The capital’s best free events from August 4-10th
Happy Monday {{ first name | Cheapskater }},
I hope you had a wonderful weekend!
This week, we’ve teamed up with our pals at National Art Pass - they’re currently offering a £20 trial pass which gives you three months of free entry to 250 world-leading museums and galleries across the UK. You can also get half price tickets for blockbuster shows at places like Tate Modern and the Wallace Collection. Find out more here!
In other news, did you know that we have a spin-off newsletter which focuses on free family-friendly events? If you’re looking for things to do with your kids/grandkids/other dependants over the summer holidays, then I suggest signing up to Cheapskate Kids here.
Have a fab few days,
Clementine x
P.S. Congrats to Cheapskate reader Beatrice B, who won tickets to the five-star Hamad Butt: Apprehensions exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery (as featured in last week’s email). Scroll down for another free-to-enter prize draw!
MONDAY
🏝️ Can I pull you for a chat?
This series of Love Island has been pure chaos (how is Shakira back with Harry?!) & you can celebrate the show’s climax in style at this finale watch party at The Conductor - booking essential.
🗓️ Mon 4th Aug, 9-11pm
📍St Paul’s
🇯🇵 ‘Atomic People’
To mark 80 years since the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings, the Japan Society is hosting a lecture by the director of the 2024 documentary Atomic People, which gave a voice to survivors of the nuclear attacks.
🗓️ Mon 4th Aug, from 6.45pm
📍Holborn
TUESDAY
🎥 The bare necessities
Two family favourites are showing at Everyman on the Canal in Granary Square this Tues: the classic musical Singin’ in the Rain, then the original The Jungle Book from 1967. Forget about your worries & your strife!
🗓️ Tues 5th Aug, from 5pm
📍King’s Cross
🐱 Feline fiesta
Live like a cat for a day (no, really) at this Wardour St pop-up hosted by the cat food brand Whiskas. Immerse yourself in six different sensory zones which (apparently) give you some idea of what our furry friends are thinking.
🗓️ Tues 5th Aug, 2.30-7pm
📍Tottenham Court Road
🎭 Competition time!
The Camden Fringe is a great way to see the work of emerging playwrights & comedians on the cheap - so we’re delighted to be giving away tickets to one of the shows this week!
You & a friend could win a pair of tickets to Zoë Maltby’s Isn’t It Byronic, a “wildly imaginative, deeply strange & improbably sexual” journey through the history of romantic literature.
Would you like to win these tickets?
*By selecting ‘yes please!’, you’re agreeing for us to share your email and any comments with our partner, Zoë Maltby.
WEDNESDAY
🎶 Name that tune!
Are you that one friend who can always identify a song from the first five seconds? The Sounds Familiar music quiz may be for you - it’s a pub quiz/party that’s part of the Summer by the River series at The Scoop.
🗓️ Weds 6th Aug, 7-9.30pm
📍London Bridge
⏳ Making memories
What will we remember 100 years from now? Alice Billings House is hosting a workshop where you can discuss issues surrounding heritage & contribute to a time capsule which will be opened in the year 2125.
🗓️ Weds 6th Aug, 6.30-8.30pm
📍Stratford
THURSDAY
💭 Dream on
A great exhibit is opening at Somerset House: artist Tai Shani’s The Spell or The Dream combines psychedelic sculpture & a continuous live radio broadcast - inviting audiences to collectively dream of new horizons.
🗓️ Thurs 7th Aug-Sun 14th Sept
📍Temple
🎸 A summer of music
The Summer Sounds music festival in Coal Drops Yard is celebrating its 10th birthday with a stonking lineup of free live music, starting with flamenco this Thurs - & we’re especially excited for an evening of show tunes on Sat!
🗓️ Thurs 7th-Sun 17th Aug
📍King’s Cross
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FRIDAY
🗿 Get fired up
There’s an outdoor art extravaganza happening at the National Portrait Gallery: this Fri, get messy with Clay Day, where you can sculpt portrait busts of you & your friends, then exhibit them in the gallery forecourt.
🗓️ Fri 8th Aug, 4.30-8.30pm
📍Charing Cross
🎧 Life & soul of the party
Got soul? Childhood friends Will Foot & Lewis Henderson are bringing their Deptford Northern Soul Club to the Southbank Centre, where you can shake it out on the dancefloor to top-tier DJ sets.
🗓️ Fri 8th Aug, 5.30-10.30pm
📍Waterloo
SAT - SUN
💃 A weekend in Bollywood
South Asian Heritage Month continues with a Bollywood ‘Mela’ (meaning ‘gathering’) in Camden Market this weekend, complete with live music, dancing, family crafts, henna, & even a tuk-tuk & rikshaw display.
🗓️ Sat 9th-Sun 10th Aug, 1-6.30pm
📍Camden Town
🪐 Reach for the stars
We don’t often get the chance to see a clear night sky in London, so all the more reason to head to the final weekend of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibit at the National Maritime Museum.
🗓️ Until 11th Aug, 10am-5pm
📍Greenwich
🎨 Sundays are for crafting
Brixton Windmill (essentially, a windmill in the middle of Brixton) is hosting its annual Art in the Park event, with workshops for adults & kids alike - drop in any time for T-shirt painting, paper marbling, & more.
🗓️ Sun 10th Aug, 1-5pm
📍Brixton
🏳️🌈 Queer summer fun
Pride Month may be over for another year, but the celebration of the queer community will continue over at Woolwich Works, which is playing host to a summer Pride social in collaboration with LGBTQGreenwich.
🗓️ Sat 9th Aug, 4-7pm
📍Woolwich
And for dessert...
🫶 Want to support Cheapskate without spending any money? Please click on our links like this one - it won’t cost you a thing, but you’ll massively help with our running costs.
💳 Imagine a credit card that blends Monzo’s slick user experience with the luxe rewards of Amex. Enter Yonder - you’ll earn points every time you spend, which can be redeemed for brilliant perks like theatre tickets, meals out & even discounted flights. Find out more (18+ & UK resident to apply).
👙 I love a co-ord for summer beach days, & this cute set spun from Italian yarn is exactly what I’m after - plus, the cardigan is more than 25% off! - Clementine
🍽️ One of the perks of running Cheapskate is discovering new spots - like Kitchen at Holmes, an all-day restaurant & bar found right on bustling Baker Street. It’s a bit of a treat-yourself destination, but totally worth it: the sea bream was fresh & perfectly cooked, & the tiramisu? Outrageously good. - Kate
🥐 I also had a divine tiramisu at Café Mama & Sons, a Filipino bakery in Kentish Town (shoutout to the wonderful Saim, who sent me home fully loaded with treats). The Longanisa Breakfast Burger & cookie croissants were standouts - & that tiramisu? Unreal. - Georgia
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Sign up for Cheapskate Kids, our family-friendly spin-off newsletter, here 👧


