Free things to do in London this week.
Architecture fest
Continuing until the end of June, London Festival of Architecture has a packed programme, including many free events. Budget-friendly options this week include a guided walk through Walworth focusing on the spaces which hold communities together; Your London, an interactive experience inviting you to share your perspective on the capital; and the Cody Dock Summer Festival, where new exhibition space The Boat House is unveiled.
Check out the full programme (but note: not everything on there is free).
Until 30 June.
American independence
This summer marks 250 years since the United States Declaration of Independence, an anniversary which'll be widely celebrated on and around 4 July.
Ahead of that, the National Maritime Museum opens a new, free display in its Caird Library this Monday, showcasing what's thought to be the first report of American independence to reach Britain. It centres around a letter dated 10 July 1776 and a handwritten copy of the Declaration made between 5 and 10 July 1776.
Both were sent to John Montagu, First Lord of the Admiralty, mere days after the Declaration was first printed in Philadelphia.
From 15 June.
Agriculture's climate crises
Though the big opening at Hayward Gallery this week is the (paid) Anish Kapoor exhibition, head to its HENI Project Space for the first UK exhibition of Indian artist Kulpreet Singh.
The free display, Indelible Black Marks, uses films and paintings to highlight the urgent link between climate change and agricultural crises, with particular focus on the ritual of stubble-burning — setting fire to straw remnants to prepare the fields for a new crop cycle.
16 June-2 August.
Dickens talk
Author Livi Michael is at the Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury on Wednesday to discuss the research behind her latest novel, Elizabeth and Ruth.
It explores the real-life correspondence between Gaskell and Dickens, focusing on a young girl Gaskell attempted to help amidst the censorship and social prejudices of the Victorian era.
Watch in-person at the Doughty Street townhouse or online via Zoom. Entry to the museum is not included with the free talk.
17 June.
Lunchtime music
If you find yourself in Greenwich on Wednesday lunchtime, chamber music students from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance are giving a free performance in the Great Hall inside Queen's House.
17 June.
Dutch Pride
With Pride in London happening next month, the Dutch Centre gets the party started early, to mark 35 years of same sex marriage in the Netherlands, 30 years of Amsterdam Pride — and 10 years of same sex weddings at the Dutch Church in London.
The LGBTQ+ Festival on Thursday evening begins with a screening of three short films curated by Roze Filmdagen, followed by a celebration in the church hall led by Rev. Bertjan van de Lagemaat and Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Paul Huijts. A surprise live act appears later in the evening.
It's free to attend, but book a ticket so the organisers can plan around numbers.
18 June.
Museum after hours
'Alchemy after dark' is the theme of this month's late-night opening at the Bank of England Museum. Visit once the daytime crowds have left, for entertainment centred around a limited-time art installation by Melek Zeynep, depicting the timeless struggle to turn base metal into gold. You can also take part in craft activities with an alchemy theme, as well as browsing the museum's usual exhibits and displays.
18 June.
Ideas Festival
The British Academy invites the public inside its Carlton House Terrace home for its annual Festival of Ideas, bringing experts together for talks and activities on all manner of topics.
It kicks off with a Friday Late, with discussions about the ethics of dating apps, and sarcasm in multilingual speakers — as well as craft activities, short film screenings and pop-up research stations where British Academy members introduce their current work.
Saturday has a packed schedule including a headline talk by Sunil Amrith, winner of the British Academy Book Prize, and author of The Burning Earth: An Environmental History of the Last 500 Years. Elsewhere, take tours of the British Academy building, hear talks about neurodiversity, apartheid history and sustainability in ancient civilisations. That's just a taster of the packed programme.
19-20 June.
Windrush celebrations
Head to the National Maritime Museum on Saturday for its free, family-friendly Windrush Day event.
Celebrate the lives and legacies of those who arrived in Britain on the HMT Empire Windrush in 1948. Try your hand at Caribbean cloth printing, view a photography display, watch short films, trace your ancestors in a Caribbean family history workshop, and watch panel discussions about the Windrush legacy. Discover more Windrush events (some of them free) in our roundup.
20 June.
Okinawa Day
London's annual Okinawa Day celebrates the music, dances and food from the islands of the Ryukyu archipelago in southern Japan. Head to the Blue Market in Bermondsey on Saturday for classical music Ryukyu-style, folk-song performances on the sanshin, and karate demonstrations.
20 June.
World-class haircuts
Ever fancied recreating the peroxide curls of Carlos Valderrama, or Glenn Hoddle's infamous mullet on top of your bonce? This weekend, viagogo is taking over Ruffians Shoreditch to give footie fans the world-class hairstyle of their dreams. (Whether anyone else thinks it looks world-class remains to be seen.) Book your one-hour appointment.
20-21 June.
West End in Trafalgar Square
This weekend is the most wonderful time of the year for musical theatre fans. Stars from London's current West End musicals perform FOR FREE on a pop-up stage in Trafalgar Square.
West End Live is a huge, free festival, with casts from Beetlejuice The Musical, Cabaret, Hamilton, Les Misérables, Mamma Mia!, Matilda The Musical, Paddington The Musical, Six, Wicked and many more confirmed as performing this year (exact schedule should be available some time this week).
It's an incredibly popular event, and unticketed, so you'll need to arrive very early to be in with a chance of getting in. Large numbers of people are turned away each year when the square reaches capacity. Consider yourself warned!
20-21 June.
