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- 🐍 8 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (1–2 February)
🐍 8 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (1–2 February)
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Hello DiLFs!
It was my son’s 7th birthday party last weekend, so – as a result of the excitement around that, combined with my latest foot injury, plus it being SO DAMN COLD – we didn’t get up to as much as we normally would.
We did, however, head to Novelty Automation in Holborn – an amusement arcade of satirical game machines. There’s an “expressive photo booth”, an “interactive divorce” and a “small hadron collider”, which are massive highlights for everyone who goes. We loved those, but our favourite was probably the game where you assumed the role of an Amazon worker – collecting products from shelves as quickly as possible, and trying to achieve your zero-hours contract. It was also fun to fly a drone around a celebrity house, snapping photos of the people inside.
Novelty Automation is one of those places that – like The Simpsons, and Toy Story, and Bluey – operates on two levels. Children enjoy it, but grown-ups get it.
I highly recommend it, but there are lots of other things you might like to do this weekend too…
Enjoy!
Jeff xx
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Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl + Q&A with Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham
Saturday 1 February, 11:00
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
Adults £5, children £2.50
Common Sense Media age guidance: 7+
NEARLY SOLD OUT!
Nick Park is the sort of name I’d imagine the creator of Wallace & Gromit to have: non-showy, unfussy, not in the slightest bit attention-grabby. And also entirely unmemorable.
I swear that’s the reason tickets for this event didn’t sell out immediately: people read that Nick Park would be attending and thought to themselves, “Nick Park? That rings a bell. Oh! The guy from the Accounts department? Why should I care what he thinks about Wallace & Gromit?”
This is excellent news for you if you want to attend, because there’s still availability. But only just: enough people have now realised that Nick Park is not their colleague, or old Physics teacher, or the nice man from Barclays who helped their mum when her account was hacked. They know he’s the creator of Wallace & Gromit, and they’ve very nearly bought up all the tickets for the cinema where he’ll appear for a post-film Q&A.
So… book! Quickly! I’ll be there, so come say hi if you spot me. (I’ll be the one who looks like he writes a newsletter called Dads in London.)
Find out more:
While you’re there…
👍️ The Barbican also has a brand new exhibition called Into Eternal Land. The artist, Citra Sasmita, is originally from Indonesia, and she uses old Balinese painting techniques (originally practised exclusively by men) to tell stories about powerful women. Her work reimagines myths, challenges old ideas about gender, and explores Bali’s history. As well as paintings, there’s also embroidery, installations, and even scents to discover.
👍️ Korean BBQ House is a few minutes’ walk away, and it’s such a fun place to visit for lunch. Depending on what you get, it can be a cheapish lunch or a very expensive lunch, so look at the prices before you order!
VOGUE: Inventing the Runway
Saturday 10:00–19:30 and Sunday 10:00–17:30 (plus other days and times until 26 April)
Lightroom, 12 Lewis Cubitt Square, N1C 4DY
Adults £25, children 3–18 £15, under-3s free
Lightroom age guidance: suitable for all
When it comes to fashion, my mantra is “Nah”. Can’t be bothered, not interested, don’t care.
I nevertheless ADORED this latest “immersive” show at Lightroom, and my boys did too. One fashion journalist said “It’s the closest you’ll likely get to seeing a fashion show without actually being there,” which I happen to think is a bit of a stretch – but then she’s been to multiple real-life fashion shows, while I once attended a fancy dress party where three people came as the same carrot.
Regardless of who’s right, Inventing the Runway brilliantly shows us – across four gigantic screens – the history of fashion shows from the 1950s to today. To nutshellise: they started as a way for fashion houses to show off their designs to aristocratic clients in private Parisian apartments, and gradually became the huge (often livestreamed) parties of today. There’s a lot more than just a linear and simplistic history on offer here, though, so please don’t think that’s all you’ll learn.
Highlights for me included watching a 35-metre rocket “launch” into the ceiling of Paris’s Grand Palais while models stand around looking unimpressed, wearing astronaut-inspired clothing (and Elton John’s Rocketman plays in the background). We also see a humongous catwalk on the Great Wall of China (which was just INSANE), a little “neighbourhood” catwalk in a cul-de-sac in Camden, and the first ever live-streamed show – by Alexander McQueen – where Lady Gaga tweeted about the event before it started and crashed the website.
It’s loud, it’s colourful, it’s bonkers and people of all ages will find things about it to enjoy. Plus it’s narrated by Cate Blanchett – which every single reviewer believes is noteworthy and wonderful, so I’ll let you know too, just in case it’s a compelling reason to go.
(One more thing: it is expensive. But the National Art Pass is accepted at the venue, which makes all tickets half price.)
Find out more: https://lightroom.uk/whats-on/vogue-inventing-the-runway/
While you’re there…
👍️ Camley Street Natural Park used to be a much-loved but slightly worn-around-the-edges spot for kids to explore and learn about wildlife and the natural environment. Since the whole King’s Cross regeneration project, it’s still very much treasured, but its impressive facelift means it's now a hit with everyone – including the well-heeled parents who’ve moved in more recently.
👍️ Samsung KX is basically a juiced-up Apple Store. In addition to loads of devices to try out, there’s a free Gaming Zone (which uses “the most advanced Samsung gaming technology”), a cafe, an area for coworking and a “Support Lounge” (essentially a modestly named Genius Bar). It’s a fab space that’s never too busy, but – even with all the gaming opportunities – it’s only really going to entertain everyone for about an hour or so.
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3: See a show involving pig hearts, pig tails, folk music and a red nose (but not all at once)
Loads of shows to choose from this week, so here’s a quick summary of some of them:
Pig Heart Boy
Saturday at 13:00 and 16:30, and Sunday at 14:00 (and other dates and times until 22 February)
Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street, SE1 2HZ
£8.50–£16.50 depending on seats and age bracket
Unicorn Theatre age guidance: 9–13
SELLING FAST!
A teenager’s heart is failing, but there’s a pig who can help. Big decisions, bigger consequences.
Megson Family Folk Show
Sunday 2 February, 11:00 and 14:00
artsdepot, 5 Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, N12 0GA
£12.75 per person
artsdepot age guidance: 0–8
Award-winning folk duo sing songs for kids.
3 Little Pig Tails
Saturday 1 February, 11:00 and 13:00
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Lyric Square, King Street, W6 0QL
£10 per person
Lyric Theatre age guidance: 3–7
The wolf is now a Parisian chef. The pigs are his missing ingredients.
The Tale of Nobody Nose
Saturday 1 February, 11:00 and 14:00
Half Moon Young People’s Theatre, 43 White Horse Road, London E1 0ND
£8 per person
Half Moon age guidance: 4+ (and their family and friends)
A puppet and three friends search for a red nose. Chaos ensues.
New Contemporaries
Saturday and Sunday, 12:00–21:00 (and other days and times until 23 March)
ICA, The Mall, SW1Y 5AH
FREE (booking required)
DiL age guidance: suitable for all
I wish I had the skill to identify talented people before they become famous. Wouldn’t it be cool to say something like, “I’m really into the art of Varshga Premarasa” – which already makes you sound way more sophisticated than someone who’s “into Banksy” – and then one day the gatekeepers of the art world notice his work, and then oligarchs get interested, and the painting you bought for £50 off his website is suddenly worth billions?
This is one of the many reasons I get excited about exhibitions and music events that feature relative unknowns: if you have a better eye than me for this sort of thing, there’s the potential to identify incredible – but under the radar – artists, musicians, etc. before everyone else.
New Contemporaries at the ICA is one such exhibition: it “provides emerging and early career artists with a wider audience for their work” and features works by 35 artists that “offer an overview of urgent lived concerns, interests and social realities” – such as “fluctuations and cycles in the natural world”, “the commodification of mindfulness”, “self-care”, “pop culture”, and works that “suggest an alienation or ambivalence towards a digitally accelerated world”. I think what they’re saying is: there’s a lot of themes.
You can’t buy any of the art on the day, but – if you like any of it – it’s easy enough to find the artists online and buy via their online shop or contact them directly.
Find out more: https://ica.art/new-contemporaries
While you’re there…
👍️ St James’s Park is the best park in London. You can disagree with me all you like, but I’m right – and I think you know it deep down. If you’re intent on pointing out the lack of a rose garden or swimmers’ lake or view over London or wedding ceremony venue or ability to hold an open-air concert compared to other parks, I will see your points and raise you the best park playground in central London.
Chinese New Year 2025 – Year of the Snake
Sunday 2 February, 10:00–18:00
Chinatown, Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square
FREE
DiL age guidance: suitable for all
HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!
If your child is enrolled in any sort of formal learning establishment, you’ll already know it’s the Year of the Snake: nurseries and schools have been banging on about it for the past… I dunno… decades? It feels that way. (If I get told one more time that the snake is mysterious and sinister but also wise and thoughtful, I swear I’ll find a king cobra and hide it in the goddamn teacher’s backpack.)
So, given that London is home to the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside of China, you should probably pop along to the Chinatown area on Sunday: your kid will be enthralled.
It all starts at 10:00 with a parade from Trafalgar Square to Chinatown. Then between 12:00 and 18:00 there’s a bunch of different activities:
Chinatown: Lion dance, festival stalls, cuisine
Trafalgar Square: speeches and lions’ eye-dotting ceremony, cultural performances, arts & crafts stalls, festival stands, hot food
Leicester Square: cultural workshops and family activities
It’ll be VERY busy and loud, but your kids will adore you for giving them the best ever Show & Tell material for Monday morning.
While you’re there…
👍️ Perhaps don’t go to Wong Kei for lunch.