The best things to do this weekend in London

The Midnight Apothecary, nestled atop the Brunel Museum, is a secret rooftop garden where award-winning gardener Lottie Muir grows plants and herbs to create seasonal botanical cocktails. Featuring fairy lights and firepits, the pop-up bar offers a unique ambiance for enjoying crafted drinks like the Woodland Martini and toasting s'mores. The bar is open for firepit sessions every Friday and Saturday until 27 July, with tickets including an optional guided tour of the Victorian-era Thames Tunnel Shaft below.

The Sony World Photography Awards exhibition, highlighting outstanding global photography across various genres, returns to Somerset House. The 2024 exhibition showcases a fresh curatorial approach with photographs displayed through printed, projected, and digital formats, also featuring sections dedicated to Edgar Martins, the 2023 Photographer of the Year, and legendary Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado.

Vulvaplicity is a queer-led platform that challenges heteronormative and cis-normative norms through creative expression, focusing on themes of feminism, gender, sexuality, and body politics. The platform is hosting an upcoming event at the Vagina Museum this Saturday, featuring a diverse line-up of artists including spoken word performers, drag artists, a burlesque queen, and more, all exploring these critical themes. 

London's jazz scene comes alive at the Brick Lane Jazz Festival in Shoreditch, where the city's diverse and innovative jazz talents will be showcased. The festival is spread across ten music venues located within minutes of each other on and around Brick Lane, allowing easy access to a wide spectrum of jazz styles from both emerging and established artists. Day and weekend passes are both available.

Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the Queer East Festival showcases a diverse array of LGBTQ+ cinema from East and Southeast Asia and their diasporas, including contemporary films, documentaries, and shorts that challenge stereotypes and introduce fresh perspectives on queer experiences. The 11-day festival wraps up this weekend with screenings, a disco-infused dance performance, and more.

Enjoy a lush and informative exploration of urban foraging with Flavour Led Walks by expert forager Flavour Fred. Lasting around 2.5 hours, these leisurely strolls offer insights into wild ingredients found in the city. Fred shares rules, identification tips, folklore, and historical anecdotes. Learn about seasonal ingredients, preservation methods, and crafting tasty treats while sampling along the way. 

Bringing Taiwan's heritage to London, the Taiwan Festival at Notting Hill's The Coronet Theatre showcases the work of over 30 Taiwanese artists, musicians, and dancers, many making their UK debut. The programme covers diverse themes like colonial history, identity, politics, and sexuality, featuring highlights such as artist Cheng Tsung Feng's bamboo installation and singer-songwriter Yujun Wang's album launch. Tickets are available for individual shows or as a season pass, offering access to all events.

London's Design Museum has opened an exhibition honouring Enzo Mari, one of the most influential Italian designers of the 20th century, renowned for his multifaceted career as an artist, teacher, and theorist and his commitment to socially responsible design. The extensive retrospective spans Mari's 60-year career and features over 300 works, including furniture, children's books, and conceptual installations, complemented by archival insights into his design philosophy and tributes from contemporary London-based designers.

This exhibition at Raven Row in Spitalfields delves into the vibrant and varied styles of Brazilian art from the 1950s to the 1970s, a period of flourishing post-modernist movement. It features a range of artistic expressions, from the abstract works of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro's concretists and neo-concretists to the Afro-Brazilian symbolism rooted in spiritual practices. This collaborative effort with the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro showcases pieces from four major Brazilian museums and private collections, some displayed in the UK for the first time.

The UK's most extensive exhibition of Yoko Ono's work features over 200 pieces that span her seven-decade career as an artist and activist. The exhibition, in collaboration with Ono's studio, includes a diverse range of works such as instruction pieces, installations, films, and music, delving into themes of peace, feminism, and the everyday, often using the sky as a symbol. This exhibition redefines Ono's legacy beyond her Beatles association, affirming her as a trailblazer in conceptual and participatory art.

Embark on a time-travelling journey without having to leave London with "The Horizon of Khufu" virtual reality adventure. Transporting you back 4,500 years to Ancient Egypt, delve into the mysteries of the Great Pyramid of Giza at this unique AI event in Stratford. Led by renowned Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian, experience mummification ceremonies, Nile voyages, and Pharaoh Khufu's funeral rites.

Experience a profound journey through history and culture at the Royal Academy of Arts this spring. Over 100 contemporary and historical artworks, spanning themes of empire, enslavement, resistance, abolition, and colonialism, will be showcased. Featuring prominent British artists from diverse diasporas, including Sonia Boyce and Frank Bowling, alongside works from the past 250 years, this exhibition promises to provoke reflection and dialogue. Informed by research into the RA's colonial history, it engages over 50 associated artists on migration, identity, and belonging.

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a prequel to the popular Netflix series, is making waves in London's West End as a major theatrical hit. The play, unfolding the backstory of the series' villain Henry Creel, is co-directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, and has been praised for capturing the essence of “Stranger Things” as well as putting on an astounding visual feast.

Head on a Greek journey to the island of Skopelos for an unforgettable evening of dining and dancing at this Mamma Mia-inspired event. As the sun sets, discover yourself at Nikos' family-run taverna, feasting on a tasty four-course Greek meal, including dishes like Greek mezze, salad, confit lamb shoulder, and slow-cooked beef with garlic-roasted potatoes. A live band will play iconic ABBA tracks throughout the night, ensuring the dance floor stays lively with their best hits. 

The hotly-anticipated exhibition "Accidentally Wes Anderson" landed in London in December. Developed from a popular Instagram account that shares images that look like they're straight out of a Wes Anderson film, visitors have the chance to see the photographs, discover more about these real locations, and take their own on-theme photos. The show takes place at 79-85 Old Brompton Road.

Lightroom, an immersive art gallery in King's Cross, has unveiled “The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks”. This immersive experience, narrated by Tom Hanks, uses advanced projection and audio to explore the historic Apollo missions and the current Artemis programme for manned lunar exploration. Co-written by Hanks and Christopher Riley, the experience also features interviews with Artemis astronauts, offering a unique perspective on this new chapter of space exploration.