All Week
City of London Festival is back
CITY OF LONDON FESTIVAL: The City of London will be crammed with music, comedy, cabaret, performance, film and more for three weeks for City of London Festival. Some events free, see programme for details, 22 June-10 July
TRAVELLING ARCHIVE: The Travelling Archive is an exhibition of sounds, texts and images, all taken from a research, documentation and dissemination project in Bangladesh, West Bengal and other adjoining parts of eastern India, as well as Bengali neighbourhoods in London. See the exhibition at Rich Mix. Free, just turn up, 22 June-5 July
MORE LONDON FREE FESTIVAL: From now until September, The Scoop at More London Riverside will be taken over by theatre, music, dance and film, as the More London Free Festival takes place. This month, the focus is on music. Take a look at the calendar to see what’s on this week.
ILLUSTRATION AWARDS: See this year’s entries to the VA Illustration Awards at the museum. Works consist of book, editorial and student illustration. Free, just turn up, until 2 August
CHRISTINA BROOM: Museum of London Docklands’s new exhibition is all about the UK’s first female press photographer, Christina Broom, a self-taught novice who turned photography into a business venture to support her family. Free, just turn up, 19 June-1 November
Monday 22 June
FREEDOM OF HILLINGDON: The centenary of the RAF Northolt airfield is being celebrated with a parade through the streets of Uxbridge. Over 200 armed service personnel will march down the High Street in Uxbridge, from Harefield Road to the Civic Centre forecourt, where they will be received by Mayor of Hillingdon Cllr George Cooper. It’s free to watch. Free, just turn up, 10.40am-11.40am
ROBIN HOOD GARDENS: The Twentieth Century Society has put forward a bid for Robin Hood Gardens, the 1960s residential estate in Poplar, to be heritage listed. This seminar is a final chance to hear all of the arguments for and against the listing before a decision is made. Free, prebook, 2pm-6pm
Tuesday 23 June
The Crystal Palace dinosaurs come under scrutiny at Grant Museum of Zoology
MOTORSPORT CAREERS: There’s a free lecture at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, aimed at women interested in pursuing a career in motorsports.The event will have three student presentations from F1 and a panel of motorsport professionals will talk about their greatest engineering challenges and how overcoming this gave them a competitive edge. Free, prebook, 5pm
MARINE PROTECTION: The British Library hosts a TalkScience event about how global overfishing has resulted in diminishing stocks and widespread environmental damage, and how we can make stocks more sustainable for the future. £5, prebook, 6.30pm
VICTORIAN DINOSAURS: The Grant Museum of Zoology hosts an evening focusing on the dinosaurs of Crystal Palace and how they shaped public perceptions of dinosaurs. There’s also a chance to view the Strange Creatures exhibition. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm
ITALIAN FILM: The Italian Cultural Institute hosts a screening of The Paths of Glory, a film about Oscar nominated Italian director and screenwriter Mario Monicelli. After the screening there will be a panel discussion with Lorenzo Codelli and Mark Le Fanu. Free, prebook, 6.30pm
BAR SHORTS: DOC Shorts at The Book Club in Shoreditch showcases live action and animated documentaries, from hard-hitting tales of homelessness to bittersweet love stories and comedic tales of woe. Free, prebook, 7pm
POETRY LAUNCH: The Emma Press launches its first anthology of poems for children (aimed at ages 9-12), a collection of poems by contemporary writers inspired by classic myths and legends. Free, RSVP, 7.30pm
FILM QUIZ: The Bigger Boat Film Quiz is at Ritzy in Brixton to test your film knowledge using questions, clips and soundtracks. £5, prebook, 7.30pm
Wednesday 24 June
INDIA PHOTOGRAPHER: A new photography exhibition opens at the VA Museum today, showcasing the work of 19th century British photographer Captain Linnaeus Tripe. See over 60 of his most striking views of Indian and Burmese landscape and architecture, taken between 1852-1860. Free, just turn up, 24 June-11 October
EXHIBITION TOUR: Join Strange Creatures curator Jack Ashby on tours of the exhibition at Grant Museum of Zoology, exploring the themes of discovery and Australian wildlife. Free, just turn up, 1.15pm-1.45pm
CONNAUGHT VILLAGE FESTIVAL: Connaught Village, between Bayswater and Marble Arch, has a festival with live music, fairground rides, street entertainment and a variety of artisan food and craft stalls plus art and dog shows. Free, just turn up, 2pm-8pm
BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE HERITAGE: Back in March, a fire caused substantial damage to the Great Hall of Battersea Arts Centre. Historian Aileen Reid talks about the architecture of the building, joined by Imogen Long from Battersea Arts Centre’s architects, Haworth Tompkins, who will talk about plans to restore and develop the building. Free, prebook, 6pm-7pm
STANZA BONANZA: Brixton takes on Clapham in poetry at this week’s Stanza Bonanza at The Poetry Society in Covent Garden. Free, just turn up, 7.30pm
SCIENCE MUSEUM LATE: This month’s Science Museum Late is a collaboration with the Royal Society as they bid to discover The Next Big Thing. Take a look at what booze does to our brains, why diamonds are more than just a gemstone and if robots can evolve. Free (some events require a ticket), just turn up, 6.45pm-10pm
A reveller at last year’s Connaught Village Summer Festival
Thursday 25 June
BEER BOOK: The CAMRA Guide to London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars launches at Blackwell’s in High Holborn tonight, with author Des de Moor and a free beer tasting. 18+. Free, prebook, 6.30pm
THEATRE PLATFORM: At tonight’s National Theatre Platform, writer Patrick Marber and director Ian Rickson discuss new play The Red Lion, followed by a book signing. £4/£3, prebook, 6.30pm
FORTEAN SOCIETY: London Fortean Society is at Dirty Dicks on Bishopsgate for a talk about UFOs. Fortean Times writer David Clarke has spent decades investigating sighting reports, unearthing Top Secret government files, and interviewing those who claim they have seen interplanetary craft and met their occupants. Tonight, he talks about his research. £4/£2, prebook, 7.30pm
Friday 26 June
NEW EXHIBITION: For his first major solo show in London in many years, Thomas Hirschhorn presents a new work entitled In-Between at the South London Gallery. Free, just turn up, 26 June-13 September
SUMMER SHOW: UCL hosts its annual celebration of student work from The Bartlett School of Architecture, with over 500 students presenting a range of inventive, creative and visual work, from models and drawings to films, multimedia installations and computer fabrications. Free, 26 June-11 July
FREE WALK: Take this guided walk around the Coram area of Bloomsbury, and find out about Thomas Coram, The Foundling Hospital, and how the charity created one of the loveliest parts of London. Free, prebook, 12.30pm
GLASTONBURY COVER: Didn’t get a ticket for Glasto this year? Fear not, and head to Paddington’s Norfolk Square Gardens where live music takes place all afternoon, alongside food stalls, a ping pong table and deck chairs. Free, just turn up, 12.30pm-7.30pm
FILM CLUB: There’s a screening of Like An Open Sky, a film about a place on the French-Belgian border that takes care of psychologically and socially challenged children, at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre. £5, just turn up, 6.30pm
MAGNA CARTA: A conservationist at the British Library talks through the process of preparing the two original Magna Carta manuscripts for display. £5, prebook, 6.30pm-8.30pm
NHM LATE: Natural History Museum is open late to allow adults to explore the collections after hours, with plenty of food and drink to buy. Free (charge for some exhibitions), just turn up, 6pm-10pm
Saturday 27 June
Wimbledon Village Fair
EEL PIE ISLAND: The private Eel Pie Island on the Thames at Twickenham is home to a nature reserve, artists’ studios, and a boatyard. Twice a year, the island opens up to the public and the studios open their doors to visitors to see inside a real working artist’s studio, talk to the artists and purchase or commission new art works. Free, just turn up, 27-28 June
WIMBLEDON VILLAGE FAIR: Wimbledon Village Fair on Wimbledon Common consists of a horse show, dog show, hundreds of arts and crafts stalls, food villages boasting grub from around the globe, a hand-selected farmers market, live entertainment and family fun. Free, just turn up, 10.30am-5pm
SUMMER FAYRE: The Charterhouse near Barbican hosts a free summer fayre with maypole dancing, food and drink stalls, face painting, a tombola, children’s activities and more. There’s also a tour of the Charterhouse. Free, just turn up, 12pm-4.30pm
Sunday 28 June
COMEDY: There’s work in progress shows from the rather wonderful Joseph Morpurgo and James Acaster at The Lion in Stoke Newington, with Laugh Out London. £5, prebook, 7pm
Check out our map of free things to do in London for more frugal fun.