The capital’s best free events from April 14-18th
Dear {{ first name | Cheapskater }},
We’re bringing you a slightly shorter edition than usual because we’ll be back in your inbox on Friday with our bank holiday special! On that note, if you’re looking for free, family-friendly activities for the long weekend, make sure you’re signed up to our new newsletter, Cheapskate Kids. It’s free, of course!
Unfortunately we had a few emails last week from readers who said they didn’t receive our newsletter. To help ensure that our weekly updates always reach your inbox, please will you add us to your “safelist”? Find out more about how to do this here. And, if Cheapskate often ends up in your spam/junk folder, it would be great if you could mark it as “not spam”, to show your email provider that you want to receive our emails.
Have a marvellous few days - and we’ll be back in your inbox on Friday.
Kate and Georgia x
P.S. Congrats to last week’s competition winners: Vicky R and Cheapskate club member Jem C, who each won a £50 voucher to spend at Creams Café. Scroll down for a fab, free-to-enter prize in partnership with Ruby Cup, the sustainable period care company.
MONDAY
SEE 🪲 Forest Hill, until Apr 21
David Shrigley sculpture
Check out The Mantis Muse - David Shrigley’s epic 3m steel & fibreglass sculpture of a praying mantis with an animatronic head, which has just opened at the Horniman Museum’s iconic Victorian conservatory.
TALK 🗣️ virtual, from 6pm
A trailblazing black nurse
Join the Florence Nightingale Museum for a special talk to accompany the new In Focus: Kofoworola Abeni Pratt exhibit, which explores the life of the woman known as the “African Florence Nightingale”.
TUESDAY
WEBINAR 📱 virtual, 12-1pm
Social media’s big question
X/Twitter: should I stay or should I go? If you work in comms & that’s a question that’s been on your lips, you might be interested in this webinar breaking down the pros & cons, to help you make the right call.
MUSIC 🎶 Lambeth N, various times
Music as reflection
To commemorate the anniversary of the British Army’s liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, the English Chamber Orchestra is performing Life, Liberation & Legacy in IWM London’s atrium.
📣 Competition time
In honour of Earth Day (coming up on April 22!), we’ve teamed up with our friends at Ruby Cup - the period care brand that’s all about reusables & giving back - to give one of you a full set of their new Fearless period underwear.
Made for lighter days, Fearless is comfy, low-rise & comes in three cute, waste-reducing styles: blue cheetah, pink cheetah & lilac. You’ll get the full set - because saving the planet shouldn’t mean sacrificing good underwear.
To enter, just drop your email in here to be added to Ruby Cup’s mailing list (it will take 10 seconds). We’ll then pick a random winner & let them know by email.
🌎 Good luck & happy early Earth Day!
WEDNESDAY
FILM 🍿 Canary Wharf, from 7pm
Mystery cinema night
Head to Theatreship for mystery cinema - where a film is shown for free, but you don’t know what it is until you arrive. The first person to guess correctly gets a free round of drinks. Can you work out this week’s clue?
RELAX ☺️ City T/virtual, various times
Wellness Wednesdays
Gain DIY massage skills, take part in a practical poetry writing workshop, learn meditation techniques & tools to help bring a sense of peace into your life, & enjoy a gong sound bath at Shoe Lane Library this Weds.
MAKE 🧵 Waterloo, from 5.30pm
Creative Encounters: Rhythmic Threads
This Weds, join textile artist Sue Man to discover fabric collage techniques & create your own unique pouch using discarded textiles. The event - hosted by the Southbank Centre - will be soundtracked by live, ambient music from Yijia Tu.
THURSDAY
EXHIBIT 🤘 Euston Sq, until Nov 16
The right to communicate
Thurs is the launch of 1880 THAT - a fascinating sounding Wellcome Collection exhibit which explores sign language & the right to communicate, as well as what it means to live with the threat of losing one’s language.
EXHIBIT 📸 Old Street, until Sept 13
Our image-conscious world
It’s also the launch of Dianne Minnicucci: Belonging and Beyond - a photography exhibit at Autograph which explores how vulnerability & discomfort in front of the camera can become an act of self-discovery.
FRIDAY
EASTER 🐣 Charing Cross, 12 & 3.15pm
The Easter experience
The Passion of Jesus - a full-scale, 90-min re-enactment commemorating Good Friday - is returning to Trafalgar Square. Expect a cast of 100+ actors & volunteers, as well as horses, donkeys & doves.
PARTY 🎤 Hoxton, from 10.30pm
Sing your heart out
Every other Fri, Sebright Arms - a great indie venue off Hackney Road - hosts Paradise Karaoke, a free karaoke party. We also love the sound of their “Bargain Bingo Disco” taking place the following Tues…
And for dessert...
🫶 Want to support Cheapskate without spending any money? Please click on our links like this one or this one - it doesn’t cost you a thing, but you’ll massively help with our running costs.
✈️ Here’s a travel hack you might like: Skyscanner (the site where you can compare cheap flights) has a page dedicated to last-minute flight & airline deals. Right now there are flights from London to Lisbon starting from £24 & London to Oslo from £26 (but there’s a disclaimer which says the prices could shoot up at any moment).
🇹🇭 To celebrate Songkran (Thai New Year), Rosa’s Thai is hosting “Free Pad Thai Day” from April 14-17. Today, walk-in visitors to the Wimbledon restaurant can enjoy a free signature chicken or veggie Pad Thai per person from 12pm until sell-out. Tuesday is Carnaby, Weds is King’s Cross & Spitalfields.
🍔 NYC burger joint Black Tap is opening its doors on Thurs - & is giving away 100 free all-American & falafel burgers (or a vegan alternative) to celebrate. Get to 4-6 Glasshouse Street from 11am to grab one.
🏊 PSA: Islington residents aged 60+ can swim for free at Highbury Leisure Centre on Monday to Fridays from 9am-4pm & after 1pm on weekends.
💰 As someone who has moved jobs quite a few times over the years, I love PensionBee because it combines all your old pensions into one online plan (with a free, easy-to-use app). Sign up here. - Kate
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