Free And Cheap Things To Do This Week In London: 16-22 September 2024

Knitted fish, a short film festival, a river race and a bike ride

Budget-friendly things to do in London this week for £5 or less.

Looking for more free things to do in London? Here are 102 of em! We've also compiled this epic map of free stuff in London.

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Admire photos of an east London garden through the seasons

A Garden in Time is the current exhibition on at St. Margaret's House in Bethnal Green, in which photographer Virginia Orr has captured the Talitha Arts Garden at St Margaret’s House through her lens across the seasons. This Thursday (19 September) there's also a private view of the exhibition, and a panel discussion with the photographer and St Margaret’s House staff.

Until 14 October.

See Elton's specs and a Fleabag script at the V&A

The V&A in South Kensington celebrates the centenary of its Theatre and Performance collections with the launch of Enthoven Unboxed: 100 Years of Collecting Performance. Included in the free exhibition is the original Rolling Stones tongue and lips artwork by graphic designer John Pasche, a costume worn by Dua Lipa in the Future Nostalgia tour, semi-quaver spectacles once sported by Elton John, a set model designed by Misty Buckley for Stormzy's headline Glastonbury set in 2019, and a prompt script used by Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Fleabag in the West End. There's also a long-lost portrait of Gabrielle Enthoven, who started this collection and donated it to the V&A in 1924.

Free, until 4 January 2026.

Enjoy free live music in an historic chapel

Swing by the Charterhouse in Clerkenwell after work on Wednesday for the latest Chapel Music performance. This time, the Thames Chamber Choir perform Choral Evensong in the historic chapel. Worth keeping an eye on the schedule as there are a few more concerts by different performers planned for the coming months.

Free, 18 September.

Explore the Picture Room at Sir John Soane's Museum

Head to Sir John Soane's Museum on Wednesday for the latest In Focus lunchtime talk. Helen Dorey, Deputy Director and Inspectress marks the bicentenary of John Soane's Picture Room behind No. 14 Lincoln's Inn Fields. The space is home to masterpieces by Hogarth, Canaletto, Turner and Piranesi, and Soane designed and installed moving 'picture planes' to allow him to hang 118 paintings, a collection large enough for a room three times its size. In the talk, find out about the origins of its design, highlights of the collection and the history of the room since Soane's lifetime.

£5, 18 September.

Take a free tour of this 19th-century church

Join a guide for a free tour of St Mary Magdalene's Church in Paddington. The building was constructed in the 1860s, and has now been repurposed into arts centre Grand Junction. The tour includes The Chapel of St Sepulchre, a memorial located in the undercroft of the church. The ceiling, by the way, is stunning.

Free, 18 and 21 September (and other future dates).

See theatrical installations on display at Barbican

Visual artist Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum unveils new works commissioned for The Curve at Barbican. Her drawings, paintings, installations, and animation works are inspired by her experience of living across Africa, Southeast Asia and the United States, as well as her ongoing research into ethnography, ecology and quantum physics.

Free, 18 September-5 January.

Get the lowdown on the life of Barnes Wallis

Historian Richard Morris gives a virtual lecture about the life and legacy of Barnes Wallis, about whom he has just written a biography. Wallis was an engineer known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force during the 'dam busters' raid. Hosted by the RAF Museum.

Free, 19 September.

Take a tour of this Japanese-inspired exhibition before it closes

This is the final week of the Art Without Heroes exhibition at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, which focuses on Mingei, the influential folk-craft movement from 1920s-30s Japan. Ceramics, woodwork, paper, toys, textiles, photography and film works are on display, and on Thursday, you can take a tour of the exhibition led by one of its curators, for further insight into these objects.

Free, 19 September. (Exhibition until 22 September, suggested donation £5).

See Wellcome Collection's new, free exhibition

Wellcome Collection opens its new major exhibition, Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights, which delves into the impact that physical work has on the human body. It focuses on three places of work, The Plantation, The Street and The Home, looking at how unregulated and stigmatised work practices have reinforced healthcare inequalities throughout history. The exhibition contains more than 150 objects, a well as artworks from Brazil, Bangladesh, Trinidad, Sudan, Peru, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico and the USA.

Free, 19 September-27 April.

Sniff out a fishy new art installation

Something fishy's going on at Air Contemporary in Soho, namely Fishy Business, a new exhibition from Kate Jenkins, who has skilfully knitted, sequinned and embroidered an entire fish counter bristling with lobsters, mussels, sardines and squids. Thought it'll cost you more than the price of a spendy seafood platter to buy any of these artworks, you can admire them for free.

Free, 20 September-5 October.

Spend your weekend watching short films

The Curzon Hoxton hosts The Smalls Film Festival, showcasing short films from around the world. Each of the seven categories (animation, comedy, documentary, drama, music video, and student film) is given a feature-length slot comprising of short films, covering subjects including a stolen magician's rabbit, a 6ft volcano, and our desire to travel.

£5, 21-22 September.

Get your spot to watch the Great River Race

Ever heard of the Great River Race? Think of it as the riverine version of the London Marathon -- a 21.6 mile race along the Thames. It begins at Millwall and goes all the way to Richmond with over 250 boats taking part, and it's free to watch. Just find yourself a spot along the river bank -- it begins at 1.15pm, and takes around two hours for the fastest vessels to complete the course.

Free, 21 September.

Work out in the name of wildlife

Wildlife conservation charity Tusk invites you take part in its free Ranger Workout Challenge in Hyde Park on Saturday morning. Led by Be Military Fit, you'll do an hour of burpees, weighted sprints, push ups and sit ups -- while raising awareness of, and funds for, rangers across the African continent at the forefront of wildlife conservation.

Free, 21 September.

Hop on your bike for the Tour de Waltham Forest

Annual family cycling event Tour de Waltham Forest returns to the streets of north-east London, offering three routes of different lengths (9km/16km/20km) through the borough. Self-guided rides take place in the morning, with signs to help you find your way, or you can sign up for guided rides in the afternoon.

Free, 22 September.

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