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THE DIVINE

It’s farewell to The Glory but it’s long live The Divine. Yes following the closure of legendary queer bar The Glory in Haggerston, owners Jonny Woo, John Sizzle and Colin Rothbart have opened a new spot just down the road in Dalston. The Divine is a 200-capacity bar with a bigger stage, a new light and sound system, and a packed programme, with the likes of Yshee Black, Keela Kraving, Rose Feroce, Baby Lame, and Crayola The Queen passing through. The legendary LIPSYNC1000 and MAN UP drag contests made famous at The Glory are also making the move up the road too, so we’re sure The Divine is going to be just as raucous and become just as beloved as its predecessor.

OTHERWORLD | THE DAVID ATTENBOROUGH IMMERSIVE ANTHOLOGY

336 Acton Mews, London E8 4EA

The BBC Earth Experience may have come to an end, but Sir David Attenborough is diving straight back into the world of immersive experiences by teaming up with VR specialists OTHERWORLD. The all-new David Attenborough Immersive Anthology is described as a three-part journey during which visitors will enter an 8K virtual reality and explore the secret worlds of plants, insects and birds. Step into one of OTHERWORLD’s futuristic VR pods and let the state-of-the-art 3D cinematography and computer graphics, spatial audio and tactile bass technology transport you to Kingdom Of Plants, Micro Monsters and Conquest of the Skies.

TRAFALGAR SQUARE CHRISTMAS MARKET

Until 2nd January 2024

Trafalgar Square’s traditional German Christmas market has 34 wooden chalets stocked with high-end gifts, mulled wine, hot cider and festive food. It’s totally free to enter and while you’re there you can grab some pics with the Square’s famous Norway Spruce.

BUBBLE PLANET

Bubble Planet, a new immersive experience centred around all things soapy and spherical, has landed in London, featuring lights, lasers, VR, and projection technology and eleven themed rooms. They include a bubble getaway with a robot-led bubble show; a giant bubble room; an ocean of balloons; a bubble bath pit; an inflatable cloud room; an infinity room; and a balloon flight simulator, and, of course, there’ll be numerous photo ops along the way – and that’s before you even reach the selfie room.

BOUNCE

It’s balls galore at Bounce and we love it. Bounce is the home of ping pong and whether you’re super competitive or just wanna hit a few balls whilst holding a cocktail in the other hand, Bounce will ping your night to a whole new level. The Battersea Power Station location is the first Bounce in South London and it’s a whopper of a site, so you’ll have no trouble grabbing a bat and ball here. There are a bunch of games to choose from, including the classic ping pong, the immersive wonderball, beer pong and shuffle board, and you can have a post-match debrief over sourdough pizzas and a round of bevvies. And if you wanna watch the professionals in action, there are screens showing all the major sporting fixtures, so you can stay on top of the scores even if you can’t manage to rack up any points of your own.

FLASHBACK RECORDS

An outpost of the city-wide franchise, Flashback Records in Crouch End is the ideal spot for some neighbourhood vinyl shopping. The original N8 location had been the site of a record shop for a while, having been home to Listen Records before Flashback took over in 2006, so music was pretty much in the bones of the place. They’ve since moved to a bigger space to make more room for their wide selection of used and new vinyl – and we’re not complaining!

UPPER STREET MARKET

Sat & Sun, 10am - 4pm
8 Esther Anne Pl, London N1 1UN

The team behind Victoria Park Market, Lloyd Park Market and Crystal Palace Park Market has gone north and set up Upper Street Market, which pitches up in Islington Square (just off Upper Street) from 10.30am – 4pm every weekend. The market features 25 stalls with produce coming from the likes of Wild Country Organics, Borough Cheese and Ted’s Veg and street food from traders including Mandala Dumplings, Filigrillz, Ceylon Kothu, and Hoshi. There’s also plenty of coffee and beer to keep you hydrated and there’s lots of seating in the square too.

LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM

If your daily commute just isn’t enough time spent in London’s transport system, then spend a day at the London Transport Museum. The institution, which is the world’s leading museum of urban transport, showcases the past 200 years of history of travel in London as well as the stories of the people involved in it. Most of the museum’s collection is held at the depot in Acton (which is only open to the public for certain events throughout the year) but you can see everything from tube roundel designs and vintage posters to early trams and modern black cabs.

THE GARDEN MUSEUM

Housed inside the old St Mary-at-Lambeth church, which is where early gardener and plant hunter John Tradescant is buried, the Garden Museum is tells the story of British gardening from the 16th century to today. The museum’s collection includes gardening tools and artefacts as well as art, photography and painting, and it’s also home to the Archive of Garden Design, which features records from British garden designers from the last two centuries. You can’t very well have a museum dedicated to gardens without one of its own, and it’s a beauty – the courtyard garden, inspired by Tradescant and designed by Dan Pearson, it’s an eden of rare plants. The museum also boasts an excellent cafe, so it really is a place to make a day of it.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

Explore the past 4.5 billion years of history through 80 million objects at the National History Museum (which is a renowned research centre as well as a cultural institution) whose collection covers botany, entomology, zoology, mineralogy and palaeontology. The museum is most famous for its massive skeletons hanging in the main hall, including Dippy the diplodocus and his replacement, Hope the whale, and it also hosts popular temporary exhibitions like the Wildlife Photographer of the Year show.

THE DESIGN MUSEUM

Founded by Sir Terence Conran in 1989, the Design Museum in Kensington (where it’s been since 2016) is the world’s leading museum dedicated to contemporary design. As well as holding a collection that spans architecture, fashion, furniture, product, graphic design and transport, the museum hosts varied exhibitions that cover all aspects of modern design, from surrealism to Amy Winehouse, sneakers to electronic music and football to Stanley Kubrick.

VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

They don’t call the Victoria & Albert Museum the world’s leading museum of art and design for nothing. Its seven floors are full to the brim with original paintings, posters, jewellery, ceramics, sculptures, textiles and more, with the permanent collection numbering more than 2.8 million objects. The V&A has the largest fashion collection in the world, so it’s not surprising that the museum is known for its fashion exhibitions, having hosted blockbuster shows on Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, menswear, African fashion, kimonos and Balenciaga.

SCIENCE MUSEUM

Fancy flying with the Red Arrows? Or taking a trip to the stars on an Apollo space mission? A visit to the Science Museum can make those dreams come true, as its seven floors are kitted out with advanced technology and 4D simulators to help bring science to life. The museum’s world class collection includes objects that have helped advance the fields of mathematics, medicine, technology, chemistry, computing, astronomy, space exploration, robotics and more. The museum regularly hosts major exhibitions and also runs a well-regarded Lates series, themed around topics like space, Pride, and Chinese New Year.

FINSBURY PARK PICTUREHOUSE

This North London branch of Picturehouse is handily located behind Finsbury Park station and just over the road from Rowan’s – ideal for cinema-bowling combo day. It boasts a large mural from British artist Dale Lewis in the lobby; a kitchen; a members’ bar, which shows trailers and shorts on the wall; and seven screens, each with a 4K projector, state-of-the-art sound system and reclining chairs, so you can kick back with extra legroom, whether you’re watching the latest blockbuster or a special season showing.

WAPPING DOCKLANDS MARKET

The Wapping Docklands Market is open every Saturday, located along the edge of the Shadwell Basin. As well as stalls packed with fresh produce, there are indie brands selling specialty coffee, flowers, wellness products, fresh bread, cheese, craft German beers, wine, cocktails and more. Plus, there’s seating for up to 100 people, live music and a range of street food vendors so you can really make a day of it.

NOVELTY AUTOMATION

An unlikely museum tucked away on an unlikely Holborn side street, Novelty Automation is one of the city’s most criminally unsung gems. Part arcade, part art gallery, the space is filled with (as the name suggests) novelty automata, various coin-operated machines designed to amuse and/or bemuse the user. This is one of those places that you don’t want to read up about too much before going so we’re not going to give too much away, but we’ll let the names of some of the machines do the talking: ‘Pet or Meat’, ‘Autofrisk’ and ‘Money Laundering’, to name a few.

CURZON BLOOMSBURY

Opened in the 1970s as part of the original construction of The Brunswick Centre (which now boasts shops, restaurants and cafes) and refurbished in 2014, the Curzon Bloomsbury is one of the oldest and best places to watch movies in the capital. The six screens all have reclining seats, Sony 4k projectors and Dolby Atmos sound, with a programme that includes the best of arthouse and world cinema. It’s also home to Bertha DocHouse, a screen that’s solely dedicated to documentaries, hosting premieres, docu seasons and filmmaker Q&As.

SIR JOHN SOANE'S MUSEUM

Set inside what was the renowned neo-classical architect’s home once upon a time, Sir John Soane’s Museum has been kept exactly as it was when he died in 1837 – a preserved time capsule for anyone who wants to travel almost 200 years back in time. You’ll find Soane’s immense collection of antiques, furniture, sculptures, architectural models and paintings inside, as well as his newly-refurbished Drawing Office (the oldest surviving of its kind). They also host regular exhibitions, talks and ‘Soane Lates’ through which you can learn even more about the history of London and its buildings.

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