From free festivals and Sunday music to the history of pirates and queer seas – this is what you need to do and see in south London this summer
Peninsula Summer
From 18 July, London’s only peninsula neighbourhood offers a packed programme of events for all, from Wild Swing mini golf and cinema under the stars to a free global music festival and a tasty mash-up of beats and eats.
The riverside walkways will also be dressed in technicolour installations by Kitty Joseph. Take a walk on the peninsula side, and visit the website below for the full event listings.
Dates, times and prices vary
www.greenwichpeninsula.co.uk/whats-on/peninsula-summer
Have a giggle
Garry Essendine is a charismatic actor and playboy that everyone wants a piece of. His talent and magnetic personality have brought him success and fame, but as he prepares to embark on another world tour, Garry is struck by an identity crisis where his desire for fame crashes against his genuine personality.
Present Laughter is Noel Coward’s razor-sharp commentary on the ups and downs of celebrity brought into the modern age. Join Changeling Theatre in the grounds of Eltham Palace for this fast-paced satire about a fame-obsessed world.
Date: Friday 5 July 2024, 7pm
Tickets: Adults, £25, 10-18, £15
Court Yard, Eltham, Greenwich, SE9 5NP
www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-on/eltham-present-laughter
Youth Festival
Part of Summer in the Park produced by Arts Trust, the community gathering is a place where families can enjoy a plethora of activities, performances and workshops, designed to entertain, educate and inspire our youth.
From interactive art installations to live music and dance performances, there’s something to captivate every member of the family.
Dates: Saturday 13 to Sunday 14 July 2024
Tickets: Free
Greenwich Park, SE10 8QY
www.artstrust.co.uk/events/greenwich-park-youth-festival
All’s Well That Ends Well
Join Charlton House for an outdoor production of All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare’s comedy with a twist – and swing music.
Bring your picnic, wine, sunnies, pac-a-mac and participatory spirit to make a fairytale wish.
The production, directed by Sioned Jones, will begin at 7pm. You can picnic before the show from 5:30pm, too.
Date: Friday 28 June 2024, 7pm
Tickets: Adult from £20, child from £14
Charlton House, Charlton Road, SE7 8RE
www.greenwichheritage.org/events/shakespeare-in-the-squares-alls-well-that-ends-well
Summer Lates
As the sun sets later, enjoy more of the summer feeling at Royal Arsenal Summer Lates – featuring a medley of munchies, music and merriment.
On the first Saturday of each month until September, you’ll find live music, DJs, street food and drinks bars at the market, ready for you to enjoy from afternoon to evening.
Date: Saturday 6 July 2024, 12pm-7pm
Tickets: Free
Royal Arsenal, Artillery Square, No.1 Street, Woolwich, SE18 6NG
www.enjoyroyalgreenwich.org.uk/whats-on/royal-arsenal-summer-lates-p2154951
Finding Nemo, the Musical
Follow Nemo and Marlin on their epic journey across the ocean to be reunited. As father and son become separated, Marlin does all he can to find Nemo – meeting some interesting characters along the way.
Join Broadway Theatre as the children of Kilmorie show what can be done if we truly believe in ourselves and just how powerful friendship can be.
Dates: Tuesday 9 July to Wednesday 10 July 2024
Tickets: £6
Broadway Theatre, Rushey Green, Catford, SE6 4RU
www.broadwaytheatre.org.uk/events/kilmorie-presents-finding-nemo-the-musical
Walk the plank
Take part in a weekend of living history as the Old Royal Naval College is overrun with pirates. This event is perfect for families and history enthusiasts alike.
Spend the day learning about the Golden Age of Piracy – between 1650 and 1720 – when more than 5,000 pirates were said to have sailed the seas.
Learn to separate pirate fact from fiction, enjoy songs of the sea, witness small sword and cutlass fights, and hear the tale of a real 18th-century mutiny. Aye, matey!
Dates: Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July 2024, 11am to 4pm
Tickets: £13.50
Old Royal Naval College, SE10 9NN
ornc.org/whats-on/golden-age-of-piracy
Sunday tunes
Enjoy a relaxing Sunday at Eltham Palace and experience a day of live music performed against the backdrop of the moat and gardens. Bring along a deck chair and picnic for an afternoon of superb music on three Sundays in July.
Performances will be London Jazz Singer, Maja Szymczyk and band on 7 July, and Nicholas James and band on 14 and 21 July.
Performances take place between 12pm and 4pm, with intervals in between each set.
Dates: Sunday 7 July, Sunday 14 July and Sunday 21 July 2024, 10am to 5pm
Tickets: Adult £20, child £12.50
Eltham Palace and Gardens, Court Yard, Eltham, SE9 5NP
www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-on/eltham-palace-music-on-a-sunday
Queer seas
Historian Seth LeJacq explores Evelyn De Morgan’s extraordinary painting The Sea Maidens as an entryway to the history of the sea as a queer space in this free talk at Royal Museums Greenwich.
From The Little Mermaid and the Royal Navy’s traditions of “rum, sodomy and the lash” to today’s queer “mermaiding” communities, the event will ask what the sea can mean for those who don’t fit their societies’ prevailing norms of gender and sexuality.
Date: Wednesday 10 July 2024, 1pm to 1.30pm
Tickets: Free
Queen’s House, Romney Road, SE10 9NF
www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/queens-house/salons-queens-house-queer-seas
Deptford Scratch
Introducing, the first ever Deptford Scratch: hosted at the Deptford Lounge, it will see audiences enjoy an evening filled with performances of fresh and unfiltered new writing.
Performances will include:
· Dig by Joe Wiltshire Smith
· The Last Rhubarb Festival by Ruth Kelner
· Period Drama by Malini Raman-Middleton
· Date Me by Molly Goetzee
· Pain Gap by Ella Dorman-Gajic
· The Interview by Gloria Brown
Date: Thursday 11 July 2024, 7pm
Tickets: Pay what you decide
Deptford Lounge, 9 Giffin Street, SE8 4RJ
deptfordlounge.org.uk/whats-on/event/deptford-scratch
Davy’s summer wine tasting
Summer is for grazing and trying new things – and you can do both at Davy’s Wine summer tasting event.
You’ll be able to enjoy a selection of over 70 wines from around the world in the outdoor setting of Vintners Yard, which is covered just in case there is (un)expected summer rainfall.
The Summer Tasting is a relaxed and informal event, where you can meet the winemakers, hear their stories and taste their wines at your own pace.
Your ticket includes the tasting, plus a burger, hot dog or margherita pizza.
Date: Saturday 13 July 2024, 11.30am to 3.30pm
Tickets: £50
Vintners Yard (Davy’s Wine Vaults) Waller Way, SE10 8JA
www.davywine.co.uk/product/summer-tasting-food
Exploring cooking heritage
Tunde Tejumola and Pa Modou will discuss sharing food from each of their histories in a talk with Jimi Famurewa at Woolwich Works.
Hosted by the author and restaurant critic, the panel will explore the joys and complications of cooking food based on heritage. It will dive into the way diaspora foods are perceived, if they are understood and how important it feels to be sharing food from each of these panellists’ history.
As part of the Beanfeast events, this is sure to be an interesting discussion.
Date: Saturday 6 July 2024, 4.30pm – 16+ age guidance
Tickets: Advance Price £5 plus 10% booking fee
Ropekeepers Studio, The Fireworks Factory, 11 No 1 Street, SE18 6HD
