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Things to do today:
BEER FESTIVAL: Pig's Ear Beer Festival is a well-regarded annual beer festival, organised by the East London & City Branch of CAMRA, serving up more than 230 real ales, ciders and perries. The venue is the Round Chapel building, just off Lower Clapton Road. £5 (£3 for CAMRA members), just turn up, 1-5 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
CHRISTIE'S LATE: Christie's auction house in South Kensington is open late for an evening themed around 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
CAPABILITY BROWN: Marcus Barnett, a landscape designer and Chelsea Gold medallist is at the V&A to talk about influential landscaper Capability Brown to mark the 300th anniversary of his birth. Barnett also discusses his own work and the history of landscaping in England. £10/£7, prebook, 6.30pm
ANIMAL SHOWOFF: Enjoy the Grant Museum of Zoology at night, with six researchers showing off (for comedy value) about a specific specimen. £6, prebook, 6.30pm
PICCADILLY SCREENING: Head to London Transport Museum after hours for a special screening of the 1929 classic silent film, Piccadilly, accompanied by a live musical performance. £15/£12, prebook, 7pm
THE CRIME MUSEUM: We loved Museum of London's Crime Museum exhibition when we visited. Tonight, join authors and experts to explore 140 years’ worth of public fascination with the private museum and have the myths and misconceptions debunked. £15, prebook, 7pm
UKULELE SPEED DATING: Try speed dating with a difference at the Goldsmith Pub & Dining Room on Southwark Bridge Road. Meet other singles in the speed dating section of the evening and later join in with a strumalong. £15, prebook, 7pm
SHADWELL OPERA: Head to Bart's Pathology Museum for a performance by opera company Shadwell Opera. The programme includes Peter Maxwell-Davies’ Eight Songs for A Mad King, and Schoenberg’s chamber arrangement of Mahler’s song cycle, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The evening is completed with an appearance by life drawing salon Art Macabre. From £6.25, prebook, 7pm
COMEDY: Nish Kumar’s Edinburgh award-nominated show comes to the Soho Theatre until 12 December (with another run in January if you’re super busy up to Christmas). £10-£17.50, prebook, 7.30pm
Make, do and buy crafty things in the run up to Christmas:
CHRISTMAS CARD MAKING: Christmas cards mean something more when lovingly hand-crafted. Learn paper cutting, pop ups and paper embroidery at a workshop at St Bride Foundation, Fleet Street on 3 December.
ETSY MADE LOCAL: Browse the wares of 50 handpicked local Etsy makers at the Vinyl Factory Soho on 4, 5 and 6 December.
MILLINERY MASTERCLASS: Learn to make a hat with Lizzie Lock at Clerkenwell's 155. Glasses of bubbly are included, presumably to help get into a Philip Treacy state of mind on 8 December.
PAINT LONDON: Channel your artistic streak via a glass of wine and create a festive cityscape with PopUp Painting at the Trafalgar Hotel, St James's, on 8 December.
CHRISTMAS MAKERS MARKET: Visit the Makers' Market at NOW Gallery, Greenwich Peninsula, for craft, jewellery, festive food and drink and live jazz to serenade the shopping on 11 and 12 December.
WOOLLY HAT MAKING: Everybody loves a beanie, especially if it's handknitted. Let Wool and the Gang guide you as you knit one, purl one and make a woolly hat in an afternoon on 12 December.
CONTOUR PATTERN CUTTING: Master the mannequin at The Fashion Box and make someone a figure hugging fashion statement this Christmas on 19 December.
Good causes of the day
Tonight, Red Ribbon Cabaret takes place at The Clapham Grand. It's an evening of music and comedy raising money for South London HIV charity Wandsworth Oasis. More information and tickets.
And it's GIVING TUESDAY! Donate £5 to a local small charity or community group today through Localgiving and 1,000 donations will be doubled. Check out the charities involved and donate here.
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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.
