London On The Cheap

By Kira Last edited 190 months ago
London On The Cheap
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Oi oi, London has been extra kind to those of us light in the pockets this week. From gallery shows to band performances to free food (now I have your attention…), there’s something for every night to brighten the sodding work-home-sleep-work routine.

Monday: Button up your jodhpurs, roll up your knee socks, lace up your oxfords, and tilt your newsboy cap sideways in honour of tonight’s themed monthly book club at Bourne & Hollingsworth bar, inspired by the interwar years of Arthur Ransom’s Swallows and Amazons. 6.30-8.30, free. Or, if you’re feeling more hungry than nostalgic, get thee to suspiciously generous Free Food Mondays at Soho gay spot Trash Palace. The head chef (who also runs the kitchen at Harvey Nichols) rolls out free gourmet food to the tipsy masses here every Monday. Tuesday: Head over to the Design Museum to check out a remarkable exhibition of the groundbreaking architecture firm of Richard Rogers, the man responsible for bringing the the colorful exoskeleton-esque Pompidou to Paris and the Millennium Dome to London. £5 students, £8.50 adults, now through 25 August.Catch a free performance of the impressive new experimental electro-pop group We Yes You No at the rad Café 1001 from 8pm. Free! Wednesday: Balkan ex-pat or Gypsy groupie? Bust out the multi-coloured prints and head to the longest running and regular night of Roma/influenced music in London. DJs spin the weirdest and rarest old and new Gypsy music. From 8pm, free, at the Ritzy Café/Bar in Brixton.Thursday: A new exhibit to add to London’s festival of Chinese culture Lam Tung Pang’s Where Is My Mum? exhibit, exploring the tensions between the real and the actual in the 3 cities he has resided in: Hong Kong, Beijing, and London. Free, Golden Lane Estate Gallery.Friday: Celebrate the onset of summer at the Chelsea Flower Show, a 4-day design-led exhibition with roots (get it??) tracing back to 1862. On Tues-Sat. Tickets are sold out already, so unless you’re a rabid flower fan or an RHS member, you might have to wait until the splendid Hampton Court flower show in July.Saturday: Raise your mouse if you like the pairing of salad and Mozart! If you’re a Fluxus aficionado, you’re likely already aware of what I’m referring to. Today, Allison Knowles performs her iconic ‘Make a Salad’ performance in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern, in which she creates and dresses a salad for an audience of 300 people, coupled with a live performance of a Mozart concerto and the spectacle of throwing dressed salad from a bridge. Free, 1-5 pm.Another lettuce-themed event today is the vegetarian workshop in honour of National Vegetarian Week. From 2.30-5 pm at Inner Space, email info@innerspace.org.uk to reserve your free tickets.Sunday: I’m not sure what you could possibly have better to do than witness the Guinness World Record-breaking event on Regent Street today, in which the Sevillanas Dancers put on the largest-ever flamenco display. Bonus for you, Twinkle-toes: you can participate in the record-breaking effort! Register here.Or, you could stay in and watch Dancing with the Stars. Doubtful anyone breaks any Guinness records there, though.

Image courtesy of beatdrifter’s flickrstream

Last Updated 19 May 2008