Things to do this week is sponsored by Wigmore Hall.
All week
MEAD BAR: Feel the need for mead? Gosnells Meadery Taproom in Bermondsey has reopened, pouring honeyed elixirs (some exclusive to the bar) that are ideal for autumnal afternoon sipping. Weds-Sun
BLACK HISTORY MONTH: October is Black History Month, with events going on all over the place to celebrate Black creatives, heroes, and campaigners. Highlights this week include a talk by ‘The Black History Man' Robin Walker, a celebration of the evolution of Black hair, a screening of The Help, and performances by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Whitney Houston tribute Belinda Davids. Until 31 October
MONTH OF THE DEAD: Also ongoing throughout October is London Month of the Dead, a festival of all things relating to death. This week, take a tour of West Norwood or Kensal Green cemeteries, hear a talk about Europe's ossuaries — or bone banks — and more. Events tend to sell out in advance, so be quick to book if something takes your fancy. Throughout October
ROYAL SIGNALS: For Cyber Awareness Month, Chelsea's National Army Museum has a free display of photos showcasing the work of the Royal Signals. Every British Army deployment worldwide relies on communications and IT networks established and maintained by the Royal Corps of Signals, making sure that troops can communicate securely, whatever situation they're in. FREE, until 31 October
MENTAL WEALTH FESTIVAL: On World Mental Health Day on Monday, City Lit launches its Mental Wealth Festival, with a focus on the time you have and how to use it through workshops, talks, discussions, exhibitions, and other activities. Events run all week and are either free or low-cost, and include yoga, singing and meditation. 10-14 October
EVEREST PHOTOS: The Royal Geographical Society has opened an exhibition marking the centenary of the first European expeditions to Mount Everest. Images and historic film footage from the expeditions in 1922 and 1924 can be seen in Everest Through The Lens, telling the stories of lesser-known elements of the expeditions including the role of the Indigenous and regional labour forces who supported the teams. FREE, until January 2023
REBEL REBEL: One of our art critic's picks of the best exhibitions to see in London this month, Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel at Barbican is a display of miniature portraits of 27 feminist icons from pre-Revolutionary Iran.These women forged new paths that became impossible to pursue within their home country after the Iranian Revolution. Their stories are accompanied by a soundtrack of Iranian music, and traditional Islamic designs. FREE, until February 2023
Monday 10 October
SLAVERY & THE BANK: Join a curator at the Bank of England Museum for a free lunchtime tour around the current Slavery & The Bank exhibition. Find out how the wealth created through transatlantic slavery shaped the development of Britain, and about the Bank of England’s connections to transatlantic slavery and the slave trade. FREE, 12pm
FREE PING PONG: Ping pong is great for your mental health apparently, and to mark World Mental Health Day, both branches of Bounce are offering free ping pong games. Head to Bounce Old Street from 4.30pm and Bounce Farringdon from 8.30pm, quote the code: "PING PONG MIND STRONG", and they'll let you play for nada. FREE, from 4.30pm and 8.30pm
MALORIE BLACKMAN: Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman is awarded the PEN Pinter Prize for 2022 — a prize which defends freedom of expression and celebrates literature. Head to the British Library tonight or watch online as she gives her keynote address at a ceremony, followed by a book signing. 7pm-8.30pm
BARBARA WINDSOR: There's a celebration of the life of late actress Barbara Windsor at New Wimbledon Theatre tonight. David Walliams — a friend of Windsor and her husband, Scott Mitchell — hosts, as Mitchell shares stories of his life with the Eastenders and Carry On star. 7.30pm-9.20pm
CHARITY COMEDY: Kerry Godliman, Kae Kurd, Tim Vine, Dane Baptiste, Stephen Bailey and Seann Walsh all take to the stage, hosted by Jen Brister, for a comedy show in aid of St Mungo's homelessness charity. The event takes place at Union Chapel in Islington. 8pm-10pm
Tuesday 11 October
JAPANESE ART: More than 100 artworks by Japanese and Taiwanese artists go on display at Espacio Gallery in Shoreditch, covering genres from fine art to pop art, Modernism, illustration and more. FREE, 11-16 October
TANGO AFTER DARK: German Cornejo's Tango After Dark is a celebration of Argentina's sensuous national dance, with some of the world's best tango stars whirling their way to the Peacock Theatre to take part from today, with music by the great composer Astor Piazzolla. 11-22 October
PLANET IN A CATHEDRAL: Luke Jerram's Gaia, a 7m-wide, 3D recreation of the Earth, takes up residence in Southwark Cathedral from today. The travelling artwork is covered in detailed imagery of the Earth's surface from NASA, and aims to instil a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment in anyone who views it. Choose between a daytime (FREE) or evening (£5) slot to view it. 11-30 October
WHY NET ZERO?: As part of Gresham College's Why Net Zero? series of environmental lectures, hear from Professor Myles Allan about what it will take to stop global warming, and how long we've got to do so. FREE, 6pm
BEYOND BLACK PANTHER: Join a conversation about the historical representation of Black superheroes and heroines. The online event, hosted by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Libraries, explores how Black superheroes were created and how they impacted on the stereotypical perceptions of Black people in the media. FREE, 6.30pm-7.30pm
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Autumn season at Wigmore Hall
Fill your fall with music at Wigmore Hall, the West End classical music venue which hosts world-class soloists and chamber musicians on the regular.
Over the next couple of months, enjoy concert pianist Kirill Gerstein in a Busoni piano series; soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha’s Wigmore Hall debut recital; and a season of works focusing on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor featuring Elizabeth Llewellyn, Simon Lepper and Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. Other highlights include celebrations of the 150th anniversary of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams led by the Nash Ensemble and Roderick Williams, and a residency from acclaimed ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro.
All in all, an impressive line-up at a renowned venue. Plus, under-35s can get tickets for just £5 to selected concerts, supported by Wigmore Hall’s media partner, Classic FM.
Autumn at Wigmore Hall. Tickets now available until January 2023.
Wednesday 12 October
FRIEZE LONDON: One of the biggest events in London's art calendar, Frieze London is back in Regent's Park from today, displaying contemporary art from across the world in marquees, while Frieze Masters takes over the other end of the park with artworks dating back centuries. Plus, Frieze Sculpture Park is open nearby, and is completely free to visit. 12-16 October
DARKFIELD: Three immersive theatre experiences take place in shipping containers in Montgomery Square, Canary Wharf, collectively known as Darkfield. Flight might make you reconsider your holiday plans, while Coma has the audience in pod-style bunks, and Eulogy takes you on a journey through a dreamlike, labyrinthine hotel. Here's our 4* review from when Darkfield pitched up in King's Cross in 2020 — note, it's probably not for you if you're claustrophobic or suffer from PTSD.12-23 October
SPOOKY GUIDED WALKS: As part of Leadenhall Market's Halloween celebrations, join a City of London tour guide for a spooky guided walk around the area. Witchcraft, murder and death are the themes of the stroll, whose stories go back to Roman times — centuries before the market appeared on the site. Find other things to do in London for Halloween. 6.30pm-8pm
UKRAINE COMEDY: Regular comedy fundraising night Laugh Till It Hurts is supporting the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal with tonight's show. Paul Sinha (yep, the one from The Chase), Geoff Norcott, Ria Lina and Ivo Graham are among those on the bill, with Mark Dolan as MC. Age 16+. 7.30pm
THE MOTH STORYSLAM: 'Grown' is the theme of this month's London Moth StorySLAM at Rich Mix, an open-mic storytelling competition. Got a true story to tell? Sign up for a five-minute slot. Otherwise, sit back and listen to others spinning their yarns. 7.30pm
Thursday 13 October
THE OTHER ART FAIR: Into art, but finding Frieze (above) tickets a little pricey? Multiple other art fairs arrive in London this week, including The Other Art Fair. The Truman Brewery in Shoreditch is the place to head to browse and buy affordable artworks directly from the independent artists who created them — with immersive installations, performances, DJs and a bar thrown in too. 13-16 October
LONDON PHOTO SHOW: Amateur and independent photographers display their work at the London Photo Show, alongside that of professionals. Over 100 photographers take part, with images on themes of wildlife, architecture, fashion and travel on display at Bargehouse Gallery, Oxo Tower. FREE, 13-16 October
LONDON COCKTAIL WEEK: London Cocktail Week claims to be the biggest cocktail festival in the world, and who are we to argue? Buy yourself a festival wristband for £15 to get unlimited access to £7 signature cocktails in more than 300 bars across the capital, starting today. Cocktail tours, special menus and other events are part of the mix. 13-23 October
HIEROGLYPHS: Marking 200 years since the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs — and, coincidentally, a century since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb — the British Museum launches new exhibition Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt. Find out how our understanding of human history was expanded by 3,000 years once we could decode hieroglyphs, and the work that went into getting to that point. 13 October-February 2023
COLLYWOBBLERS COMEDY: James Dowdeswell, Sara Barron, Luke Craig, Stella Graham and Vix Leyton are all on the bill at tonight's Collywobblers Comedy at The Cambria in Loughborough Junction, with Sion James at MC. Doors 7pm, show 8pm
Friday 14 October
AFRICAN ART FAIR: 50 exhibitors from 21 different countries descend on Somerset House for 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. See work by African artists across a range of mediums including painting, sculpture and installation. Works from established artists such as Ibrahim El-Salahi, Hassan Hajjaj, and Zanele Muholi sit alongside pieces by young and emerging artists. 14-16 October
BLOOMSBURY FESTIVAL: 'Breathe' is the theme of this year's Bloomsbury Festival, celebrating creativity in the local area. It kicks off with a garden party on Store Street tonight, open to everyone, and includes guided walks, a silent calligraphy session, live music and singing workshops, across the nine days. Some events FREE, 14-23 October
HALLOWEEN TRAIL: Things get spooky ahead of Halloween at Chiswick House and Gardens, which hosts a Halloween trail for the first time. Head to the gardens after dark from today for a family-friendly adventure with glowing pumpkins, a fire garden and fire artists. If that doesn't warm you up, there's hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows too. 14-30 October
KING ARTHUR: New exhibition The Legend of King Arthur: A Pre-Raphaelite Love Story visits Walthamstow's William Morris Gallery on the first stop of a nationwide tour. It looks at how Pre-Raphaelite artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Arthur Hughes, John William Waterhouse and William Morris presented the legend of King Arthur, alongside lesser-known female Pre-Raphaelite artists Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale and Elizabeth Siddal. FREE, 14 October-January 2023
OBJECTS OF DESIRE: Hot on the heels of Tate's Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition, the Design Museum offers its own take on the genre with Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924-Today. It explores how one of the 20th century's most influential movements came to impact design, with works by Salvador Dalí, Dora Maar and Man Ray featuring. 14 October-February 2023
EXECUTIONS: A new exhibition at Museum of London Docklands looks at the history of capital punishment in London. Executions covers 700 years of history, telling the stories of those who died, with the vest said to have been worn by King Charles I when he was executed among the objects on display. 14 October-April 2023
Saturday 15 October
LEIGHTON HOUSE REOPENS: Following a lengthy closure and an £8m transformation, Leighton House in Holland Park reopens to the public, along with nearby sister museum Sambourne House. Leighton House was the studio-house of Victorian artist and former President of the Royal Academy Frederic Leighton, and is known for its opulent interiors. Previously unseen rooms and new exhibition spaces will be available to the public when it reopens. From 15 October
DISCOVER DOGS: Bow wow wow your way over to ExCeL London for Discover Dogs, a celebration of all things canine. There's plenty for dog owners, with exhibitors selling all sorts of useful items, but it's also a great chance for would be dog owners to learn more about having a pet, and to meet different breeds to see which is right for them. 15-16 October
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY: One of our favourite annual exhibitions, Wildlife Photographer of the Year returns to the Natural History Museum for its 58th incarnation from today. See photos of animals and the natural world taken by photographers all over the globe, including the overall winners (announced on 11 October). 15 October-June 2023
SEX WORK CONFERENCE: Women who have lived experience of the sex trade come to Conway Hall, to discuss the reality of it, how many women get trapped in the sex industry, and ways in which change can be brought about. 11am-4pm
GOLDEN KEY: The City of London turns into one huge open air theatre, with scores of performers flooding the Square Mile for day-long interactive spectacular The Golden Key. Look out for circus acts, brass bands, stilt walkers, drag acts, storytellers and more, all across the Square Mile, culminating in a fire garden at sunset. FREE, from 12pm
BIG HOTELS: Hear the story of London's grand hotels: of how one of the world's most famous was founded by two embezzlers, which hotel became a refuge for deposed European monarchs, and why one hotel was "bomb-proof, earthquake proof and fire proof". The tour starts from Green Park. 2.30pm
CITY SECRETS: Alternatively, head to Liverpool St for a tour of Square Mile secrets. Find ghosts of London's monastic past, a lost guild of knights, tributes to brave children, a memorial to the slave trade, a dog's tomb and beautiful churchyards hidden among the City's office blocks and skyscrapers. 2.30pm
ICE HOCKEY: Romford's Raiders ice hockey team are at home to Hull Sea Hawks this afternoon. With the latter sitting at the bottom of the table, here's a chance for the east London team to secure some much-needed points. 4.30pm
HUGH BONNEVILLE: Lord Grantham himself (or Paddington's Mr Brown, if you prefer), is at Cadogan Hall for An Evening with Hugh Bonneville. He talks about his life and career, from navigating Highclere Castle where Downton is filmed, to his mother, whose life in the secret service only emerged after her death. 7.30pm
Sunday 16 October
RECORD FAIR: Browse through more than 40 tables of vinyl at the Walthamstow Record Fair at Truman's Social Club. Items for sale range from rare vinyls to stock from new indie labels, as well as hifi dealers. 11am-5pm
WIND IN THE WILLOWS: Take the kids along to ArtsDepot in North Finchley, for a performance of The Wind In The Willows. Kenneth Grahame's classic children's book is brought to life on stage. It tells the story of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Mr Toad through music and puppetry. 11am/2pm
BANGLA BOOK FAIR: The rich Bengali cultural heritage is on show at the London Bangla Book Fair. As well as a chance to browse and buy books from more than 20 publishers from Bangladesh and India, the event is a cultural festival, with poetry readings, an exhibition of paintings, and live music and dance performances. FREE, 12pm
IRISH MYTHS: StorytellerClaire Muireann Murphy of Crick Crack Club pitches up at the British Museum for a mystical performance of Irish myths. Hear tales of the arrival of ancient Irish gods setting foot onto Irish soil for the first time, and burning their boats so they could never leave. Age 14+.2.30pm-3.45pm
FOLK UNLIMITED: Join an inclusive, multi-sensory music-making sessions for disabled young people at Cecil Sharp House in Camden. Folk Unlimited is led by folk artists Emmie Ward and Nick Goode. 2.30pm-4.30pm
SILVER SCREEN SCIENCE FICTION: Watch new-release film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at the Royal Observatory. Take a trip through the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Peter Harrison Planetarium before hearing a short talk from an expert astronomer about a whole other universe. 6pm-9pm
SUNDAY SMASH UP: Caroline Mabey hosts a night of new material and general nonsense by comedians including Yuriko Kotani and Andrea Hubert, at The Camden Head (the one closer to Camden station). 8pm
Urban oddity of the week
If you're popping over to Southwark Cathedral to see Luke Jerram's Gaia (see Tuesday), then be sure to take a look around the churchyard as well. The gardens, which can be seen but not reached from Borough Market, contain numerous sculptures and memorials, including a seated Shakespeare and a curiously shaped mound commemorating Mahomet Weyonomon, a Native American chief who travelled to London to petition the king. The most subtle, though, is this easy-to-miss model of "Doorkins Magnificat", who prowled the aisles of the cathedral until her death in 2020. It's one of numerous cat sculptures around town.
Good cause of the week
We often list guided walks on these pages, as we believe there is no better way to appreciate the city than to take a tour with an expert guide. Remarkable Tours is one of numerous companies who organise quirky walks around London, but they also put in a lot of good work for charity. All profits from their events go to Child.org, a charity that works all over the world to improve child and maternal health.
Current tours take in sites associated with feminism, royal secrets, Harry Potter, gruesome history and Victorian Christmas — and we hear they have some Halloween specials in the works. Take a tour, learn about London, and help vulnerable children around the world.
