Things To Do In London This Weekend: 1-2 November 2014

All weekend

The Ski & Snowboard Show is at London Olympia

HALF TERM: On the last leg of the school holidays and running out of ideas? Half Term in London guide has it covered, come rain or shine.

HALLOWEEN: It's a pretty big business these days, which is why we've put together a whole separate article about Halloween happenings in and around London. It's got everything from parties to film screenings, guided walks and more, and there are plenty of family friendly events too.

FIREWORKS: The whizzbangs begin this weekend. See London's bonfire bashes and firework fiestas organised by borough.

PUB: Just want to kick back and relax with a pint and a packet of pork scratchings? Our pubs guide has information about all the best pubs in London, organised by area for your convenience. Find a boozer nearby, or see if your favourite made the cut.

DAY OF THE DEAD: There are plenty of events going on this weekend to mark the Mexican festival Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Here's our pick of events.

SKI SHOW: The Ski & Snowboard Show is at Earls Court all weekend offering freestyle demonstrations, lessons to brush up on your skills before you hit the slopes this year, fashion shows and a chance to stock up on all manner of snow paraphernalia. £5-£12, prebook, 30 October-2 November

ORCHESTRAL EVENTS: The London Symphony Orchestra marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War with a weekend of events. The centrepiece is the world premiere of a major work, Equal Voices, co-commissioned by the LSO and Royal Scottish National Orchestra from composer Sally Beamish. Other events include a study day entitled Music, Poetry and the Trauma of War. £10-£38, prebook, 1-2 November

THIS IS NOT A GATEWAY: Head to Bishopsgate Institute for free workshops, discussions, exhibitions, films, walks and performances that offer provocative insight into our increasingly urbanised lives, as part of This Is Not A Gateway festival. 1-2 November

LAST CHANCE: See David Monteleone exhibition at Saatchi Gallery before it closes on Monday. The award winning photographer explores the Chechen identity with a series of photographs taken during his trips to the country. Free, until 3 November

X-MEN: Sky Studios at the O2 is celebrating all things X-Men. Discover your mutant X-gene and put your new powers to the test. See your hands transform with claws like Wolverine, shoot lightning bolts like Storm, or throw metal objects like Magneto. Take your seat at the Sky News  desk to present the headlines from major scenes in X-Men: Days of Future Past, pose with your favourite characters, and get up close to costumes and props from the set. Free, just turn up, 12pm-8pm daily, until 16 November

Saturday 1 November

Last year's Regent Street Motor Show, photo by Fabio Lugaro from the Londonist Flickr pool

RICHMOND PARK: Take a free guided walk around Richmond Park, with the Friends of Richmond Park. Meet at Pembroke Lodge Car Park, 10am-12pm

NEW MARKET: A new weekly produce and street food market launches in Peckham, offering locally sourced produce, street food traders, and for this week, Bonfire Night goodies. Visitors to the market can tweet pictures of their brunch using the hashtag #tweetasyoueat. For every person that tweets this to @peckham_market and @onefeedstwo,  a meal will be provided to a child in poverty — the aim is to reach 2,000 by Christmas. Free, just turn up, 10am-2pm

GEOLOGY FESTIVAL: UCL's Festival of Geology takes place in Gower Street, where families can handle fossils, minerals and rocks. Try your hand at gem panning, identifying minerals and casting fossils, or come and listen to the range of talks on topics such as tropical forests at the poles or the colour of dinosaurs. Free, 1oam-4.30pm

MOTOR SHOW: The Regent Street Motor Show displays over 300 cars spanning 125 years of motoring, from the earliest 19th century veterans to the 21st century cars of the future. Free to view, just turn up, 10.30am-4pm

VAMPIRE WALK: To round off Halloween week, inmidtown presents a special horror walk. A vampire-costumed guide takes you to places connected to the lives of Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, and Mary Shelley, the writer of Frankenstein, and talks about influences on their famous books in and around Holborn. Meet at the GoToMidtown shop near Oxford Circus. Free, just turn up, 11am/2pm

FAMILY CONCERT: City of London Sinfonia brings the Shakespeare Series to a close with a family concert at Cadogan Hall, which aims to introduce young children (3-8 years) to orchestra and classical music. The concert includes extracts from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty waltz,and Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas. £10/£8, prebook, 12pm

FAMILY DAY: Whitechapel Gallery has a family day where artists Monica Rivas Velasquez and Freya Gabie will be on hand to help youngsters make and exhibit their own collaborative drawings in wire, cotton, string, rope, plywood and paper. Free, prebook, 12pm-4pm

WAR OPERA: Radlett Operatic Society performs songs from its  upcoming show, Oh What a Lovely War! at the RAF Museum in Colindale. Free, just turn up, 12pm/2pm

ROMEO AND JULIET: The National Theatre hosts a family workshop enabling youngsters to explore the story of Romeo and Juliet. Find out about the Montagues and Capulets’ ancient grudge, stage a street fight and discover some Shakespearean insults to use on your enemies. £5/£3, prebook, 12.30pm

ART MACABRE: Death Drawing runs a Mexican Day of the Dead themed art macabre drawing class at The Book Club in Shoreditch. All drawing materials provided. £10/£15, prebook, 2pm

MELVIN MOTI:  Dutch artist Melvin Moti is the subject of today's Artist's Film Club at the ICA on the Mall today. The programme features several of his short films plus a Q&A with the man himself. £5, prebook, 5pm

STREET FOOD: The Euro Car Park in Shoreditch is the unlikely location for the weekly Urban Food Fest, a night street food market. Tonight, there's a Ghosts & Ghouls Halloween special. Everyone in Halloween fancy dress will win a free shot from the Urban Food Fest bar and the best costume will win a bottle of champagne.Free, just turn up, 5pm-midnight

TREASURE HUNT: Our friends at Curiocity are hosting a literary London treasure hunt round London's oldest bookshop, the beautiful Hatchards. Follow the clues and find the London-y authors hidden in the stacks! Get on the trail of Iain Sinclair, 'The Gentle Author', Catharine Arnold, Patience Agbabi and Bradley Garrett. Free but please email events@hatchards.co.uk to book your place or call 0207 4399921. From 6pm

EAST ASIAN FILM: East Asian Cinematic Highlights (E.A.C.H.) is an evening of films which aims to promote and celebrate the work of a diverse group of UK-based East Asian film-makers in a programmes which aims to challenge cliched perceptions of Britain’s third largest ethnic minority group. The evening begins with a programme of four shorts films, followed by an interval and then a screening of feature film Ping Pong. £3-£5, prebook, 6.30pm

OPEN WATER CONCERT: South London Swimming Club hosts its third "open water concert" at the White Lion pub in Streatham. The evening features music and performance from members of the club's winter swimming community at Tooting Bed Lido. This year's deck ranges from monologue to music hall, through singer songwriters, punk and classical. 7pm

DINNER DANCE: Disappearing Dining Club's monthly dinner dance moves to a different location every month - this time it's near Old Street. A ticket includes cocktail and canapés on arrival, a four course dinner, DJs playing dinner sets before, during and after dinner, with late night dancing.  Music is a mix of house and disco. £56, prebook, 7pm

Sunday 2 November

Twerk it at The Book Club.

SUNDAY ROAST: Nothing says Sunday like a full roast dinner. Have a look at our choice of the best Sunday roasts in London, or check out your other food options.

BLINDFOLD RUN: The UK's first 5km and 10km blindfold run takes place in the Olympic Park, as part of RLSB's Life Without Limits festival, raising awareness of what it's like to live in the capital without vision. For the run, pairs of runners navigate the course tethered together - one of them is blindfolded and the other has to guide them. Free to watch, register to take part, from 10am

REMEMBRANCE SERVICE: The Sunday Assembly at Conway Hall in Holborn hosts a non-religious Remembrance Service. The service will be a tribute to the fallen of World War I and serve to remind all of the horror, pity and waste of war. 11am

AIRPORT OPEN DAY: Heading out of the centre of London, Croydon Airport has its monthly open day today. Have a browse around the exhibitions located in the world’s oldest air traffic control tower, and learn about the history of the airport from World War One to its closure in 1959. Free guided tours available. Free (donations gratefully received), just turn up, 11am-4pm (last admission 3.30pm)

FAMILY STORYTELLING: Omnibus Clapham hosts a live interactive musical storytelling featuring the stories of Willy the Wimp and My Wicked Stepmother with the chance to meet author and illustrator Anthony Browne. £6/£4, prebook, 11am/3pm

CHAPEL TOUR: Take a guided tour around Union Chapel, near Highbury & Islington Station, led by Andy Gardner, Chairman of Islington Archaeology and History Society. Discover a secret passage and a hidden garden, both usually off limits to the public. £5, prebook, 12.15pm

MR TURNER: Griffin Gallery has teamed up with Gate Picturehouse in Notting Hill for a screening of new film Mr Turner - about artist Joseph M. W. Turner - followed by a panel discussion between a group of experts in painting, materials and Turner himself. £8.60/£7.60/£5.60, prebook, 1pm

WINE FAIR: Have fun tasting wine at Honest Grapes Big Day Out in Battersea. This friendly 'farmers' market for quality wine' offers a laid back afternoon out with a chance to try and buy high quality handpicked wines from independent growers around the world. There's also a bar and great food to keep you going. Tickets £12 in advance + bkg, £15 on the door and include 6 tasting tokens, 2-8pm

READ NOT DEAD: Middle Temple in the City hosts the next instalment of Shakespeare’s Globe's Read Not Dead. Actors are given a script on a Sunday morning and work with a director to get the play up on its feet – with entrances and exits, token costume and music if needed. They present it, script in hand, to an audience at 4.00pm.£20/£25, prebook, 4pm-7pm

FREE SCREENING: Join ActionAid for a free screening of award winning documentary The UK Gold, which shines a light on the UK's role in the global tax avoidance industry. Takes place on Bowling Green Lane in Clerkenwell. Free, prebook, 6.30pm

TWERK IT: The Book Club in Shoreditch's monthly All Twerk And No Play half-dance-class/half-basement-bashment social takes places tonight. No twerking experience necessary, you'll be taught all the moves. £8, prebook, 6.30pm

QUARTET CONCERT: Zurich based Galatea Quartet perform a concert at King's College (Chapel Strand Campus). The programme includes Rudolf Kelterborn's 6th String Quartet and De Arti Respiranti by Roberto David Rusconi. £9/£5, prebook, 7pm

LITERARY SALON: East End Literary Salon meets at the Ophelia in Dalston for a night of new theatrical writing from a selection of the finest emerging playwrights. This time, the theme is Great Escapes. Pay what you can, just turn up, 7.30pm

COMEDY: That Things Is Comedy showcases the work of Henry Von Strifle, Lucy Frederick, Marvin Alan McCarthy and Jimmy Bird at The Comedy pub near Leicester Square. £7/£10, prebook, 7.30pm

GEEKATORIUM: The pop culture comedy evening with stand up, stories, sketches and songs returns to The Phoenix in Cavendish Square. Acts are Andrew O'Neill, Richard Sandling, Iszi Lawrence, Suman Biswas and Matthew Highton, MC'd by Richard Sandling. £5, prebook, 7.30pm

SHAUN OF THE DEAD: Hackney Attic hosts a Halloween screening of classic zombie film Shaun of the Dead. You can either book your tickets now, or wait for all this to blow over. £8/£6, prebook, 8pm


Other good stuff

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