-bird £3 and two for £6 offers available online).
- The ICA are screening all six episodes of The Singing Detective and talking about it.
- East London brewing is celebrated at the Waltham Forest Sports and Social Club beer festival, Friday to Sunday (£1 admission).
- Framed Film Festival still has lots of activities and screenings for young people at Barbican.
- Shop Scandinavian with the Norwegian Church Christmas Fair and the Scandinavian Christmas market in Rotherhithe, plus the Danish Christmas Bazaar in Hampstead.
- The Irish Film Festival puts on a Family Cinema Saturday at the Irish Cultural Centre and screens films and documentaries at the Tricycle, Kilburn.
- All seasonal skating rinks except Hampton Court (coming 1 December) are now open for your icy pleasure and Hyde Park's "Winter Wonderland" starts serving up mulled wine, sausages, odd gifts and funfair rides.
- Guided walks this weekend explore "my neck of the woods" in east London, the City's ebb and flow, oddities of Strand, Deptford, street art, exclusive clubs and posh shops and Nunhead Cemetery - check links for day, time and cost.
Saturday:
- Ironmonger Row Baths reopen to the public today.
- Celebrate Diwali at the National Maritime Museum with a family fun day of workshops and performances, culminating in a lantern parade at 4.15pm (free).
- Oxford Street and Regent Street will be traffic free for Very Important Pedestrian (for that, read shopper) day from 8am to 8pm with festive entertainment and retail promotions going on.
- Kensington Dollshouse Festival is in the Town Hall, W8 from 10.30am-5pm (tickets £11).
- Clerkenwell's Knoll Studio is having a designer furniture sample sale with ex-display and smaple stock going much cheaper than usual between 10am-5pm.
- The Field Fashion Showcase is for girls with guns who like Chelsea buns at No 9 Adam Street from 1pm (tickets £35).
- Join a Lomography workshop at Museum of London at 1.30pm (book tickets £12.50).
- There's a Christmas market and fashion show at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 4-9pm (free entry but donations for charity appreciated).
- Watch Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars in the Underground Picturehouse at the Waterpoet Pub, Spitalfields from 8pm (tickets £4.50).
- London Remixed Festival takes place at Bedroom Bar, Village Underground and Rich Mix presenting a cocktail of live, world music from 7pm till late (tickets £13 advance, £17 on the night).
Sunday:
- It's Dickens Day at the Royal Society of Medicine with loads of London children performing music and drama, displays and talks on Dickens, a Christmas fayre and all in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital from 10am-7pm (tickets £7-£10 adults, £5-£6 children).
- The Nags Head Christmas Extravaganza turns part of Holloway traffic free for festive family fun with reindeer, kids activities, craft market and mulled wine between 11.30am-4pm (free).
- There's a Santa Dash in Bexleyheath's Danson Park from 10am, raising money for the community hospice (£10 adults, £5 children to take part - includes Santa suit and medal!)
- The last Anita's Vintage Fashion Fair of the year is at Battersea Arts Centre from 9.30am-4pm (£3 entry, £1.50 conc. U16s free).
- Try archery for free at the Young Archers Greenwich launch event from 10am-1pm (free).
- Bawdsville puts together curry and cabaret in a spicy afternoon showcase at The Ram Jam club in Kingston from 2.30-5pm (tickets £10 adv, £12 on the door).
- It's a Tap Jam Sunday at Ronnie Scott's from 8pm (tickets £6).
Other good stuff:
- What's on stage and art reviews
- Booky and spoken word happenings
- Events for curious-minded Londoners
- Things to do for a fiver or less
- Live comedy in London
- Free things to do in London
- What's on in the big Museums and Galleries
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