The capital’s best free events from Feb 16th-22nd
Happy Monday, {{ first name | Cheapskater }},
Welcome back to another week of fantastic free events in London! With Lunar New Year celebrations and the tail end of LGBT+ History Month both taking place, there’s no shortage of brilliant ways to celebrate the diverse communities that make this city so special.
We want Cheapskate to reflect London in all its variety, so if you run a community event – or know of one our readers would love – please get in touch here. We’re always keen to hear from you (and we’re very open to feedback, too!) 🧡
Have a wonderful week,
Clementine x
PS: Congratulations to last week’s competition winners: Karina R, Lauren W & Patrice B, who won tickets to a pop-up ceilidh at the Actors’ Church, & Cheapskate Club member Geoffrey M, who won tickets to Mrs President at Charing Cross Theatre. Scroll down for a very tasty prize draw! 👀
MONDAY
🎬 Cinema for free
Escapes is back with another free screening in cinemas across London: this time, it’s Wasteman, a coming-of-age prison drama starring The Hunger Games’ Tom Blyth.
🗓️ Mon 16th-Tues 17th Feb, various times
📍 City-wide
☕ Sweetness in a cup
To celebrate the launch of its new Pancake Syrup Latte, the London Wall branch of Black Sheep Coffee is hosting a lunchtime DJ set & selling lattes for £1(!).
🗓️ Mon 16th Feb, 10am-1.30pm
📍 Moorgate
🍕 Competition time!
We’ve teamed up with our pals at EatClub to give away three £50 dining credits.
Through the amazing EatClub app, you get instant discounts on food & drink at great London restaurants. It’s totally seamless – simply redeem an offer, enjoy your discounted meal, then tap-to-pay with your EatClub digital card (no awkward voucher chats with staff!).
To be in with a chance of winning, simply dine out using EatClub by the end of the month, & share a story or post on social tagging @EatClubUK & @Cheapskate.London. You’ll then enter the draw & we’ll pick three winners on 1st March.
Get £20 off your first visit using the code CHEAPSKATE20 – (that’s basically a free meal). Download the app here.
TUESDAY
🛣️ On the (blue) road
This one may give you wanderlust: the new Hayward Gallery exhibit Blue Road features the luminous photography of Samuel Laurence Cunnane, who travelled extensively.
🗓️ Tues 17th Feb-Sun 3rd May
📍 Waterloo
🥞 On your marks…
Happy Pancake Day! Head down to the annual Pancake Race in Greenwich Market or to the Lamb Tavern’s annual Pancake Day Race, held in Leadenhall Market’s atrium!
🗓️ Tues 17th Feb, 12-2pm/from 11am
📍 Greenwich/Monument
WEDNESDAY
😷 Making a stink
Head to the Southbank Centre for a smell-themed sensory workshop led by SPILLLL collective. You’ll explore a variety of condiments from various East & Southeast Asian countries (like fish sauce & fermented soybean paste), before capturing your experience using SPILLLL’s zine-making techniques.
🗓️ Wed 18th Feb, 6-8.30pm
📍 Waterloo
🎭 A star is born?
Support undiscovered talent at this scratch night performed by acting & playwriting students at City Lit. You never know, it might be a chance to see a star before they’re famous!
🗓️ Weds 18th Feb, 7-9pm
📍 Holborn
🌳 ‘Who does not love a tree?’
Visual artist Rodney Graham certainly does, & you can learn more at this Lisson Gallery exhibit (of the same name) exploring his long-standing relationship with the natural world.
🗓️ Weds 18th Feb-Sat 11th Apr
📍 Edgware Road
THURSDAY
🎥 Race, class & sex
Celebrate LGBT+ History Month at this screening of Young Soul Rebels, the cult classic about Hackney’s black queer community in the 1970s (hosted at Dalston’s CLR James Library).
🗓️ Thurs 19th Feb, 5.30-8pm
📍 Dalston Junction
🌊 Rolling with the waves
A new monumental outdoor sculpture launches at Somerset House this week – Serpentine Currents aims to draw attention to our fragile ocean ecosystems.
🗓️ Thurs 19th Feb-Sun 26th Apr
📍 Temple
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FRIDAY
💂♀️ ‘Battlefield to Boutique’
The Royal Hospital Chelsea’s special display about British military fashion is having a special late opening this Fri, where you can meet the Chelsea Pensioners’ in-house tailor.
🗓️ Fri 20th Feb, 10am-6pm
📍 Sloane Square
👗 Fresh off the runway
Did you know that every glamorous London Fashion Week catwalk show is free, & you often don’t need an invitation? You can find the full city-wide schedule here.
🗓️ Thurs 19th-Mon 23rd Feb
📍 City-wide
SAT - SUN
🏳️🌈 ‘Out of Frame’
Head to Dulwich Picture Gallery this Sat for a late event highlighting the queer lives left ‘out of frame’ in the gallery’s collection. Expect cabaret, life drawing, meditation & more.
🗓️ Sat 21st Feb, 6-10pm
📍 West Dulwich
🐴 Year of the Horse
Ring in the year of all things equine with Greenwich Peninsula’s Lunar New Year celebrations. Come for the lion dance, stay for the exhibit of art from China’s Henan province.
🗓️ Sat 21st Feb, 12-5pm
📍 North Greenwich
🚇 Sound of the underground
Hotel brand IHG is celebrating each of the Six Nations with themed experiences; for England, it’s a tour of some of London’s abandoned tube stations (starting with Charing Cross).
🗓️ Sat 21st Feb, from 10.30am
📍 Charing Cross
🧘 Weekend wellness
A free wellbeing retreat sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. Gather at the Bay20 Community Centre for yoga, breathwork & meditation, plus a communal potluck meal.
🗓️ Sun 22nd Feb, 12-2pm
📍 Ladbroke Grove
LOOKING AHEAD
⛪︎ The National Gallery is hosting another one of its popular Friday Lates film screenings next month.
👴 At the Francis Crick Institute, there’s a chance to watch Oscar-winning drama The Father before a discussion with experts on emerging dementia research.
😘 How is technology reshaping modern love? That’s the question being explored at the British Academy’s exciting love in the time of tech event.
And for dessert...
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👢 As I try to shop more sustainably, I always find myself veering towards investment pieces – you can’t go wrong with a versatile classic, like these suede Chelsea boots or this cashmere cardigan from The White Company. - Clementine
🇺🇦 One of Eastern Europe’s most influential photographers, Ukraine’s ‘proto-punk’ Boris Mikhailov, is having a retrospective at the Photographers’ Gallery, which ends this Sun (it’s free to visit on Fridays after 5pm).
🧋 To mark Lunar New Year on Tues, Hong Kong cafe HOKO in Seven Dials Market is giving away 100 free signature milk teas. Plus, there’ll be traditional sweets & fortune cookies, & rumour has it a lion dance will be making an appearance…
💆 Run, don’t walk for this deep tissue neck massager, the perfect thing to help you recover from physical exercise or a long day sat at the office – it’s on sale until 24th Feb. Plus, if you buy anything else at all from Amazon, please click on our affiliate link first to help us make money 💜
💪 Want to try ClassPass & get access to hundreds of gyms & classes across London? Here's an exclusive month-long trial (featuring a whopping 72 free credits!).
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