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Dig out your diary because it's time to start planning a month of fun. June's highlights include the return of the East London Comics and Arts Festival, two days of brilliant music at Field Day in Victoria Park, plus the unveiling of the Tate Modern's brand new extension. It's going to be a good one!
THINGS TO DO
June 1- 30: London Festival of Architecture The month-long celebration of architecture is back in 2016 with exhibitions, installations, talks, debates, screenings, tours and family activities organised and hosted by the city's leading cultural institutions.
June 2-19: Vans x Nintendo Interactive Exhibition This exhibition pays homage to the various cherished consoles from Nintendo, to mark the launch of the forthcoming Vans x Nintendo collection.
June 3: Hype x Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles party Just Hype have teamed up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a brand new collaboration. Head to their Boxpark store from 6pm for drinks, pizza, a chance to see the collection and the Turtles themselves.
June 3: BeneBingo Play a game of bingo with Dolly Slatemen and friends, onboard The Good Ship Benefit. Expect a night of comedy, singing and plenty of chances to win Benefit beauty prizes.
June 3- July 15: Sunset Safari Delve into after hours zoo-life and get the chance to see animal having dinner or bedding down for the night.
June 5: Grandfest Elderly experts run free masterclasses in the likes of breadmaking, home brewing, wood turning and sequence dancing, which guests can book in advance on the Grandfest website.
June 7- June 25: Spitalfields Journey Explore not one, but two beautiful east London abodes during these new tours in Spitalfields. Visitors will begin their jaunt at Dennis Severs' House which is set up as though a family of Hugenot silk weavers from 1724 have just left.
June 10-11: East London Comics and Arts Festival Now in its fifth year, ELCAF is the place to discover the best comic book and graphic art by top international publishers and makers.
June 10- Sept 30: Pop Fields A summertime hangout for sport lovers in south London, boasting a huge screen for broadcasting major sporting events and a space for visitors to work up a sweat themselves.
June 11: World Naked Bike Ride A protest against oil dependency and the way the cult of the car dominates contemporary life, World Naked Bike Ride Day is also an unfettered celebration of individuality of the human body
June 11: Trooping the Colour: The Queen's Birthday Parade In 2016 the annual celebration for the Queen's official birthday will mark her arrival at the big 9-0.
June 14-25: Fire and Feast To mark the launch of the new London Dungeons show, Escape The Great Fire, The Art of Dining can get an exclusive early look, as well as a five-course dining experience of fire sauce, burnt butter cake and Farriner's Flame cocktails.
June 24- Dec 31: ArcelorMittal Orbit Slide Belgian artist Carsten Höller (who set up a pair of spiral slides outside the Hayward Gallery as part of his 2015 exhibition) has designed this new addition to the Olympic Park's sculpture-cum-attraction.
June 25: Scandi Midsummer Market Stalls selling arts and craft goodies and Nordic treats will be popping up between the Finnish and Norwegian Churches in Rotherhithe for a day of family fun.
June 25: Areparty Summer This Venezuelan party will be taking over Bloomsbury Ballroom for a night of cabaret, music, performances, dancing and glamourous shenanigans.
June 25-26: Weekend Punk Two punk themed days down by the river to mark the Design Museum's last weekend at their Shad Thames location. Tutors from the RCA, CSM and LCC lead workshops covering illustration, digital hacking, fashion up-cycling and more.
June 25- Oct 9: Avian Forms Jane Edden's latest exhibition at the Horniman contains minute feathered coats, x-ray images, sculpture and photography about birds, looking to myths and modern ecology to shine a light on our relationship with feathered things.
Until Aug 31: Above and Beyond Experience the marvellous world of flight and aerospace innovation at 'Above and Beyond', an immersive exhibition offering a look at the past and future of the science behind flight.
FOOD
Restaurants opening in early June:
The Barbary A 24-cover, no-bookings restaurant in Neal's Yard, from the team behind The Palomar.
MeatUp A barbecue grill in Wandsworth, with DJs, craft beer and a large selection of prosecco.
Yosma A Turkish restaurant from the duo behind Frescobaldi restaurant, and the Good Food Society.
Dip & Flip The fourth south London site from the roast-meat-sandwiches-dipped-in-gravy group.
Chuck Burgers The second restaurant proper from a burger and cocktail street-food operation.
Belpassi Bros Twin brothers Livio and Lorenzo Belpassi are set to open a permanent version of their much-loved meatball truck, serving their classic beef and pork meatballs, and homemade sauces, served in a sandwich or on a base of polenta or homemade pasta.
June 1: Rawligion An organic, plant based food and drink concept.
June 1: Ivy Café Wimbledon The Ivy café roll-out makes its way to Wimbledon Village.
June 1: Hello Kitty Pop-Up A pop-up cafe from the massively popular kawaii brand at Cutter & Squidge.
June 3: Sutton and Sons Hackney Sutton & Sons' third permanent site.
June 8: Panther Milk Bar x L'Escargot A two month pop-up serving Leche de Pantera, a sweet, gin-based cocktail originating from Spain.
June 10: Mason & Company The best of the craft beer world meets Italian-American fare.
June 13: Yard Sale Pizza Good news dough boys, one of our fave pizza joints (voted 'Best Hackney Restaurant' in our Love London Awards 2015 no less) is opening up a second branch in Finsbury Park on June 13.
June 14: Tombo's Poké and Matcha bar A Soho joint specialising in the Hawaiian-inspired raw food dish and all things matcha.
June 15: Bao Fitzrovia A second, larger restaurant from the popular original. Expect a similar offering supplemented by further sharing dishes, cocktails and Champagne.
June 21: Strut & Cluck A Spitalfields restaurant specialising in eastern-Mediterranean dishes, most made with turkey.
Food events:
June 1-Aug 21: Little Feast Little Feast returns to Shepherds Bush Market with a 240 seat space and six street food kitchens.
June 2: Pop Feast Birthday Special In celebration of their first birthday, Pop Brixton host this supper club with a whopping eight courses to work though.
June 3-23: Pop Upstairs Chatsworth Road's Eat 17 has hooked up with pastry chef and chocolatier Fraise Sauvage for a series of weekend dinners throughout spring and summer.
June 6: Jar Kitchen Supper Club Series Five nights of great grub with five different themes. Land, air, fire, earth and sea will be explored using ingredients from suppliers with a focus on celebrating quality British produce.
June 8: Spring Awakening presents: The NAT Kitchen The National Aid's Trust's annual fundraiser invites four celebrities to cook in an open kitchen for a full restaurants and a panel of judges, chaired by Masterchef's Gregg Wallace.
June 9: The Georgian Dining Academy This 3-course supper served in a candlelit chop house will transport guests back to Georgian London with the help of music, poetry and song.
June 11: Fork to Fork Food Festival Fork to Fork returns to London with over 35 food stalls serving small plates and signature dishes from top establishments. This year's restaurants include: Hoppers, Quo Vadis, Lyle’s, The Ledbury, Kitty Fisher’s, Granger & Co, Polpo, The River Café, The Modern Pantry,Wahaca and Caravan.
June 11: Her Majesty's Birthday Brunch Bourne & Hollingsworth host this special birthday brunch in celebrations of her Majesty's 90th birthday.
June 11-12: Junipalooza Meet the makers of over 40 gins and sample each of their wares. Learn the secrets behind perfect G&Ts and stock up on the essential ingredients for your Negroni needs this summer.
June 15-19: Taste of London The annual Taste of London outdoor food festival is back for 2016. Whether you wince at the prices or have your fork at the ready, these culinary events (of eight sessions over five days) will be returning for another year of gastronomic Glastonbury.
MUSIC
June 1: Shura With a host of trendy and ear-pleasing reference points – ’90s R&B, ’80s Fleetwood Mac and Cyndi Lauper, soft funk and contemporary electronica – Mancunian singer-producer Shura Denton is a good bet for blog-storming success.
June 3: Deftones Any ’90s alt rock band worth their salt can muster bone-crushing riffs and angst-dripping vocals, but Californian five-piece Deftones are also masters of complex and unexpectedly subtle songcraft and dreamy ambient interludes.
June 4: AC/DC The classic rock supremos (with Axl Rose on vocals) are here to shake Stratford all night long.
June 4-5: Born & Bred Expanding to two days and backed this year by Rinse FM, B&B is an east London festival teeming with bass, glorious bass, courtesy of top London party promoters Found.
June 5: Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Broooooooooce! Rock’s most indefatigable frontman and his long-serving E Streeters roll into town this June for an epic three-and-a-half-hour show, including every song from his classic album ‘The River’.
June 10: Busta Rhymes Two decades in the game and with his stock as high as ever, 'Bussa Bus' is still one of the most inventive personalities in the rap game, with a huge back catalogue of old-school classics to lay on you.
June 11-12: Field Day The ace leftfield music festival returns to Victoria Park, with PJ Harvey and James Blake headlining.
June 13: Damien Rice Stunning, subtly orchestrated, slowly unwinding folk-pop by the Irish singer-songwriter.
June 15: John Grant The master singer-songwriter and former Czar sings his incredible, introspective ballads.
June 15-19: Coldplay Chris Martin and his galaxy-conquering pop-rockers are back, with a new album ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ ready to follow last year’s downbeat ‘Ghost Stories’.
June 22-23: Belle And Sebastian Stuart Murdoch’s bookish indie-pop favourites play their first two albums live.
June 24: Rihanna Ri’s back in town, headlining Wembley as part of a massive tour following her eighth album ‘Anti’.
June 28: Beck A giant of weird pop, alt rock and anti-folk since the early ’90s, Beck Hansen makes a welcome return to London for his first straight-up, no-bullshit headline show here in years.
NIGHTLIFE
June 4: The South London Soul Train Prince Special Celebrate a legend with the Soul Train’s annual four-floor Prince party in Peckham, this year featuring music by tribute act Prince Revelation as well as the brass band Brassroots playing a full-Prince set.
June 4: I Love The ’80s vs I Love The '90s No guesses needed here! All the '80s and '90s pop, hair rock, disco, indie and cheese you could ever wish for.
June 8: Dedicated to Kanye West: A Night of Yeezy NHAC's annual bash to celebrate everyone's favourite megalomaniac rap superstar returns. You'll hear tons of tracks from Ye's hefty solo back catalogue, plus his mixtapes and remixes.
June 11: Tropicalista Thames Boat Party Tired of hearing the same old beats on your boating parties? Step right on to the Dutch Master and wrap your ears round some fine tropical sounds including Latin and Brazilian beats, samba, merengue, global ghetto bass and baile funk.
June 11: Deviation Funk, dubstep and house from the DJ powerhouse and BBC Radio 1 stalwart.
June 14: Morning Gloryville A pre-work mid-week fitness rave, which aims to give punters a healthy, start to the working day via snacks, massages and a lot of dancing.
June 17: Red Bull Culture Clash If dance music genres had a massive musical ruck to see which was the biggest, it wouldn't look entirely unlike Red Bull's gargantuan Culture Clash.
June 17: Rupture One for the serious, committed bass-heads, Rupture returns to corsica Studios for another solid night of D&B, jungle and techno, with plenty of old-skool vibes bouncing off the walls.
June 24: Ms Dynamite Fiery rapper Ms Dy-na-mi-tee – a Mercury Prize winner from back in the day – shows off her sharp-tongued skills with a mix of hip hop and a dash of grime attitude.
June 25: Bump and Hustle Music Bump your way across the dancefloor to a selection of classic house cuts, prime funk, soul, rare groove and disco from various expert selectors including the likes of John Morales, Paul 'Trouble' Anderson, Phil Asher and more.
FILM
June 2: Independence Day: Resurgence They're back, 20 years alien invaders wiped out most of humanity, the skies once again darken with giant ships.
June 3: The Nice Guys Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe head up this hysterical and razor-sharp buddy comedy.
June 3: Me Before You Mother of Dragons Emilia Clarke stars in the film of Jojo Moyes's bestselling weepie.
ART
June 1- Oct 6: Bhupen Khakhar The Tate first showed Bhupen Khakhar back in 1982, and again in 'Century City' in 2001, yet the Indian artist remains relatively unknown. This retrospective looks set to change that while also bringing a heartening dose of fantastical storytelling to the summer of art.
June 2- Sept 11Alex Katz: Quick Light As he approaches his ninetieth year, legendary New York painter Alex Katz shows no sign of slowing down.
June 8- Aug 21: Mary Heilmann Heilmann, born in San Francisco in 1940, has forged a singular path, riffing on various styles of abstraction – hard-edge painting, expressionist brushwork, the dot, the splodge, the stripe, the dribble – in a deceptively casual manner.
June 8- Sept 18: Winifred Knights Dulwich Picture Gallery's mission to bring to attention under-appreciated British modernists continues with this retrospective of Winifred Knights.
June 12: Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair Our favourite alternative art event returns on June 12 2016 with dozens of big names selling wares directly to the public, minus the stuffy atmosphere and astronomical prices of some commerical galleries.
June 17: Opening of the new Tate Modern You can’t miss the big art story of 2016: it’s ten storeys high. On June 17, a new Tate Modern will be unveiled when its extension, known as The Switch House (that’s the big, twisty building that’s been rising up behind the Bankside building for the past couple of years) opens to the public.
© Ves Pitts
THEATRE
June 1: Taylor Mac LIFT Festival 2016 gets an outrageous opener courtesy of performance artist Taylor Mac. Putting feathers, frivolity, and the great American songbook through a blender, Mac's witty, darkly political show will mix satire with thrilling entertainment.
June 1- Aug 17: The Deep Blue Sea Helen McCrory stars in this intriguingly leftfield production of one of Terence Rattigan's great plays.
June 7- May 2017: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child The biggest stage event of 2016 – and conceivably of all time – is coming. Officially confirmed as the eigth Harry Potter adventure, 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' picks up immediately after 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' left off.
June 10- July 16: Wild A man flees to Moscow after humiliating his government in Make Bartlett's new drama about accountability in the digital age.
June 14- Oct 29: 1984 Headlong's audacious re-working of Orwell's '1984' is great, queasy theatre.
June 17-July 9: Henry V Michelle Terry steps into the warrior king's breach – and breeches.
June 18- Oct 1: Macbeth The third new Shakespeare production in Emma Rice's inaugural Globe season is Iqbal Khan's 'Macbeth', riding high off his acclaimed RSC 'Othello', in which he boldly recast both Othello and Iago as black men.
June 23- Aug 20: Faith Healer After tackling Cumberbatch in 'Hamlet' at the Barbican, Olivier Award-winning director Lyndsey Turner returns to the Donmar to take on Brian Friel's great play.
Until Aug 13: The Spoils Hollywood star Jesse Eisenberg heads up the cast of his own comedy play.
Until Oct 1: Aladdin Disney's Broadway enormo-smash finally makes it to London.
HOORAH!