Budget-friendly things to do in London this week for £5 or less.
Looking for more free things to do in London? Here are 102 of em! We've also compiled this epic map of free stuff in London.
Celebrate the anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio
This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio, a collection of his plays including well-known works such as Macbeth, Twelfth Night and The Tempest. The Fleet Street Quarter marks the anniversary with free lunchtime performances throughout August, and into September and October.
The first takes place at Apex Temple Court Hotel. Get there for 12.15pm to see Troubaour Stageworks performing a tale travelling through the forests of Arden, Athens and Rousillon, the high seas of Illyria and the castles of Glamis and Elsinore. Not a bad little trip for a Tuesday lunchtime.
Free, 8 August.
Watch Mamma Mia! on the big screen for free
Escape to a Greek island via the big screen, at a free outdoor screening of 2008 musical film Mamma Mia!, featuring the music of ABBA. It's part of Canary Wharf's Movie Nights series, which shows a different film every week. Take your own picnic blanket and snacks along, and bagsy a spot in front of the screen in Canada Square Park.
The same screen is used for Family Film Club on selected Saturdays — including a free screening of Inside Out this Saturday morning (12 August).
Free, 8 August.
Visit England's oldest garden
It's thought that College Garden at Westminster Abbey is the oldest garden in the country, and on Wednesday, there's a chance to visit it for free, as part of Family Day: Planet & Plants. Green-fingered folks from Buckingham Palace, Root & Branch, the Linnean Society, the Royal Institution and the Geological Society will be on hand to teach you and the kids how to speak the language of plants, and help you design your own nature mask, inspired by the green men in the Abbey. The event is followed by a (free) brass band performance and storytelling sesh. Book your slot in advance.
Free, 9 August.
Wrap your ears around some Summer Sounds
Free music festival Summer Sounds is back at King's Cross, with live concerts every evening, starting this Wednesday with Birmingham-based female a cappella quintet Black Voices.
The Brass Rascals, Nashville duo Ida Mae, and singer-songwriter Connie Campsie are on the line-up too, and there are family sessions on Sunday afternoon.
(Note: this is a different event to Canary Wharf's Summer Sounds series of free concerts (though there is also one of those on Wednesday this week), and is different again to Summer Sessions, a music festival taking place in Greenwich Peninsula this weekend.)
Free, 9-20 August.
Pack the teens off to watch Black Panther
Wellcome Collection hosts another of its special film screenings for 14-19 year olds, and this time, it's 2018's Black Panther. The film is introduced by artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, who also host a discussion about themes of science, race and technology, after the credits roll. Teens still not convinced? There's free pizza, popcorn, sweets and soft drinks provided. Sold!
Free, 10 August.
Go along to the Queer Family Picnic
As part of Summer in the Courtyard, Somerset House hosts a Queer Family Picnic, an intergenerational gathering bringing together queer families in all forms, and those who support them. It's curated by Pxssy Palace, an arts platform which provides spaces for Black, indigenous and people of colour who are women, queer, intersex, trans or non-binary.
This event features live music, talks and performances which are suitable for all ages, taking place in the open-air courtyard.
Free, 11 August.
Make like Wallace and Gromit
On Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery's Summer on the Square creative festival is in full swing, and this Saturday, the Cartoon Museum brings in the big guns — Will Harding, a modelmaker for animation studio Aardman — for a free modelmaking workshop. Children aged 6+ can join in and make their own Wallace and Gromit models to take home with them. No need to book, just drop in throughout the day.
Free, 12 August.
Enter yourself in the Spogomi World Cup
OK, bear with us here. Spogomi is the Japanese sport of picking up litter. That sport has a world cup. And you can take part in the UK qualifying round in Hackney.
Points are awarded for the type and weight of rubbish collected in a certain area within a certain time period. It's a great way to get involved in cleaning up the park, and if you win, the prize is a trip to Japan to compete in the finals.
It's free to take part and there's no age limit, but each team must have three members — and any team with someone under 12 must have at least once member aged 18+. If you don't want to take part, just head along to watch and find out what it's all about — because to be quite honest, we're intrigued.
Free, 12 August.
Flit between four stages at Thamesmead Festival
51 years after the first Thamesmead Festival, the annual event is back, with four stages of music, dance, spoken word and fitness classes to enjoy, for free. House Gospel Choir, local poet Andrew Livingstone-Boyd, and Thamesmead-born TikTok dance sensation Dancer Ras are on the line-up, so get down to Southmere Park in plenty of time to get a front row spot.
Keep the family fed and watered with locally-made food and drink from on-site stalls, and entertain the kids with free workshops.
Free, 12 August.
Catch the last week of this free Beatrix Potter exhibition
The V&A held a large Beatrix Potter exhibition a couple of years ago, but not many people know about the smaller display, Beatrix Potter and 'Aesop in the Shadows' which has been open in a smaller room of the museum since last year. It focuses specifically on the children's writer's interest in Aesop's animal fables, and how they influenced and shaped her own work. This week is your last chance to see it.
Free, until 13 August.
