Things to do in London this weekend

If there’s one symbol of the rivalry between academic titans Oxford and Cambridge, it’s the Boat Race – the annual oars-off between the two unis. Typically, over 300,000 people line the banks of the Thames to get a glimpse of the action. If you’re like the majority of them, then as well as the sporting spectacle, you’re also there for the excuse to knock back a few pints (or more). Whether you’re a diehard supporter or a fair-weather fan, read our guide to everything you need to know about the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race 2025. 

Regarded as one of the UK’s most influential contemporary artists, this new exhibition at Tate Britain surveys Ed Atkins’ career to date, showcasing 15 years of work spanning computer-generated videos, animations, sculpture, installation, sound, painting and drawing. At the heart of it is a series of 700 drawings on Post-It notes. The intimate sketches range from messages of devotion (‘I love you x’) to surreal images. Atkins describes the on-going Post-It drawings as ‘the best things I’ve ever made’, and you can sense the deep affection and care that went into making them. This survey exhibition at Tate Britain is vast, charting Atkins’ artistic development, blending emotion and personal reflection with existential inquiry. The result is something urgent and deeply human. 

Eugene Ionesco’s classic absurdist satire Rhinoceros is a drama about a town full of people turning into rhinos as an allegory for totalitarianism. And Omar Elerian – contemporary British theatre’s most consummate director of leftfield absurdism – has created this enjoyable revival that pays fanboy-esque homage to Ionesco’s 1959 original, while also bolting on loads of fun extra stuff. Elerian rightly trusts in the enduring satirical potency of Ionesco’s 66-year-old play. But he also trusts himself and his cast to give a 2025 audience a damn good time. Faithful without being dogmatic, the tone is kept light and mischievous until a chilling kamikaze ending deliberately breaks the easy-going tone and sends us out deeply unnerved.

In a previous life, The Duck and Rice was a pub. Not a fancy pub, but a flat roof 1960s pub. Now, it’s taken on a new guise; as a glossy spot for dim sum and Cantonese cuisine under the auspices of Alan Yau; founder of Wagamama, Hakkasan and the neighbouring Yauatcha. Upstairs in the ‘restaurant’ (downstairs is more ‘pub’-adjacent, but the same menu applies) house-y music bangs and it’s busy but not hectic. When it comes to the menu, it’s all about the classics. There’s crispy duck and pancakes, sesame prawn toast, and all the top chicken permutations; kung po, sweet and sour, and chow mein. The Duck & Rice isn’t about deep Cantonese cuts, it’s about crowd pleasers done with a hearty flair in a room where you can sink brimming pints of pilsner direct from steampunk-style copper tanks on site.

One of the longest-running and most reputable of London’s many, many craft beverage festivals, BrewLDN returns to South Bank pop-up Between the Bridges for a second time, following last spring’s sold-out beer bonanza. Over 100 brands will be in attendance, pouring more than 1000 different products. Expect to see a few local favourites like Fourpure, Brew By Numbers and Brick Brewery, plus plenty of exciting brands to discover from further afield and specialist bars dedicated to no/low-alcohol beers and sustainably-produced brews. 

The Design Museum’s latest exhibition is dedicated to our adoration of swimming. With more than 200 objects, Splash! is a whistle-stop tour taking us all the way from bizarre Victorian bathing carriages to the present-day mermaidcore TikTok trend. From the politics of the pool (and who gets to learn to swim) to the evolution of swimwear and pool architecture, it covers a lot of ground, with each section designed to mimic different swimming spaces. Look out for a jumper knitted by Tom Daley, a 1984 David Hockney poster for the Los Angeles Olympics, the OG midriff-exposing bikini designed in 1946 by French designer Louis Réard and Pammy Anderson’s bright red Baywatch swimsuit. It’s a comprehensive, heartwarming, and even occasionally funny take on swimming. 

Music lovers with an SE postcode, assemble: Camberwell's Dash The Henge Store is planning a massive Record Store Day for the third year in a row, with DJs, bands and other artists taking over four different local venues over the full weekend from the impressively early hour of 9am. Grab yourself a wristband and you can discover gigs by a teeming and eclectic line-up including blues rocker LA Salami, old timey Appalachian strummers The Pegwells, and psychedelic trio Sabatta. Head over to underground dance haven The Greyhound in Peckham for a DJ line-up that'll keep the party going til the small hours.

Once again the Garden Museum is throwing open its doors to exhibitors and plant perusers. The fair takes place both outside and inside the museum and this year has been curated by Susanna Grant, garden designer and founder of Hackney’s Hello There Linda. Nab plants and garden ephemera for your urban space, balcony or allotment, pick the brains of pro growers and attend talks and workshops covering everything from the city’s fruit trees to setting up your own micro-nursery. 

Step away from the mess of consoles in your bedroom and get immersed in the latest experimental games from across the world at Somerset House’s video-gaming extravaganza Now Play This. Into 8-bit 1-uping or cutting-edge new releases? The fest is all about interacting with thoughtful, inventive games that draw from the world we live in. It’s the 11th edition this year and, as ever, it will be showcasing games around a particular theme – this year: ‘Folk Games: the stories we play together’, which will be exploring community and identity through creativity and play.

In ARCADE, a set of dance games will task people with performing spontaneous choreography to a bouncy electronic soundtrack. The Strand Avian Society will lead players on an architectural mystery through the streets of London, or make your own game in one of the Game Design Workshops and listen to talks and roundtables. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or have never even held an Xbox, there’s loads of fun to be had here.

Roundhouse Three Sixty is a brand-new, month-long festival at Chalk Farm’s famous circular arts venue aiming to ‘amplify the voices of today’s most vital and unapologetic artists’ with a line-up featuring live music, visual arts, spoken word, podcasts and club nights. This week, look out for ‘Nine Earths’ – an immersive artwork by collective D-Fuse exploring human consumption and its impact on our world, an immersive 100-minute poetry event from Caleb Femi and Longplayer Live – a performance of a 1000-minute section of Longplayer, a 1000-year-long piece of music that’s been playing continuously since the first moments of this millennium. 

★★★★ 'Frameless has managed to create something genuinely exciting' - Time Out

Escape reality through maximum immersion and experience 42 masterpieces from 29 of the world’s most iconic artists, each reimagined beyond belief, through cutting-edge technology. Situated in Marble Arch, Frameless plays host to four unique galleries with hypnotic visuals and a dazzling score. Enjoy 90 minutes of surreal artwork from Bosch, Dalí and more for just £24!

Get £24.80 tickets (originally £31) to Frameless, only with Time Out Offers.

The Lost Boys meet Motherland in playwright John Donnelly’s giddily original stage return. It is a drama about postpartum depression and also vampirism that stars Sophie Melville as a stressed mum who turns to forces beyond mortal comprehension to sort out her mess of a life. Blanche McIntye’s production is a punchy affair that cheerily rips off a load of atmospheric stuff from classic horror movies. It’s an enjoyably outlandish way to tell a story about postpartum depression, it’s a serious story told in a wickedly entertaining way.

Snag your ticket for just £15, down from £65, only through Time Out Offers.

Azuka Oforka’s uneven but engrossing play ruthlessly pushes the surface incongruity of the fact that it’s set in an 18th-century Jamaican sugar plantation with the none-more-Welsh name of Llanrumney. Though Oforka’s characters are fictional, Llanrumney is a real place that was owned by the Welsh Morgan family. It’s a fascinating look at a period in British history usually kept under lock and key, a frontier planter society of appalling racism, big money, relaxed rules and simmering threat. It’s an interesting and heartfelt debut play, which offers a subversion of British period drama cliches. 

From Serpico to LA Confidential to Training Day, stories of straight-arrow cops navigating corruption on the force are a Hollywood staple. Sandhya Suri’s terrific slowburn drama is the non-Hollywoodised version of that story, depicting life as a woman in India’s rural police as a far murkier and less predictable affair. The British-Indian director diagnoses a problem far too deep-seated for one well-meaning, inexperienced young constable to solve, leading you into a maze of compromised ethics, police brutality, caste violence and misogyny, and refusing to point to the exit. If ‘Training Day with more grey areas’ sounds dull, it’s anything but.

In UK theaters Mar 21, 2025.

London’s 12-day citywide celebration of video games is back. Visitors can check out a host of artworks and installations, as well as the festival’s official selection of exciting new video games from across the globe and exhibitions. This week look out for the new Game Plus at London Museum Spaces, London Wall (April 3-4) – a gaming consumer and industry event with over 80 games to play and talks, including the Time Capsule Panel, which will take a look at the past 10 years in gaming and offer predictions for the next 10 years, and the Joystique Roadshow showcasing their rare and unusual gaming items. 

The National Maritime Museum is putting on a huge exhibition unearthing the truth behind the infamous swashbuckling sailors. Pirates will trace the changing depictions of pirates through the ages and reveal what the brutal reality of pirate life was like behind the mythologised fictionalised accounts we’ve all grown up with. Explore piracy in popular culture – from comical characters like Captain Pugwash and Captain Hook to anti-heroes like Long John Silver and Captain Jack Sparrow, the global history of piracy and issues of modern piracy facing seafarers today. You’re in for a buccaneering time, me’hearties. 

This April de Angelis period drama follows about five of the most prominent actresses of the Restoration – that is to say, five of the first ever English actresses. Why revive it? It’s an intriguing subject and director Michael Oakley has pulled together a phenomenal cast: Anna Chancellor is Mrs Betterton, doting actress wife to Thomas Betterton, the unseen actor-manager of the Duke’s Company for whom the actresses work. Triple Olivier nominee Katherine Kingsley is tough, bosomy Mrs Marshall. Nicole Sawyerr is the flighty, cunning Mrs Farley, Doña Croll’s is Doll Common and Zoë Brough is superb as Nell Gwynn. De Angelis’s play gives some sense of the strangeness of the early days of women on stage and introduces us to these groundbreaking historical figures. 

Imagine indulging in all the dumplings, rolls, and buns you can handle, crafted by a Chinatown favourite with over a decade of culinary excellence. Savour Taiwanese pork buns, savoury pork and prawn soup dumplings, and luxurious crab meat xiao long bao. To top it off, enjoy a chilled glass of prosecco to elevate your feast. Cheers to a truly delightful dining experience at Leong’s Legend!

The stunningly iconic gardens of Hampton Court Palace are the setting for this Easter adventure. As you hunt for the Lindt Gold Bunnies that are dotted throughout the historic grounds, you can learn all about the legendary figures who have made their mark throughout the decades of this London landmark. The trail takes around 90 minutes and is self-led. Once you've found all the Lindt Gold Bunny statues, you'll be rewarded with your very own edible gold bunny (or non-chocolate treat). 

Time Out and W London are rolling out the red carpet for film lovers with the W London Film Club – a one-of-a-kind private screening experience in an intimate, 38-seater cinema. Nestled in London’s iconic West End, tickets start at £24 and include your screening, a handcrafted cocktail, and popcorn. For those looking to indulge further, upgrade to the £44 ticket, which adds a two-course meal and a glass of prosecco. Whether you're planning a date night, a stylish Sunday screening, or a special night out, get ready to sit back, sip on a cocktail, and escape into the magic of the big screen.

Ryan Calais Cameron’s fifties-set three-hander about a potentially commie actor has sharp suits, big pours of scotch and a haze of cigarette smoke. But to assume the play is a pastiche of a fast-patter period piece – is to underestimate Calais Cameron who smashed the West End with his beautiful play For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy. Because in walks Sidney Poitier, the guy who’d go on to become the first Black man to win an Oscar. He’s about to be cast in a big breakout role, but NBC’s lawyers want him to sign an oath that he’s not a communist. 

Ditch the usual pub pint and get hands-on with clay at Token Studio near Tower Bridge! For just £32, enjoy a 90-minute session crafting pottery, from spinning the wheel to painting your own design. Prefer painting? Choose from already-fired mugs, plates, or bowls to customise for £23. The best part? You can BYOB! And if you love your masterpiece, come back in two weeks to pick it up for just £10.

Get the ultimate pottery experience from £23 at Token Studio, only with Time Out Offers.

The Yard Theatre’s artistic director Jay Miller is not a man afraid to throw out a lot of ideas and see what sticks, and this revival of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece eschews period detail in favour of a dreamy no-place chased by contemporary music. The ’30s-set 1944 drama tends to depict ageing Southern belle Amanda Wingfield as a suffocating force of nature whose overbearing love has ruined the lives of her children, Tom (probably gay) and Laura (probably disabled). Miller upends this. Sharon Small’s Amanda is ultimately a decent sort and the engine of the play is her relationship with her troubled son. It’s a beautifully humane read on this classic. 

Americana London offers a soul-satisfying dining experience that brings the flavors of the American South to life. For just £25, enjoy a three-course meal and a glass of prosecco, all served in the vibrant ambiance near Piccadilly Circus. Start your journey with bold Buffalo Cauliflower Wings or Mamma’s 4-Cheese Macaroni, then savour hearty mains like the Bootlegger’s Moonshine Chicken or the Texas Red Brisket Chilli, perfectly paired with Southern Dirty Rice. For dessert, indulge in a comforting Torta della Nonna. 

Get a three course menu & a glass of prosecco for an exclusive price of £25, only with Time Out Offers.

Leeds is another planet in this exhibition from veteran British photographer Peter Mitchell. A Londoner who moved to Leeds in 1972 and never left, Mitchell’s photos in this small but transporting exhibition take us on a tour of the backstreets and alleys of his adopted city, mainly during the 1970s, giving us proud shopkeepers and aproned artisans standing in front of crumbling premises, many of which look more Victorian or Edwardian than late-twentieth-century. It’s odd to imagine now, but when Mitchell was taking these photos, colour photography was barely respected, Mitchell was breaking new ground. Now a retro appeal – a chance to transport yourself to a long gone time and place – but to his contemporaries, this was strange and radical work, strikingly modern and engaging.

We all know Edvard Munch’s masterpiece ‘The Scream’, but there was a lot more to him: this show at the National Portrait Gallery catalogues the great Norwegian expressionist through his portraits of family, friends, fellow artists, writers, art collectors and others in his lifetime. Intimate, energetic and deeply human, this exhibit is set to remind us why Munch had such influence in his sphere and far beyond.  

Punch is the perfect example of what playwright James Graham does best. It tells the poignant story of Jacob (David Shields), a lad from Nottingham who got into a totally pointless fight with James, a (never-seen) paramedic just a few years older than him. Jacob punched James precisely once. James went down, and a couple of weeks later he died. Graham’s script delves into this with typical deftness. Shields’ performance is a modulated study in the ferocity but also the innocence and vulnerability of a young offender. Punch is on the smaller side for a Graham play, but its climax will have you blubbing. 

Leigh Bowery was a convention-shunning icon of 1980s London nightlife, taking on many different roles in the city’s scene, from artist, performer and model, to club promoter, fashion designer and musician. His artistry also took many shapes, from reimagining clothes and makeup to experimenting with painting and sculpture. A new Tate Modern exhibition will celebrate his life and work, displaying some of his looks and collaborations with the likes of Charles Atlas, Lucian Freud, Nicola Rainbird and more.

You’ve probably heard all about Versailles’ dazzling Hall of Mirrors and its gorgeous, well-manicured gardens – maybe you’ve even seen them IRL. But do you know about the role the French royal court played in not just spreading scientific knowledge, but making it fashionable, too? The Science Museum’s latest exhibition, ‘Versailles: Science And Splendour’, will uncover that lesser-talked-about side of the palace’s history, diving into the royal family’s relationship with science, women’s impact on medicine, philosophy and botany at the royal court, and showcasing more than 100 items that reinforce those stories – many of which have never been displayed in the UK before. 

Get tickets to Versailles: Science & Splendour, for just £5.40, down from £10.80, only through Time Out Offers.

Noah Davis, the Los Angeles painter known for his figurative works depicting dreamlike visions of everyday Black life, was not one to be pigeonholed: each canvas here is technically unique, yet they still work as a set, each brushstroke deliberate, considered. In this retrospective, we are taken into his personal life – ‘Painting for My Dad’ was created when he lost his father  – we discover his deep, well-referenced knowledge of art history and learn about his hopes and dreams, where vast canvases show scenes of his crime-striken neighbourhood transformed into a utopia where Black ballerinas dance in the street. Davis was an artist that played with paint, commanded it. The result? Quietly, yet urgently political art.