{"id":539458,"date":"2025-10-31T08:38:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/539458\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T08:38:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:38:19","slug":"the-6-best-free-things-to-do-in-london-this-weekend-october-31-november-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/539458\/","title":{"rendered":"The 6 best free things to do in London this weekend [October 31-November 2]"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a\u00a0huge weekend on the London social calendar, with Halloween parties galore, Day of the Dead<\/a>\u00a0fiestas,\u00a0a smattering of early Bonfire Night<\/a> celebrations and the final few days of\u00a0October half-term entertainment<\/a>\u00a0all\u00a0happening\u00a0over the next couple of days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But while that sounds really fun, it also sounds…expensive! Blown all your money on a killer Halloween costume<\/a> and\/or a week of entertaining the kids? No worries; it\u2019s also an excellent weekend for wallet-friendly fun around the capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From great museum lates<\/a> to fun pop-ups, here\u2019s where to have fun this weekend without spending any more of your paycheque before November<\/a> has even started.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED:\u00a0All the best things to do in London this weekend<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best free things on in London this weekend<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inspired by its new exhibition\u00a0Nigerian Modernism<\/a>,\u00a0the Tate Modern\u2019s October late features talks, workshops and curator chats exploring food cultures, diaspora fashion and key African artworks in the Tate collection.\u00a0There\u2019ll also be plenty of music with DJ sets curated by Native Soundsystem, Tone and Sample Chief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tate Modern, SE1. Fri Oct 31. Free (some events are ticketed).<\/p>\n

Have you heard the rumours that Marie Antoinette was actually queer? This late drawing off the V&A\u2019s blockbuster exhibition all about the fated French queen, will be delving into the lesbian-coded history and symbolism of Marie Antoinette, in an evening co-curated by queer art-rave collective Riposte.\u00a0If\u00a0their previous parties are anything to go by, there\u2019ll be enough revelry to rival a Rococo era court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

V&A, SW7.\u00a0Fri Oct 31. Free.<\/p>\n

\"Riposte
\nPhotograph: Victoria & Albert Museum <\/p>\n

With October 31 falling on a Friday this year, London is going harder than ever with its Halloween celebrations, with all manner of\u00a0fright-filled\u00a0parties<\/a>, nightmare-inducing\u00a0movie screenings<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ghoulishly good events<\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend. And plenty of them are free, too. This weekend, head to the Docklands for free festivities at Cody Dock<\/a>\u00a0including a costume competition, fortune telling and a big ol\u2019 bonfire, check out hundreds of glowing orbs at the Dalston Pumpkin Lantern Festival<\/a>, be entertained by eerie installations, quirky characters and trick-or-treat games in Holland Park<\/a>, or celebrate Day of the Dead at the final day of the British Museum\u2019s Half-Term Festival<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Various venues. Until Sun Nov 2. Free.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s biggest celebration of drawing\u00a0marks is\u00a0its\u00a025th anniversary in 2025, with the theme \u2018Drawn Together\u2019. Taking place across the UK, and the capital, the month-long extravaganza will have everything from\u00a0family-friendly doodle sessions<\/a>, to\u00a0sketching workshops held at London landmarks<\/a>.\u00a0There are also spray painting workshops, \u2018sketchwalks\u2019 and kids\u2019 colouring sessions taking place across the city. Check the Big Draw\u2019s website for the full programme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Various venues. Until Sun Nov 9. Free.<\/p>\n

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

Fancy trying matcha KitKats or seaweed Pringles?\u00a0You can nab a whole bunch of exotic snacks free of charge at Skyscanner\u2019s Soho pop-up. The flight comparison site is allowing visitors to travel the world\u00a0via nibbles, with a curated edit of more than 50 international eats on offer \u2013 available to grab from vending machines \u2013 spanning Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. It\u2019s\u00a0almost\u00a0as good as a winter getaway. Sort of.<\/p>\n

19 D\u2019Arblay Street, W1F 8ED. Until Sun Nov 2. Free.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll be able to sip\u00a0from an Instagram-worthy Burberry-checked coffee cup at the Burberry\u00a0x Monocle pop-up taking over the Marylebone\u2019s Monocle Caf\u00e9. The terribly British fashion house has joined\u00a0forces with the lifestyle guide to create\u00a0London: A city of many characters, an illustrated guide to the city showing London\u2019s many archetypes, all decked out in Burberry, of course. Head to the chic Marylebone spot to pick up your free copy\u00a0and browse a\u00a0curated edit of the label\u2019s latest outerwear and accessories.<\/p>\n

Monocle Caf\u00e9,\u00a0W1U 7QA. Until Wed Nov 12. Free.<\/p>\n

Start planning a great end to the year with our roundups of the\u00a0best things to do in November<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0December.<\/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 for 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 a\u00a0huge weekend on the London social calendar, with Halloween parties galore, Day of the Dead\u00a0fiestas,\u00a0a smattering of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,6419,161099,393,4884,257,26142,6420,6417,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-539458","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-celebrations-halloween","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-more-free","15":"tag-news-city-life","16":"tag-things-to-do","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115467879284464873","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539458","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=539458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}