It’s a scorcher! The week’s been a sweaty, sticky mess for all of us working in unairconditioned offices. People have spent more time standing in front of the fridge than ever before during their lunch breaks and frazzled brains have been the cause of many an early office-closure this week. However the weekend is here and while it’s still going to be sweltering you can at least get through it with your feet dangling in a fountain or swigging iced cider. Whatever you do, here are our Weekend TASKs for the next three days.
- EAT AT the #R3D Market – Spending summer in the City is a great idea but if you live in our fair city you have factor in our glorious weather. This summer from the 20th of June onwards, every Thursday & Friday from 5 till 11.30 pm for the next 8 weeks Red Market will once again play host to some of the best street food & cocktails that London has to offer alongside the best DJ’s Shoreditch can muster.
- GET INVOLVED at the Tour de France Fan Park – a pop up cycling themed ‘village’ centered around a dedicated giant screen-broadcast of the Tour de France, a series of interactive cycling activities, pop-up cycling focused retail stalls, cafés, bars, information and cycling demonstrations will create what will truly be, a celebration of cycling.
- HEAD TO Lovebox for three days of flamboyant mayhem in the heart of the capital, celebrating life, love, diversity, good sounds, good vibes, creativity, and hand-crafted fun, all set against the backdrop of the city’s oldest public park. The festival unites a myriad of styles, and they bring you the very best and brightest kaleidoscopic circus of delights siphoned from London’s cultural melting pot and filtered through 11 years of sunlit Lovebox history.
- SWIM at the Hampstead Heath Ponds. Originally dammed-off clay pits, the ponds are run by the City of London Corporation and people have swum there since the 20s. You might not like the idea of not seeing your feet when in the water but there’s no health risk whatsoever. The three pools are open to ladies, men and mixed groups (including accompanied children aged eight-15, at the lifeguards’ discretion) respectively.
- DISCOVER the London you won’t find in the guidebooks with London’s original off-the-beaten-track tour provider Alternative London! The award winning tours take you into the heart of London’s vibrant East End to explore the past and present of the capital’s cultural and creative hub. The tours grew out of a love for the area in which we live and a desire to pass this passion on to others by showing the real London – from a locals’ perspective. They are proud innovators of the pay-what-you-want tour and the first to showcase London’s incredible street art scene.
- QUAFF the best at the Experimental Cocktail Club. Don’t be misled by the name: this isn’t a members club – although to say it’s democratic is pushing it a bit. Booking is (almost) essential, and can only be made by email, noon-5pm. In theory, you can just turn up – that’s if you can find the place. It’s behind a nondescript door with a nondescript man standing outside it. He has about his person a list that could decide whether you’re in, or going elsewhere. The result is worth all the aggravation. The cocktails here really are spectacular – they’re some of the finest concoctions not just in Chinatown, but in the entire city. Adept bar staff use ultra-premium spirits (some of them aged and rare), own-made infusions and unusual ingredients. And most of the drinks cost no more than £11.