Things To Do In London This Weekend:13-15 Oct
Come on then weekend, we're ready for you
ART: Modern Panic
The word 'provocative' gets thrown around a lot when it comes to art, but look it up and you'll see Modern Panic right there as the dictionary definition. Probably along with an image of Ellie Pennick's statue of Theresa May using an EU flag in a most unconventional manner for illustrative purposes. And there's plenty more where that came from at this showcase of all that is surreal and near-the-knuckle, featuring more than 50 artists over two weekends. Expect savage satire, performance art, and – above all – to be taken well and truly out of your comfort zone. But who wants to be there, anyway?
13-22 Oct; £3
Modern Panic, Apiary Studios, 458 Hackney Road, London E2 9EG
MUSIC: Hackney Wonderland
Nope, not a hipster version of Alice where she falls down the rabbit hole to a land of flat whites and fixie bikes (although this being east London, you ARE likely to come across some mad hatters). This is, in fact, the return of E8's music-crawl festival, which fills venues including Oval Space, The Pickle Factory and the Sebright Arms with stonking live music on Saturday. Grab a wristband and you're in for alt-indie aplenty, with big hitters Jagwar Ma topping a bill that also includes The Rifles, Bo Ningen, Babanaga and Saint Agnes. It's set to be madder than a march hare. Yeah.
14 Oct; £22.50
Hackney Wonderland, Various E8 venues
THEATRE: Beauty and the Feast
'We kindly request to amuse your bouche with some fine-art feasting.' An invitation, extended ever so politely, by raucous design/theatre team Darling & Edge. And we recommend that you heartily accept – for this is a chance to take part in a very modern fairytale AND eat a hell of a lot of delicious food. Travelling to the Beast's palace (which we hadn't realised was located at The Vaults in Waterloo, whaddaya know), our task is to break the witch's spell – all while eating, drinking and making merry. Which is actually when we're at our most effective at curse-breaking, luckily. Should the spell be broken, disco DJs will keep the celebrations rolling late into the night – promising you'll come as a beauty, leave as a beast.
Until 14 Jan; £45 including performance, dinner and dessert
The Vaults, Leake Street, SE1 7NN
DRINK: Heist Bank Beer Festival
Beer, a wise man named Homer Simpson once said, is the cause of and solution to all of life's problems. And if your love of craft beer is causing you the problem of 'where can I try varieties from more than 30 hip international breweries, in the one place?', this weekend the solution comes in the form of Heist Bank's first beer festival. Featuring free tastings and workshops from the likes of Fourpure, Thornbridge, Wild Beer Co and Beavertown, you're also in for Scandi craft ales, New Zealand brews, beer muffins, massive pizzas by the slice and DJs spinning tunes late into the night. In short: one helluva party.
14-15 Oct; £15 including two beer tokens and a food token
Heist Bank, 5 N Wharf Rd, Paddington
FOOD: Yamagoya
For a dish that consists of noodles and broth, ramen sure inspires devotion. Nay, obsession. And certainly endless debates about where to find the best in the city. Well those can all, stop, NOW. Because this new opening is bringing nigh-on 50 years of know-how right to The Cut in Southwark. First opened in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1969, this first permanent London home of Yamagoya serves up secret family recipes such as fiery Tobanjan broth, chicken katsu rice bowls and - of course - the signature noodle soup. Ramen-oholics anonymous, here we come...
Now open
Yamagoya, 49 The Cut, Southwark SE1 8LF
NIGHTLIFE: Glitterbox
Q: How many mirror balls are too many mirror balls?
A: There is NO SUCH THING.
With this in mind, we bring you the return of Glitterbox, back in town after a triumphant season at Ibiza superclub Hï. A celebration of all things sparkly, expect visual excess in the form of spandex-clad dancers, mind-bending light displays, flamboyant costumes and confetti, plus a fine house and disco soundtrack from godfather-of-dance Louie Vega. Oh, and mirrorballs. 200 of 'em. Woo hoo!
14 Oct; from £26
Glitterbox,Ministry of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, Elephant & Castle, SE1 6DP
EVENT: The Veuve Clicquot Widow Series
Ok. so we are a bit ahead of ourselves here, as this is for next weekend, but this is so good you won't want to miss the chance of getting a ticket . The annual Veuve Clicquot Widow Series is an artistic celebration of the original Madam Clicquot, and it is always curated by someone amazing (Nick Knight and FKA Twigs have done past ones). This year they've scored fashion icon Carine Roitfeld (alongside Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfredo), to create something intriguing on the theme of the seven deadly sins. Expect seven rooms of immersive fabulousness mixing theatre/art/fashion, all in aid of AmFar. Now - what to wear ...
The Veuve Clicquot Widow Series, 17 Islington Green N1 2XH
Friday 20th / Saturday 21st October
From 6pm
Tickets: £35 plus booking fee with 50% donated to AmFar charity. Tickets include one glass of Veuve Clicquot. There are bars all around the venue.
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