Unmissable Things To Do in London in June 2023
This list is dedicated to the pioneering Windrush Generation who we celebrate this month. Find out more about Windrush 75.
It’s actually getting sunnier, isn’t it? We’re not hallucinating, it’s actually happening! Well, rain or shine, you an brighten things up by following our list of Unmissable Things To Do in London (and beyond) this Pride month of June!
Panti Bliss: If These Wigs Could Talk | Soho Theatre | Until 10 June | From £18
Ireland’s drag queen activist returns to Soho for a night.
Calm Down Dear | Camden People’s Theatre | Until 17 June
The next generation performance catalyst Camden People’s Theatre sees the return of Calm Down Dear, with Rashdash curating this festival of future feminism.
London Design Biennale | Somerset House | Until 5 June | From £23
Design takes over every crevice of London’s creative powerhouse, Somerset House.
FACET: Alicia Radage + Benjamin Sebastian | VSSL Studio | Until 18 June
Deptford’s VSSL is London’s most exciting place to explore contemporary art. Enjoy FACET, a new programme of video, performance, sculpture & installation with its inaugural outing by Alicia Radage and Benjamin Sebastian.
Windrush: A Voyage Through the Generations | Clapham Library | From 1 June | FREE
An important new photography exhibition by Jim Grover, the award-winning social documentary photographer behind the lens of Windrush: Portrait of a Generation – an acclaimed 2018 photo-story which honoured the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks.
Upgrade Yourself Festival | Somerset House | 2 & 3 June | FREE
Get valuable insight into the creative industries – for FREE.
Queering the Table | British Library | 2 June | From £5
LGBTQIA+ foodies talk all things nosh.
Rosa Garland: Trash Salad | Soho Theatre | 2 & 3 June | From £16
‘A clown opera; a sexual odyssey; a compost-heap romance’. Don’t miss this salad spinner of a show from rising star Rosa Garland.
Stoke Newington Literary Festival | 2-4 June
Stokey comes to life with the rustle of pages at our favourite DIY literary festival.
Peopling the Palace (s) Festival | 3-11 June
A revolutionary free arts festival in radical east London. Don’t miss Mad Hearts, a free two day event featuring Drag Syndrome about the crossover between arts and mental health.
Cody Dock’s Summer Event | Cody Dock, E16 | 3 June | FREE
Hop on the DLR for an adventure into the stunning urban oddity that is Cody Dock.
Magpie’s Nest Festival | Shipwright | 3 June | £38
A magical mystery music festival on the banks of the Thames.
Tomorrow is Already Dead | Soho Theatre | 6-17 June | From £12
Liverpudlian/London drag legend Ms Sharon Le Grand takes Bond for a subversive spin.
96 Festival | Omnibus Theatre | 6-24 June
Clapham’s wonderful grassroots space, Omnibus Theatre, presents theatre, comedy, cabaret, music, art and activism in celebration of the iconic Pride party on Clapham Common in 1996.
Sex, Drag & Opera | King’s Head Theatre | 6-10 June | From £10
The trailer is hilarious. Listen, obey and warble along.
The Mikado | Wilton’s Music Hall | From 7 June | From £12.50
Sasha Regan’s all-male shows are a riot of camp and infectious energy. Don’t miss the latest, G&S’s The Mikado, in the authentic Victorian surroundings of Wilton’s Music Hall.
The Big Pitch: An advertising comedy night | Bloomsbury Theatre | 8 June | £15
Advertising meets comedy in this guffaw-guaranteed bonkers fest from our fave Weirdo Adam Larter!
Genetic Automata | Wellcome Collection | From 8 June | FREE
‘Genetic Automata’ is an ongoing body of video works by artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, exploring race and identity in an age of avatars, videogames and DNA ancestry.’
The Chateau Presents SE_XCELLENCE | Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer | 9 June | From £13.50
South-East London shows the South Bank how to slay.
Wandsworth Arts Fringe | Various Venues | 9-25 June
It’s time to discover the next big thing at this fun and friendly fringe festival. Performers making their name at the festival include our faves, the unstoppable Drag Syndrome.
Chewy She’s Moth Popera + Dogshow | The Mildmay Club | 9 June | £16.37
A kaleidoscope of colour, catchy rhythms and dance spectacle.
Woo Woolf | Camden People’s Theatre | 9 June | £8
Virginia Woolf inspires short devised theatre works at CPT.
Faggamuffin Bloc Party | Southbank Centre Riverside Terrace | 9 June | FREE
Mentioned in Dan Glass’ fabulous new book Queer Footprints, this night of queer carnival a la Notting Hill is the ultimate QTBIPOC Pride.
The Glory Takeover | National Theatre’s River Stage | 9-11 June | FREE
Drag escapes the club and attacks the tourists, families and pigeons outside the Brutalist beauty, the National Theatre.
Festival of Communities | Stepney Green Park & QMUL Mile End Campus | 10 & 11 June
London’s most inclusive university presents its research in a fun community festival for all the family.
Queer and Now 2023 | Tate Britain | 10 June | FREE
Unmissable queer arts festival including a marketplace, talks, performances and art.
KSA Show 2023 | Kingston School of Art at Knights Park | 10-16 June | FREE
Kingston University is worth a trip to discover the future creative talents of tomorrow.
The Big Docklands Street Party | Museum of London Docklands | 10 June | £20
Music, tours, workshops and more to say Happy Birthday to the Canary Wharf museum – including Cocoa Butter Club’s very own Sadie Sinner the Songbird.
Bankside Open Spaces Festival | 10 June
See Bankside afresh with this mini festival, which includes a pooch parade!
London Clown Festival | Soho Theatre | 12-17 June
Don’t be afraid! Embrace your inner clown at this festival of sublime physical comic performance.
Tentacular Spectacular | Battersea Arts Centre | 13-17 June | Pay What You Can
Drag weirdo Oozing Gloop takes over the old Battersea Town Hall.
Life Is More Important Than Art | Whitechapel Gallery | From 14 June
A summer-long, multidisciplinary programme of exhibitions and events taking inspiration from James Baldwin’s quip.
A Three Part Drama | The Place | 15 June | £16
Don’t think you like contemporary dance? Think again with these performances.
Transpose BURN: Pit Party | Barbican | 15-17 June | £18
A night of performance by trailblazing trans artists from the UK and Turkey.
Ascension | BSMT | From 15 June
A must-see group exhibition featuring the works of four Contemporary Black artists: Euan Roberts, Errol Theunissen, Kay Gasei, and Stephen Anthony Davids.
Pxssy Palace: London x Paris | Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer | 17 June | From £25
A political pop party centring Black, indigenous and people of colour who are queer, intersex, trans or non-binary.
T-BOYS CLUB #6 | The Yard | 17 June | £12
A sex-postive T-BOY party where you can expect a vibe full of queer dance, Dancehall/Bashment and Afrobeats, slutty pop edits, queer club bangers, energetic uplifting 90s classics, 80s to new queer hip hop, and deep house.
Windrush 75 | Bernie Grant Arts Centre | 19-24 June
Tottenham’s cultural heart is the place to explore the legacy of Windrush 75.
I F*cked You In My Spaceship | Soho Theatre | From 19 June | From £13
A cutting-edge comic tale of two couples taking a risk by adding a third.
Glamrou | Pleasance London | 19 & 20 June | £17
Muslim drag sensation Glamrou takes the Pleasance by storm!
Jali by Oliver Twist | Soho Theatre | 20-24 June | From £12
Oliver Twist eschews the scandalised media portrayal of refugees to reflect on the human experience behind the headlines.
Homecoming: A Windrush 75 Cabaret | The RVT | 22 June | From £12
A Windrush commemoration at London’s home of cabaret, The RVT.
Lie With Me – Special Preview | Riverside Studios | 23 June | £13
A special preview of Olivier Peyon’s acclaimed new gay drama LIE WITH ME.
There and Here – A Celebration | Woolwich Works | 24 June | FREE
Go inside Woolwich’s new arts centre for this free showcase of refugee talent.
AI Festival | Omnibus Theatre | From 26 June
Chat GPT comes to the theatre. Explore AI and how artists can engage with it.
What Shall We Build Here | Toynbee Studios & Beyond | From 28 June
A festival of art, climate and community in Aldgate East.
Modest | Kiln Theatre | From 29 June | From £10
Victorian art star Elizabeth Thompson is immortalised with this new show from Hull’s Middle Child Theatre company.
Did we forget something? We almost certainly did – please let us know in the comments below!
Occasionally the To Do List team are forced to work together.
Rupert likes: free, cheap & offbeat London, especially: cabaret, art, theatre, pop-ups, eating out, quirky films, museums, day trips, social enterprise & much more.
Stuart likes: nice pubs, film marathons, not doing real marathons, bad comedy, plays/musicals with shorter second halves, and the Oxford comma.
Orwell Festival going on this month too!
Thanks great tip!