Best Things to Do in London This Weekend

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.

The shortest month of the year is always a welcome sight after January, even if it’s still cold outside. If you don’t want to let go of the winter activities just yet, you can sweep the ice at Club Curling or skate on it at the Canary Wharf ice rink.

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. Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday this year so you’ve essentially got the whole weekend to celebrate – here are some great date ideas that’ll defo impress your significant other. If you’re dodging all things red and heart-shaped this weekend, here’s what you can get up to instead.

Plates of food at Gloria

Bag a Bargain at the Big Mamma Flea Market

If you love the look of all the Big Mamma restaurants, this is one market you won’t wanna miss. The Italian restaurant group has had a bit of a clear out across all its locations and is hosting a flea market, or mercatino, featuring a whole load of crockery, glassware, candles and vintage Italian furniture. The market is being held at Circolo Popolare in February and will be totally free to enter (along with complimentary hot drinks), and all proceeds from the sale will go to London’s oldest Italian social club Casa Italiana.

Sun 16th February 2025, 9.30am – 12pm
Circolo Popolare, 40-41 Rathbone Pl, London W1T 1HX
bigmammagroup.com


Donald Rodney artwork

Check Out This Survey of Donald Rodney

After presentations at Spike Island in Bristol and Nottingham Contemporary, this major survey of British multimedia artist Donald Rodney is coming to Whitechapel Gallery. Rodney, who lived with sickle cell anaemia, used his condition to examine the prejudices surrounding race, Black masculinity, chronic illness and British colonialism. Across his brief career, he worked across drawing, painting, sculpture, installation and digital media, producing a wide breadth of work that cemented his place as a key figure in British art. Donald Rodney: Visceral Canker features the majority of his surviving works from 1982 – 1997, including large-scale oil pastels on X-rays, animatronic sculptures, sketchbooks and rare archive material.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX
whitechapelgallery.org


people buying ceramics

Pick Up Ceramics at This Market

The Independent Ceramics Market is heading to Peckham for its first edition of 2025. Over 150 ceramic artists and DIY potters, from established names to up-and-coming talent, will be selling their wares giving you the chance to buy affordable pieces direct from the makers. Cups, vases, tableware, sculptures and more will be on offer, and it’s dog friendly – plus, it’s just £1.50 entry.

Sun 16th February 2025, 11am – 5pm
Unit 8, Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Road, SE15 3SN
@independentceramicsmarket


pizza

Grab a Slice from Dough Hands

Dough Hands founder Hannah Drye has been slinging her London-style pizzas – regenerative flour dough and light, crispy bases – at The Spurstowe Arms in London Fields and now she’s giving south Londoners a chance to get in on the action by taking a second residency at the Old’s Nun’s Head in SE15. The menu will feature her signature 12″ pizzas topped with the likes of pepperoni, jalapeno and parmesan; nduja, hot honey and stracciatella; and soy-roast mushrooms, taleggio, tarragon and garlic, with her house-made hot sauce available for dipping, plus some exclusive specials in the works too.

Sat 15th February 2025
The Old Nun’s Head, 15 Nunhead Grn, London SE15 3QQ
@doughhandspizza


woman at a ceramics stall

Shop at the DIY Winter Art Market

DIY Art Market is heading to Peckham for its first edition of 2025. Over 150 artists from around the UK, both well-established and up-and-coming talents, will be selling originals, ceramics, screen prints, patches, tote bags, zines, artist books, jewellery and more at the market. To make it even better, it’s just £1.50 entry and it’s dog friendly, so get down there and get shopping.

Sat 15th February 2025, 11am – 5pm
Unit 8, Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Road, London SE15 3SN
@diyartmarket


See Rami Malek and Indira Varma in Oedipus

Sophocles’ original play is an exploration of fate and free will through the figure of King Oedipus. In trying to save Thebes from a plague by discovering who murdered the previous king Laius, Oedipus discovers that he has unwittingly fulfilled a prophecy that predicted he would murder his father and marry his mother, queen Jocasta. The Old Vic is staging Ella Hickson’s adaptation of the play, which is co-directed by Matthew Warchus and Hofesh Shechter, and stars Oscar winner Rami Malek and Oliver Award winner Indira Varma in the leading roles. 

Sat 15th February 2025
103 The Cut, London SE1 8NB
oldvictheatre.com


heart shaped ice cream

Try Chin Chin’s Valentine’s Special

As well as bringing back its chocolate fudge Heartbreaker cakes for V-Day, Chin Chin is also doing a new heart-shaped spesh thus year. The Angel Baby Heart Choc Ice has vanilla ice cream, rose jam and gluten-free biscuit inside a pink white chocolate shell, topped with an edible angel baby.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
54 Greek St, London W1D 3DS
chinchinicecream.com


flowers on a milk float

Shop at Deptford Flower Market

London writers (todolist.london), and florists (Where Have All The Flowers Gone?) Ru & Stu have curated a brand new south London flower market that hopes to bring a bit of Columbia Road, Brick Lane and Chiswick Flower Market to Deptford. Running every Saturday at Deptford Market Yard, the market is an inclusive space for queer, local and underrepresented makers to sell their wares. Fresh and dried flowers are front and centre on Ru & Stu’s milk float but there’s plenty more besides foliage to shop from, including LGBTQIA+ books from The Common Press, tea from A Little Cup, circular fashion from Sew Slow Collective, brownies and blondies from Slate n Crumb, candles and skincare from A House Like This, clothing and accessories from Bear 107, and nut and seed snacks from Miss Nang Treats.

Sat 15th February 2025
Deptford Market Yard, London SE8 4BX
wherehavealltheflowersgone.co.uk


See Asa Butterfield in His Stage Debut

Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield is kicking off 2025 with his stage debut, and in a one-man play no less. He’ll be starring in Second Best, directed by Michael Longhurst at Riverside Studios. Written by Barney Norris, the show is based on David Foenkinos’s novel and follows Martin Hill, the boy who just missed out on playing Harry Potter, as he explores what his life might have been like if not for that near-miss.

Sat 15th February 2025
101 Queen Caroline St, London W6 9BN
riversidestudios.co.uk


digital mushroom artwork

Unearth the Wonders of Soil at Somerset House

Beginning the Somerset House at 25 celebrations is a major exhibition centred around soil. SOIL: The World at Our Feet is an exploration of the vital role that soil plays in human civilisation, how it can impact our planet’s future and the interconnectedness of soil and life. The exhibition features over 50 works across a range of media from artists, writers, musicians and scientists, which dig beneath the surface to examine both the power and fragility of soil. They include stories of soil and its relationship to human culture, like soil rehabilitation in Palestine and seed saving efforts in North America, by Vivien Sansour; multimedia artwork ‘Poetics of Soil’ by Marshmallow Laser Feast; a 13ft high ‘Big Bluestem’ photograph by Jim Richardson; and a film installation on plastic waste by Somerset House Studios artist Maeve Brennan.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
Strand, London WC2R 1LA
somersethouse.org.uk


model of the sun hanging in a hall

Get Some Winter Sun With Helios in the Painted Hall

If you’ve been dreaming of some winter sun but aren’t able to escape the city for warmer climes, fear not because the sun is now coming to you instead. Multidisciplinary artist Luke Jerram is bringing Helios, a seven-metre sculpture of the sun, to the Painted Hall in Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College. Like Jerram’s other astronomical installationsMuseum of the Moon, Mars and Gaia, Helios, named after the Greek and Roman sun god, is an incredibly detailed, internally lit model of the sun. At a scale of 1:200 million (that means every centimetre of the model represents 200km of the sun), it’s been made using photographs by NASA and Astrophotographer Dr Stuart Green and allows you to get up close to the surface of the star – yes this is one sun you can actually stare at.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
Old Royal Naval College, King William Walk, London, SE10 9NN
ornc.org


Battersea Power Station light festival installation

Brighten Up Your Nights at the Battersea Power Station Light Festival

There’ll be eight artworks from a mix of British and international artists on display both outside and inside the Power Station, with four of the installations making their UK debut. The pieces on show during the festival include In Bloom by Kumquat Lab, a musical light sculpture inspired by the pollination process in plants; Spider by Groupe LAPS, an installation made up of 80 smaller LED spiders; Parabolic Lightcloud by Amigo & Amigo, a piece that uses colour combinations and patterns to express human emotions; and Aurora by James Glancy Design, a bespoke artwork inspired by the Northern Lights that has been designed especially for the festival.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
Circus Rd W, Battersea, London SW11 8AH
batterseapowerstation.co.uk


four bowls of ramen

Try Exclusive Bowls at This Ivan Ramen Pop-Up

Before he opens a restaurant in the UK, Chef’s Table star and Ivan Ramen founder Ivan Orkin is popping up at Kaia at The Ned with an exclusive ramen menu. After opening a celebrated ramen shop in Japan, Ivan returned to the US to set up shop in NYC, and now he’s bringing his unique take on ramen to London with this two-month residency. His menu includes Tori Shoyu Wonton Men (chicken broth, soy tare, chicken breast ‘chashu’, chicken wontons, yu choy and thin rye noodles), Lobster Mazemen (lobster broth, lobster poached in ginger-scallion butter, fried shallots, katsuobushi salt, thick rye noodles and optional caviar add-on), Iberico Pork Collar Tsukemen (suckling pig pork broth, grilled mushrooms, pickled spring greens, grilled Iberico pork collar, soft egg, and thick rye noodles) and Vegan Truffled Shoyu Ramen (truffled vegetable and mushroom broth, grilled maitake mushroom, roasted tomato, yu choy, and scallions).

Sat 15th February 2025
27 Poultry, City of London, London EC2R 8AJ
thened.com


IKEA Frakta pop-up shop

Get a Personalised FRAKTA Bag at This IKEA Pop-Up

Before IKEA opens on Oxford Street where the big Topshop used to be, the Swedish retailer has turned the space into Haus of FRAKTA, a pop-up shop dedicated to its iconic blue FRAKTA bags. And forget the crumpled ones you’ve got stuffed into the cupboard under the stairs (apparently 45% of UK households own one), the FRAKTAs in this store are pristine and can even be personalised at the atelier (costing only £3 to add lettering). There’s also a curated selection of other IKEA products to shop from, including a blue edit paying homage to the signature FRAKTA colour, and an immersive experience that makes you feel like you’re going inside a FRAKTA bag, with a ‘press for candyfloss’ wall, where you can get some free (blue, obvs) candyfloss.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
216 Oxford Street, London W1D 2JH
ikea.com


painting of Louis VXI

Explore the Role of Science at Versailles at This Exhibition

The Science Museum is exploring how the Palace of Versailles, famous for its architecture and history, was also a major site of scientific thinking with the Versailles: Science and Splendour exhibition. A range of objects, including timepieces, microscopes, sculptures, maps and Louis XV’s rhinoceros (which will be on display in the UK for the first time), will showcase the role science played at the palace in the 17th and 18th centuries, the figures associated with the pursuit of knowledge, and how science was used as a tool of power.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD
sciencemuseum.org.uk


actors in Kyoto

See the West End Transfer of Political Thriller Kyoto

After a world premiere in Stratford-upon-Avon, the RSC’s production of Kyoto has transferred to @sohoplace. The political thriller is set during the historic 1997 Kyoto climate summit amidst the tense negotiations that led to the world’s first legally bindings emissions targets. Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin are directing, with many of the original cast, including Tony award-nominated Stephen Kunken (playing American oil lobbyist Don Pearlman), returning for the London run.

Sat 15th February 2025
4 Soho Place, London, W1D 3BG
sohoplace.org


Tim Burton exhibition London

Dive Into a the World of Tim Burton at The Design Museum

The World of Tim Burton not only explores the filmmaker and animator’s legendary on-screen career, but also his work as an illustrator, painter, photographer and author. Organised by Jenny He (who recently curated the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to ‘Pope of Trash’ John Waters at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles), the show comprises pieces from Burton’s personal archive that span the artist’s creative journey from childhood to the present day. Expect to see over 600 items, including drawings, paintings, photographs, sketchbooks, props, sculptural installations, storyboards, set designs, costumes (including 1992’s Catwoman suit and the first ever public display of the Rave’N dance dress worn by Jenna Ortega in Wednesday) and more that encapsulate Burton’s distinct style.

Sat 15th & Sun 16th February 2025
224 – 238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG
designmuseum.org

Loading...