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It sure is cold out, but don’t let the weather put you off exploring London this weekend. Warm yourself up by going on a tour of the city’s best bookshops on the London Bookshop Crawl, having a sweet tipple at our bar of the week The Mulwray, or heading into Kew Garden’s steamy glass house for the Orchids Festival. It’s gonna be banging.
CENTRAL
Super Sharp. Fashion Space Gallery. Sat. Free. See this tribute to the garage and jungle rave fashion of the 1990s. Go for a massive jolt of nostalgia and some noisy outfits.
Facebook’s ‘Gallery of Groups’. Gallery@Oxo. Sat-Sun. Free. Get to know six of Facebook’s quirkiest groups at the social networking site’s first IRL exhibition. Enter the worlds of sausage dog lovers, ‘very old skateboarders’, Panini sticker collectors and quidditch players – all brought together online by their real-life obsessions.
‘Votes for Women’. Museum of London. Sat-Sun. Free. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act was passed giving some women the right to vote in the UK for the first time. Take a closer look at some of the lesser-known suffragettes who made this landmark moment happen at this exhibition.
Suffragette City Walking Tour. Meet at Holborn Station. Sat. £12. This two-hour tour promises to get you acquainted with the church where Emily Wilding Davison’s funeral cortege started, and the site of the Endell Street Military Hospital, which was staffed entirely by suffragettes.
Fatberg. Museum of London. Sat-Sun. Free. Last year, London gained an unlikely celebrity after a giant blob of wet wipes, cooking oil, condoms and other unmentionables was found under Whitechapel Road. Now, those with a strong disposition can see it for themselves. Ok, not the whole thing, just a slice. The original fatberg was the size of two football pitches.
‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’. Wyndham’s Theatre. Sat. £12.50-£98.50. Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville star in Eugene O‘Neill’s devastating masterpiece. Go to see Manville’s breathtaking performance.
‘Julius Caesar’. Bridge Theatre. Sat. £15-£65. Nicholas Hytner directs Ben Whishaw in Shakespeare’s Roman tragedy. Get standing tickets for the full-pelt immersive experience.
London Bookshop Crawl. Various venues. Sat-Sun. Free-£3. This crawl takes the basic premise of a pub crawl – only instead of drowning in beer, you’ll be drowning in books. Guided tours take place in four areas: Soho, Richmond and Kew, Waterloo and Southbank, and Old Street and Brick Lane. Your ticket nabs you discounts and freebies in participating venues.
National Student Pride Daytime Festival. Westminster University. Sat-Sun. Free-£5. Take part in a rainbow of events from panel discussions on bisexuality to a queer ‘Blind Date’ at this year’s Student Pride party.
Valentine Card Making. The London Edition. Sat. £6. Ditch Clintons this year and say it with a collaged card instead. Your partner will love it – glue marks and all.
‘T-Shirt: Cult – Culture – Subversion’. Fashion and Textile Museum. Sat-Sun. £9.90. If you’ve never pondered the meaning of the most affordable and popular item of clothing on the planet, then get ready to have your world turned at this exhibition exploring the many roles of the humble tee.
‘Ocean Liners: Speed and Style’. V&A. Sat-Sun. £18, £14.50-£17 concs. Take a look at the stylish ships that revolutionised travel. You’ll dig that Titanic glamour (and there’ll be a happier ending).
The Mulwray. The Blue Posts, 28 Rupert St, W1D 6DJ. Have a well-earned weekend tipple at our bar of the week, this petite cocktail parlour above The Blue Posts in Chinatown. You’ll find on-trend drinking in a sweet vintage setting.
NORTH
Giorgio Griffa: ‘A Continuous Becoming’. Camden Arts Centre. Sat-Sun. Free. See this retrospective of abstract art by an under-recognised Italian pioneer. It’s gorgeous, subtle and silently captivating.
Love, Lust and Betrayal. Balabam. Sun. £8. Mythology, music and folklore are used to explore the themes of love and lust in this improvised live music jam followed by a storytelling sesh.
Vegan Life Live. Alexandra Palace. Sat-Sun. £10-£16. Both newbie and veteran vegans will find kitchen demos, talks and stalls selling cruelty-conscious clothing, cosmetics and food at this plant-based living weekend put together by the folks behind Vegan Life magazine.
EAST
Fetch & Follow’s ‘Canine Cupid’ Market. Netil Market. Sun. Free entry. Grab doggie treats and handcrafted accessories for pups at a market filled with pawsome gifts. One for dog owners and the dog-obsessed.
‘Making Her Mark: 110 Years of Activism in Hackney’. Hackney Museum. Sat. Free. This exhibition tells the stories of east London women who have helped to shape and transform their community through peaceful protest and grassroots political campaigns.
The Kitchens. Old Spitalfields Market. Sat-Sun. A brace of new names has arrived at The Kitchens in Old Spitalfields Market, including Time Out faves Monty’s Deli and Laphet. That’s your lunch this weekend sorted.
Social Fun and Games Club. Roof East. Sat-Sun. Free entry. Can’t make it to Pyeongchang for the winter Olympics? Then hit up Stratford, where the Social Fun & Games Club will be pairing curling with Korean food all month.
‘Girls by Martina Paukova’. The Book Club. Sat-Sun. Free. In her first major London show, Guardian and New York Times illustrator Martina Paukova presents her witty and surreal drawings showing women in ordinary domestic situations surrounded by the apparatus of modern life – laptops, coffee cups, men.
Deep Trash Romance. Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. Sat. £8-£10 adv, £10-£12 otd. Don’t expect red roses and soppy love songs at this Pleasure Palace. Instead, you’ll find feminist porn, queer erotic videos, eco-sex sessions and raucous cabaret.
‘Blade Runner’ Double Bill. Moth Club. Sun. £10. ‘Blade Runner’ fans can watch the sci-fi original’s final cut followed by its slick sequel ‘Blade Runner 2049’.
DIY Art Market. Epic Dalston. Sun. Free entry. Support London’s independent artists and get your mitts on original ceramics, zines and illustrations at this pop-up fair.
NTS Radio and Rio Cinema: ‘Tape Crackers’. Rio Cinema. Sat. £10. Catch a special screening of ‘Tape Crackers: A Celebration of Jungle on Film’, which follows fanatic Mike Finch and his hoard of ‘90s videotapes. Lawson Benn will DJ from 10pm and there’ll also be a conversation with the film’s director.
‘International Weird Collage Show’. Jealous Gallery. Sat-Sun. Free. See the final weekend of this display of contemporary collages made by top-notch cutters and stickers from across the globe.
The Barbican Complex – Photography Walk. Meet at Barbican Station. Sun. £9. Join this three-hour guided stroll through the glorious Barbican estate and snap away at what you see with a group of other brutalist architecture enthusiasts.
Designer-Maker Sale Weekend. Craft Central at The Forge. Sat-Sun. Free. Fill your home with beautiful ceramics, prints, accessories and textiles from a wide range of makers at this weekend-long sale.
Make Your Own Mini Mural. Hackney Downs Studios. Sun. £20. Learn how to create bold graphics using dynamic lettering and motivational quotes.
The Ultimate ‘Simpsons’ Pub Quiz. Sebright Arms. Sun. £2 pp. Do you find yourself spouting Simpsons quotes nobody gets anymore? Meet your people at ‘The Ultimate Simpsons Pub Quiz’ in Bethnal Green. First place gets £50.
Chinese New Year. V&A Museum of Childhood. Sat. Free. Music and dance performances will fill the Museum of Childhood in celebration of Chinese New Year and the year of the dog. Drop-in workshops for all ages will cover Chinese opera mask-making, plus costume and calligraphy classes.
SOUTH
Pancake Race. Greenwich Market. Sat. Free. It’s flippin’ well that time of year again. Grab your frying pan and sprint to Greenwich Market for this batter-based running challenge. Athletes will be rewarded with a free pancake.
Mother Flipper Residency. Spike + Earl. Sat. Get ready for finger-lickin’ good burgers this Saturday by enjoying non-stop happy hour prices across the opening weekend of this new Denmark Hill joint and expect tasty giveaways.
‘A Mile in My Shoes’. Migration Museum. Sat-Sun. Free. Experience immersive stories from migrants who’ve made London home at this show presented by the Empathy Museum.
Bloomberg New Contemporaries. Block 336. Sat-Sun. Free. This annual exhibition hopes to uncover the arts stars of the future. Reckon you can spot the next David Hockney or Paula Rego, Gillian Wearing or Tacita Dean? They’re all New Contemporaries alumni.
WEST
Orchids Festival. Kew Gardens. Sat-Sun. Included in entry price, £16. Don’t miss this big, bright yonic flower party at Kew where you can walk through an orchid archway like a goddamn horticultural queen.
Lost In Disco. Bush Hall. Sat. £17. Get down to non-stop disco, soul, funk and ‘70s and ‘80s vintage dancefloor classics at this Studio 54-style party.
Rebecca Ferguson. O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Sun. From £28.50. One of the best voices to emerge from ‘The X Factor’, Rebecca Ferguson takes her sultry jazz tones to Shepherd’s Bush.
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Main image: Alan Habbick Photography/Flickr