London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [169]
You can pick up the free fortnightly London Theatre Guide from hotels and tourist-information centers.
There are hundreds of small private galleries all over London with interesting work by famous and not-yet-famous artists.
The bimonthly free pamphlet “new exhibitions of contemporary art” (www.newexhibitions.com), available at most galleries, lists and maps nearly 200 art spaces in London.
Expect to pay around £10 for entry into touring exhibitions, but most permanent displays and commercial galleries are free.
THE ARTS FOR FREE
Classical Music and Jazz
The Barbican, the Royal National Theatre, and the Royal Opera House often have free music in their foyers or in dedicated spaces, usually of high standard. On the South Bank, free festivals and special performances often take place alongside the river.
Many of London’s world-class music colleges give free concerts several times a week. The Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music often have free recitals. St. Martin-in-the-Fields has free lunchtime concerts, as does Christchurch Spitalfields. Other churches, including Westminster Abbey, St. James’s Piccadilly, and St. Paul’s in Covent Garden, also have frequent free music. For the Proms, which run from July to September at the Royal Albert Hall, good seats are expensive, but hundreds of standing tickets are available at £5: not quite free, but a good value.
Contemporary Music
Brixton’s Dogstar pub has a great selection of DJs playing for free on weekday evenings. Ain’t Nothing But the Blues Bar in Soho has live music most nights, often without a cover charge, and pubs such as the Monarch and the Hawley Arms near Camden Market offer the chance to see tomorrow’s indie stars today. The largest of the music superstores, such as HMV Oxford Street, have occasional live performances of pop and rock bands, often to accompany album or single launches.
Drama and Performance Arts
Look out for occasional festivals where innovative performances take place on the South Bank. Check the newspapers and Time Out for upcoming performances.
Museums and Galleries
Few if any other cities in the world equal the number of free art venues offered in London. Most of the city’s museums and galleries do not charge entrance fees. The monthly Galleries magazine, available from galleries themselves or online at | www.artefact.co.uk, has listings for all private galleries in the capital.
Park Life
London’s parks come to life in summer with a wide-ranging program of music, dance, and visual arts (www.royalparks.gov.uk for details or | 020/7298–2000). There are several summer festivals in London parks, some with lots of big-name pop stars, like the Wireless festival in Hyde Park and the somewhat more indie Lovebox in Victoria Park. Notable contemporary art fairs are October’s Frieze in Regent’s Park (www.friezeartfair.com) and the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park (www.affordableartfair.com).
Radio and Television
With so much broadcast material made in London, much of it recorded in front of live audiences, there are often opportunities to watch a free quiz show, current-affairs debate, comedy, or even drama. Check the BBC Web site for forthcoming recordings (www.bbc.co.uk/tickets). Hat Trick Productions (020/184–7777 | www.hattrick.co.uk) makes a number of good comedy programs, including the satirical current-affairs program Have I Got News for You.
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Bloomsbury | Islington | Kilburn | King’s Cross | The City | South Bank | The East End | Chelsea | Kensington | Greater London | Notting Hill | Regent’s Park | Marylebone | Mayfair | St. James’s | Covent Garden | Soho
BLOOMSBURY
Dance
Peacock Theatre.
Sadler’s Wells’s West End annex, this modernist theater near the London