THEATRE: Fabularium Fairy Tale Festival
Not only has this performance pop-up provided us with our new favourite word (go on, use 'Fabularium' in a sentence, it'll make you smile), it's giving us the chance to be big kids as we listen to tall tales spun by the city’s best storytellers. From dark fairy tale The Blacksmith at the Bridge Of Bones to the bizarre and bawdy Naughty But Nice!, expect all things wild, weird and utterly magical. You’re in a Fabularium, after all. *Smiles*
Until 2 August; £8 The Crick Crack Club, 21 Ealing Park Mansions, 114 South Ealing Road W5 4QD
FILM: Backyard Cinema Film Festival
Step away from the multiplex, people. Because why sit inside in the dark when you can watch classic films such as Whiplash, Grease and Clueless under the stars, amid the colourful surrounds of Camden Market? Plus party to DJs and themed singalongs? And eat street eats from Honest Burger and Chin Chin Lab ice cream? And sip craft beers and cocktails in a deck chair? For the next six weeks of this alfresco film fest, there is NO reason why. None whatsoever.
29 July-4 September; £14-£29 Camden Lock Place, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road NW1 8AFO backyardcinema.co.uk
DRINK: Alcoholic Architecture
And this week’s ‘No, no, really, this EXISTS’ award goes to: a new Borough Market pop-up bar where you absorb your booze. In a cocktail. No, no, really, this exists… It’s the brainchild of mad food scientists Bompas & Parr, who are taking over a Victorian monastery and filling it with vapourised beverages that skip all that irksome sipping and swallowing, and promise to get you passively piddly in the space of an hour. HONESTLY, it exists! Go, see for yourself – just remember to breathe responsibly, now.
From 30 July for six months; £12.50 for a one-hour time slot. 1 Cathedral Street, Borough Market, SE1 9DEO, bompasandparr.com
FESTIVAL: Eastern Electrics
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it (and you really, really should), is: how much house and techno can you cram into one day? At this Hatfield House shindig, it’s going to be A LOT. Spread across eight stages, the beast of a dance festival boasts big names including The Two Bears, Jon Carter, Steve Lawler, Mike Skinner, Skream and DJ EZ – not to mention house-wizard headliner Jamie Jones. Oh and then there’s Electric City, offering cabaret, a fairground and a pillow fight (obvs), plus the new ‘ravey woodlands’ area. We can guess what goes on there. Challenge accepted?
1 August; £59.95 Hatfield House, Herts AL9 5NQ, Easternelectrics.com
FOOD: Mark Hix’s FishDog Pop-Up
So we’ve OD-ed on gourmet burgers, pulled more pork than is polite and are quite frankly bored of brisket. So thank goodness, then, for the latest in chic pop-up eats – the fish-finger sandwich. Of course, we’re not just talking about any old Birdseye specimens here – these are the creations of top London chef Mark Hix, marrying the freshest fish with minted mushy peas and tartare sauce for a superior sarnie. Setting up residency at Clerkenwell’s Hat And Three Tuns for three weeks, this is also your chance to sample spicy crab chips and the daintily named Holy F***ed Fish Balls (pictured). Although they had us at fish fingers, to be fair.
29 July-14 August The Hat And Tun, 3 Haddon Wall, EC1N 8HX
COMEDY: Phoenix Fringe
Comedy’s biggest names – including Hal Cruttenden, Ardal O Hanlon, Richard Herring, Zoe Lyons, Milton Jones and Tom Craine (pictured) – warming up for the Edinburgh Fringe by trying out new, work-in-progress shows? All in the cosy surrounds of The Phoenix near Oxford Circus, with tickets for less than a tenner? You must be – ahem – having a laugh. (We guarantee the jokes will be better than that one.)
30 July-8 August; £8.80 37 Cavendish Square, W1G 0PP, phoenixfringe.co.uk
ART: Summer Screen Prints at Somerset House
Whether you’re a lucky ticketholder to one of Somerset House’s outdoor movies or not, this show of specially commissioned posters, inspired by the films, is pretty darned unmissable. Why? Well, 15 artists handpicked by The London Print Club have come up with 200 original works inspired by iconic scenes, lines and characters from films including West Side Story, Roman Holiday and True Romance. And very cool they are, too.
30 July-30 August; free. Strand WC2R 1LA, somersethouse.org.uk
NIGHTLIFE: The Un-Garden Party at Wonderland Lates
We’re obsessed with all things Alice, so when we heard that there’s a chance to party like a 150-year-old fictional character at a very special un-birthday bash, well, we jumped at it. You should too – because once you’ve crawled down the rabbit hole to The Wonderland Bar, you’ll find fantastical themed cocktails, Queen’s pies from Pieminster, flamingo croquet and the chance to paint the roses red. What’s more, there’s live music from Town of Cats, DJs and video mash-ups, plus the chance to meet Wonderland residents like The Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. Just don’t lose your head, OK?
1 August, 7.30pm-10pm. Wonderland Bar, The Vaults, Launcelot Street SE1 7AD, alice-underground.com
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