The good thing about London getting less than 20% the normal rainfall for the time of year is that when you’re attending outdoor events and festivals you are much less likely to get soaked.
All Kinds Of Festivals
The Wandsworth Arts Fringe starts tomorrow night, May 5, a manic explosion of comedy, cabaret, theatre gigs, poetry, sculpture, workshops, and arty stuff you haven’t imagined yet. With 140 different happenings spread over 14 days, something is bound to appeal. Browse the events calendar.
If reading is your thing, Clapham Book Festival begins at 2pm on Saturday, May 6, with crime novelists Sabine Durrant, JP Delaney and Annemarie Neary discussing Death in the Afternoon. The day climaxes at 7.30pm with a rare chance to hear BBC journalist Kate Adie in conversation with Bafta-winning documentaries Simon Berthon.
Bring an object or a story that you connect with nature to the Re-making Nature festival of collecting from May 4-7. The BBC’s Springwatch team will be capturing objects on camera and recording the unique stories behind them. Some objects will be chosen to go on display in a new exhibition, A Museum Of Modern Nature, from June 22. The Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Rd, London.
Markets
The fashion uber-happening of the weekend is the #SheInspiresMe Car Boot sale at 1pm in Brewer Street car park in Soho on Saturday, May 6. Designers and fashion luminaries including Matches Fashion, Alice Temperley, Alex Eagle, Charlotte Olympia and Vestiaire Collective will be clearing out their wardrobes and stock, selling one-off samples and must-have designer pieces. Tickets £10 on the gate. All profits to the charity Women for Women International.
Closer to home, pick up some unique, pre-loved clothes at the South London Affordable Vintage Fair on Sunday, May 7, at Balham SDA Church, Elmfield Road, SW17 7BW. Fashion, accessories, homewares and collectables. Entry £2, children free.
Wimbledon’s Monthly Market will be on the piazza on Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7.
Art
Giacometti opens at Tate Modern next week, May 10. Prepare to be sad, he’s unflinching on human suffering.
An exhibition by local artists opens on May 6 in the Sanctuary at Lantern Arts Centre in Raynes Park, and runs for a week (not Sunday).
Film
Lady Macbeth is getting some cracking good reviews. FYI this is not a version of the Shakespeare play, but an artily shot drama set in Victorian Yorkshire about a woman who is sold into marriage but fights back hard against being treated like a chattel. Catch it at the Curzon Cinema in Wimbledon.
Unlocked, starring Noomi Rapace as a CIA agent battling to stop a biological attack on London, plus Michael Douglas and Orlando Bloom, is the ho-hum Hollywood offering that opens this week.
In Brief
The National Pet Show comes to the ExCel Centre on May 6/7. Cats, dogs, mice, lizards, rabbits galore.
Wimbledon Film Club is showing The Rocket at 8.30pm on May 9, at the Curzon Cinema in WImbledon.
The live screening of Obsession, starring Jude Law, is being streamed from the Barbican to cinemas around the country on May 11. Its a passionate story but Ivo von Hove’s production has been described as cold and “a rare dud” – judge for yourself without paying West End ticket prices.
Got an event you’d like us to publicise? Email: whatson@ladywimbledon.com
By ‘Culture Vulture’ Jenny Booth
Twitter: @culturevult
Facebook: @culturevult
Visit: mediastarsite.wordpress.com
About The Author
Jenny Booth
Jenny was a news journalist for The Times. An ex-teacher, mum, gardener and art lover, there’s nothing she doesn’t know about the local culture scene…