South Bank Summer pop-ups
Relax with a drink or two and a bite to eat by the river these summer pop-ups.
Summer at KERB at The Understudy
There’s a bumper bank holiday weekend ahead! Look out for free festivals, pop-up crafting activities for the kids, exhibitions, open studios, even more new summer terraces for enjoying the sunshine and so much more...
2126: A Ceramic Odyssey
WHEN & WHERE: Until Sun 3 May at County Hall Pottery
This is the last weekend to see the latest extraordinary contemporary ceramics exhibition at County Hall Pottery. Curated by artist Jihyun Kim, the Ceramic Odyssey explores how ceramic practice might evolve in the next century, inviting visitors to step inside a speculative future of ceramics. Entrance is free!
Crayola World of Creativity
WHEN & WHERE: Sat 2 May to Mon 4 May at Oxo Gallery
Crayola is hosting a free pop-up this weekend at the Oxo Gallery at Oxo Tower Wharf. Designed to support parents looking for stress-free, screen-free and mess-managed activities, families will enter a Crayola world with a variety of themed interactive areas. Highlights include the Scribble Scrubbies Pet Parlour – where children can design, colour and wash their own pet figures and the Colour Wonder Zone, which makes use of Crayola's innovative new colouring kits. Open from 11am to 4pm. Entrance is free.
You Are Here
WHEN & WHERE: Sun 3 May at Southbank Centre (please note tickets are now sold out)
The Southbank Centre celebrates its 75th birthday on 3 May with this spectacular event created, directed and designed by Danny Boyle, Gareth Pugh and Carson McColl, with collaborators Paulette Randall and Sabrina Mahfouz. Described as an "electrifying journey through 75 years of British music, dance, theatre, fashion and film", this is a once in a generation experience that is on a scale never before seen at the Southbank Centre!
Rip It Up
WHEN & WHERE: Sun 3 May at BFI Southbank
Tying in with Southbank Centre’s youth pop culture spectacle You Are Here, the BFI presents a packed festival of programming that has been entirely conceived, curated and hosted by young people aged 19 to 29.
Tickets cost just £4 for access to the full day of programming that includes 16 different events and screening sessions. Topics explored through the day present a kaleidoscope of youth-led cultural movements and conversations, from grime and street dance to YouTube filmmaking and modern dating
Last chance to see! Chiharu Shiota & Yin Xiuzhen
WHEN & WHERE: Last day Sat 3 May at Hayward Gallery
This duo of exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota and Chinese artist Yin Xiuzhen closes this weekend. Saturday 3 May is your last chance to explore densely layered installations made variably from yarn threads and used clothing, which explore topics around memory and belonging.
Spring Afternoon Tea on the London Eye
WHEN: Package available until Mon 4 May
Book a special ticket to enjoy afternoon tea inside one of the London Eye's colourful bloom-filled pods! The spring afternoon tea experience includes two full rotations (a one-hour experience), a selection of premium teas and coffees and a classic afternoon tea spread that includes finger sandwiches and elegant seasonal patisserie.
Skate Space 50
WHEN & WHERE: On show until 21 June, closed Sat 2 May-Mon 4 May
This new multimedia exhibition explores the 50-year history of the iconic Skate Space beneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a destination often dubbed 'the birthplace of British skating culture'.
Hosted in an indoor undercroft behind the skate park, the exhibition looks at five generations of the skating community who have made this place their home, portrayed through photography, moving image and sound. Entrance tickets are 'pay what you can'.
Doodle Boy x Little Dish pop-up
WHEN & WHERE: Sat 2 May from 10am-6pm, Queens Walk
Celebrating the launch of their latest kids' ready meals - a new limited edition Chicken Katsu Curry Noodles meal - Little Dish presents a free crafty pop-up on the Queen's Walk near Jubilee Gardens inspired by their new packaging created by Doodle Boy. Little artists can doodle on a giant colour-in billboard, get their faces painted and win plenty of prizes. Entrance is free.
Summer pop-ups and terraces
Once you've stretched your legs with a stroll along the river on the Queen's Walk, kicking back for a drink or two and a bite to eat at one of South Bank’s pop-ups and terraces is a quintessential London summer experience. Even more pop-ups and beer gardens have opened for the season this weekend, including the huge Between the Bridges next to Jubilee Gardens.
Between the Bridges
Felix Topolski & The Festival of Britain
WHEN & WHERE: Sat 2 May & Sun 3 May at Feliks Topolski Studio
Feliks Topolski was a prolific expressionist painter and draughtsman who, throughout most of his career, worked from a studio in a railway arch below Hungerford Bridge (next to what is now the offices of the Southbank Centre). His former studio has been lovingly maintained by his nephew Lucien, and functions as an archive and artist studio space, which opens regularly for art classes and pop-up exhibitions.
On Sat 2 May visitors can get an introduction to Topolski's work with his nephew and archivist Lucien Topolski (at 12pm and 2pm), and meet the studio's artist in residence Alice Angus. On Sun 3 May the studio opens from 12pm-4pm with the chance to see some of Topolski's reportage work and learn more about his astonishing life and career with archivist Cecilia Borgenstam. Entrance is free.
Four Seasons Festival: Seeds of Change
WHEN & WHERE: Sun 3 May & Mon 4 May at County Hall
Led by County Hall Arts, Four Seasons Festival is a new planned seasonal programme of cultural events happening at unique spaces within the vast County Hall site.
The first edition – Seeds of Change – takes place over the May Day bank holiday weekend. The programme includes live events that open onto the Queen’s Walk as well as music recitals in the ‘Kiln Courtyard’ and guided tours of the fascinating County Hall building, and many of the events on the schedule are free!
