The sweet, sweet weekend. The land of no alarms, no commutes, no colleagues
Obviously, you want to make the most of this precious time, to squeeze every last drop out of the days before you even have to contemplate going to work on Monday morning. So, we’ve rounded up all the best things to do in London this weekend into one handy place, meaning you can go from bottomless brunch to that new exhibition with ease.
After a long and cold winter, we’re embracing all things spring – the weather is still changeable so we’ll not be up on the rooftop bars and out in the beer gardens just yet but we’re counting down the days until al fresco drinking and dining is back.
Still looking for things to do in London this weekend? Check out what’s on at the theatre in London, find the best London bars or hit up one of the hottest new London restaurants. After a scorching few weeks it looks like the temps will dip slightly to more enjoyable temperatures this weekend, perfect to spend the day at London Reggae Festival or to dive in at the Royal Docks. With an exciting INSIDERS masterclass and the return of THAT Korean market, there’s plenty to get excited about.
Level Up Your Barista Skills At Allpress’ New Farringdon Site
Allpress has landed on Cowcross Street, a small, chic espresso bar, where they are hosting the ultimate masterclass for coffee lovers. The Allpress Head of Training is taking six of our INSIDERS behind the counter for a fully hands-on espresso masterclass, not a demo where you watch someone else do the interesting bits, but three hours learning to work the machine yourself. You’ll master how to pull the perfect espresso shot that isn’t bitter or sour, texture milk so it moves like paint rather than foam, and finally get your latte art past the wonky heart stage. Six people means everyone gets time on the group head, because good head is the key to excellent drinks. You’ll leave with a bag of Allpress’s Farringdon blend to keep practising at home, and a pastry to have with your first (self-made) coffee of the day. Get tickets here.
Sun 9th August 2026, 1pm
Allpress Farringdon, 88–89 Cowcross Street
allpress.com
Celebrate 64 Years of Jamaican Independence At This Reggae Festival
The London Reggae & Food Festival returns this weekend, marking 64 years of Jamaican independence with a lineup built around Saxon Sound, the South London sound system that helped launch Tippa Irie, Smiley Culture and Maxi Priest back in the late 1970s and has been a fixture of UK reggae culture ever since. Joining them is 1Xtra’s Seani B, who’s spent over two decades championing dancehall and reggae on air and at festivals worldwide, plus DJ Nate & English Fire on the decks blending reggae, bashment and Afrobeats. Food-wise, expect the actual staples rather than a watered-down festival version: jerk chicken, curry goat, plantain, patties and rum punch from Caribbean street food traders across the day. The site has a rooftop terrace overlooking the Olympic Park, so there’s somewhere to eat it with a view if the crowd at ground level gets too much.
Sat 8th August 2026, 3pm – 10pm
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 5 Thornton St, E20 2AD
Tickets
Shop From Over 60 Korean Makers In Peckham
Market Root, the platform behind King’s Cross’s JUNG Festival earlier this year, returns to Copeland Park in Peckham on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th August for its seventh edition. Founders Hyeon Ju Kim and Soo Jin Yang, also behind accessories label Hobul Studio, are bringing together 60 independent Korean and international makers under one roof, spanning fashion, ceramics, skincare and food, with this edition’s theme, Breaking Away, pushing vendors to show something different from their usual work. The King’s Cross edition drew huge queues, so anyone heading down this time might want to arrive early or brace for a queue.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Road, London SE15 3SN
fienta.com
Last Chance To Catch Exhibition Dedicated To Fan Culture
With HOLY POP!, Somerset House is diving into the world of modern shrines, exploring the way that we honour heroes and celebrities and the way that ritual idolisation can create community in an increasingly secular society. Featuring pieces that showcase personal devotion and communal mourning, referencing the likes of David Bowie, Princess Diana, Andy Warhol and Harry Potter’s Dobby the Elf, the exhibition is a celebration of the objects that bring us together and our fascination with pop culture. This is the exhibition’s last weekend, so get in there.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA
somersethouse.org.uk
Take A Dip At The Royal Docks
The FREE Royal Docks lido is open again for the summer. You can beat the heat by jumping into the water, do some swimming, splash about the shallow end, and enjoy the open air. There’s also a large sandpit if castle building is more your speed and plenty of deckchairs to kick back in too. Best of all, access to the lido is totally FREE, so dive on in.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
Royal Victoria Dock, London, E16 1AG
royaldocks.london
Discover the Fantastical World of Paulo Nimer Pjota
If you’re looking for a bit of whimsy this summer, head down to Peckham for ‘Encantados’, the latest free exhibition from Paulo Nimer Pjota. The São Paulo-based painter fills the Main Gallery with a new series of large-scale works set against a mural painted directly onto the walls, creating one continuous, immersive scene rather than a series of framed paintings hung in isolation.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
South London Gallery, 65-67 Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH
southlondongallery.org
Check Out This Major Anish Kapoor Exhibition
As part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary programme, the Hayward Gallery is hosting a major exhibition on Anish Kapoor, in what will be the artist’s return to the gallery since 1998. Both seminal and new works will be on show across the gallery and its terraces in a display that’s designed to evoke a sense of awe and wonder. Pieces will include steel mirror sculptures, objects coated in Vantablack, visceral paintings, and monumental new sculptures in his signature red that appear to turn the world upside down.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
southbankcentre.co.uk
See Iconic Portraits of Marilyn Monroe at This Exhibition
To mark her 100th birthday, the Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery will explore the life, career and legacy of the icon Monroe through portraits by some of the greatest photographers and artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Works by the likes of Andy Warhol, Pauline Boty, Marlene Dumas, James Gill, Audrey Flack, Cecil Beaton, Philippe Halsman, Eve Arnold, Inge Morath, Sam Shaw and Richard Avedon will be on show alongside personal belongings like books, scripts and clothes. The exhibition will reveal her collaborative approach to image making, her creative agency, and the woman behind the portraits.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE
npg.org.uk
Get High in Stratford at Roof East
Fancy playing a round of crazy golf, catching a movie, hitting some bullseyes or shaking it out with a dance class? Well you can do it all at Roof East. Yes the Stratford rooftop is jam-packed with activities, including Rooftop Film Club, Sluggers batting cages, Birdies crazy golf, Arrows archery, Glitter Bowls lawn games, giant jenga, cornhole and table tennis. You can stay well fed and watered with the roof’s five bars and street food from the likes of Chick ‘n’ Sours, Piddaji and Cheeky Burger, and you’ll also be able to do bottomless brunch on the weekends. And of course, you’ve got those mega views over the Stratford to enjoy too.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
7 & 8 Stratford Multi Storey Car Park, Great Eastern Rd, London E15 1XE
roofeast.com
See the First James McNeill Whistler Exhibition in Europe for 30 Years
The James McNeill Whistler exhibition at Tate Britain is the first major one in Europe for 30 years, with 150 works by the American artist on show. One of the most influential artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, Whistler pioneered new techniques and worked across a variety of mediums, and this will be on full display at Tate Britain. As well as his famous paintings, the show includes drawings, prints, designs and portraits ranging from his teenage years to his late-self portraits, plus a collection of his East Asian ceramics and furniture.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
Millbank, London SW1P 4PN
tate.org.uk
See Sinatra The Musical
Sinatra The Musical, based on the life and career of, you guessed it, Frank Sinatra, is playing in the West End. The musical, which had a run at the Birmingham Rep in 2023 and has been produced with the blessing of the Sinatra Estate, is a biographical story, starting with Sinatra’s legendary performance at NYC’s Paramount Theatre on New Year’s Eve, 1942. As his fame grows, he’s torn between his wife Nancy and screen icon Ava Gardner, and when his affair derails his career, he prepares to stage a great showbiz comeback. Tony Award-winning writer Joe DiPietro is has written the musical, which will feature over 20 Sinatra hits, including ‘That’s Life’, ‘Come Fly With Me’, ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ and ‘One For My Baby’, with Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall directing.
Sat 8th August 2026
Aldwych Theatre, 49 Aldwych, London WC2B 4DF
sinatramusical.com
Spend the Day at the Beach – in Walthamstow
You don’t need to go to the seaside this summer (well, unless you want to of course) because it’s coming to you. Walthamstow is becoming Walthamstow-on-Sea as the Big Penny Beach Club rolls into the neighbourhood. Big Penny Social is transforming its terrace into a beach club kitted out with an on-site gelateria, a spritz bar, beach volleyball, a DJ stage, and plenty of frozen cocktails and fish & chips.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
1 Priestley Way,London, E17 6AL
bigpennysocial.co.uk
See the World’s Largest Outdoor Exhibition of Henry Moore Sculptures
Henry Moore: Monumental Nature is the largest outdoor exhibition of the artist’s work ever presented, with over 100 pieces, including 30 monumental sculptures, on display. The sculptures is set amongst Kew Gardens (a pretty stunning backdrop in itself) with more than 70 works on paper, models and smaller artworks displayed in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. Moore is one of Britain’s greatest-ever sculptors and became famous for his large-scale bronzes depicting abstract figures. The exhibition at Kew, part of a dual-site celebration along with Wakehurst in Sussex, showcases Moore’s iconic sculptures in the way they are meant to be seen – outdoors, surrounded by nature – as well as dive into his creative process and the connection he had to the natural world.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AB
kew.org
Look Back on the Wildest Year of Britain’s Wildest Decade at This Exhibition
Three decades on, the Barbican Music Library is looking back at 1996, the wildest year of the 90s and the height of Cool Britannia with the 1996: 30 years on exhibition. Curated by author, broadcaster and former editor of The Sun Dominic Mohan, the free exhibition is the place to relive the 90s and the time when London was the epicentre of music, fashion, football, politics, and art. Check out original costumes worn by the Spice Girls; previously unseen Oasis memorabilia; photography by Jill Furmanovsky and Derek Ridgers, and personal items the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Dave Pearce and Judge Jules.
Sat 8th August 2026
Barbican Centre, Silk St, London EC2Y 8DS
barbican.org.uk
Jimmy Garcia Is Doing Rotisserie Chicken on the South Bank
It’s not summer in London without a pop-up from Jimmy Garcia (this will be his tenth year doing it) but instead of bringing back his BBQ Club, he’s launching a new rotisserie concept. Rotate by Jimmy will celebrate rotisserie cooking, with a menu of rotisserie chicken served by the quarter, half or whole bird; chicken caesar baps; charred cauliflower; chicken-dripping potatoes; truffle fries with Old Winchester cheese; charred corn ribs with lime and chilli salt; heritage tomato and basil salad; and dips like smoky BBQ, salsa verde, buffalo-style sauce, gravy, and blue cheese. The space itself has also had a redesign, with a weather-proof cabana and riverside views for all the tables.
Sat 8th & Sun 9th August 2026
Queen’s Walk, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
@jimmyspopup
