By Charlotte Cox
Dance festivals, folksy festivals, cocktail festivals… this weekend’s got ’em all. Plus an urban beach and super-cool shopping to boot
FILM: Trainwreck
OK, bear with us on this one: this new Judd Apatow-directed film follows the misadventures of a commitment-phobe revelling in one-night stands and dodging cosy domesticity at all costs. So far, so Knocked Up/Get Him To The Greek etc. But wait: what if we told you the protagonist was a woman? Now it’s getting interesting – especially as the woman in question is brash, badass comic Amy Schumer, who also wrote the script. The result is a fresh, funny and female-focused take on a tired genre – a romcom for people who don’t like romcoms, if you will. In cinemas 17 July
SHOPPING: Playground & Proof, London Fields
We’re big fans of time management, and are painfully aware that some weekends there just aren’t enough hours in the day to check out that cool little street market AND that hip new rooftop bar. But behold, here is the solution! Introducing Playground & Proof, East London’s newest outdoor space where you’ll find a courtyard market featuring pop-up record store Kartel, motorcycle apparel from Bolt, arts and crafts by Madam Chalet and, crucially, an ice-cream sandwich stall. Then head right upstairs and – ta da! – you’re at a rooftop bar overlooking London Fields, serving craft beers, specialist ciders and just plain intriguing-sounding mezcals. We just love multi-tasking.
Every Thursday to Sunday Field Works, Martello Street, London Fields, E8 3QW playgroundandproof.com
Festival: Lovebox
It's back: Victoria Park's annual two-day trip into beats-fuelled, hard-partying festival fun. And with Rudimental, Hot Chip, Cypress Hill, Little Dragon and Snoop Dogg all on the bill, not to mention DJ sets by Mark Ronson, Annie Mac and Bonobo, festival-chic shopping aplenty and – by crikey – a roller disco, this year’s Lovebox certainly does have a lot to love.
17-18 July; from £61.25 Victoria Park, London E3 5TB loveboxfestival.com
THEATRE: Constellations
Do you ever ask yourself: 'what if?'. What if you'd chosen a different job, different partner, or (most importantly) a different sandwich for lunch? Well, according to this play (oh, and a little something quantum physics), each choice you, and everyone else, make creates a different reality, and as such there are infinite universes that coexist but never collide. The result? A right old head scramble. Lucky then that this hit production, back in London for three weeks only, condenses one heck of a complex theory down to the many paths a relationship between two people can take, played out over 70 intense, moving and funny minutes. Choose to see it, and you’ll live in an altogether happier reality.
Until 1 August; from £19.50 Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, SW1A 2DY trafalgar-studios.co.uk
EVENT: Cocktails In The City
We like: sampling the wares of London’s finest cocktail bars. We don’t like: having to (ugh) move (sigh) from one such purveyor of alcoholic goodness to another. EFFORT. Here then comes the answer to our prayers – a two-day alfresco extravaganza with the genius idea of bringing 25 such bars together. In one place! With minimal walking required! Yes, for this weekend only, Bloombury’s Bedford Square Garden will play host to the likes of Rivoli Bar at the Ritz, Barrio and ELLE favourite Bull In A China Shop, plus jazz from Kansas Smitty’s and – excitingly – a boozy gelato bar. Oh, to be alive in times such as these. 18-19 July, 12pm-8pm; £15 including a cocktail and experiences Bedford Square Garden, London WC1B 3ES cocktailsinthecity.co.uk
FESTIVAL: Citadel
There’s only one thing better than a festival: TWO festivals. So it’s back off to Victoria Park we go for the first ever year of this Sunday shindig, which has an altogether more lo-fi, folksier vibe. Music comes from Ben Howard, Bombay Bicycle Club and Kurt Vile; feasting comes from Hawksmoor director Richard Turner (we predict: MEAT); chin-stroking debate comes from The Sunday Papers Live; and sack races and disco dodgeball come from the Citadel’s very own Sports Day. So here’s to the first of many Citadel fests to come – if only so we have cause to use the phrase ‘disco dodgeball’ again.
19 July; from £49.95 Victoria Park, London E3 5TB citadeldfestival.com
POP-UP: Camden Beach at The Roundhouse
Since last week, when summer finally decided to turn up to the party, we’ve had but one thing on our minds: ‘get us to a beach!’ It’s just in the nick of time, then, that this Camden institution returns for its fourth year, bringing deckchairs, beach huts and a whole lotta sand (150 tonnes, to be precise) to The Roundhouse. There are also ping pong tables, a pop-up fish n chip shop, a rum shack and a Stoli lemonade van to sweeten the deal. And to think we nearly ended up in Skegness…
17 July-23 August; free Chalk Farm Rd, London, NW1 8EH roundhouse.org.uk
FOOD: Beehive Place
Here is the newest addition to Brixton’s pop-up foodie scene, by numbers: 2, the number of culinary heavy hitters involved, namely chef Sam Hodges (Soho House, St John) and the team behind roaming restaurant Marmot; 1 menu that changes each weekend, consisting of 5 contemporary British tasting dishes; and 35, the bargainous number of pounds you’ll have to spend to enjoy all of said courses. Add them together, and what do you get? 1 very happy customer – you. 18 July, £35 for five courses Behind The Yellow Door, 11A Beehive Place, Brixton, London SW9 7QR beehiveplace.com
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