All weekend
GLASSWORKS: Glass sculptor Dale Chihuly exhibits a selection of his pieces, considered unique to the blown glass field, at Halcyon Gallery on New Bond Street. Free, just turn up, until 5 April
AL PACINO: BFI Southbank pays tribute to one of the greatest actors of our time, with their Al Pacino season. Running for nearly two months, there are multiple screenings of his career classics. Most tickets £8.50-£12.10, see website for details, until 20 March
ORCHIDS: Surrounding yourself with tropical orchids of all colours is a lovely escape from an otherwise dreary February. Kew Gardens' Orchid Festival opens today, get a taster with this lovely time-lapse video of its installation in the Princess of Wales Conservatory pond. £14.50/£12.50, prebook, until 9 March
UNDERGROUND: Artist Ross Ashmore has spent the last three years painting all of the 267 London Underground stations, don’t miss this chance to see the full set at Oxford House in Bethnal Green. Free, just turn up, until 28 February
CRAFT: Heal's on Tottenham Court Road hosts Discover: The Modern Craft Market — showcasing British craft and offering demos and workshops too. Workshops are charged and require pre booking, see the website for more details
TRAVEL: Planning a getaway but in need of some great ideas?? Find inspiration at Destinations Holiday and Travel Show at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre. £11, prebook
DESIRE FAIR: A mixed media jewellery and silversmithing event where visitors can purchase direct from designers, or even commission bespoke creations, at Chelsea Old Town Hall. £5, just turn up, 10am-5pm both days
FLEA MARKET: Expect a little bit of everything in this alternative indoor flea market — including food and music — taking place in Stoke Newington. Free, just turn up, 11am-6pm both days
KLAUS NOMI: Performance artist Joey Arias and musician Kristian Hoffman pay tribute to German counter-tenor Klaus Nomi, who would have turned 70 this year, at Institute of Contemporary Arts. £25, prebook, 8pm both days
THEATRE: If you fancy treating yourself with a trip to one of London's lovely theatres but don't know where to start, here's our list of theatre openings in London this month
FREE: Saving those pennies? London is a great city for free events – take a look at our recently updated Free London page for a map of where frugal fun can be found in the capital
Saturday 8 February
RIVERSIDE: A guided walking tour between Millennium Bridge and Westminster Bridge looks at the existing and proposed developments along the Thames embankments. Run by Open-City. £24.50, prebook, 10am
MUSIC FAIR: Head to Central Hall in Westminster to browse a wide variety of music on both CD and Vinyl, at VIP Music's Fair. £3, just turn up, 10am-3.30pm
RUSKIN'S SHOREDITCH: Chart the influence of Victorian philanthropist John Ruskin with a guided walk in Shoreditch, on what would be his 95th birthday, finishing up in the excellent Geffrye Museum. £25+bf, prebook, 10am-1pm
SECOND STAR TO THE RIGHT: Take your little ones to Dugdale Centre in Enfield for a performance of Peter Pan, with original music, audience participation, puppetry and mime. £5-£8, prebook, 11.30am and 1.30pm
VINTAGE: Jumble and Pearls Vintage & Designer Fair takes place at The Book Club in Leonard Street, where young and independent designers show their creations. Free, just turn up, from 12pm
MORE VINTAGE: The Vintage All Stars shopping extravaganza welcomes London vintage lovers, fashionistas and whoever likes old-fashioned stuff at the Paradise in Kilburn. You can book a table for drinks, too. Free, just turn up, 12pm-5pm
GIVE AND TAKE: Bring your unwanted gift items, accessories, DVDs, books etc to 94 Berwick Street in Soho today and see what you can take home, at Freecycle's give-and-take community event, in partnership with Impossible. Free, just turn up, 12pm-5pm
PULP FICTION: Catch Quentin Tarantino's classic film at Spitalfields Market's retro hair salon Pimps & Pinups, presented by Kaleidoscope Cinema. £15+bf (includes a bag of popcorn), prebook, 7.30pm
ORCHESTRA: A free performance at Jerwood Hall from Guildhall School musicians, as part of the Guildhall’s Orchestral Artistry course. Free, just turn up, 7.30-10pm
DANCE: A triple bill of contemporary dance premieres at The Robin Howard Dance Theatre as part of Resolution! Festival - an annual showcase presenting the work of emerging choreographers of dance and physical theatre. £14/£11, prebook, 8pm
WINTER PRIDE: It may be cold outside, but the first ever UK Winter Pride is likely to warm you up. Taking place within Tobacco Dock's vaulted warehouse, this brand new event for the LGBT community features entertainment, DJs and dancing on a big scale. £20, prebook, 9pm-4am
RETRO CLUB: Magic shows, fairground games and even a hot dog eating contest — Bethnal Green Working Men's Club takes on partying, Coney Island style. £5-£8, prebook for cheaper tickets, 9pm-2am
GIGS: You’re spoilt for choice for live music in London. Take a look at London Gigs for full listings, but the kind folk at London Gig Guide have selected a few of their favourites for us this week. Click through to see Saturday's choice
BEER: The East London & City branch of CAMRA visit three brewpubs in the area with anyone interested very welcome to join in with some pints and beer chat. Find them at 1.30pm at Cock Tavern on Mare Street, 4pm at Crate in Hackney Wick, and at 6pm at Tap East in Westfield Stratford City
Sunday 9 February
ANTIQUES: Pick up a treasure at the Royal Horticultural Hall Antiques Fair in Victoria, stocked full of all kinds of fancies. £4, just turn up, 10am-4.30pm
CLASSICAL COFFEE: Pianist and BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist, Kausikan Rajeshkumar performs Scarlatti, Chopin and Schumann in the Royal Albert Hall's Elgar Room. £11+bf, prebook, 11am
RICHMOND PARK: Join gardeners inside Isabella Plantation for a free one-hour-and-a-half guided walk looking at the nature of Richmond Park. Meeting point by the gate from Broomfield Hill car park. Free, just turn up, 11am
THAMES FORAGE: Join Amelia Parker, who creates jewellery from clay fragments collected from the Thames foreshore, for a forage along the riverbanks (read about the last one here). The location will be central and exact meeting point confirmed after booking. Free, spaces are limited so prebook via [email protected], 11am
BARN DANCE: Expect a knee-slappingly good time for all the family with live music and expert callers at the English Folk and Song Society's Barn Dance, at Cecil Sharp House. £6/£4 kids, prebook, 3-5pm
LOVE YOURSELF: A talk about our relationship with ourselves, self-esteem and acceptance. The event takes place at The Neighbourhood Centre, part of St Mary’s Church in Islington. Free, prebook, 4.30pm
BABBLE: Billed as "The Great London Language Exchange", Babble is a weekly event where 60-100 babblers from all over the world come to exchange, well, their words. In all the many, beautiful, variedly lingual forms. Free, just turn up, 6.30pm
INSECT SEX: For one night only, Actress Isabella Rossellini and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière perform Green Porno at Southbank Centrea, a show about the sexuality of insects. Or should that be: "insex"?! Ok we'll go home now. £30/£25+bf, prebook, 7.30pm
CONCERT: Pianist Yuja Wang performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3 and Rachmaninov's Symphony No 2 at the lovely Barbican Hall. £10-£37+bf, prebook, 7.30pm
DISNEY MUSIC: A Magical Musical Night of Disney takes place at The Pheasantry in Chelsea, raising money for Myasthenia Gravis Association. Enjoy all the Disney classics, performed by West End professionals. £20 donation, prebook, 8pm
OCCULTISM: Join occult comedian Andrew O'Neill at The Lexington on Pentonville Road as he hosts this night of spectral terror with comedy, film, tarot readings live music, magic and talks - all on the subject of British occultism in the 1970s. £7 in advance/£9 on the door, 7-10.30pm
TWISTED LOAF: Character and sketch twosome Twisted Loaf picked up the Funny Women award last year and definitely aren’t afraid to ‘go there’. Tell your friends you saw them first by heading to the Leicester Square Theatre. £10/£8, prebook, 7pm
Other good stuff
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- What’s on in Museums and Galleries
- Art & photography shows
- Live comedy in London
- Booky and spoken word events
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Catch up on all latest features, see what we like in theatre and arts and browse more things to do in London.
What have we missed? Let us know what’s going on this weekend, leave a comment or email [email protected].
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