The best things to do in London this weekend (14-15 April)

It’s that post-Easter dead zone where you’ve still got two weeks until payday but went a bit nuts over that long weekend.

What you need is a chance to do something relatively cheap over the weekend, or splash out again and worry about the financial consequences later. It really is a rich tapestry.

But DO NOT FEAR because we have you covered. Read on friends.

Gee Wiz Grand National Party

The Three Compasses pub in Dalston is putting the Grand National up on a projector screen this weekend, and holding a £2 winner-take-all sweepstake. Prosecco’s going to be flowing, and the person who shows up with the best hat will get a free bottle of the stuff.

http://www.3compasses.com/events/2018/4/14/gee-wiz-grand-national-sweep-stake-party - Free, Saturday 3pm, Dalston Lane E8

Live at Television Centre

The BBC’s old home is reopening after its renovation, and the occasion is being market with a huge free festival involving food (burgers, pizza, tacos etc), live music (including the BBC Concert Orchestra and assorted DJ sets) and a lot more.

https://televisioncentre.com/festival – Free, Saturday 12-10pm, Wood Lane W12

Concrete Dreams

A celebration of the reopening of the Southbank Centre’s brutalist buildings, this new exhibition will give you insight into the history of the buildings themselves and what they might have become had initial plans come to fruition. Online tickets are sold out, but a small number will be held back to buy on the day.

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/concrete-dreams-exhibition – Free, All weekend, Belvedere Road SE1  

Somerset House Terrace Bar

It’s warm enough to drink outside, which means you want to get in on the terrace bar action as early as possible. Somerset House has one of the best and it’s reopening this weekend in partnership with Peroni, whose new aperitivo Peroni Ambra – beer cut with Italian chinotto fruit – is the main attraction drinks-wise. And there’s pizza and sharing boards to make sure you don’t go hungry.

https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/somerset-house-terrace – Free entry, All weekend, Strand WC2R

The Good Mixer

The famous ‘Britpop Bar’ in Camden has been saved from extinction, and is back open this weekend as a traditional, old-fashioned boozer. The pub was famously frequented by the likes of Blur and Elastica, and will reflect this in a jukebox selection reflecting the best of Britpop mainstays and London music legends.

https://www.facebook.com/TheGoodMixer/ - Free entry, All weekend, Inverness Street NW1

Monty Python Sing and Quote-a-Long

Everyone knows all the words to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, even if they claim not to, and Deptford Cinema is hosting a quote-a-long and sing-a-long event as part of its Terry Gilliam season. Spend Sunday afternoon insisting it’s just a flesh wound with like-minded folks.

http://deptfordcinema.org/new-events/2018/4/15/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-1975-terry-gilliam-season - £6, Sunday 2pm-5pm, Deptford Broadway SE8

The Green Milk Bitcoin Conference

It’s been suggested you can make anything more popular by adding the word Bitcoin to it and, actually, yeah you can. Five comedians, including Drunk History’s Joseph Morpurgo, will be taking part in a show about the cryptocurrency at 2Northdown. And yes, you can pay for your ticket in bitcoin.

https://greenmilk.co.uk/bitcoin/ - £10, Northdown Street N1

East End Film Festival

This festival opened during the week, but Saturday and Sunday are packed with screenings of feature films and shorts across venues including Curzon Aldgate, Rich Mix and the Rio. There’s also a Q&A with director Fatih Akin, whose Golden Globe-winning film In the Fade is showing both this weekend and next.

http://www.eastendfilmfestival.com – Various prices (some free events), All weekend, Various locations

London Spanish Film Festival

Regent Street Cinema and Ciné Lumière will be showing a selection of Spanish films over the weekend, including Pablo Berger’s Abracadabra, which made the country’s shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination. Two of the other films, La Enfermedad del Domingo and No Sé Decir Adiós, are getting their UK premieres at the festival.

http://www.londonspanishfilmfestival.com/8th-spring-weekend/ - £12, Saturday and Sunday, Regent Street W1B and Queensberry Place SW7

Lindt Gold Bunny Hunt

Easter might have been and gone, but you can still take the family for an Easter Bunny hunt at Hampton Court Palace for one last weekend. As well as the hunt, there’s a maze to find your way out of, plus lots and lots and lots of chocolate.

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/explore/lindt-gold-bunny-hunt/#gs.1KXEpYs - £19.20, Hampton Court Palace KT8 9AU

London Coffee Festival

The festival is returning to London’s Old Truman Brewery, and it contains pretty much every coffee-related thing you can think of. Tastings, demonstrations, coffee-based cocktails – it’s all there, and you can get tickets for individual settings or just camp out for the whole day (or multiple days, if you have no other plans).

https://www.londoncoffeefestival.com/ - £16.50-99, All weekend, Hanbury Street E1

GoBoat on Regents Canal

It looks like we’re skipping spring this year. Just not bothering about it at all. Straight from winter to summer is the plan, which means you’ll want to get outside this weekend. GoBoat lets you spend an hour, or two, or more exploring London’s canals, and you can split the cost across up to eight people.

https://goboat.co.uk/ - £65-210, Saturday and Sunday, 10am-7.15pm, Merchant Square W2

(Images: Getty/Unsplash/The Good Mixer/GoBoat)