What’s on guide: August
With life getting busier every week and new bars, restaurants and events opening every month, staying on top can be tricky. So here’s a round up of this month’s hottest happenings in and around the local area…
What? Open Air Theatre – Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves performed by Illyria
Where? The Temple Enclosure, Wanstead Park
When? 28th August 2019
Young Ali Baba stumbles across an enchanted cave when he overhears the magic words that open it: “Open Sesame!”. Inside the cave he finds untold amounts of gold and jewels, and takes some of it home to show his wife. But what will he do when she chides him for stealing? Can he keep the secret from his jealous brother? And when the Robber King comes looking for the missing treasure supported by an army of 40 angry thieves – will he and his family survive?
What? Waste Less, Lunch Free - Waltham Forest
Where? Walthamstow Town Square, High St, Walthamstow
When? 29th August 2019
Help tackle the issue of food by coming along to this free food waste prevention event in Walthamstow Town Square on Thursday 29th August. Learn some great tricks that could save you £££s on your food bill. There’ll be plenty of free food samples as well to try!
What? Family play box activity: The Child children
Where? The Temple, Wanstead Park
When? 17th - 18th August 2019
Sir Josiah Child (1630–1699) was the seriously successful international East India merchant and entrepreneur who bought the Wanstead estate in 1673. Josiah had eight children including Richard Child who rebuilt Wanstead House in the grandest style in the 1720s. What sort of playthings from the ends of the earth might the Child children have enjoyed? Find out at this wonderful child friendly event.
What? Kids’ Holiday Art Workshops with an Island Theme @The Mill
Where? The Mill 7-11 Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow
When? 22nd August
Kids' Art @The Mill is playing a big part in this major Borough of Culture project led by Artillery and based on the children's book, Grandad's Island. There are 5 weekly workshops, all with a different topic! On Sunday 1st September at 2pm there will be a procession from The Mill to Walthamstow shopping Mall with the boat and plants and creatures the children have made.
What? Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear
Where? National Theatre, South Bank
When? Until Saturday August 31st 2019
The NT’s triumphantly weird new musical ‘Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear’ is adept both at delighting kids and at giving adults regular icy shivers of horror. ‘Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear’ is quite an old-fashioned thing, pitting the Good Child against the Undesirably Impure Adult in time-honoured Dickensian fashion. It’s also very self-aware, and ready to subvert its heaviest emotional moments with post-modern irony. A genre that luckily, kids seem to embrace. They lap up this offbeat blend of bad-old-days violence, giant dancing doughnuts, and knowing, but expansive, joy.
What? Miniature Steam & Electric Train Rides
Where? Ridgeway Park, Peel Close, off Old Church Road, Chingford
When? Every Wednesday in August
Take a ride on a steam driven miniature train! One of London´s best-kept secret rides in Chingford is the 2 miniature train tracks in Ridgeway Park with a 1000 foot, 5 raised level track & a 3000 foot, 7¼ ground level track for kids and adults alike to enjoy. Spend the rest of your day out taking in the park and enjoying the good weather!
What? Forage and feast
Where? Hackney Marsh London
When? 17th August 2019
Join a Totally Wild UK professional forager to learn the basics of foraging and to discover a range of wild foods lying all around us. Whilst doing this you will have the opportunity to taste a range of pre-made wild food tasters from pickles to jams, chutneys, syrups, flavoured salts, alcohol infusions and much more. After the forage, you’ll sit down to a pre-prepared, foraged food lunch. In the past they’ve enjoyed delights such as acorn sour-dough bread, ginger and knotweed jam, cheese and hawthorn chutney, dandelion root “coffee” cake, elderflower cordial and nettle cordial.
What? Rooftop Film Club, Stratford
Where? Rooftop of the Stratford Shopping Centre
When? A range of dates throughout August
There's more to balmy summer nights than standing outside the pub after work. At the Roof East building in Stratford, the Rooftop Film Club has perfected the art of outdoor movie watching with director’s chairs, wireless headphones and blankets. With films to suit every taste happening nearly every day throughout August, you’ll be spoilt for choice.