Six of the best free things to do in London this weekend
Last weekend was the first May bank holiday, so it's understandable that your bank account might be hurting right now. But fear not, because as London launches into summer there are plenty of fabulous and free happenings taking place across the city this Friday May 9 to Sunday May 11.
Looking for inspo for things to do this weekend that won't break the bank? From the Tate's big birthday weekender, to a stunning hot air balloon festival, and independent shopping markets, we've rounded up five of the best free things you can do in the capital. Take a peak below.
Celebrate Tate Modern's 25th birthday
London's finest modern art gallery turns 25 this May, and it's celebrating a quarter of a century with a bang. Across one long weekend, the institution will mark its anniversary with a series of special one-off events and artworks, plus free tickets to its temporary exhibitions for 16 to 25-year-olds. Head to the Bankside gallery this weekend to see live tarot readings, big name DJ sets, old art gems resurrected (remember Louise Bourgeois' giant bronze spider?), special performances, workshops, talks and more. More info here.
Tate Modern. May 9-12. Free (some events require booking in advance).
Browse vinyl at the Independent Label Market
Indie record labels, local brewers and DJs will come together at Kings Cross' Coal Drops Yard this Saturday for the May edition of the Independent Label Market. Music heads will be able to shop for exclusive and rare vinyl while sipping crafties and listening to live DJ sets, supplied by KX station Voices Radio. There will also be live music, spotlighting emerging artists from participating labels.
Coal Drops Yard. Sat May 10. Free.
See the swanky new Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery
The National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing has been closed for the past two years while it underwent a serious £85 million renovation. It finally reopens this weekend, newly kitted out with plenty of sleek, neutral limestone, vast expanses of glass, digital screens, new staircases, seating areas and more. The wing opens in conjunction with the 'Wonder of Art': a major rehang of around 1000 works in the gallery's collection of European painting. See our first look of the new wing here.
National Gallery, WC2N 5DN. Opens Sat May 10. Free.
Gawp at the Lord Mayor's Hot Air Balloon Regatta
It's been six years since the last Lord Mayor's Hot Air Balloon Regatta was able to take place, thanks to Covid-19 and then years of bad weather, so this is one for the books. All being well, this Sunday May 11 50 hot air balloons will take off into the London skies. You'll be able to spot them sailing past some of the city's most iconic landmarks, from Buckingham Palace and the London Eye to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Sunday's forecast is looking like blue skies and low winds, so fingers crossed. More information here.
Various locations. Sun May 11. Free.
Catch the final weekend of the Museum of Transology
Over the last 10 years, the Museum of Transology has been building up what is now the world's biggest collection of objects and stories relating to trans, non-binary and intersex lives. Its landmark exhibition, 'TRANSCESTRY: 10 years of the Museum of Transology' comes to a close this Sunday, so now is your last chance to check out the more than 1,000 artefacts that tell the the underrepresented and often forgotten stories from the trans community. More information here.
Lethaby Gallery, N1C 4AA. Until Sun May 11. Free.
North London community grocery store Nourished Communities is opening a new outpost in Walthamstow this weekend. To celebrate, they are giving away 100 free mini doughnuts and glasses of crémant, both supplied by St John, plus 25 litres of extra virgin olive oil. And if that's not enough to get you out of bed on Saturday morning, we don't know what is. It's first-come-first-served and doors open at 9.30am, so get there sharpish.
28 Saint James Street, E17 7PF. Sat May 10. Free.
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The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Architect proposes Princes Street Gardens for Edinburgh art gallery
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'What I used to love about it in the Botanical Garden is people just wandered into this building and found themselves looking at modern art,' he said. 'It wasn't just the cognoscenti who wanted to go and look at modern art; they were there because it happened to be in the gardens and it was another thing to do. 'Moving it to a very specific place like Belford Road, it really only attracts the people who want to go and see modern art. There's nothing wrong with that, but I thought it was accidentally inclusive in the Botanical Gardens. And I think we'd get that back if we put it into Princes Street Gardens, particularly from Waverley Bridge. People would just wander in; it's free.' Read more stories from our series investigating the Future of Edinburgh: Earlier this year he published a speculative vision for a revamp of Princes Street with wider pavements, fewer bus stops and Frederick Street junction to traffic, which was met with mixed reaction. Murphy also designed plans for a £60m 'temple of film' in Festival Square backed by the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), which previously ran the city's Filmhouse and International Film Festival. However, heritage watchdog the Cockburn Association raised concerns the eye-shaped building would 'undermine the character and potential of an existing civic space' and the idea was then shelved after CMI went into administration in 2022. Discussing his latest designs, he said: 'The interesting thing is it connects at two ends; it connects into the existing foyer between the National Gallery and Royal Scottish Gallery which was done about 20 years ago. 'But the really important thing is it connects to Waverley Bridge. And that is a tourist and everybody else honeypot. That is a really busy part of Edinburgh. You'd be able to walk straight down the steps and straight into the Modern Art Gallery. Murphy's vision for a 'temple of film' in Festival Square was shelved (Image: Richard Murphy Architects) 'It doesn't need a clever person to say the numbers of people going to the Modern Art Gallery would increase by tenfold. 'I think the problem would be too many people, not too few. It would be so inviting and it's right there. That would be an amazing thing to recapture which is what it used to be like. I'm a great believer in trying to make things inclusive if you can.' Murphy added: 'We've got two buildings people don't go to that are very expensive to maintain and very expensive to curate. 'They just don't have the visitor numbers, it's just that little bit too far out of the centre of town to attract tourists. And of course, a lot of people who get counted as visitors to the gallery are not going to the gallery at all, they're going to the restaurant because that's a very popular restaurant.' The latest official figures show there were just under 300,000 visitors to the two modern art galleries in 2022-23, compared to an average of 527,000 in the five years preceding the pandemic. Murphy said the gallery's wall space 'would exceed the combined equivalent of Modern One and Two' (Image: Richard Murphy Architects) National Galleries of Scotland director Anne Lyden warned in January the organisation was at "crisis point" unless it managed to raise £40m over the next 10 years to address the condition of its buildings. She said 'very palatable options' including closing one of the galleries altogether would be considered without additional funding from the Scottish Government. 'There's a fact of life that they've got a problem,' Murphy said, adding that with the help of Savills estate agents, he worked out the development value of Modern One, in the former premises of the John Watson's Institution on Belford Road, and Modern Two, in the former Dean Orphan Hospital on the other side of the road, would 'just about pay for the whole thing'. The award-winning architect, who was behind the renovation of Edinburgh's Fruitmarket gallery in 1994 and designed the Dunfermline Carnegie Museum and Art Galleries, said: 'I've designed a few art galleries, I know the basics. 'It seems to me if they got the development value right out of Belford Road, they'd probably have to spend a bit of money - but not much - to make it happen. Obviously, you've got to get the City Council on board because it's their gardens, but I would have thought it's a huge improvement to the garden. Read more on the Future of Edinburgh: 'It seems to be a win-win situation, and there's still plenty of room for the Christmas Markets.' Responding, however, a spokesperson for the National Galleries of Scotland dismissed the proposal. They said: 'Richard Murphy Architects has created these speculative proposals without consulting the National Galleries of Scotland. Their concept does not align with our vision for the future and has not been created at our request. 'We have no plans to build in East Princes Street Gardens, to relocate the Modern galleries or to create a Photographic Gallery adjacent to the Portrait gallery. We do not plan to meet with Richard Murphy Architects.' They said the focus was currently on their plans for a new cultural centre and visitor attraction at Granton Waterfront, The Art Works, which it describes as an 'urgently needed, world-class and innovative art store and community space for North Edinburgh residents and people of all ages to discover'. National Galleries of Scotland's plans for The Art Works, Granton (Image: National Galleries of Scotland) Work was previously due to commence on site last year, however, now 20 months after securing planning permission, the National Galleries has admitted that it does not have the 'vital' finance in place to allow work to start on what it has described as a 'world-class home for more than 120,000 works of art," The Herald revealed this week. The current estimated costs of realising the vision for the project have not been disclosed by the National Galleries, which insists it is still pursuing the project on the same scale as the scheme which received planning permission in November 2023. The spokesperson added: 'We're doing everything we can to secure funding for The Art Works. Our aim is to make art work for everyone, and we want to give people more access to art by opening this amazing new space in Granton.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Harry Styles keeps things casual in shorts on day out in London
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Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Harry Styles flies under the radar in a pair of tiny shorts as he runs errands in London
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