Things to do in London over the August bank holiday weekend
You’re obviously not the type to relax in the park with a good book during a long weekend. Like an American tourist, you’re after a chockablock calendar, with things to do and places to be.
Unlike the American tourist, you’ve left it until the last minute, but luckily for you, London has a line-up of events with tickets still available. From cultural and musical festivals to vogue-ing to new restaurant openings, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into during this bank holiday weekend.
Events
Most of these are annual events, so if they’re not already on your calendar, they should be. There are events for introverts, extroverts and everybody in between.
Notting Hill Carnival
Parades, a masquerade, floats, dancing, Caribbean food stalls, sound systems, steel bands—lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Held every year throughout the August bank holiday weekend, Notting Hill Carnival is back with an estimated plus-two million visitors who will take in the sights and sounds, and eat, drink and dance their way through West London’s most epic street party.
Notting Hill, W11 | Notting Hill Carnival
Vogue Rites presents The Mighty Crown Ball
With origins in the Drag Balls of Harlem, New York, Ballroom is a space that celebrates and prioritises Black and Latinx members of the LGBTQIA+ community. This celebration in Ball culture has spread across the globe, and for the third year running, the recently scorched courtyard at Somerset House will transform into an open-air Vogue Ball presented by London grassroots Ballroom collective, Vogue Rites.
On 24 August, the Mighty Crown Ball will celebrate dance, fashion, and music, with international Ballroom talent and performers walking the runway and competing to see who will reign supreme.
The Strand, WC2R | Somerset House
Middle Earth Marathon at Prince Charles Cinema
If you’re a fan of either cinema marathons or the works of Tolkien, the Prince Charles Cinema is hosting a Middle Earth Marathon, screening all six Peter Jackson films on Sunday, 25 August. The Hobbit films will run back-to-back-to-back, with a 30-minute break before moving on to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Leicester Square, WC2H | Prince Charles Cinema
The Big Swig Beer Fest at Big Penny Social
Walthamstow’s Big Penny Social hosts the ultimate beer festival with free entry on 23-24 August. There will be 120 keg and 75 cask beers from the best breweries in the UK, such as Anspach & Hobday, Burning Sky, Howling Hops and more, much much more. Complete with live music, it’s the beer festival to end all beer festivals.
Walthamstow, E17 | Big Penny Social
Art & exhibitions
For the cultured, the curious and those who prefer things quiet and indoors.
The Moco Museum
After raging successes in Amsterdam and then Barcelona, the Moco Museum has recently opened in London. A haven for modern and contemporary art, you can currently check out the permanent collection, Modern Masters, featuring the enduring works of iconic artists, from the likes of Warhol, Basquiat and Picasso to Damien Hirst and Yayoi Kusama.
Marble Arch, W2 | Moco Museum
PULSE: Beyond Delight
With thirteen immersive zones, Pulse is a groundbreaking media art exhibition that allows you to explore the city of Seoul without leaving London. Experience Seoul’s cutting-edge technology and rich traditional art through state-of-the-art media, sound and light, celebrating the capital city’s heritage past and dynamic future.
Southwark, SE1 | Pulse exhibition
Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibition
Possibly the most social media-optimised exhibition in London, Accidentally Wes Anderson comes to a close this bank holiday weekend. This is your last chance to experience seven themed rooms inspired by the cult film director’s stylistic art direction. HeadBox Pro-tip: ensure the colour palette of your outfit is suitably Wes Anderson-esque for the best photos possible.
South Kensington, SW7 | AW exhibition
Music
Disco, house, techno, hip-hop, noughties emo. It’s all happening. Almost every London park of a reasonable size will be given over to a music festival this weekend.
Battersea Park in Concert
In the SW, open-air picnic concerts in stunning Battersea Park. Kicking off with Proms in the Park with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra on Saturday, followed by a night of popular musical numbers also performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and ending with Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra on Monday.
Battersea, SW11 | Battersea Park in Concert
Boiler Room Festival
Boiler Room, the super popular music broadcaster and club promoter focusing on underground genres, is hosting its biggest open-air, multi-stage party to date in London at Lee Valley Showgrounds on 25 August. There will be full stage takeovers by Club Heartbroken & Teletech, with Giggs, Skream, Benga and co. on the main stage and a recently-announced Rap stage hosted by Victory Lap.
Waltham Cross, EN9 | Boiler Room
Body Movements
Body Movements is setting up shop in Southwark Park on 25 August, with a line-up that includes Pxssy Palace, Adonis, Queer House Party, Riposte and involvement of 25+ other club nights. The massive day-to-night festival creates space for queer bodies and celebrates LGBTQ+ clubbing culture in London and beyond, replete with all the best dance tunes.
Southwark, SE16 | Body Movements
Eastern Electrics
The Lee Valley Showgrounds is making the most of what is arguably the last weekend of summer, with its takeover by music festivals. Saturday, 24 August belongs to the musical festival, Eastern Electrics, offering a line-up of house, disco and techno with acts like Jamie Jones, Joseph Capriati and Groove Armada.
Waltham Cross, EN9 | Eastern Electrics
All Points East & Field Day
Once again taking over Victoria Park throughout the bank holiday weekend, All Points East has booked a line-up of the greatest ‘90s and noughties alternative acts, with Field Day honing in on the latest and greatest electronic acts. Field Day acts include the likes of Justice, Charlotte de Witte, 2manydjs and Yaeji, and the All Points East acts include LCD Soundsystem, Mitski, Loyle Carner and Pixies.
Victoria Park, E3 | All Points East | Field Day
RALLY
Southwark Park is the location of the second edition of Rally on 24 August. Inspired by DIY culture and grassroots movements, Rally celebrates London’s music and arts communities, with British electronic duo, Mount Kimbie, as the headline act and a line-up including Armand Hammer, Nilüfer Yanya, and DJs Call Super, Lena Willikens and Moopie.
Southwark, SE16 | Rally
Food & drink
If you’re not too skint during the last weekend before payday, here are the latest food & drink openings I recommend spending the last of your hard-earned cash at.
Eat Momo
Get down to Borough Yards to try the recently opened Eat Momo. Sisters Trishna and Dipa Chamling, inspired by their upbringing in Nepal, serve popular street food, momo, or steamed Nepalese dumplings. Veggie and meat fillings wrapped in dough and hand-folded into plump dumplings accompanied by tomato chutney and spicy chilli pickle, arguably one of the most moreish snacks.
Borough, SE1 | Eat Momo
It’s Bagels
Following on the heels of success at their Primrose Hill location, It’s Bagels has recently opened up shop in Notting Hill, bringing their ever-popular New York-style bagels to West London. The generous fillings between fluffy bagel slices have a not-so-generous price, but if you’ve ever seen a photo of the cross-section of their bagels you’d know what all the fuss was about. Besides, it’s either spend a couple hundred pounds on a flight to New York to get your bagel fix or £15 at It’s Bagels, jet lag free.
Notting Hill, NW11 | It's Bagels
Goodbye Horses Wine Bar
The listening bar trend moves north across London with Goodbye Horses. A sleek, Swiss-designed interior with a wall of 4,000 records, complete with a vintage 1970s audiophile system with Tannoy Lancaster speakers. Not satisfied with just being a listening wine bar, Goodbye Horses is also a pour-over coffee shop called Day Trip—one day, we’ll look back and say that listening bars, pour-over coffee and interiors that resemble plant nurseries were the defining features of the early 2020s. Still, I have a premonition of me drunkenly singing “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazzarus as I pay for my organic wine and small plates with my credit card.
De Beauvoir Town, N1 | Goodbye Horses
Oriole
Smithfield Market’s Oriole cocktail bar closed shop in 2022 but has made a triumphant (and permanent!) comeback as a cocktail bar and restaurant in Covent Garden. Offering stunning plates of Latin American-styled food, accompanied by cocktails of a calibre that made the former incarnation of Oriole so popular. Guests who book a table during the soft launch throughout the bank holiday weekend will receive 25% off their bill—not to be sniffed at any time but especially not before payday.
Covent Garden, WC2E | Oriole
Ambassadors Clubhouse
With a strong interior design resembling the ornate grandeur of 18th and 19th-century Indian art and design, the Ambassadors Clubhouse in Mayfair is the latest offering from the Sethis siblings of Hoppers, Bao and Berenjak fame. Opening just in time for the bank holiday weekend, the Ambassadors Clubhouse—an ode to the Sethis’ grandfather and his residence in Northern India—will offer Punjabi hospitality, regional dishes and live music.
Mayfair, W1B | Ambassadors Clubhouse
Lolo
Joining his wine bar José and restaurant Pizarro, Spanish chef José Pizarro opens his third venture on Bermondsey Street, Lolo. Lolo’s feature will be all-day dining, with a sharing menu of small plates featuring seasonal, locally sourced ingredients alongside Spanish favourites like Iberico pork ribs. From breakfast to dinner, expect the most aesthetically presented plates of tasty morsels.
Bermondsey, SE1 | Lolo
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