The capital’s best free events from March 16th-22nd
Happy Monday {{ first name | Cheapskater }}!
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Read on for the best of free culture in London, plus, of course, an exclusive competition 😍
Have a wonderful week,
Clementine x
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MONDAY
🎶 St Patrick’s Day parties
Celebrate Saint Paddy with Irish & Scottish songs old & new at Hootananny Brixton tonight. There’s also a free ceilidh on Tues at iconic boozer The Old Blue Last.
🗓️ Mon 16th/Tues 17th Mar, from 7/8pm
📍 Brixton/Old Street
🙏 Can art save us?
Why do we turn to art to cope when life gets hard? This talk, at RSA House & streamed online, attempts to answer that question, before a screening of a new opera.
🗓️ Mon 16th Mar, 6.30-7.45pm
📍 Charing Cross
TUESDAY
🍽️ Breaking bread
Celebrate the diverse communities that call Peckham home at this free multicultural feast at SET Social, featuring live music and dishes from local cultural groups.
🗓️ Tues 17th Mar, 5-9pm
📍 Peckham Rye
👂 Sit back & listen
In Perpetuum is a new, site-specific soundscape at the Museum of the Home, inviting the visitor to embrace the unknown qualities of the space. It’s different every time you listen.
🗓️ Tues 17th Mar-Sun 30th Aug
📍 Hoxton
👩💻 Competition time!
Looking to break into the creative industries but not sure where to start? I LIKE NETWORKING is your friend – a platform packed with job opportunities, career advice and networking events.
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The second winner will be chosen from the Cheapskate Club – our amazing community of 130 supporters. Members get automatic entry into all our weekly competitions (plus they have the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping make London’s culture free and open to all). Join today (we’re running a sale)!
WEDNESDAY
🧘 Time to relax
The Dragon Cafe is back for another peaceful Weds afternoon at Shoe Lane Library. Highlights this week include creative writing, DIY massage & yoga.
🗓️ Weds 18th Mar, various times
📍 Chancery Lane
🖼️ Art across town
Some fab new art openings this week: check out these fantastical landscapes at Pilar Corrias on Savile Row, & this exploration of freedom at the Southbank Centre.
🗓️ Weds 18th Mar-Sat 25th Apr
📍 Piccadilly Circus/Waterloo
THURSDAY
❤️🩹 Art’s impact on the body
Join physiologist Tony Woods for a fascinating talk at Two Temple Place. He’ll explore how art can support our health & wellbeing, sharing insights from his latest research, including a recent study looking at how our bodies respond to viewing real artworks in gallery settings.
Use the code CHEAPSKATE to get your hands on a free ticket!
🗓️ Thurs 19th March, 7-8pm
📍 Temple
📓 Time to reflect
It’s the closing night drinks for the Vulnerability Projekt, a pop-up exhibit exploring how artists draw & write when nobody is watching, at Koppel Collective in Chalk Farm.
🗓️ Thurs 19th Mar, 6-9pm
📍 Chalk Farm
🏙️ ‘I’m Still Here’
During the pandemic, hundreds of people sleeping rough were left vulnerable. Kensington Central Library is screening a documentary about their experiences.
🗓️ Thurs 19th Mar, 7-9pm
📍 High Street Kensington
FRIDAY
💃 Having a ball
Mix & Move is back at the Southbank Centre; strap on your dancing shoes & get ready to learn the foundations of ballroom & Latin dance from seasoned professionals – including Jacky Logan, who’s spent decades campaigning for same-sex ballroom dancing.
🗓️ Fri 20th March, 3-6pm
📍 Waterloo
🎻 A weekend of music
Despite what Timothée Chalamet might say, classical music is still a living art form, so head to Guildhall School’s chamber music festival; most concerts are free.
🗓️ Fri 20th-Sun 22nd Mar
📍 Moorgate/Barbican
🕊️ ‘Beauty & Destruction’
The trauma of the Blitz in London inspired an outpouring of artistic responses. See a selection of them at the Imperial War Museum’s latest exhibit.
🗓️ Fri 20th Mar-Sun 1st Nov
📍 Lambeth North
SAT - SUN
🐘 The elephant in the room
Celebrate the rich culture of Elephant & Castle at the Urban Elephant Festival – Walworth Square will play host to dance classes, theatre, circus performances & much more.
🗓️ Sat 21st Mar, 12-6pm
📍 Elephant & Castle
🎧 ‘The Beat Goes On’
Battersea Power Station will be taken over by a vibrant arts festival with two VIP surprise guests (👀). Also in Wandsworth is this wholesome celebration of spring.
🗓️ Sat 21st Mar, 11am-6pm
📍 Battersea Power Station
🛍️ Vintage heaven
The Re-Loved Club is taking over Soho Theatre Walthamstow this Sat, with a massive curated pre-loved fashion market, plus cocktails & live music.
🗓️ Sat 21st Mar, 11am-4pm
📍 Walthamstow Central
🎭 Some one-on-one time
This weekend is your last chance to have a play performed just for you at Theatre For One at the Barbican Centre. Sun’s also the last day to catch Nordic Noir (British Museum).
🗓️ Until Sun 22nd Mar
📍 Barbican/Holborn
🍝 For the foodies
Want to try London’s best restaurants for less? We’re giving three readers £50 credit each to spend on EatClub – the amazing app which gives you up to 50% off food & drink at some genuinely amazing places.
Download the app & fill out this very quick form before the end of March for your chance to win
All readers can get £20 off their first EatClub meal out using the code CHEAPSKATE20!
LOOKING AHEAD
💡 Sign-ups open this Fri for CreativeMornings’ latest invigorating pre-work talk, this time on the theme of ‘a love letter to a place’.
⌛ Hackney History Festival begins on 4th April. Book quickly here; several events are already selling out!
🏛️ If you’re a young person obsessed with culture, bookmark next month’s British Museum youth late, inspired by the contemporary African diaspora.
And for dessert...
🤗 The Cheapskate Club is our tight-knit community of supporters who keep this tiny three-person operation going, for less than the price of one coffee out per month. Fancy joining? We’re running a sale all this week – sign up here 🧡
📚 Want to read more, but struggling to find the time? Listening to audiobooks with BookBeat might be the answer. Want to try before you buy? All our readers can get their hands on a 60-day free trial; sign up here!
💆🏻♀️ Amazon’s new crop of spring deals has landed, & we’re obsessed with this K-Beauty inspired collagen face mask – for under £10! If you buy anything at all on Amazon, please use our affiliate link here, & we’ll be eternally grateful 💚
🍝 To celebrate its first birthday, 27 Old Compton Street is offering free negroni spaghettis to the first 100 customers to walk through the doors at 12pm today (Monday).
🛒 We’re obsessed with the (free-to-use) cashback app JamDoughnut, which gives you up to 20% instant cashback at thousands of shops, restaurants & supermarkets. Use our referral code EAMT to get a £3 bonus when you use the app for the first time.
💦 A little PSA: AQUAPHOR Water Filters & Mumsnet are running an amazing free-to-enter competition where you can win luxury spa day for two at Champneys (worth £700+), including full spa access, a treatment & lunch, plus an AQUAPHOR family hydration bundle. Just enter your email for your chance to win!
🗣️ Looking to host a workshop, discussion series or any kind of free public gathering? Theatre Deli, on Leadenhall Street in the heart of the City, is offering free space for “people who want to create space for others”. Applications are open here until 23rd March.
What did you think of this edition?
We try to only include accurate information, but sometimes things can change. Everything included in the newsletter is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time the newsletter is sent out. Sometimes we make money from ads and the links we include (like this one!) but we only recommend things we genuinely like. You can also support us by joining the Cheapskate Club as a monthly or annual member.
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