From films in unusual places, Game Of Thrones–inspired dining and confectionary-based cocktails: we’ve rounded up our picks of the London pop-ups on this Spring.
Food and drink
Cocktails in the City: Spring edition
Experience pop-up versions of 25 of London’s bars (line-up tba) down in the depths of The Vaults in Waterloo for a speakeasy-style subterranean celebration of cocktails. A ticket is £20.00 which includes a free cocktail for any of the participating bars, and all subsequent cocktails are priced at £7.50. There will be bar battles, tasting rooms and sensory cocktail experiences too.
Date: 5th to 7th April 2019
Venue: The Vaults
Tickets: £20.00
Link: Cocktails in the City
Dirty Lobster
This pop-up takes place in a secret location (emailed on ticket confirmation, it’s not that cryptic!),with DJs and art performances as well as food and drink. One for curious minds, and curious taste buds. There will be veggie and vegan burgers on the menu too.
Date: 12th and 13th April 2019
Venue: Secret location (disclosed with ticket purchase)
Tickets: £10.00
The Brick Bar
Everything is awesome in a bar made entirely of Lego bricks. A million of them in fact. Though for copyright reasons, the ‘L’ word isn’t mentioned. Still, fans of the colourful bricks should head on down to Shoreditch.
Inside you can build your own sculptures, play ping-pong on a table built with 22,500 bricks, snack on brick-shaped burgers and enjoy Lego-themed cocktails and DJ sets. Kids are welcome if accompanied by an adult, and only until 6pm, at which point the kidults stay on to play! Having already proven popular in Denver and Sydney, nab your London tickets quickly.
Date: 25th to 29th April 2019
Where: Shoreditch (Secret Location)
Tickets: £28.00
Link: The Brick Bar website
Margarita Rumble: Bottomless Margarita Festival
To coincide with Cinco De Mayo (an annual celebration to commemorate the Mexican Army’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla on 5th May 1862), you can sample margaritas at London Fields Brewery in Hackney. Named after a tequila brought to London from NYC, Margarita London brings together 15 bars and restaurants compete for the title of ‘London’s Best Margarita, and you get to vote. There will be plenty of food to soak up the booze, plus tequila masterclasses, and mariachi band entertainment, dancing Day of the Dead skeletons and DJ sets. Buy tickets in advance, which includes unlimited margaritas for two hours.
Date: 5th May 2019
Venue: London Fields Brewery
Tickets £35.00
Link: Margarita Rumble website
Immersive events, experiences, and one-offs
Dinner Is Coming
A Game of Thrones–inspired dining event with murder in the air! GoT isn’t mentioned, and all the character’s names have been subtly changed avoid getting sued! So you Lords and Ladies of ‘Easteros’ are invited to dine at this blessed day of marriage where you’ll dine and pledge allegiance to your chosen kingdom. Take your pals, but beware: it could get nasty!
Date: 9th April to 2nd June 2019
Venue: The Vaults
Tickets: £30.00
Link: Dinner Is Coming website
The Prohibition Party – 100-Year Anniversary Special
The Prohibition Party is London’s longest running 1920s immersive event, and is inviting you aboard a boat cruise to mark 100 years since prohibition. Head on over to the not-so-dry dock on Embankment Pier for a night flapper girls, cabare, live music and moonshine (or raher fizz and cocktails). The boat part is a nod to the three-mile limit where floating bars and casinos were able to exist legally. It’s a fancy event, so dress era appropriately, or you’ll be left ashore!
Date: 23rd March 2019
Venue: Embankment Pier
Tickets: £30.00
Link: Prohibition Party website
The Bletchley
The people behind the Breaking Bad pop-up and The Bunyadi (the infamous naked restaurant) invite agents to a WW2 Bletchley Park–themed restaurant and bar. There may not be any fighting in the war room allowed, but once inside there will be drinking. You use personal data to ‘crack the code’ to create your own personal cocktails. Pre-booking is advised, but walk-ins are allowed and tickets include the cost of three drinks.
Date: Until 25th June
Venue: 459 King’s Road, Chelsea, London
Tickets: £35.00
Link: The Bletchley website
Films screenings
Down The Shaft Film Club
The organisers of Midnight Apothecary, the candlelit and campfire bar on the roof garden at Brunel University invite you downstairs to the museums new performance space: the Victorian Entrance Hall to the Thames Tunnel. Underground, there will be screenings of short documentaries all with water and wild swimming themes including Ray: A Life Underwater, a film about a 75-year-old deep-sea diver Ray Ives and his collection of underwater artefacts.
Date: 7th to 21st March 2109
Venue: Brunel Museum
Tickets: £15.00
Link: Down The Shaft Film Club
Rivoli Pop-Up Cinema
A season of classic films, blockbusters and cult favourites inside the beautiful old Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley. The venue is one of last remaining 1950s-style ballrooms in London and has been used as a film location for The Avengers, The Muppets and Legend. Over the coming months the ballroom will be screening Dirty Dancing, Some Like It Hot, Moulin Rouge, Labyrinth, JAWS, and The Big Lebowski, among others.
Date: Various dates
Venue: Rivoli Ballroom
Tickets £10.00
Link: Rivoli Pop-Up Cinema website
