All weekend
RIVER STAGE: National Theatre's River Stage season continues, and this weekend the Hackney Empire Young Producers take over the open-air stage for a weekend of free entertainment to celebrate 120 years of the east London venue. The programme includes hip hop dance, beatboxing, rap, poetry, live art and gameshow cabaret. FREE, 29-31 July
URBAN ELEPHANT: There's a new, free festival happening in Elephant & Castle. Urban Elephant brings together street theatre, circus, dance and art by both renowned professional street theatre performers and local community art groups. It takes place at various locations in the area, including Castle Square, Elephant Park and Walworth Square. FREE, 29-31 July
POP UP SCREENS: Sydenham gets the Pop Up Screens treatment, as a temporary open-air cinema comes to Mayow Park for three days only. Settle in to watch Dirty Dancing, Ghostbusters Afterlife or The Goonies. Bring your own picnic, or make use of the on-site bar. 29-31 July
SWIMMERS LIMB: Somerset House hosts a new exhibition with artists showing the possibilities of what could exist following regeneration on the stretch of road between two gardens on Victoria Embankment. Swimmers Limb showcases the work of Mani Kambo, Comuzi Lab, Tai Shani and Taylor Le Melle. FREE, 29 July-20 November
LONDON E-PRIX: For the final weekend of the month, all-electric vehicles take over the area around Royal Docks and ExCel for the London E-Prix. The track partially goes inside the ExCel Centre itself, as well as using the local roads, and there's a fan village, live music and kids' area for spectators. 30-31 July
BLACK EATS LDN: Black Eats LDN teams up with Bohemia Place Markets for a market championing Black-owned businesses in Hackney. Tuck into street food from an array of stalls, browse and buy sustainably-made clothing, gifts and skincare, and enjoy rum punch and craft beer. 30-31 July, 12pm-6pm
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS: School's out for summer, and with the holidays in full swing, you'll be needing oodles of ideas for ways to keep kids and teenagers entertained. Take a look at our guide to spending the summer holidays in London, where we've covered events, exhibitions, theatre shows and more — all family-friendly. Some of are free too.
SHAKESPEARE ART TRAIL: To mark the 25th anniversary of Shakespeare's Globe (the modern one, obviously), 25 Shakespeare quotes in various formats have appeared in the surrounding area, forming a free Shakespeare Art Trail. Look out for murals and billboards designed by several different artists, with quotes from The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, and several other of the Bard's plays. FREE, until 30 September
WOMEN OF WW2: The Biggin Hill Memorial Museum unveils a new exhibition remembering the roles that women played in the second world war. Women & War: Hidden Heroes of World War Two tells the stories of women who served in the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and Women's Auxiliary Airforce (WAAF), doing jobs such as guiding fighter pilots; and delivering Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mosquitoes to bases across the country. Uniforms, ID tags and log books are among the items on display. Until 2023
Saturday 30 July
SUMMER SESSIONS: Covent Garden's Seven Dials district hosts a free, one-day summer festival. Food stalls take over the streets, with live music and activities such as craft workshops, tarot card reading and hair braiding. FREE, 12pm-6pm
CLIPPER RACE FINISH: Head to the Royal Docks to see the finish of the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race 2022. A large finale celebration takes place to cheer the winning crew home, with live music and DJs, an award ceremony, and food and drink. FREE, 12pm-9pm
BODY MOVEMENTS: Body Movements is a multi-venue dance music festival, celebrating the full spectrum of Queer club culture. 60+ artists take over 16 east London venues for a fully inclusive night of clubbing. 12pm-11pm
GREAT FIRE: London on the Ground — run by tour guide Jonathan Wober — offers a two-hour guided walk themed on the Great Fire of London. Take a closer look at the Monument, including the sculpted reliefs on the outside, before following the route of the fire from Pudding Lane, as it destroyed buildings including St Paul's Cathedral. 2.30pm
BBC YOUNG COMPOSER: As part of this year's BBC Proms, Battersea Arts Centre hosts a celebration of young composers, aged 12-18. Hear the BBC Concert Orchestra perform new works by up-and-coming composers including Chelsea Becker, Isaac Bristow, Maddy Chassar-Hesketh, Will Everitt, Theo Kendall, Daniel Liu and Jenna Stewart. FREE, 4pm
LONDON IN 7 DRINKS: Experience how seven drinks — mead, ale, wine, coffee, hot chocolate, tea and gin — forged modern London on this four-hour bacchanalian tour with Dr Matthew Green, visiting some of London’s oldest and most evocative drinking establishments, and including generous servings of all seven elixirs. 1pm-5pm
CONFLICT OF DISINTEREST: BBC New Voices Winner Jenan Younis comes to Nell of Old Drury, to take a comical look at how she turned from Che Guevara obsessive, to powerless-feeling backseater — and them came to revive what she stood for, following a genocide in her ancestral homeland. 7.30-8.30pm
Sunday 31 July
EURO FINAL: It's the final of the Women's Euro football competition today, and if you've not bagged your Wembley tickets, check out one of these places broadcasting the action outdoors on a big screen.
DUKEFEST: Four nights of strange and unexpected films, shorts, clips, trailers and TV oddities from around the world are screened at DukeFest. It kicks off today with the UK premiere of Bloody Oranges, a dark comedy about a retired couple trying to win a dance competition to pay their outstanding bills. 31 July-3 August
TALES FROM THE SHED: Head to Poplar Union for Tales from the Shed, a lively and vibrant theatre show aimed at 0-7 year olds and their families. Expect puppets, songs and plenty of interaction from the north London-based theatre company. 10am/11.30am
UKRAINIAN FREEDOM ORCHESTRA: The BBC Proms continue with a performance by the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. The orchestra consists of musicians from Ukrainian cities who have been displaced as refugees by the current conflict, as well as other Ukrainian musicians who were already performing with other European orchestras. 11am
OLIVER TWIST: The Charles Dickens Museum offers a guided walk, from the museum itself in Bloomsbury to the Old Bailey, focusing on the places and people which inspired the author to write Oliver Twist. They include the spot where Oliver is accused of robbing Mr Brownlow, and the setting for Fagin's den of thieves. 11am
DRAG BRUNCH: Bring your week to a fabulous end with the West End drag brunch at The Folly, near Monument. Drag queens fresh from the West End stage perform as you tuck into bottomless cocktails, soaked up by dishes including buttermilk chicken and waffle, eggs royale or fish and chips. 1pm-4pm
CINEMA REDISCOVERED: Catch a screening of 2001 Tanzanian film Maangamizi: The Ancient One, at Barbican Cinema. It's the story of the relationship between three women, reflecting on the ways African identify functions across the diaspora, and is shown as part of the Cinema Rediscovered series. After the film, Tanzanian audio-visual collective Ajabu Ajabu share their experience of helping to build audiences for the film across Africa. 2.30pm
SYLVAN WEEKENDS: The Solo Craft Fair shop in Elephant & Castle hosts its first live gig since the store opened last November. Enjoy live music from alt-indie-folk trio Sylvan Weekends as you browse and buy products from more than 60 independent businesses. FREE, 3pm
AUSTENTATIOUS: Head to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre for Austentatious, a comedy show on the premise of an improvised Jane Austen novel. The cast — dressed in period costume — take a suggested title from the audience, and improvise a whole show around it, right in front of you. 7.45pm
