{"id":107336,"date":"2025-05-16T21:50:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T21:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/107336\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T21:50:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T21:50:24","slug":"the-5-best-free-things-to-do-in-london-this-weekend-may-16-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/107336\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Best Free Things To Do in London This Weekend, May 16-18"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s mid-May, and London is in for another pretty balmy weekend. But if you\u2019re anything like me, a week of (mostly) gorgeously sunny evenings has seen you spending plenty of time outside the house, tapping your credit card with reckless abandon as you treat yourself to mid-week beer garden<\/a>\u00a0sessions,\u00a0alfresco dinners<\/a> with friends, and a few new\u00a0bits for your summer wardrobe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t resign yourself to a weekend on house arrest just yet. There\u2019s all sorts of wallet-friendly fun to be had around the capital this weekend,\u00a0including a whole host of freebies\u00a0on offer, from pints to haircuts.<\/p>\n

\"Westfield
\nPhotograph: Westfield <\/p>\n

Planning a big old wardrobe clearout? You\u2019ll love Westfield\u2019s free festival of pre-loved fashion. The world-renowned shopping centre has teamed up with pre-loved fashion marketplace Depop to stage a series of experiences that will inspire you to embrace embrace sustainable shopping habits. Head down early doors this weekend to shop a curated edit of second-hand threads at an IRL Depop Marketplace, take part in free styling workshops, enjoy free skincare consultations from Kiehl\u2019s, and even nab up to \u00a340 of free clothing alterations courtesy of door-to-door repair business Sojo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Westfield London, W12 7GF. Fri May 16-Sun May 18. Free (first come, first served).<\/p>\n

Fancy getting a trim to rival Jack Grealish\u2019s or Jude Bellingham\u2019s? To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, London Designer Outlet is offering shoppers free cuts courtesy of a team of elite barbers lead by A Star, whose clients include half the England team. Having been trained through the Talk Club\u2019s \u2018Captain\u2019 programme, the barbers are also able to offer emotional check-ins while fixing up your barnet; because a problem shared, is a problem halved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

London Designer Outlet, HA9 0FD. Sat May 17. Free (donations welcome).<\/p>\n

\"Three
\nPhotograph: Haydon Perrior <\/p>\n

South London club Crystal Palace will be hoping to secure their first ever FA Cup win on Saturday afternoon against seven-time victors Manchester City. And while the match at Wembley Stadium might have long since sold out, fans and neutrals looking for front row seats to all the action will find plenty of atmospheric screenings around London, most of which are free to attend. From Boxpark Shoreditch and Vinegar Yard to Between the Bridges and Flat Iron Square, we\u2019ve rounded up the best of them here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Various London venues. Sat May 17. Free (booking advised for many venues).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Greenwich free family festival Urban Village Fete returns this May, with a cracking line up of live music and DJs, a crafty market, street food stalls and a host of creative workshops and panel discussions, happening around Greenwich Peninsula all day on Sunday. The likes of 6Music\u2019s Gilles Peterson and Londons station LOOSE.FM<\/a> will be providing the tunes, BBC Radio London\u2019s Robert Elms will be hosting a bunch of interesting talks, and you try your hand at anything from pottery making to basket weaving. Sign up online for the events you\u2019re interested in and you might even go home with one of 130 prizes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Various Greenwich Peninsula venues, SE10. Sun May 18. Free (some events require booking).<\/p>\n

Hackney will be in a festive mood on Sunday afternoon, as more than 24,000 runners celebrate completing the 2025 edition of the Hackney Half <\/a>at a host of afterparties happening across the borough. Beloved venues like Grow Hackney, the People\u2019s Park Tavern, 40ft Brewery and Netil360 will be packed with sore-legged and sweaty east Londoners basking in their success, and there are a plethora of freebies (including many, many free pints) to claim if you\u2019re one of them. Check out our roundup of the best afterparties and freebies on offer here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Various Hackney venues. Sun May 18. Free.<\/p>\n

This award-winning pizzeria is opening its first permanent restaurant in east London<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A brand-new tube map celebrates London\u2019s grassroots music scene<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke \u2013 from news and reviews to events and trends. Just\u00a0<\/strong>follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up to our\u00a0<\/strong>free Time Out London newsletter<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s mid-May, and London is in for another pretty balmy weekend. But if you\u2019re anything like me, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,6419,393,4884,257,6420,6417,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-107336","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-categories-things-to-do","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-news-city-life","14":"tag-things-to-do","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114519724780197661","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}