Things To Do This Weekend In London: 30 November-1 December 2024

December begins with markets, festivals, and lots of gingerbread.

Things to do this weekend is sponsored by FRAMELESS Immersive Art Experience.

All weekend

SCOTTISH BOOK FESTIVAL: Scots in London host the St Andrew's Book Festival, taking place at various central London venues. It's a chance to hear from Scottish writers and celebrities, including Sir Alexander McCall Smith, Ann Cleeves, Hugo Rifkind and Ian Rankin. 25 November-1 December

PENGUIN PARADE: Been down to Fleet Street recently? The area has been invaded by a colony of flippered statues. The Penguin Parade is a free art trail consisting of a dozen colourful sculptures dotted around the area, each one individually designed by a different artist. FREE, until January

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL: The French Film Festival returns to Ciné Lumière, showcasing French and Francophone cinema through over 60 screenings, UK premieres, and Q&As. Highlights this weekend include French romcom Three Friends, and Nicholas’ Fantastic Summer, a programme of short animated films for children. 26 November-9 December

EAT & DRINK FESTIVAL: Head to Olympia London for the Eat & Drink Festival Christmas special. Pick up tips on preparing your festive feasts, with special demos from celebrity chefs; discover beers, wines and spirits to pair with your meal; and go home armed with goodies from the artisan food market. It's part of the larger Ideal Home Show at Christmas, on at the same venue at the same time. 27 November- 1 December

BALTIC FILM FESTIVAL: Films from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are shown at the London Baltic Film Festival at Rich Mix. Dramas, animations and shorts feature including Flow, about a cat whose home is destroyed by floods. 28 November-1 December

ELECTRIC DREAMS: Discover how artists used machines and algorithms to create mesmerising and art between the 1950s and the early 1990s in new exhibition Electric Dreams at Tate Modern. View works by early innovators of optical, kinetic, programmed and digital art, who paved the way for the immersive sensory installations and automatically-generated works which are so popular today. 28 November-1 June

CHURCHILL IN CARTOONS: The Imperial War Museum marks 150 years since the birth of Winston Churchill with free exhibition Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman. View satirical cartoons from Churchill's time in the public eye and find out how they influenced perceptions of him, and continue to shape our perception today. FREE, 29 November-23 February

MAGIC LANTERN CHRISTMAS: The Charles Dickens Museum offers a weekend of magic lantern shows, a Victorian way of telling stories using a light source and a series of lenses and slides. Each show lasts around 30 minutes, taking you into the worlds of goblins, ghosts and the extraordinary, and entry to the museum is included in your ticket. 30 November-1 December

WINTER VINTAGE MARKET: Go East Vintage takes over Camden Town Brewery’s mews for the Winter Vintage Market, where you can shop for clothing, bags, accessories, art, jewellery, midcentury furniture, ceramics, stoneware, glassware, rugs and home decor. 30 November-1 December

THE GINGERBREAD CITY: Buildings and landscapes constructed from biscuits go on display at annual exhibition The Gingerbread City, opening at a new home in Chelsea this year. Get down to The Gaumont to see cityscapes constructed by teams of architects and engineers, on this year's 'Recycled City' theme. 30 November-29 December

GINGERBREAD GREENWICH: Elsewhere in biscuity news, Woolwich Works unveils Gingerbread Greenwich, a recreation of the south-east London area by local schoolchildren. This one's free to visit, showcasing gingerbread buildings and candy-lined streets. FREE, 30 November-6 January

WINTER LIGHT TRAIL: London's full of light trails at this time of year, with a new one opening at Vauxhall City Farm this weekend. The launch event takes place on Saturday evening, led by Johnny Vaughan and the Pearly Kings and Queens, with the trail then open on certain evenings until Christmas. 30 November-22 December

CHRISTMAS MARKETS AND FAIRS: It's a busy weekend for Christmas markets and fairs in London, with events taking place from Enfield to Mayfair and Walthamstow to Fulham. Our guide to Christmas markets in London has everything you need to know.

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Immerse yourself in weekend Lates at FRAMELESS

How many art galleries let you wander among the exhibits with a glass of wine or cocktail in hand? Not many. But, then, not many galleries are like FRAMELESS. This incredible Marble Arch experience puts you in the picture, with immersive recreations of famous masterpieces. And now they do weekend Lates too, which adds yet another dimension.

Wander through famous works by the likes of Canaletto, Dalí, Monet, Rembrandt and Van Gogh -- all brought to life with stunning immersive projections and a specially curated soundscape. With late opening on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm to 10pm, you can enjoy the four immersive galleries in an adults-only environment. Better yet, the Lates experience comes with a well-stocked Café-Bar featuring specially curated music by Soho Radio. You can even take your tipple into the FRAMELESS galleries, and raise a glass to the greatest artists who ever lived.

FRAMELESS is open seven days a week, with special over-18s Lates opening (6-10pm) on Fridays and Saturdays. Booking is essential, with tickets selling fast throughout December.

Saturday 30 November

CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL: The Wandsworth Town Christmas Festival has events going on all over the area, including a market in the Ram Quarter, and Santa's grotto and live performances and radio broadcasts in the Southside Centre. It all culminates in the Christmas light switch-on at 4.30pm. 10.30am-5pm

RHYTHMS OF BOLLYWOOD: Dance students of all ages put on a showcase of Bollywood dancing at Artsdepot, showcasing Indian-inspired dance, culture, and artistry. Two shows take place today, each one featuring performers from different dance schools. 12pm/4.30pm

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BOTTOMLESS BRUNCH: Caribbean-themed drinking pop-up LIMIN Winter Lodge serves a bottomless brunch combining Christmas and carnival vibes. Don your Christmas jumper along with feathers and sequins as you tuck into Caribbean-tweaked dishes (scotch bonnet croque monsieur, anyone?) and bottomless prosecco or cocktails, accompanied by live DJs and steel pan drummers. 12pm-2pm

RIVERSIDE CAROLS: Head to Gabriel's Wharf (near OXO Tower) for a free Carols by the River performance. A local choir performs festive tunes, interspersed with a steel band, and DJs play Christmas songs too. It's free entry, with mulled wine and hot chocolate available to buy from local businesses. FREE, 1pm-5pm

CHRISTMAS BOTTOMLESS BRUNCH: Enjoy bottomless pizza, prosecco, mulled wine, and beer for 90 minutes at the Christmas bottomless brunch at Archer Street in Notting Hill. Entertainment takes the form of professional singers performing festive hits. 2pm-5pm

THE SNOWMAN TOUR: We're walking in the aiiiiiir! The Snowman Tour comes to New Wimbledon Theatre, screening the legendary animated festive film, accompanied by a live orchestra. Stick around, as The Snowman and the Snowdog is shown immediately afterwards, also accompanied by a live orchestra. If you haven't seen the latter, it has some absolutely charming animated bird's eye views of London, including a close-up of the OXO Tower. Makes us tear up every year. 3.30pm. If you love Christmas films, take a look at other places you can watch them in London this year.

WILDLIFE + MUSIC: A chance to view the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum, accompanied by live performances by students from the Royal College of Music. Wander around viewing the impressive photos, to a soundtrack of musical pieces which were composed by the students, inspired by those very same photos. 6.45pm

LIVE COMEDY: Phil Wang, Kerry Godliman, Michelle de Swarte, Finlay Christie and Kyrah Gray all take to the stage at Live at the Works, a comedy night at Woolwich Works. Wang headlines the show, which is also BSL-interpreted. 7.30pm

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Sunday 1 December

TUDOR CHRISTMAS TRAIL: Step on board the Golden Hinde and take part in the family-friendly Twelve Days of Tudor Christmas trail. Follow a self-guided route around the replica ship learning about the history of festive traditions including carolling and mince pies as you go. 1 December-5 January

FLOWER MARKET: The December edition of Chiswick Flower Market specialises in festive wreaths, flowers and gifts. Local nurseries, florists and growers make up 40 different stalls specialise in all things horticultural, with a visit from Father Christmas promised, along with mulled wine, carols and music. 9am-3.30pm

CHILDREN'S COMEDY: Comedy Club 4 Kids is at Artsdepot in Finchley, offering a giggle-inducing show with the gags and the content tweaked for a younger audience (age 6+). The Christmas special is a chance to introduce children to the style of a regular comedy club. 12pm/2.30pm

THE HOLIDAY IN CONCERT: Christmas romcom The Holiday, starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two women who swap homes for the festive period, is shown on a large screen at the Eventim Apollo, accompanied by a complete concert orchestra performing Hans Zimmer's score. 1.30pm/6.30pm

THE NEWS AGENTS: Daily news podcast The News Agents premieres its first live show at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by journalists Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall. Hear them discuss the day's biggest news and current affairs stories, with a few surprises thrown in. 2pm

PAUL MERTON'S SILENT CLOWNS: Comedian Paul Merton is at The Cinema Museum introducing three films by his own comedy heroes, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. Watch Seven Chances (1925), The Pawnshop (1916) and Liberty (1929), accompanied by pianist Colin Sell of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue fame. 2.30pm

WES BANDERSON: Hear music from films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox, Moonrise Kingdom and Isle of Dogs performed live, in a musical tribute to director Wes Anderson. Chaos Music Theory perform at Signature Brewery in Walthamstow, with food and drink available to order throughout the show. 6pm-9pm

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