Free And Cheap London Events: 30 November-6 December 2015

By Londonist Last edited 100 months ago
Free And Cheap London Events: 30 November-6 December 2015

Interesting and unusual things to do in London for £5 or less this week.

All week

The Bracey family, and in particular neon signmaker Chris Bracey, are part of an exhibition in Soho.


CHRISTMAS PAST: See what Christmas has looked like (and how it's changed) over the last 400 years at Geffrye Museum in Hoxton. Take a walk through living rooms decorated with authentic lights, decorations and music. Free, just turn up, until 3 January

NEON ART: Soho and neon lights go hand in hand, and the death of neon signmaker Chris Bracey is marked with a special exhibition, featuring work by Chris and his family. Free, just turn up, until 31 January

ISIS AND EBOLA: Two of the biggest worldwide issues are united for an exhibition at Imperial War Museum, focusing on work that British troops do overseas. Free, just turn up, until November 2016

TINTIN: Somerset House currently has an exhibition dedicated to intrepid reporter TinTin and his faithful dog Snowy, and for fans of the books it's worth a visit. Free, just turn up, until 31 January

NOVEMBER ART: Some cracking exhibitions have opened in London this month. Not sure which ones to visit? We've tried them all to find out which ones are worth it — and best of all, they're all free.

Monday 30 November

Make Christmas cards at Drink Shop Do

FREE STEAK: Yep, you read that right. Flat Iron in Covent Garden is offering three nights of free steak this week. Full details here. 30 November-2 December

POETRY AND DEBATE: The Nuffield Council on Bioethics hosts an evening of poetry and debate at Rich Mix about what people mean when they say genetic modification or cloning is wrong because it’s unnatural. Free, prebook by emailing bioethics@nuffieldbioethics.org, 7pm-8.30pm

CHRISTMAS CARD MAKING: Get ahead in the Christmas card game this year: head to Drink Shop Do for an evening of Christmas card making, materials provided. Free when you buy a drink, just turn up, 7pm

Tuesday 1 December

KISSING BOOTH: To mark World AIDS Day, a kissing booth will be set up in Soho Square to support the Rethink HIV campaign, and challenge the incorrect perception that you can get HIV from kissing. Get a kiss in booth with one of Sink The Pink drag performers or model Alex Mountain. Free, just turn up, 11am-3pm

AGRICULTURE AND ELEPHANTS: UCL hosts a lunch hour lecture about what we can learn about life in rural Babylonia from archaeological excavations. Free, just turn up, 1.15pm

DISABLED WAR PENSIONERS: Head to the National Archives in Kew for an introduction to the pension records of the Royal Hospital of Chelsea, which gives an inight into disabled war pensioners of the 18th and 19th centuries. Free, prebook, 2pm-3pm

CHRISTIE'S LATE: Christie's auction house in South Kensington is open late for an evening themed on the 12 days of Christmas. Try wreath making, taste some Christmas punch and see if you can differentiate between real and fake antiques. Free, just turn up, 6pm-8.30pm

RED ROSA: Housmans bookstore in King's Cross hosts the launch of Red Rosa, a book about revolutionary socialist Rosa Luxemburg, who was imprisoned and murdered in 1919. £3, 7pm

BATTLE WITH SLAVERY: Conway Hall hosts an evening focused on Roger Casement who wrote reports and campaigned for human rights in a time of slavery, with particular focus on a rubber company in Peru and Colombia where 30,000 workers died. £3-£5, prebook, 7pm

Wednesday 2 December

GALACTIC ARCHAEOLOGY: While the history of our galaxy is a pretty vast subject, Gresham College condenses it into one lunchtime lecture, using the stars closest to us to dig into the past. At Museum of London. Free, just turn up, 1pm

BOROUGH MARKET LIGHTS:
The Borough Market Christmas lights are switched on tonight. The event begins with Southwark Cathedral’s St Nicholas Day Christingle Service, after which renowned cooks Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley will do the honours with the light switch. Free, just turn up, from 5.30pm

DOES PRISON WORK?: Head to Barnard's Inn Hall for a lecture about the effectiveness of prisons. Should we be imprisoning other human beings, and how effective is it? Free, just turn up, 6pm

A GREATER LONDON: Head to The Rag Factory for the launch of A Greater London, a new project to engage current campaigners on London issues with the story of the Greater London Council. Event includes a panel discussion with Ken Livingstone. Free, prebook, 6.30pm

WATCHMAKER'S APPRENTICE: Watch the documentary film Roger W Smith: The Watchmaker’s Apprentice at City University as part of the annual George Daniels Lecture. Smith was a student of horologist George Daniels. Free, prebook, 6.30pm

COMEDY: Mae Martin and some of her (as yet unannounced) mates will be trying out new material at the Camden Head. And because the gags are untested, it won’t cost you anything. Free, just turn up, 8pm

Thursday 3 December

BOOK OF TRAVELS: The idea for inoculating against smallpox was first brought to London from Ottoman Istanbul. Learn more about the Ottoman Empire in new exhibition The Book Of Travels at Rich Mix. Free, just turn up, 3 December-3 January

RUSSIAN CINEMA: 1915 was an important year in the development of Russian cinema — find out why at this UCL lunchtime lecture. Free, just turn up, 1.15pm

BLINDNESS IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN: The National Archives in Kew examines what life was like for blind and visually impaired people in Victorian Britain, with particular focus on blind campaigners of the era. Free, prebook, 2pm

IMAGINING SPACE TRAVEL: Dr Natalia Sidlina, curator of the Cosmonauts exhibition at Science Museum, holds a lecture about various depictions of the space age, from early sci-fi films to propaganda posters. Free, prebook, 2pm-3pm

ROCKET SCIENCE: Learn about the work researchers in and around Imperial College are doing on space, with a chance to meet Britain's first astronaut Helen Sharman and journey through an inflatable planetarium. Free, prebook, 5pm-7.30pm

ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS MARKET: Head to Old Street roundabout after work for a market where you can get hands on with activities such as sushi-making, graffiti spray painting, tea tasting and more. Free, prebook, 5pm-11pm

Friday 4 December

DISNEY SONGS: Seen the Disney Christmas tree at St Pancras station yet? Today, the Disney choir will be singing classic and new Disney songs, and there are rumours of falling snow for the full festive experience. Free, just turn up, throughout the day

MICHAEL JACKSON: Keyboard player Morris 'Mo' Pleasure was selected to play on Michael Jackson's This Is It tour, but sadly this never happened. Tonight he's at the Yamaha store playing some of the songs from the tour and talking about its production. Free, prebook, 6.30pm

COMEDY: Indulge in a spot of nostalgia as comedians (including Gareth Morinan, sketch troupe Daphne and Harriet Kemsley) pay homage to computer games at the Camden Head. £3/£5, prebook, 8.30pm

Saturday 5 December

MECCANO HANGOUT: Love Meccano models? Get yourself along to Hainault Baptist Church for a room full of models, plus raffles, competitions, and a chance to buy models. £4, 10.30am-5pm

CRIES OF LONDON: Head to Bishopsgate Institute to learn about the history of the trade of peddling in London. Free, prebook, 2pm

SEWING MACHINE MUSEUM: Who knew there was a sewing machine museum in London? Located in Balham, it only opens once a month, and today is one of those days. Free (donations welcome), just turn up, 2pm-5pm

Sunday 6 December

ORGAN OPEN DAY: The Amersham Organ Fair Museum has a rare open day, when the public can visit the instruments on display and learn more about them. Free (donations welcome), just turn up, 11am-5pm

CANDLE MAKING: Try your hand at making candles out of beeswax at Tottenham Marsh, guided by a bee keeper. £4/£2, prebook, 2pm-4pm

Last Updated 29 November 2015