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☘️ 8 things to do in London this weekend with the kids (16–17 August)

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Jeff – Dads in London
August 13, 2025

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Hey DILFs!

Quick heads-up: If your child thinks “whisper” means “whistle” (and, hand on heart, my youngest really does believe this), then you’ll be relieved to hear about Kids Aloud – a brilliant initiative that lets children explore galleries without the “shhh” pressure. They can run wild and loud, and be as energetic as they like.

At the moment, only three venues in London – South London Gallery, Dr Johnson’s House, and the Foundling Museum – are signed up, but there are more across the country if you’re heading out of town this summer.

Plenty of other options for this weekend, though. Happy perusing!

Jeff xx

Hooley in the Kitchen
Saturday 16 August, 14:00
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Free – no ticket required
Age guidance: suitable for all ages

Is it terrible that I don’t know who Emma Warren is? I feel like I’m supposed to, because the Southbank Centre is hosting a literal EIGHT-HOUR event inspired by her dual citizenship. I mean, I LOVE this for Emma (unless the dual citizenship is a bad thing – in which case boooooo dual citizenship). I just wish I had more context.

[Five minutes later] Context achieved! Gosh, isn’t Google useful?

So she’s an author, journalist, broadcaster and, surprise surprise, a dual national (UK and Ireland) as of 2017 – when she decided to get Irish citizenship because she has an Irish grandparent and was mad about Brexit. Since then, she’s delved into Irish history and become “increasingly drawn to Irish Things”.

Her event is very much Ireland-centric. It takes the idea of a “hooley in the kitchen” (an Irish party, usually featuring music), and “expands it, bringing together traditional musicians from Northern Ireland and sound system-influenced south Londoners with Irish heritage”. How they managed to track down sound system-influenced south Londoners with Irish heritage is a skill I’m in awe of: that’s one heck of an identity niche.

There are musicians throughout the day, including The Lemon Ceili Co. – two sisters who perform lovely Irish music with other musicians from the “London traditional music scene”.

There’s also Tad Sargent, a folk composer and musician who plays the bouzouki guitar and the bodhran, which are two instruments I never knew existed until now. Lots of his stuff is on YouTube, and it’s all super fun (especially this).

And then there’s Waves of Tory, which is an Irish dance that has nothing to do with the Conservative Party and much more to do with representing the waves that are often seen around the island of Tory (off the north coast of Donegal). I’m guessing this will be an audience-participation thingammy, so you can get practising by watching this.

Between 19:00 and 22:00 there’s something called a “Lionbear showcase”. I’m hoping you’re planning to be on your way home or in bed by that point, because I was all Irish-music-researched-out by the time I reached that part of the programme.

So I now know who Emma Warren is. Whether that knowledge has enriched my life remains to be seen – but I’m not going to knock a woman who’s turned dual citizenship into a personal genre.

While you’re there…

👍️ Stop by the Southbank Skate Space and watch some of the world’s best and worst skaters fling themselves around concrete banks, ramps and ledges. Try to stop yourself from making remarks like, “Gosh, his mother must be terrified watching him,” and “What’s the point of graffiti anyway? It just looks so messy.”

👍️ The children’s play area at Jubilee Gardens is one of the most original and exciting in London. There’s a slide, a climbing wall, ladders, ramps, wobbly boats and bridges, a toddlers’ playhouse, a big net construction thing, a walk-the-plank swing log, and so much more.

👍️ REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground at the Southbank Centre is like an indoor adventure playground, with everything made entirely out of random waste materials (tubes, foam, wooden things, strips of material, etc.) that have been repurposed for fun and imaginative play.

Here’s a video from someone’s Insta, showing what it’s about. It’s suitable for ages 6 months to 11 years, and there are different session timings depending on the age(s) of your kid(s).

Tacover – the Taco and Tequila Festival 2025
Saturday at 10:00–15:00; Sunday at 11:30–17:30
Richmond Athletic Ground, Twickenham Road, TW9 2SF
Adults £17.60–£19.80 (depending on day), 11–18s £8.80, under-11s £1.10
Age guidance: suitable for all

I have a major issue with tacos. I can eat a socially acceptable number of them and still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of my hunger. Call me old-fashioned, but I do think food should, you know, fill you up.

BUT… I love a good pun far more than I dislike leaving a meal still hungry – and that’s why The Tacover makes the cut this week. (That, and the fact that everyone else’s love of tacos proves I’m the only one concerned about this particular culinary con.)

The Tacover is Europe’s biggest taco festival, serving up everything short of a donkey in a sombrero to prove the UK can do Mexican stuff well, goddammit, despite what the haters say.

Alongside the whopping 25 taco traders, there’ll be tequila and mezcal stands, mariachi music, “roaming luchadores” (Mexican wrestlers), various awards (best margarita, best taco, etc.), and street food stalls selling elote (Mexican corn on the cob with mayo, chilli, garlic, Cotija cheese and lime) and chicharrón (deep-fried pork rinds or pork belly).

Also on the menu: a Mexican craft market, a “hot taco challenge”, and the infamous “Tortilla Slap Challenge” – which somehow passed me by when it was a thing back in 2022. I’ve since acquainted myself with a strange little platform called TikTok and discovered what the challenge is about, and I have to admit it looks jolly fun: you face your opponent, take a big sip of water but don’t swallow it, and then take turns slapping each other with a flour tortilla while trying not to laugh. Whoever laughs and spits out their water first loses. I’m now wondering if this could be added to the bedtime routine.

Back to the tacos. Prices seem reasonable if you ignore the fact you’ll bankrupt yourself trying to feel full. They’re sold individually (max £4 per taco), and each trader must offer at least three different taco styles, including one vegan option. All drinks traders will have a signature cocktail capped at £10.

So, in summary: come for the tacos, stay for the slap, then leave in search of more food.

While you’re there…

👍️ You already know what Kew Gardens is: a huge botanical garden that’s packed with plants, trees and glasshouses. It’s beautiful, but have you visited in the past decade? Probably not, because Richmond is a right ballache to reach. As you’re in the area already, though… it would be a shame not to, right? Tickets are half price if you go after 16:00. (And not to labour this point too heavily, but if you’re still peckish, there are plenty of places to eat and drink.)

Bourdon Street Chippy
Saturday and Sunday, 11:00–18:00 (and every Wednesday–Sunday until 14 September)
Lyndsey Ingram Gallery, 20 Bourdon Street, W1K 3PJ
FREE

Do you remember that story in Friends where Phoebe thinks a dead old woman’s soul is living inside her? The spirit won’t budge until she’s “seen everything” – which finally happens at a lesbian wedding, when Phoebe blurts out, “Now I’ve seen everything!” in an old lady voice. And just like that, the old lady spirit is gone.

As far as I know, I haven’t been possessed by any sort of dead person. But Phoebe’s “Now I’ve seen everything!” pops into my brain whenever I encounter something so unexpected it makes me feel about 107.

Felt food installations now fall into that category. Every surface of this full-scale fish & chip shop is made from hand-stitched felt – from the banquette seating to the mushy peas. Look closely and you’ll spot stitched menus, vinegar and ketchup bottles, fish and chips in sewn-together boxes, and a gallery of embroidered portraits of the chippy’s fictional celebrity patrons. The artist even made a hand-sewn deep fat fryer.

And if you think my attention to detail is excessive – what with the way I just spelled “FELT” with the starting words of each sentence in that paragraph – this artist even made 15 different chip shapes in five different colours. In total, there are 65,000 individually hand-crafted pieces – which is quite an improvement on the mere 31,000 pieces she made for her felt supermarket. (Watch this crazy tour video of the finished Sparrow Mart.)

It’s part-theatre, part-art, and it’s all for sale – even the battered sausages, which… whyyyy would anyone want this? Warning though: if you’ve been thinking the price for actual cod and chips is steep (it’s nearly FOURTEEN POUNDS at my local), just wait until you meet its hand-stitched, non-editable cousin.

The point of all this? Meticulous, nostalgic, joyful, obsessive, completely bonkers art. And if a hand-sewn saveloy in a felt fryer doesn’t count as “seeing everything”, I don’t know what does.

While you’re there…

👍️ Brown Hart Gardens is a raised public terrace just south of Oxford Street. Built on top of an old electricity substation, it’s now home to limestone decking, water features, plant-lit seating and a domed gazebo disguising the giant electrical box below.

Brilliantly, because it’s within the Grosvenor Estate, it’s subject to some particularly, umm, “unique” bylaws. You can’t be “intoxicated”, “unclean” or “in a verminous condition” – which is fair enough. But you’re also banned from “games, quarrelling, shouting, singing, and the practice of gymnastics” – and if you breach the rules, you’ll be prosecuted.

CoComelon Sing-A-Long Live
Saturday at 10:20 and Sunday at 10:30 and 13:00 (and Tuesday–Sunday until 7 September)
St Martin’s Theatre, West Street, WC2H 9NZ
£12–£41 depending on seats (under-1s don’t need a ticket)
Age guidance: suitable for all

When I asked my three-year-old what rating out of 10 he’d give CoComelon: Sing-A-Long Live, he grinned and said “2!”

Oh crap, I thought. What now? For the first time ever, my child didn’t enjoy an event for which I’d been given free tickets. What a quandary. I couldn’t exactly write a scathing review because this newsletter is about things you SHOULD see and do. I could neglect to mention the event entirely and hope Katherine – the lovely PR lady who’d given me the freebie – was too busy to notice. But then, what if she noticed?

In the end, I figured I’d simply ask you to ignore my son’s opinion. Every other child seemed to love it – they whooped with glee when they heard the famous audio logo, cheered when JJ, Ms. Appleberry, Cody, Nina and Cece appeared onstage, went absolutely mental for most of the songs, and generally had the time of their lives. So there was no need to worry about one rogue critic.

But then he said, “Yes, 2. Because I like 2. But now I’m 3, so maybe I like 3 more.” And this is why children can never be trusted.

Determined to get an official CoComelon score out of the boy, I asked, “Would you say the CoComelon Singalong was terrible, or quite bad, or ok, or quite good, or excellent?”

“EXCELLENT!!! Can we go again? I want to see JJ again. And I really want to sing those songs with them again. And can we watch the dances on YouTube? The dances were really good.”

So there you go. An honest review – and one I’m no longer worried about publishing.

One thing to note: for many of the kids, this was their first time in a theatre, so there was a fair bit of audience noise and a few instances of parents needing to leave early. It didn’t ruin the mood at all, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re expecting a super quiet, sit-still kind of performance.

While you’re there…

👍️ After the show, we had a spectacular lunch at Moregame Udon (Strand branch) – a Japanese noodle place that’s 100% more delicious and a heck of a lot cheaper than anything you’ll find at Wagama. (Also: udon noodles are objectivesly the best knd of noodles.) There’s a pretty extensive children’s menu for smaller tummies, and lots of sauces and garnishes you can add to your heart’s content before you sit down to eat.

Transport Explorers: A Live Show
Saturday at 11:00 and 13:00; Sunday at 13:00 and 15:00 (and other days and times except Mondays until 31 August)
London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Piazza, WC2E 7BB
Standard view £15.00, restricted view: £12.00
Age guidance: 7+

Some shows open to mixed reviews. Others split audiences down the middle. And then there are the ones that arrive to universal acclaim – five stars from every critic and twice-daily standing ovations. If you want one of those experiences, you could always hotfoot it out of the London Transport Museum, jump on the #26 bus and head to Westminster’s Victoria Palace Theatre for a Hamilton matinee. Last-minute seats will set you back about £100 a head, but at least you know you’re in safe hands – and you can smugly tell people you’ve seen Hamilton next time you’re stuck for small talk.

I can’t promise the same blanket adoration for Transport Explorers. Most parent bloggers and kids’ event sites loved it – one even said, “I have rarely seen a young audience so steadfastly invested.”

The show is about Jesse and Kai, who are racing to solve transport challenges from London’s past, present and imagined future in order to earn their Planner, Fixer and Dreamer badges and become qualified transport engineers. That quest snowballs into a 60-minute high-speed hurtle through the city’s entire transport history – innovations and all – with a sales pitch at the end for a greener future.

The majority of reviewers agree that the two performers “bring an infectious energy into the room”, and “deserve high praise for their… skilful audience interaction, and warm, inclusive rapport with the many young volunteers drawn into the action”. There’s also plenty of admiration for the way the future-forward third act explores TfL’s greener transprot plans – hydrogen buses, clean fuels, even redirecting rainwater from roads to green spaces – without losing the kids to boredom or mutiny. Oh, and the staging gets plenty of admiration too.

As I strongly hinted at earlier, not everyone was a fan. One theatre critic (who seems to have gone alone – make of that what you will) decided it was “no substitute for a story with heart, character and depth”, with the two leads “little more than two-dimensional” despite the experiments and poo jokes. Other critics thought the story felt rushed, or that the structure made it hard to follow.

To me, that’s less “serious flaw” and more “some people forgot they’d booked a 60-minute summer-holiday show inside the London Transport Museum”. It’s fast, chaotic, stuffed with facts, and not in the business of subtlety – but it will keep the kids entertained, you might learn something about hydrogen buses, and it’s a lot cheaper than Hamilton.

While you’re there…

👍️ From what I can gather, your tickets for the performance don’t give you access to the London Transport Museum itself – for that, you need to buy an annual pass, then book a timed ticket. (This is my one gripe with the museum: they make things bloody complicated and expensive if you’re only planning to visit once a year.)

👍️ Pose for a picture outside 10 Downing Street. I mean 10 Adam Street. The doors look identical, so you may as well try to fool as many people as you can.

6–8: More, more, more!

Inside Out: Sounds of Reggae
Saturday 16 August, 12:00–16:00
The Photographers’ Gallery, 16–18 Ramillies Street, W1F7LW
FREE
Age guidance: suitable for all

“Join us for a vibrant outdoor party in the heart of London as we celebrate the enduring sounds and influence of reggae music.”

Outdoor Summer Concert: One World Orchestra
Saturday 16 August, 15:00–16:30
Broadley Street Gardens, 5 Penfold Street, NW1 6RX
FREE
Age guidance: suitable for all

“Join us for a free, open-air concert in celebration of the Church Street neighbourhood, featuring music and sounds from around the world. The Showroom and One World Orchestra (OWO) will present a musical performance featuring OWO musicians and local participants.”

Britannia Village Summer Fun Day
Saturday 16 August, 13:00–17:00
Britannia Village Green, Hanameel Street, E16 1UA
FREE
Age guidance: suitable for all

“Join the fun at the Britannia Village Summer Fun Day!

There’s something for all the family to enjoy, including: food stalls, bouncy castles, face painting, garden games, crafts, and lots more!”

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