Free & Cheap London Events: 21-27 April 2014

By Silvia Baretta Last edited 119 months ago
Free & Cheap London Events: 21-27 April 2014

Interesting and unusual things to do for a fiver or less this week.

The Crafty Fox Market takes place this weekend at The Dogstar, Brixton. See below

All Week

Check the week ahead with our guides to market & shopping events and art exhibitions around town. Plenty of free ones, too. And if you’re struggling for ways to keep the kids entertained in the Easter holidays, try out some of these ideas.

This week celebrates William Shakespeare's 450th birthday. Give homage to one of the most long-lived and famous playwrites of all the times, and find out the best Shakespeare events in London this week.

Monday 21 April

SHAKESPEARE CELEBRATIONS: Predictably, the Globe is celebrating the 450th anniversary of The Bard’s birth in a big way. It’s hosting a free family fun day, with a bouncy castle, Punch and Judy shows, and performances on stage. Free, just turn up, 12pm-5pm

ST GEORGE: The Mayor of London’s Feast of St George takes place in Trafalgar Square, with a farmer’s market, food stalls, live music and children’s activities. Free, just turn up, 12pm-6pm

EGG HUNT: Starting from the Crypt of St Martin in the Fields and going all around the area, this Easter Egg Hunt organised by The Northbank gives you the chance to win top prizes like tickets for an West End show, a luxury dinner or a stay at a top hotel in London. Free, just turn up, from 2pm

FREE FILM: Alibi Film Club screens 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers as part of Classic Sci-Fi month at The Alibi in Dalston. Free, just turn up, 7pm

Tuesday 22 April

ART EXHIBITION:  Craft Central in Clerkenwell Road hosts the exhibition Emergent, which features the work of two London-based artists, Jayson Lilley and Anna Masters, including paintings, printmaking and mixed-media. Free, just turn up, until 27 April

FEMINISM: Rich Mix celebrates 50 years of Feminism with a one-off and free event in its main space. Discuss what today's Feminism can learn from campaigns of the 60s and 70s, and listen to specialists on this important matter. Free, prebook essential, 7pm

JUGGLING LESSON: Gandini Juggling is a company of nine jugglers currently performing their show Smashed, using four crockery sets and 80 apples. Find them today for a free juggling lesson along the Southbank, near the London Eye. Free, just turn up, 4pm

CINEMA: The Proud Archivist, a multi-functional space located along Regent's Canal in Haggerston, hosts a screening of You & Me Forever, a film about adolescence and adulthood by Danish filmmaker Kaspar Munk. £4+bf, prebook, 7.30pm

MORE CINEMA: The Ritzy in Brixton hosts an evening of Short Sighted Cinema, featuring short films from emerging and independent filmmakers. This time the theme is Lost: films explore memory, mystery and misfortune. £3/£4, prebook, 7.30pm

Wednesday 23 April

SHAKESPEARE: Today is William Shakespeare's 450th birthday. Plenty of themed celebrations are taking place all over the city during the week and beyond. Today you can enjoy a free reading of Shakespeare's sonnets at Guildhall Library. Free, just turn up, 10am-4pm

ST GEORGE: Today is St George's Day. In order to celebrate the national patron saint, GoToMidtown Walks has organised a themed walk that will lead you to the place where the national anthem was first sung publicly. Meeting point is the orange kiosk outside Holborn station. Free, just turn up, 1pm   

FILM SCREENING: The Wiener Library hosts the screening of this year's Football Rwanda, Field of Memories. The documentary tells the story of Rwanda trough sport, remembering the genocide. Free, prebook essential, 6.30pm  

OPEN MIC: Jawdance is a poetry event taking place at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, including an open-mic session and some really quite appalling puns. Arrive early to secure your performing slot during the evening, list opens at 6.15pm. Free, just turn up, 7.30pm  

Thursday 24 April

LIVE MUSIC: National Theatre's pop-up bookshop continues its series of free live music evenings, this time the performer is folk singer-songwriter and guitarist Tom Hyatt. Free, just turn up, from 5pm

WIENER LIBRARY: Hero or War Criminal? Regent Horthy and the Destruction of Hungarian Jews is the themed talk taking place at the Wiener Library, focusing on the plight of the Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. Free, prebook essential, 6.30pm

WAR TALK: The Guild Players perform at the Church End Library with an original theatre and folk music piece, exploring ordinary people's experiences of the First World War through drama and song. The play is called The Glorious Madness. Free, just turn up, 7pm

GHOST TALK: The London Fortean Society presents the forgotten story of the Poltergeist Prince of London. Go back to the 1950s, and listen to the story of a communicating poltergeist that might have been the Lost Dauphin of France during the Revolution, seriously. The talk takes place at Dirty Dicks pub in Bishopsgate. £3/£2, prebook, 8pm

ARTY EVENT: In concomitance with its latest exhibition Pangaea, Saatchi Gallery has an evening of African-inspired music and live dance performance in the charming set of the exhibition. The ticket includes a drink as well. £5, prebook, 7pm  

POETRY NIGHT: An evening of poetry and social awareness takes place at Rich Mix featuring poetry and open-mic performances, panel discussions on how to be a literary activist and afrobeat music as well. £5/£3, prebook, 7.30pm  

Friday 25 April

FILM FESTIVAL: A rich programme of free films in unusual venues characterises the New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival, which will last more than a week. You can just turn up and enjoy the film in most of the venues. Free, until 4 May

ART: One to One: Charting the Personal Terrain is a contemporary art exhibition showcasing a group of emerging artists who investigate personal geographies and the narrative form in art, aiming to create a live space within the exhibition. This is a three-day event and it takes place at the The Rag Factory gallery. Free, until 27 April

LIVE MUSIC: Listen to some free music inside the Royal Albert Hall's Italian restaurant Verdi. Graham Hughes fronts a band using trombone and chromatic harmonica, playing and singing songs from the early days of jazz. Free, just turn up, from noon

SAMPLE SALE: Sample Hunter has a designer sample sale at The Music Room in Mayfair. Find the best fashion item among menswear, womenswear, accessorises and footwear. £1, just turn up, from 12.30pm

FEMINISM: Mornington Sports and Leisure Centre hosts Hysteria, a one-day exhibition displaying artworks that explore the potential of feminist resistance and transformation. The event includes live artistic performances throughout the day. £5, just turn up, 1-11pm

BAFTA: The New York Television Festival (NYTF) arrives to London at Bafta in Piccadilly. Mingle with producers, writers, and creators developing for TV during a series of panels and themed activities. Free, register to participate, 2-5pm

CURATOR'S TALK: Beaconsfield Gallery and and Space Station Sixty Five have teamed up to organise a special event linking their concurrent exhibitions: Arkhipelagos and Northern Souls. The event starts from Space Station Sixty-Five featuring a curators' talk and then moves to Beaconsfield Gallery for another art encounter. Free, just turn up, 6pm

PARTY NIGHT: The Working Men's Club in Bethnal Green hosts an evening of music and dance called Party Like It's Your Birthday. Expect party games, 90s music, balloons, bubbles and glitters. £4+bf, prebook, from 8pm

Saturday 26 April

CRAFT FAIR: Crafty Fox Market offers a chance to buy unique craft products from a carefully curated set of traders (this time the guest curators include Telegraph Magazine Design Editor David Nicholls) and experience craft workshops. These include bunting-making, screen printing, and fabric earrings workshops. Find the market at The Dogstar in Brixton this weekend. Free, just turn up, 11am-5pm

LUNCH BREAK: Listen to free music inside the Royal Albert Hall's Italian restaurant Verdi. Young swing guitarist Kourosh Kanani leads the Kourosh Kanani Gypsy Swing Quartet, who perform a mixture of modern jazz, Latin and original compositions. Free, just turn up, from noon

LIVE JAZZ: Enjoy some live jazz at the Scratch Bar, part of Battersea Arts Centre. The Little Bulb theatre company will definitely warm up the atmosphere. Free, just turn up, from 9.30pm

Sunday 27 April

WEDDING FAIR: The Chosen Boutique Wedding Fair takes place at the Islington Assembly Hall, offering couples the chance to organise all aspects of their wedding under one roof. £3, prebook, 27 April, 11am-4.30pm

ST GEORGE'S DAY: Borough Market celebrates St George's Day in great style. Expect food, folk music, cookery demonstrations and traditional entertainment, which will also involve a visit from some of the Market’s Catalonian people, marking the fact that St George is also patron saint of that region. Free, just turn up, 12-4pm

PANEL DISCUSSION: Rich Mix hosts a Raisa Kabir Panel Discussion. Expect a session with creative practitioners, community activists, artists and academics to discuss the themes explored in Raisa Kabir’s exhibition, Visible Spaces. Free, just turn up, 12-5pm

LAST CHANCE: See the exhibition about Berlin-based artist and writer Hito Steyerl at the ICA, featuring video works exploring feminism and militarism. £1, just turn up, until today

Check out our map of free things to do in London for more frugal fun. Or pop over to BrokeInLondon.com who also have plenty of great ideas.

Last Updated 20 April 2014