9 Things To Do This Weekend, From Fashion Exhibitions To Festivals

Get inspired at this fashion exhibition

Get your fashion fix this weekend courtesy of V&A’s landmark exhibition, Africa Fashion. The exhibition, on display until April 2023, celebrates the creativity, ingenuity and unstoppable global impact of contemporary African fashions. 

Expect 45 designers from over 20 countries to feature, spanning everything from personal archives of iconic mid-twentieth century African designers including Shade Thomas-Fahm, Chris Seydou, Kofi Ansah and Alphadi, to contemporary names including Imane Ayissi, IAMISIGO, Moshions, Thebe Magugu and Sindiso Khumalo. 

Africa Fashion offers a close-up look at how fashion, alongside music and the visual arts, has helped form a key part of Africa’s cultural renaissance, making way for today’s fashion revolution. Expect a vibrant deepdive into ground-breaking designers, collective, stylists and fashion photographers working in Africa today.

Members go free.

When: Until 16.04.2023
Where: V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL 
Website: www.vam.ac.uk

Enjoy a taste of the ocean

COMO Metropolitan London has launched ‘A Taste of COMO’, a new culinary series of pop-up restaurants inspired by executive chef Ruben Briones’ own foodie journey.

This August’s theme is centred around Briones’ love for cooking with fish, shellfish and crustaceans. He’ll demonstrate his expertise through dishes such as raw oysters with ‘gazpachile’ dressing, daiquiri apple and coriander; crispy calamari bao-guette; and cured citrus monkfish with grapefruit and roasted vegetable salad.

 WHEN: FROM 18.08.2022
WHERE: COMO METROPOLITAN LONDON, 19 OLD PARK LANE, W1K 1LB
WEBSITE: WWW.COMOHOTELS.COM

Check out this fully immersive mining town

Are you ready to solve the mystery of the Blimp Crash? Phantom Peak is a brand new immersive space that has opened up this month centred around a steampunk mining town. 

Let the story of Phantom Deeps unfold as you piece together the tragic freak blimp accident that destroyed half of the town. Now with a newly refurbished part of the town called Phantom peak reopen, the Blimp Crash has become all but a memory. Expect canals, carnival games, food stands and JONACO technology waiting for you, as well as the unsolved mystery. 

Spend your afternoon dining, shopping, playing games, sightseeing and collecting clues.

When: Ongoing, Wednesday – Sundays 
Where: Canada Street, Surrey Quays Road, SE16 7PJ 
Website: www.phantompeak.com

Skip to Ibiza for a day

The weather may have turned temperamental but that doesn’t mean you can’t still soak up the best of the summer. Thankfully for us, Sky Garden is hosting a one-off Ibiza summer party this weekend, helping to transport you to the sunnier climes in an instant.

Taking place on Friday 19th, the giant venue will be taken over by the Ibiza Live Orchestra curated by the legendary ALR Music. Expect Balearic beats with DJs playing dance anthems from 7pm until 2am in the clouds overlooking the capital. 

Entry tickets come with a welcome cocktail or tables for up to six including entry, two bottles of Moët & Chandon Champagne and two sharing boards of cheese and charcuterie.

When: 19.08.2022 
Where: Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, EC3M 8AF 
Book tickets here

See a show at this opera festival

A music festival with a difference, Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival 2022 returns to London this summer for another line-up of brilliant acts. 

Now in its 15th iteration, the festival offers a space for artists from all over the world the chance to come together and stretch the boundaries of opera. 

The festival will take place in venues across the city, featuring everything from Besse: Water, Rye and Hops to Toadette, the Frog Opera.

When: 15.08.2022 – 11.09.2022 
Where: Various Locations 
Website: www.tete-a-tete.org.uk

Experiment with colour at this immersive installation

Like to mix your cocktail experience with art? Now you can thanks to the new pop-up installation at Pan Pacific London’s intimate bar, Silverleaf. 

The bar has teamed up with Glenfiddich to create an immersive experiment. Created in collaboration with artist Jason-Andrew Nason, the space has been transformed with vibrant artworks, digital projections, soundscapes and tactile effects, featuring alongside a bespoke menu of Glenfiddich Orchard Experiment cocktails. 

Named ‘The Taste in Colour Experiment’, it offers a malt whisky and cocktail immersion within a unique sensory environment. It’s a place where taste, touch, sound, vision and smell are all experienced in new ways.

When: Until 04.09.2022
Where: Silverleaf at Pan Pacific London, 80 Houndsditch, EC3A 7AB 
Book here

Grab a last minute ticket to All Points East

For those not cut out for camping, try London’s best festival All Points East. Each year the festival takes over East London’s Victoria Park and plays host to an exciting mix of artists. 

This year there’ll be Gorillaz, Idles, Tame Impala, The Chemical Brothers, The National and Nick Cave.

When: 19.08.2022 – 28.08.2022 
Where: Victoria Park, E3 
Website: www.allpointseastfestival.com

Check out this brand new speakeasy opening

Looking for a secret drinking den away from the crowds? Introducing Lost Property Office, a brand new cocktail hideaway from the award-winning bartender Rich Woods. 

Nodding to the speakeasy era, this new bar can only be accessed through a secret door within BrewDog’s soon-to-open Waterloo venue. Hidden inside expect the intimate space to be filled with dim lighting, dark timber ceilings, cushioned booths and vintage film and music prints lining the walls. 

While on the cocktail front, an array of classic and signature cocktails will be available, from the Full Flex, made with bourbon, blended sweet vermouths, cacao butter, ancho chilli and grapefruit oils to Lagerita, a reformed margarita with Hopped Tapatio tequila, clarified lime, blood orange and bergamot topped with a beer cloud and micro flowers.

OPENING DATE: 18.08.2022
WHERE: UNIT G, WATERLOO STATION, 01 THE SIDINGS, LONDON SE1 7BH
WEBSITE: WWW.WATERLOOLOSTPROPERTYOFFICE.CO.UK

Fall back in love with your favourite childhood story

Fall back in love with your favourite childhood story as Mowgli heads on her adventure through the jungle. Expect to meet some friendly characters along the way, from the noble Akela to the irresistible Baloo and the wise Bagheera.

Set with a backdrop of Kew Gardens, filled with trees and picnic blankets, this is one day out that’ll result in endless giggles and surprises.

Head further afield and visit their sister site, Wakehurst for an even more enchanting time.

WHEN: Until 21.08.2022
WHERE: VICTORIA GATE, KEW GARDENS
WEBSITE: WWW.KEW.ORG