A good weekend for West End hits, fringe theatre, sipping cocktails and tango!

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Photo by Linda Hartley used under CC

West End Live

The square is alive, with the sound of music in June. Musical theatre fans can experience highlights from hit shows without the sting of the West End ticket prices. In fact, there are no tickets at all, you can just turn up. West End Live is an annual, open-air weekend festival of more than 30 free performances of well-established shows.

Photo by Merge Festival used under CC

Merge Festival

An annual festival curated by Illuminate Productions to celebrate the history and culture of Bankside. Bankside is the area close to the Southbank with winding medieval side streets and home to Shakespeare’s Globe and Tate Modern. The area will come alive for a two-week-long arts festival. Many of the events are free; so if you’re too skint to make it up to the cobbled streets of Edinburgh in August, you can get your fill of the artistic, the wonderful and weird in London this summer instead.

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Tango lessons in Spitalfields

Your days can be brightened with a little latin rhythm on certain Sundays and Thursdays from June to September. Instructors René and Hiba, aka Tango Fever, are offering free tango lessons in Bishop’s Square, Spitalfields on Sunday afternoons. Classes take place underneath a canopy because even rain doesn’t stop dancing!

Photo by Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos used under CC

Zip Now

High flyers who enjoyed Zip World London, can get their skyward kicks again. Back with a new name, at Archbishop’s Park in Lambeth. This year there will be three 225 m–long zip wires, starting at 35ft (the height of nine double-decker buses!) so you can hurtle through the air at 50 mph next to your friends and loved ones. As well as speeding through the air, you’ll get dizzying views of sites including Battersea and Westminister. It’s suitable for kids over the age of 8 when accompanied by an adult.

cheap cocktains in london

Midnight Apothecary

An atmospheric, candlelit drinking den is open on Friday and Saturday nights at Brunel Museum. Cocktail lovers can get cosy around the campfire with drinks, Greek street food and riverside views this summer. An advance ticket costs a fiver which includes entry to the museum—with an optional guided descent into the underground chamber (maybe do that bit before cocktail hour!).

Deptford Market Yard

Rivalling nearby Peckham and Brixton, the latest addition to the Deptford food scene Deptford Bites is a new weekly food and craft market from the events collective Eat Me Drink Me which will be on every Saturday. There will be a focus on South East London traders and makers with food stalls including Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen, KraPow LDN, Muffin Man, Hank’s and Piadina Project and live music each week.

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