10 things to do this week
Make the most of the tail end of summer with our ideas to keep kids and adults entertained. Catch the Notting Hill Carnival online, visit a summer garden or go on a digital treasure hunt
From Wine Tasting At Home to online cookery workshops and free virtual personal shopping appointments, you’ll find a great collection of informative and entertaining experiences from John Lewis and Waitrose to take part in. Pick a session at a time and date that suits, then join with friends and family or just enjoy some me-time. Visit experiences.johnlewis.com for more information and to book
Watch comedy, drama, children’s shows, dance and music by new artists and writers, all created during the lockdown, in the virtual arts festival Online@TheSpace. Works include Lady M, a comedy re-imagining Lady Macbeth as a life coach; Irrational Me, a look at the science of making decisions; The Music of Trees, original guitar music inspired by nature; and a whistle-stop tour of Shakespearean demise in The Complete Works Of Shakespeare*....*but just the Deaths (and the gory bits too). There are 80 shows in all, available until 30 Aug, at online.thespaceuk.com
Britain’s biggest street party won’t be on the streets of west London this year, but you can still get into the carnival spirit with Notting Hill Carnival 2020 Access All Areas, a three-day online celebration on four live-streamed channels, with playlists curated by the festival’s famous sound systems, live bands, food shows, interviews and podcasts. Find out more at nhcarnival.org
Chase away the end-of-Sunday blues with beautiful classical music from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Sunday Sounds – a weekly concert by an RSNO musician, live from their home to your home. It’s available free (though donations are welcome) at rsno.org.uk, on the RSNO’s YouTube channel and their Facebook page, and if you want to keep that relaxed mood going all week long, there’s a Sunday Sounds YouTube playlist too.
Few of this summer’s food festivals have survived, but if you happen to be in Pembrokeshire, you can catch the Milford Haven Street Food Festival, with food from around the world, served on the pretty waterfront (28-30 Aug, Eventbrite.co.uk), while Hampton Court in Surrey is running a scaled down version of its usual Bank Holiday festival, with outdoor entertainment and food from artisan producers (29-31 Aug, hrpfoodfestivals.com). Both require advance booking. Alternatively, Bolton’s Food Festival has gone online, with cookery demos, music and special offers from the producers whose food you would have been tasting at the real life festival (boltonfoodanddrinkfestival.com), and you can see chefs and foodies including Rick Stein and Melissa Helmsley in action at virtualfoodfestival.org
BURIED TREASURE
Goodies are hidden all over the UK – in towns as well as out in the countryside – use the geocaching app to find them
Geocaching is the 21st century take on the treasure hunt, with players all over the UK, and the world. Using a handheld GPS device, or an app on your phone, you track down ‘caches’ – little parcels that other players have hidden. When you find one, you get to log yourself as its finder, then hide it again for someone else to find, and sometimes there’s a little something inside – yours to swap for something else, if you want to. With caches hidden all over the country – in towns as well as out in the countryside – you can play it anywhere, so it’s perfect for a last minute Bank Holiday outing. Find out more and get the app at geocaching.com
The Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank has re-opened with the critically acclaimed exhibition Among the Trees, featuring works of art inspired by woods, forests and trees. Alongside sculptures and installations, drawings, paintings and photographs, there are artworks that celebrate the sheer scale of trees, including a monumental sculpture cast from a 2,000-year-old olive tree by Ugo Rondinone, a cinematic portrait of a 30-metre-high spruce tree by Eija-Liisa Ahtila, and a vast forest of trees constructed entirely from cardboard by Eva Jospin. Book at southbankcentre.co.uk
The last Bank Holiday of the summer is the perfect time to see some of Britain’s beautiful gardens in full bloom. The National Trust has opened most of its gardens across the country, and because advance bookings are required, you can visit without worrying about crowds – there’s a guide to gardens that are at their best right now, in each region, at nationaltrust.org.uk. The National Garden Scheme also has lots of gardens open, again for pre-booked visits only – find out what’s open near you at ngs.org.uk
If you like a good murder mystery or a page-turning thriller, check out the shortlist for the Crime and Thriller category at the British Book Awards. The winner was debut novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer, a comic thriller set in Nigeria that judges said brought a fresh approach to the genre. Alex Michaelides’ psychological thriller The Silent Patient, featuring a woman who holds the secret to a case but can’t speak, was shortlisted, along with a modern take on the country house murder mystery in Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party. Three series books made the shortlist too: Val McDermid with How the Dead Speak, the 11th book in her Hill and Jordan series; Lee Child, with Blue Moon, the latest outing for action hero Jack Reacher; and Imposter by L.J. Ross, the first in a series set in Ireland and featuring a forensic psychologist.
Whether you like a good long hike in quiet countryside, tearing up and down hills on a mountain bike, or paddle boarding on the nearest stretch of water, the long weekend’s the perfect time to get outside and get active. If planning seems slightly more difficult than a military campaign at the moment, have a look at getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk – it’s a great information hub where you can search by activity and location, and get up to date advice on what’s allowed, what’s open and what you need to know about booking, so there’s no risk of a wasted journey. The information covers all kinds of outdoor activities including sports, hiking, running, climbing, caving, watersports and birdwatching, and there’s advice on social distancing when you get there too.
