What’s on in London this week: 11 - 17 November 2024

Discover our pick of events in London this week: 11 - 17 November 2024.

SKATE at Somerset House

SKATE at Somerset House returns this week, offering one of London’s top winter experiences with festive skating and a vibrant atmosphere. Skaters can glide beside a 40-foot Christmas tree on a beautiful ice rink, enjoy contemporary music, and savour food and drink from pop-ups like The Chalet and Skate Lounge by Whispering Angel. Events range from skating lessons with Skate School to DJ sessions in the evenings, and visitors can also shop for festive gifts at the Shelter Boutique by HSBC UK, featuring a curated selection of pre-loved clothing, homewares, and gifts.

Date: 13 November - 12 January 2025.  Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: from £12.50. Book now.

EFG London Jazz Festival

The EFG London Jazz Festival returns this week, celebrating the UK’s largest jazz event with performances across the city. Highlights include the opening gala, Jazz Voice, at the Royal Festival Hall (15 November) and a star-studded lineup with Damian Lewis, Marisa Monte, and Veronica Swift, backed by a 40-piece orchestra. New pop-up venue The Jazz Social at Citypoint will also host special events. The festival runs from 15–24 November, with shows at venues like Ronnie Scott’s and the Barbican.

Date: 15 - 24 November 2024. Location: Throughout London. For more details and a full event listing, check efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk.

Skate returns to Somerset House from 13 November - 12 January 2025. Photo by MTotoe.

Covent Garden Christmas lights

Covent Garden’s Christmas lights will be switched on this year on Tuesday 12 November, with festivities beginning at 4pm. The event will include exclusive one-night-only shopping and dining offers available across Covent Garden and Seven Dials. Visitors can expect a festive transformation of iconic locations, including the Piazza, Market Building, Neal’s Yard, and surrounding streets. The decorations, introduced last year, feature a traditional theme with over 40 oversized bells with bows, 12 giant baubles, and 8 spinning mirror balls, and they will be displayed for visitors to enjoy throughout November and December.

Date: 12 November 2024. Time: from 4pm. coventgarden.london.

Booker Prize Shortlist Readings 2024

The Booker Prize, the world’s most prestigious award for English-language fiction, has celebrated outstanding novels for over 50 years. On the eve of this year’s ceremony, the six shortlisted authors will discuss their works at a special event. Edmund de Waal, Chair of the 2024 judges, praised the longlist as “timely and timeless fiction,” featuring dark comedies, multigenerational sagas, and explorations of exile, crime, and identity. This year’s shortlisted titles are James by Percival Everett, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, Held by Anne Michaels, The Safekeep by Yael van de Wouden, and Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood.

Date: 11 November 2024. Time: 7.30pm. Location: Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Price: from £15 +BF. Book now.

Booker Prize Foundation.

Manchester Collective & Abel Selaocoe: Sirocco

Expect an eclectic musical experience with Sirocco, featuring original South African folk tunes, reimagined Western classics, and unique cello solos. Guest Director Abel Selaocoe, renowned for his versatility as a cellist, singer, and composer, leads the show with his inspiring, genre-blending talent. Known for their creative programming, the Manchester Collective brings music to life in venues from nightclubs to concert halls, merging contemporary pieces with classical works. Sirocco celebrates the unifying power of music, captivating audiences with its lively and uplifting spirit.

Date: 14 November 2024. Time: 7pm. Location: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Price: from £15+BF. Book now.

Christmas at Kew

Christmas at Kew returns this November, running from 13 November 2024 to 5 January 2025. The Royal Botanic Gardens will be transformed into a winter wonderland with an illuminated trail featuring immersive light displays and installations. Guests can enjoy seasonal treats, warm drinks, and a chance to meet Father Christmas.

Date: 13 November 2024 - 5 January 2025. Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Richmond TW9 3AE. Price: Non-member adult: Off peak £25.50 / Peak £32; Member adult: Off peak £21.50 / Peak £26. Book now.

Palm House light show at the 10th Christmas at Kew. © Raymond Gubbay Ltd, Richard Haughton.

Ever After Garden

This week, Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square will be transformed by over 30,000 illuminated white roses as part of the Ever After Garden, a beautiful festive tribute to commemorate loved ones while supporting charity. Running from 14 November to 18 December 2024, the garden invites visitors to dedicate a rose in memory of someone, with all proceeds benefiting The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. This inspiring event, created by designer Anya Hindmarch and writer Camilla Morton in memory of their late friend Michael Howells, has raised over £250,000 since its inception in 2019. The garden is open daily from 3pm to 9pm, with free entrance. A suggested minimum £10 donation is encouraged for those wishing to dedicate a rose.

Date: 14 November - 18 December 2024. Location: Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London W1K 6LF.

Ever After Garden. Grosvenor Square, Mayfair. Image credit MTotoe.

WIN £25k this World Kindness Day

On World Kindness Day, 13 November, Drop Dead Generous will launch a £25,000 treasure hunt across London. To win, participants need to spot “generosity agents” scattered around the city. These agents will surprise people with cash rewards, with a total of £25,000 up for grabs. The aim is to spread kindness and spark connections by rewarding those who encounter these agents. Click here for more.

Tottenham Literature Festival

The Tottenham Literature Festival returns this week, with the Bernie Grant Arts Centre hosting its sixth annual celebration of Black creativity under the theme Black Imaginations. Running from 11 November, the festival brings together acclaimed authors, MPs, artists, and creatives, including Diane Abbott, who will discuss her memoir A Woman Like Me in conversation with Booker Prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo. Other highlights include talks and workshops by Paula Akpan, Dr Ronx, Zeinab Badawi, and Inua Ellams. Founded in 2019, the festival champions Black voices, featuring readings, family events, live poetry, and culminating in the R.A.P Party—a vibrant blend of literature, poetry, and DJ sets hosted by Inua Ellams.

Date: 11 - 17 November 2024. Location: Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Town Hall Approach Road, Tottenham Green, London, N15 4RX. Price:  Tickets start from £10, as well as a variety of free workshops and events. Full week-long tickets are available. Book now.

Bernie Grant Arts Centre to host Tottenham Literature Festival from 11 - 17 November 2024.

Cinema

The Piano Lesson (12A) + ScreenTalk

The Barbican will host a special ScreenTalk event featuring director and co-writer Malcolm Washington, producer Denzel Washington, and actors John David Washington and Danielle Deadwyler. The discussion accompanies The Piano Lesson, adapted from August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. In the story, a prized family piano ignites a fierce battle between siblings: one brother (John David Washington) sees it as a means to build wealth, while his sister (Danielle Deadwyler) fights to keep this link to their heritage. Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate, but old family tensions and memories rise to the surface. Directed by Malcolm Washington, the film delves into themes of identity, resilience, and legacy.

Date: 11 November 2024. Location: Barbican Centre,Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: £14.50 +BF. Book now.

Still from The Piano Lesson. Image courtesy of Netflix

Arts & Culture

Opening this week

Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2024

The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize returns for its 17th year, celebrating top contemporary photography by young talents, amateurs, and professionals. The exhibition features a diverse range of portraits, from formal commissions to intimate, spontaneous shots, and includes the annual In Focus display, highlighting new work by an established photographer. In 2024, the Gallery will unveil a new piece by 2023’s commission prize winner, Serena Brown.

Date: 14 November 2024 - 16 February 2025. Location: National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE. Price: £8.50 / £9.50 with donation. Free for Members. Book now.

Self-Made: Reshaping Identities

Self-Made is an exhibition of contemporary ceramics exploring the complexities of identity and self-creation through the transformative nature of clay. Featuring work by Phoebe Collings-James, Rachel Kneebone, Matt Smith, and Renee So, the show delves into how class, gender, sexuality, cultural heritage, and history shape identity. Each artist uses clay’s malleability to express narratives of transformation, reflecting on the ever-evolving nature of self. The exhibition highlights the challenging yet empowering process of shaping identity, drawing connections to the Foundling Museum’s themes of care, belonging, and reinvention.

Date: 15 November 2024 - 1 June 2025. Location: Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ. Price: from £12.75. Concessions available. Book now.

Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2024, Warm Water Fish, 2023 from the series Hats It! By Toks Majek © Toks Majek

Norberto Spina: Presente

Presente is the first UK solo exhibition by Italian artist Norberto Spina at Cooke Latham Gallery. Recently graduating from the Royal Academy Schools in 2024, Spina’s exhibition features a series of works that explore themes of memory, presence, and identity, inviting viewers to reflect on their personal connections to the past and the passage of time.

Date: 15 November - 13 December 2024. Location: Cooke Latham Gallery, 41 Parkgate Rd, London SW11 4NP. Price: Free.

Vital Signs: another world is possible

Vital Signs: another world is possible opens this week at Science Gallery London. This free multimedia exhibition presents hopeful approaches to the climate crisis through collaborations between artists, designers, and researchers. Key works include Ackroyd & Harvey’s grass banners inscribed with poetry by Sir Ben Okri, advocating a renewed relationship with nature; Gayle Chong Kwan’s bio-waste-based installations exploring human waste’s connection to the River Thames; Cathy Mager’s Night Bloom, an immersive piece using biodiversity to address the resilience of the deaf community; and Birungi Kawooya’s bark cloth sanctuaries promoting rest as resistance. Together with a Living Library and events programme, Vital Signs envisions collective action towards ecological and social justice, replacing fear with creativity and resilience.

Date: 13 November 2024 - 16 May 2025. Location: Science Gallery London, Great Maze Pond, London SE1 9GU. Price: Free. london.sciencegallery.com.

Thermal imaging on London. Image credit Fado Fado for Science Gallery.

#FLOFavourites: This week

Aut-OOO-Arcadia by Louis Morlæ

This solo exhibition at Somerset House delves into themes of utopia, technology, and the future, questioning humanity’s relationship with the digital world. The artist creates immersive works that blend futuristic landscapes with natural elements, inviting visitors to reflect on a harmonious future between nature and technology. Through his art, Morlæ offers a speculative vision that challenges viewers to reconsider their role in an increasingly digital world.

Date: until 23 February 2025. Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: Free. somersethouse.org.uk.

The Equal Right to Live and Blossom

This group exhibition features seven artists—Saelia Aparicio, Kara Chin, Mark Corfield-Moore, Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck, Rio Kobayashi, Grace Ndiritu, and Sola Olulode—who explore societal equity, personal growth, and transformation. The show emphasises the right for all individuals to flourish, reflecting on diverse cultural, social, and environmental themes. The works encourage visitors to think about how inequality affects our capacity to live and grow, touching on themes such as identity, race, and ecological balance.

Date: until 14 December 2024. Location: Kate MacGarry, 27 Old Nichol Street, London E2 7HR. Price: Free. katemacgarry.com.

The Equal Rio Live and Blossom at Kate MacGarry. Image credit MTotoe.

Ebullience by Vipeksha Gupta

Ebullience marks Vipeksha Gupta’s debut at Tristan Hoare Gallery, Fitzroy Square, showcasing her intricate paper works. Using repeated patterns, folds, and precise incisions, Gupta creates a dynamic interplay of light and shadow, bringing fluidity and movement to her pieces.

Date: until 13 December 2024. Location: Tristan Hoare Gallery, 5-7 72 New Bond Street, London W1S 1RR. Price: Free.

The Studio – Staging Desire by Rotimi Fani-Kayode

This exhibition examines Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s profound exploration of identity, sexuality, and intimacy. Through his iconic photographs, Fani-Kayode captures moments of tenderness and desire, focusing on the studio as a space for both creative expression and personal revelation. His work delves into Black diasporic life, exploring how identity and intimacy intersect.

Date: until 22 March 2025. Location: Autograph Gallery, 84 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3AY. Price: Free.

Ebullience by Vipeksha Gupta at Tristan Hoare. Image credit MTotoe.

Pop-ups & Venues

Salad Days Christmas Market at Selfridges

The Salad Days Christmas Market is happening this week, at Selfridges on Oxford Street. This fifth pop-up event will showcase 15 of the UK’s best small brands, offering a variety of handmade and vintage items like gemstone jewellery, party bags, vintage homeware, and personalised gifts. There will also be live activities, such as live portrait painting, charm-making workshops, and personalisation stations.

Date: 14 - 17 November 2024. Location: Selfridges on Oxford Street. Located in the Accessories Hall, via the Duke Street entrance. saladdaysmarket.

Salad Days Christmas Market returns to Selfridges from 14 -17 November 2024.

#FLOFavourites: Pick of the Week

Free event of the week

Drop in drawing at the National Portrait Gallery

National Portrait Gallery. Photo by Amy-Leigh Barnard.

Start your weekend with a free, artist-led drawing workshop inspired by the world’s largest portrait collection. Suitable for all skill levels, you can join for a quick 10 minutes or stay for two hours. All materials are provided, though you’re welcome to bring your own sketchbook or iPad. Seating is limited, so feel free to bring a folding stool. Gallery room details to be announced.

Date: 15 November 2024. Time 6pm - 8pm. Location: Floor 2, Room 19, National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE. Price: Free. npg.org.uk.

Interview of the week 

In conversation with Rachel Kneebone

Rachel Kneebone. Photo David Bebber.

We had the chance to speak with artist Rachel Kneebone, who offered insights into her evocative porcelain sculptures that explore the complexities of inhabiting the body.

A series of Kneebone’s delicately instinctual, mercurial works will feature in the upcoming exhibition Self-Made: Reshaping Identities at the Foundling Museum, a group show reflecting on the complexities of identity and self-determination through the medium of ceramics

Click here for the full interview.

Food of the Week

Supperclub on the Tube

Supperclub on the tube. Image credit Hannah Goldsmith.

Experience a one-of-a-kind dining event in a vintage Tube carriage at Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum. This unique supper club offers a six-course Latin American-inspired menu curated by Chef Beatrisz Malondado Carreno. Enjoy a cosy setting with communal and private seating options, while indulging in dishes like tamal de muerto, ceviche nikkei de atun, and churros, with vegetarian and vegan options available. Tickets start at £67. Click here for our full review.

Location: Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, 10 S Access Rd, London E17 8AX. Website: supperclub.tube Instagram: @supperclub.tube.

Cause of the week 

FoodCycle

Volunteers play a vital role in Girlguiding.

FoodCycle collects surplus food from supermarkets, independent grocery stores, and markets to create nutritious meals for those in need. By sourcing fresh fruit and vegetables, along with extra ingredients like dried foods and spices, they provide balanced meals to combat food poverty and loneliness. Their vision is to eliminate food waste, hunger, and isolation in every community, offering both meals and companionship. Click here to learn more about volunteering with FoodCycle.