One of my favourite months is upon us – May. And it’s my favourite because it brings us not one but TWO bank holidays. Turning our attention to the one coming up imminently, here are a few of the best things happening this first May bank holiday in London.
Friday
(and the rest of the weekend)
For the
adventurous among you head on over to Islington Metal Works for the Make Believe Festival starting with Clockwork Underground on the Friday. “The Clockwork Underworld is part of a five year transmedia story told through graphic novels, immersive theatre, and a feature film.” Don your finest steampunkery and stomp your feet to the likes of The Men That Will Not be Blamed for Nothing. But there are also performances from interactive theatre troupes such as Civilised Mess and wow your eyes with The Incredible Flea Circus. This is a must for fans of steampunk, Victoriana and Burlesque. Or, go on the Saturday for the Goblin King’s Masquerade Ball for more music, interactive performances and DJs. Sunday sees a Steampunk market in addition to some live music and performances, to stock up on all your Steampunk needs in preparation for next year’s fest!Arts
Saturday – Derby Day!
A couple of places are taking the Kentucky Derby as their inspiration this year. The first of those I’ll mention here is Beard to Tail who are having another Man vs Food challenge – competitor
s sign up, pay £20 and then get the chance to eat as much pulled pork as they can! Of course that’s not all – there’s also some toy horse racing, a whisky masterclass and lots of prizes and other stuff happening. If you’re taking part in the challenge you must register in advance and your £20 also gets you a cocktail on arrival and a customised hip flask! The money is going towards a horse charity. I must admit, when I went to Beard to Tail I was underwhelmed by their food, but ever since the new stuff on the menu has sounded amazing so I am starting to think they might be worth a second chance. If anyone goes along let us know what you thought!
The other thing happening this weekend along the Derby theme is the Candlelight Club. I highly recommend this night if you like to dress up and have some tasty cocktails in an intimate fun setting. The Candlelight club is so called because the entire place is lit with candles – only candles, which gives the place a lovely soft ambience. It is always themed around the Prohibition era so dress code is 20s flapper/gangster and they have a music act to correspond to the vintage theme. Everyone dresses up and they pick their venues carefully to complement the feeling of stepping back in time. This month their nights have something a little special as they’ll be screening the derby live and you’ll be able to place bets using tokens. Or you can bet on the tabletop version! These nights are extremely popular so get your ticket before they sell out.
Sunday
As I always say, what are Bank Holidays for if not for celebrating having a whole extra day off by spending that day in bed hungover. Should this also be your favourite way to spend the May Bank Holiday then there are still tickets left for Land of Kings, a one day festival in the Dalston area. There are over 14 venues taking part such as Birthdays, DAlston Roof Park and Café Oto. It’s a mix of music and arts with music being provided by DJs and promoters well-known in these parts – Drums of Death, Hannah Holland, Bugged Out, Krankbrothers. There will also be fun stuff to take part in, such as Musical Bingo, and the House of Hot Breath’s newest creation. These guys do Hot Breath Karaoke – karaoke where you get a chance to win prizes and also a VHS quiz along the lines of ‘guess what happens next’- both rioutously fun, so whatever they have up their sleeves for this is guaranteed to be good. Artsy stuff includes The Poetry Takeaway doing made to order poems, and The Lost Picture Show which has film shorts, filmic karaoke and of course popcorn. Other food is provided by the dons of Street Food – Street Feast.
Head over to Little Venice for some waterside family friendly fun on Sunday for the Canalway Cavalcade (and Saturday and Monday). Lots of colourful canal boats will be gathering and there will be a boat pageant at night. But besides just looking at the differently painted boats there will be stalls for food, real ale, children’s activities, morris dancers and bands performing. And it’s free! Perfect if the weather perks up.
Monday
So on Sunday it’s Land of Kings, but for the family-oriented amongst you Monday sees the advent of Land of Kids (see what they did there?)! This is brought to you by the same people who do Land of Kings, but this time focusing on stuff to keep the kids entertained. It is recommended for children aged between 2 and 12, and happens in or around Ashwin Street in Dalston. There are a lot of workshops in which the children can actively get involved – such as the Pearly Hat workshop or the shoe-making workshop.House of Hot Breath make another appearance, doing their video dance party again. And Cut a Shine (who are immense fun – I saw them at the Remixed Festival last year) will be throwing a barn dance for all to get involved in. Everything is included in the ticket price of £19.50 except food and drink. Really sounds like one not to miss.
Written by Gingle of Gingle Lists Everything.