Things To Do In London: Monday 30 November 2015

By Londonist Last edited 100 months ago
Things To Do In London: Monday 30 November 2015

Today's Things To Do In London is sponsored by the Royal Albert Hall which has some excellent guided tours coming  up — read on to find out more.

Join Londonist at Conway Hall. Photo by Kangan Arora in the Londonist Flickr pool

Things to read

Ever heard about this field of footsteps, buried somewhere beneath the paving stones of Bloomsbury?

How London's Thames bridges got their names.

Video: Secrets of the Overground.

Have we got news for you

Catch up with what's been going on in London with our latest news roundup.

Things to do

WRITE AND SHINE: Kickstart your week with a morning writing workshop at JW3 Centre in East Finchley. Writer Gemma Seltzer leads a series of morning-themed exercises to create new pieces of poetry, fiction or life writing. Open to everyone, regardless of writing experience. £10, prebook, 7.30am

LIFE AS A SERVANT: Take a peek behind the scenes of life as a servant at Fulham Palace. Join curator Miranda Poliakoff who will talk about these rarely seen people. £10, prebook, 2pm

SHAKE IT OFF: Make like Taylor Swift at Drink Shop Do as you learn the dance moves to her hit song Shake It Off. £10, prebook, 7pm-9pm

GET YOUR KNIT ON: Make yourself a snood at Queen of Hoxton in Shoreditch. Wool And The Gang (see what they did there?) lead a knitting workshop suitable for beginners and advanced knitters — all materials included, so you just need to bring yourself. £35, prebook, 7pm-9pm

LONDON IS DRINKING: Join Londonist, beer experts Pete Brown and Melissa Cole, gin-historian Richard Barnett, and various London brewers and distillers for an evening looking at London's booze industry and sampling its fine products. At Conway Hall. £8/£5, prebook, 7.30pm, bar open from 6.30pm

BATMAN RETURNS: Not made it to Winterville in Victoria Park yet? Head along tonight to explore the festivities and catch a screening of Batman Returns at Backyard Cinema's Winter Night Garden. Various prices, prebook, 7.30pm

LIVE MUSIC: Irish folk singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes performs at Union Chapel in Islington tonight, accompanied by her full band. She's been nominated for a UK Mercury Prize in the past, so we're expecting good things. £25.50, prebook, 7.30pm

COMEDY: See lots of great comedians at the Good Ship in Kilburn, including Ellie Taylor, Chris Coltrane, Evelyn Mok, Sir Ian Bowler MP and John Hastings. £5, prebook, 8pm

Today's Things To Do In London is sponsored by the Royal Albert Hall.


Go behind the scenes of London's most prestigious music hall

Most people think of the Royal Albert Hall as a concert venue but did you know about its historical connection with both the Suffragettes and Winston Churchill?

Take a tour of the Hall and hear untold stories of the famous people who have frequented it — from Albert Einstein to The Beatles. You can gain access to the backstage areas with the Behind the Scenes tour, explore the Hall’s secret history with an experienced guide or admire the building’s Victorian contours with the Inside Out tour. After you've snooped around, complete your experience with a top quality Afternoon Tea in the Hall’s charming restaurant Verdi, taking in breathtaking views of the Royal College of Music.

Tours take place on both weekdays and weekends and cost £12.25 pp when booking online — see all available dates here.

Choose one of Royal Albert Hall's tours and go behind the scenes of London's iconic music venue.

Royal Albert Hall is at Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP.


Music Monday: quirky and festive gigs on sale now

WEST END WENDIES: Open mic night is where raw singing talent can be discovered. Go to listen or perform! West End Wendies is at Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec, Kennington on 3 December from 7pm.

Get Tickets

LONDON GAY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: LGSO present their Christmas Concert, playing Rimsky-Korsakov’s festive Capriccio Espagnol and Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition, with Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Mulled wine and mince pies will be on hand at St Sepulchre Without Newgate on 13 December. Tickets just £10:

Get Tickets

FESTIVE CHARITY GIG: The Bowen Quartet headline Hoxton Square's Zigfrid Von Underbelly in aid of St Mungo's and Cancer Research. Expect classical, pop and jazz music plus live poetry and electronica on 15 December from 6.30pm. Tickets £7:

Get Tickets

SOUL AND FUNK REVIEW: The POW All Star Annual Funk and Soul Review closes a year of live music in epic fashion with a stellar cast of musicians and lots of grooves at the Prince of Wales, Brixton on 17 December from 7pm. Save £5:

Get Tickets

VINYL GIVEAWAY: Every song must go! Dance to it, then walk away with it at the House Clearance House Party with Vinyl Giveaway at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes on 18 December at 9pm. Tickets £5:

Get Tickets

CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONES: London Indie Choir Some Voices presents an upbeat festive programme of Christmas No.1 singles at York Hall, Bethnal Green on 15 December from 8pm. Wear a Christmas jumper, drink mulled wine and singalong. Tickets £16.

Get Tickets

Good cause of the day

Book now for Tuesday's A Merry Christmas Cabaret at the Hippodrome Casino. Performers from West End shows including Wicked, Mamma Mia and Les Miserables join together to belt out tunes in aid of Pancreatic Cancer Research.

Secrets of the Underground

Love all of our Secrets of the Underground videos, with trivia and little-known tips about London Underground lines? Our Secrets of the Underground DVD covers all 11 tube lines, plus a bonus DLR video and 20 minutes of exclusive extras and outtakes.

Find more London events in our Free & Cheap events listings. Want to see your event in these last-minute listings? Email us at hello@londonist.com at least 48 hours before the event, and we will consider it for inclusion. Note: due to high volumes of email, we can't always reply.

Last Updated 29 November 2015