- Summer is on its way out. Well, not really, thank goodness. But you’ll notice that the once lush green leaves are edged with gold and brown like blotting paper and the slant of the sun in the evenings cuts a brighter trail than in July, a hint that it will soon become colder light.
- But that’s not a reason to get mopey. In fact, it’s a time to rejoice. Traditionally, summer holidays for school children and students would span this part of the year so that they could help their parents with the arduous summer work on the farm and harvest in August before the Autumn became too present.
- So all around it’s a time of pleasantness. London’s got plenty on for you to enjoy, and we’ve got accommodation at great prices too. Check out our August accommodation offers from £15 per person per night!
London’s festival season doesn’t stop just yet!
There are still plenty of festivals for you to whet your whistle on before the nights draw in proper.
The most pumping is the South West Four Weekender in Clapham. This is a dance and electro specific festival and may not be to everyone’s taste. If this is your sound, though, then get tickets without further delay as they go fast.
Jazz buffs will want to make their way over to the Canary Wharf Jazz Festival, which offers some of the world’s best jazzmen and women playing their complicated and bluesy tones for all and sundry. An absolute must for jazz, blues and world music fans.
There’s the Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival. This is a multi-arts festival taking place across a number of venues within the Southbank Centre and comprises film, music, theatre and performance. Most are ticketed, but a large number are free and worth checking out, particularly for those with a more eclectic taste in music and performance.
And a festival of a quite different breed also raps on London’s door this August: the London Craft Beer Festival. Entry to this is ticketed but it’s relatively cheap and considering that all you’re required to do once inside is drink beer, it’s money well spent. This is at The Oval Space in East London and is a stonking day out for drinkers and socialites alike. Bring a strong constitution. Make your trip home quick and easy by booking accommodation near your chosen festival; we’ve got London accommodation deals from just £15 per person.
Special events for those with a performance streak
While the usual bouquet of theatrical events adorn tube posters and playhouses the length and breadth of the capital, a number of special events make August a particularly special time for theatre.
The first is the National Theatre’s summer season, which includes the Medieval Mystery play Everyman, adapted by our poet laureate and starring acting tour-de-force Chewitel Ejiofore. This promises to be a mind-blowing piece of theatre and if you’re a bit strapped for cash, then turn up on spec for any performance and get £10 return tickets (there are almost always some there).
But arguably the theatre event of the year is Kids Week in the West End. If you’ve got a child who’s quite obviously been bitten by the Acting Bug (because it’s just never subtle), then this is a must. Running for the duration of August, Kids Week offers children the chance to see free shows in the West End and go backstage at some of London’s most iconic theatres. Going backstage is an absolute treat. You need to book, but it is free and offers the best chance you’ll ever get of discounting your entry to a West End theatre.
While on the topic of interesting theatrical things to do, we must recommend going inside the Rose Bankside. This is a tiny door on Park Road behind Shakespeare’s Globe, but is the architectural remains of an original Elizabethan playhouse. As well as being a fantastic foray into thespian history, the theatre also produce plays regularly, and despite the small performance space, you’re guaranteed to see a cracker there. While it is usually Shakespeare/Jacobean, there are some modern plays that reference this era, including new writing.
Moreover, the Camden Fringe Festival kicks off and offers swathes of comedy, theatre and music around the more obscure venues of Camden’s busy bar circuit. These are always guaranteed to make you laugh/cry and as it’s a fringe festival, you won’t be cringing in private pain when taking your wallet out to pay for tickets. Book your accommodation with TravelStay.com and your wallet will thank you yet again!
August has the busiest multicultural calendar
London is without a doubt the most cosmopolitan city in the world (over 243 languages are spoken within its broad limits) and as well as all the amazing multi-cultural everything that brings, it also gifts our capital with a bunch of stunning cultural festivals.
Plaza Latina is an unmissable Latin American festival taking place in Nursery Row Park on 1, 8 and 15 August, with delicious food, authentic music and dance, and plenty of fun arts and crafts to get involved with.
Obviously, THE carnival not to miss is Notting Hill Carnival on the last bank holiday weekend of the month. Refer to our many articles about how best to enjoy this phenomenal event for guidance on making the most of your time and money.
While July signified the start of the outdoor film season, the showings were weighted in favour of classics and popular films. August gets a little darker, and horror fans from all over will want to descend on the capital like a swarm of gnashing zombies to take in Film4 FrightFest from 27 to 31 August. This festival shows a terrifying range of cult and popular horror films and is great fun, though perhaps not for the whole family.
Learn more about London and everything else!
London is the envy of every city in the world when it comes to museums. First off, the majority of ours are free (quite something when you consider the logistical and fundraising nightmare that poses), but more than that, August plays host to some highly engaging exhibitions.
The National Maritime Museum (in and of itself a fascinating look at Britain’s remarkable naval and nautical history) opens its Against Captain’s Orders exhibition, which is geared principally at children but will be fun for anyone who’s seen a Pirates of the Caribbean movie and liked it.
Though not strictly a museum, the Buckingham Palace Summer Opening sees the Royal residence opens its doors (not all of them, sorry) to visitors who can have a waltz around the State Rooms of the iconic residence of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. This is interesting but it’s not cheap and booking is pretty imperative. Those with an interest in the lifestyles of royalty and the heroic feat of engineering and staffing it takes to keep the household afloat cannot miss this chance to get inside THE palace itself.
If you’re super fast then you can catch the end of Indigenous Australia exhibition at the British Museum, which closes on 2 August and must be seen to be believed. Fashion on the Ration exhibition, which looks at street fashion during WWII, closes on 31 August, and the Natural History Museum opens its Coral Reefs: Secret Cities of the Sea exhibition (and it never does things by halves).
There’s precious little of it here, so take your chance!
This will be getting toward your last chance to make the most of the sparkling summer’s sultry sunshine and we thoroughly recommend making the most of it. Whilst recent years have given us some decent Septembers, we’re biding time until our luck runs out and you’d be wise to pack your picnicking into August.
Of particular beauty is Richmond Park, which is home to a rather large congregation of deer. During August, the foals who were all bandy-legged and clumsy during the spring will by now be confident, boastful young bucks leaping about the pastures of Richmond.
Ride London, which is on 1 and 2 August, is a chance for cycling enthusiasts to make the most of London’s usually hectic and dangerous streets. Roads are closed specifically for cyclists to enjoy them, and it’s free (though registration is necessary).
Continuing its run from opening in July, Flamingo Pier will be welcoming guests throughout August and we recommend going at this time due to the initial novelty crowd having had their fill and numbers thinning out slightly. Situated in Hackney, this is a tropical, floating party for adults, with DJs, cocktail bars and a different themed party based on a new exotic location every night. Super good fun.
