Alim Kheraj

Soon, it will be time to once again congregate on the streets of Notting Hill and soak up the loudest tunes London has to offer on the sweet long bank holiday weekend. While you’ll find heaps of live music, vibrant costumes and dancing during the parade at NHC, Notting Hill Carnival is also famous for its 36 official static soundsystems, with their incredible DJs, that famously (and with enough bass to register on the Richter scale) soundtrack the two-day party. On every corner of W10 this Bank Holiday weekend, you’ll find different soundsystems blending old-school reggae and dub with bashment, hip hop and more. From chest-rattling dub riddims to samba-sonic Latin music and Caribbean Carnival anthems, you’re bound to find something that gets your feet moving. To give yourself a headstart, we’re mapping all the soundsystems so you can grab a prime spot for raving – check back for more soundsystems as they're announced. What day are the soundsystems playing at Notting Hill Carnival 2024? On Carnival Sunday and Monday, over 30 static soundsystems will play from noon to 7pm at various locations across the parade map, which you can find here. Check back nearer the date for the official locations of each soundsystem. Here’s Time Out’s A-Z of Notting Hill Carnival soundsystems this year:

Comedy has a shorter shelf life than just about any other movie genre. A classic drama will still make hearts swell and eyes water decades down the line, and a truly terrifying horror movie can still scare the bejesus out of viewers no matter how standards for scares change. But humour is highly subjective and dependent on context: what’s funny in 1924 might land with a thud in 2024.  That’s why, when considering the greatest comedy movies of all-time, one of the most important questions is not necessarily how big the laughs are, but how long they can keep audiences laughing. With the help of comedians like Diane Morgan and Russell Howard, actors such as John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker and a small army of Time Out writers, we believe we’ve found the 100 finest, most durable and most broadly appreciable comedies in history. As we said, hilarity is in the gut of the beholder – some like it, silly, others sophisticated or dark or surreal – but if you don’t find something funny on this list, you may want to check your pulse. Recommended: 🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time🥰 The greatest romantic comedies of all time😬 The best thriller films of all-time🌏 The best foreign films of all-time

London’s LGBTQ+ scene has long been full of vibrant venues offering safe spaces to be yourself. Its heartland is still very much located in its traditional home of Soho, but you’ll find brilliant gay bars and clubs dedicated to serving the community south of the river and in the East End too. There’s plenty of diversity in what they offer, from super cool and edgy club nights to events showcasing the best in the city’s cabaret performers and London’s incredible drag stars too.   Are you more in the market for a drink and a sit down? Check out these LGBTQ+ pubs and bars.

Every time you think you’re finally ready to cancel your Netflix subscription, they pull you back in – and it’s usually not an exclusive Adam Sandler or Lindsay Lohan movie that does it (although maybe sometimes). Most of the time, it’s because of a must-binge new series. Original episodic programming has been the streamer’s calling card ever since it stopped being the DVD rent-to-mail service and went entirely online. It changed the game with House of Cards in 2013 and has continually elevated it since, with the likes of Stranger Things and Russian Doll and the world-dominating Squid Game. Sure, there have been some creatively fallow periods, but then it always seems to bounce back with sometime leftfield, like Beef or One Day. Since it’s continually adding hours of essential content to its catalogue, there’s more high-quality content than you possibly have time for. That’s we’ve put together a list of the 41 Netflix originals series you absolutely have to see before finally deleting your account – and of course, once you think you’ve exhausted all your options, something else will get added just as you’re about to press ‘cancel’.  And before you get all upset about the absence of Black Mirror or Cobra Kai, we’ve left out shows that originated elsewhere before the platform picked them up. We’re also sticking to scripted series – sorry Tiger King and the countless other true-crime docs. That’s a list for another time. Recommended: 🎥 The 35 best movies on Netflix right now🔥 

Sink a cocktail in one of London's finest LGBTQ+ bars and pubs and you'll be drinking in more than just some watered down booze: these spots are LGBTQ+ landmarks in their own right, places where you can find community, kinship, and drag-fuelled mayhem. Beats billiards in your local. Once upon a time, having a gay old time in London meant hotfooting it straight to Soho. But now, the city's queer centre of gravity has shifted east, with edgier spots pulling crowds to Dalston when night falls, while some of the city's most storied LGBTQ+ venues have taken up residence in Vauxhall. So whether you're after a drag brunch, a burlesque show or just a quiet pint, here's a comprehensive list of the capital's gay and queer-friendly bars and pubs, from the legendary G-A-Y to lesbian-centric She Soho to sing-yer-heart-out special The Karaoke Hole. RECOMMENDED: Keep the party going at London's best LGBTQ+ clubs.

A comédia é um género frequentemente ignorado pelos prémios e pela crítica. Mas produzir uma grande comédia, uma comédia intemporal, é uma das maiores conquistas no cinema. É uma forma de arte em grande parte dependente do contexto: aquilo que faz uma plateia chorar a rir em 2024 pode ser recebido mais tarde com olhares vazios – nem sequer é preciso passar meio século, como é muitas vezes o caso; bastam alguns anos de diferença. Por isso mesmo, aqueles que nos fizeram rir durante décadas são verdadeiramente especiais. Para elaborar esta lista das 100 maiores comédias de sempre, pedimos a comediantes como Diane Morgan e Russell Howard, a actores como John Boyega e Jodie Whittaker e a uma pequena legião de escritores da Time Out sobre os filmes que mais os fazem rir, e por mais tempo. Ao fazê-lo, acreditamos ter encontrado as melhores, mais intemporais e amplamente apreciáveis 100 comédias da história do cinema. Independentemente do seu sentido de humor – disparatado ou sofisticado, leve ou sombrio, surreal ou mais abrangente – vai encontrá-lo representado aqui. Recomendado:🔥 Os 100 melhores filmes de sempre🥰 As melhores comédias românticas de sempre

One of the best things about the weather changing is watching the world bloom again. In Japan, this is a very big deal. Cherry blossom trees there (named ‘sakura’) only bloom for about two weeks in spring – between April and May in the Northern Hemisphere – and people travel from all over the world just to see them. There's even a cherry blossom forecast for sakura season.  Sadly, however, there’s no guarantee they’ll bloom for the actual cherry blossom festival (‘hanami’), so if you’re desperate to see those pretty pink flowers, there is another way. Though they’re native to Asia, cherry blossom trees actually bloom all over the world, from Europe and North America to the Southern Hemisphere. So if you’re desperate to admire those pink blossoms (and snap them for your Instagram), you might not have to travel across half the world to do it  – and we’ve rounded up the very best spots for it, right here.  RECOMMENDED:🌸The best places to see cherry blossom in the UK 🌿The best cities to see cherry blossoms in the USA🖼️The best new art galleries and reopenings for 2024🎭The best things to do in the world in 2024

Everyone is scared of something. It might be something specific, like spiders or snakes or heights, or something less tangible, like death or failure. But deep down, even the most posturing tough guy harbours deep-seated fears. Perhaps that explains why horror has grown into one of the most popular of all film genres. Even if a movie doesn’t necessarily touch on the things that personally scare us the most, allowing ourselves to be scared at all helps us confront and ease the anxieties and fears that keep us paralysed.   Of course, horror hasn’t always been a moneymaker. Not long ago, it was mainly a niche interest, ignored by mass audiences and shrugged off by critics. The recent artistic and commercial success of films like Get Out, A Quiet Place and Talk to Me have brought retroactive respect to a genre once synonymous with schlock. So if you’ve spent too much of your film fandom dismissing horror, consider this your guide to everything you’ve missed. Here are the 100 greatest horror movies ever made. Written by Tom Huddleston, Cath Clarke, Dave Calhoun, Nigel Floyd, Phil de Semlyen, David Ehrlich, Joshua Rothkopf, Nigel Floyd, Andy Kryza, Alim Kheraj and Matthew Singer Recommended: 🔪 The best new horror movies of 2024 (so far)🔥 The 100 best movies of all time👹 Cinema’s creepiest anthology horror movies🩸 The 15 scariest horror movies based on true stories

Every year, Pride parades, protests and celebrations around the world mark the continued global fight for LGBTQ+ rights. While today’s Pride celebrations can feel less political than those early marches half a century ago, their significance can’t be downplayed. Not that all that history makes Pride a snoozefest: this year, as ever, there’ll be some of the biggest ever parties, kikis and parades happening all around the world for you to fly your rainbow flag. You can celebrate Pride at its birthplace in New York or venture to Iceland for Reykjavik Pride. Meanwhile, other Prides around the world prove that they still serve an important purpose in gathering together the different strands of the LGBTQ+ community (and its allies) for a show of solidarity and a reminder that there are still prejudices to overcome.  So pack your best wigs, your highest heels and as much glitter as you can physically carry and get ready to travel. Here are just a few of the best places around the world to celebrate Pride in 2023. RECOMMENDED:🏳️‍🌈 The world’s most LGBTQ+-friendly cities, according to LGBTQ+ travellers💞 The best Pride parades and festivals in the USA🏡 The most LGBTQ+-friendly small towns in the USA

If you have Disney+ subscription, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’re paying for: a lot of Marvel, a bunch of Star Wars, a heap of Pixar and every animated Disney flick you can think of. Even so, it’s still possible to spend half the night endlessly scrolling before giving up and going to bed. And just because you have a better sense of what’s available doesn’t guarantee that anything you throw on will be a winner. So we’ve combed through the streamer’s offerings to compile the can’t-miss options. It includes plenty of classics and buzzy recent releases, sure, but there are also a few hidden gems worth digging for. Recommended: 🐭 The 50 best Disney movies for family night🦸All the Marvel movies ranked from worst to best👾 The 52 best Star Wars characters

It’s time to dust off your flares, pull out those platform boots, grow out your facial hair and get your hair feathered because – SOS! – ABBA are back! Not only have the group reformed to release their first album in 40 years, but for the first time since disbanding in 1982, the Swedish pop band will be performing live again. Well, sort of... Taking a chance to say thank you for the music once more, in May 2022 the pop icons are launching ABBA Voyage, a concert residency taking place at a purpose-built arena near London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Joined by a ten-piece band, the group will perform songs such as ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and ‘Waterloo’, as well as tracks from their platinum-selling new album ‘Voyage’. The quirk is that they won’t actually be there. You see, ABBA Voyage is no normal show. MORE 2022 TRENDS:🚆 Why train travel is going to be on your 2022 bucket list🌳 From parklets to urban forests: how cities will get a whole lot greener in 2022🧙 Why 2022 is going to be the biggest ever year for fantasy on screen In this so-called ‘immersive digital concert experience’, dancing queens Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and instrumentalists and songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus will be performing virtually via custom-built digital avatars, which have, of course, been dubbed their ABBATARS. For more than two years, the band – as well as a bunch of creatives and tech wizards at a visual effects company that was founded by Star Wa

From the rain-soaked streets of London to the alleys of Portland, people love to complain about rain. But people the world over also love to sing about the rain. It's not all sadness and metaphors for weeping, either. Sure, you'll find some tears amid the 25 songs about rain below, but you'll also find psychedelic classics, joyful club bangers and wet-hot disco jams. Together, they constitute the ultimate rainy-day playlist. Don't worry about the rain, either. Rihanna brought her umbrella. Listen to these songs on Amazon Music RECOMMENDED:❄️  The best snow songs☀️  The best summer songs🎤  The best karaoke songs😭  The best sad songs😊  The best happy songs

While Notting Hill has become one of London’s most affluent and desirable areas, Portobello Road Market, which runs between Notting Hill Gate and Ladbroke Grove, retains the area’s former cool. There’s the architecture – colourful terraced houses and shops all tightly squeezed together – and the market, which is actually several markets melded together. Portobello Road Market is best known for its antiques, with hundreds of dealers selling jewellery, books and collectables dating from the 1600s to the 1960s. There are numerous reasons for foodies to visit Portobello Road. Like many London markets it began life as a place to buy fruit and veg, something you can still do six days a week (the whole market is closed on Sundays). There are numerous eateries dotted around, like local institution Lowry & Baker, while street-food vendors pitch up on Fridays and Saturdays. Nearby Golborne Road has North African and Caribbean street food available during the week. Under the Westway and along the walkway to Ladbroke Grove, second-hand clothes sit next to the wares of up-and-coming fashion designers. Fridays are a little less hectic here, and you’ll be able to explore fashion-focused Portobello Green Market, which comprises more than 800 stalls. But Portobello Road is a top tourist destination, so it’s always going to be busy. However, it’s full of character and charm, so embrace its craziness and soak up the vibe. Top tip: In the summer, grab an iced latte from Coffee Plant, which se

Dating back to the thirteenth century, this historic food market (London’s oldest) is a sprawling cornucopia of gourmet goodies. It’s best to visit Borough Market on an empty stomach so you have room to snaffle samples of the bread, cured meats, cheese, olives and pastries on offer. The market used to mainly highlight British produce but nowadays you can find a global smorgasbord of traders. This goes for the street-food vendors too – you can indulge in succulent and salty French confit duck sandwiches, aromatic Ethiopian stir-friend stews, Spanish chorizo sarnies, Tuscan porchetta-inspired spit roast and even the humble scotch egg (elevated, of course). Being London’s best and most famous food market has its pitfalls: it can get extremely cramped and chaotically busy. The market is a tourist hotspot and many of its visitors are there to take pictures rather than buy anything. So if your aim is to shop, arrive early to avoid the crush. If the crowds are too overwhelming, pick up some bits to go from Neal’s Yard Dairy and Bread Ahead, then head down to bankside for a riverside picnic. It’s worth noting that the market is closed on Sundays and exists only in skeleton form on Mondays and Tuesdays. Top tip: Arrive early and grab a coffee from Monmouth, on the south side of the market, before you shop for the perfect way to kick off your day. Alim Kheraj Recommended: London’s best markets

Now far more than just a string of stalls selling bric-à-brac and fruit and veg, Brick Lane Market, in the heart of Shoreditch, has grown and mutated over the years to incorporate five different markets known as The Truman Markets. Operating at its fullest on Sundays, Brick Lane and its surrounding streets come alive, teeming with sellers shifting their wares. Outside the bagel bars, curry houses and vintage shops, people without proper stalls set up shop on carpets and tables, selling old electrical equipment, toys, records, broken musical instruments, furniture and everything else under the sun. Down one side street you’ll come across Backyard Market, a covered, warehouse-sized space with stalls focused on arts and crafts. Pop in for clothes, cards and wrapping paper, one-of-a-kind jewellery and tote bags, all from up-and-coming designers and creatives. The Sunday Upmarket is a food hall brimming with street food vendors selling a global smorgasbord of cuisine. There are also more than 200 market stalls here selling vintage clothing, fashion by new and established designers, jewellery and homewares. The Vintage Market does what it says on the tin, with stalls selling clothing, accessories and retro memorabilia from the 1920s to the 1990s. If you’re into chintz,, The Tea Rooms host charming stalls selling things like typewriters, taxidermy and vintage maps. If you need to fuel up, there’s the Boiler House Food Hall, which has around 30 stalls selling culinary delights fr

One of London’s most well-known and nicest-looking markets, Columbia Road overflows with bucketfuls of beautiful flowers every Sunday. From 8am-3pm, market traders line the narrow street selling flowers, houseplants, herbs, bulbs and shrubs. It’s worth shopping around, don’t be afraid to barter and prepare for it to get very busy. The market is popular with locals and tourists and during the midday rush is rammed with people elbowing their way to that perfect pot plant. If you can’t bear crowds or just want to guarantee the pick of the crop, arrive when the market opens. When you’ve bought your blooms, head behind the stalls and down side streets to find fantastic cafés, independent restaurants, delis, shops, antique dealers, vintage stalls and small galleries, many of which follow the market’s opening hours. Pop into Jones Dairy Cafe for organic and local produce, treat yourself to some jazz records at Idle Moments or sink a locally brewed pint at the The Nelson’s. Do I need cash? No, you can now pay market traders on card or contactless but, from personal experience, they prefer a fiver over a phone tap. Where should I eat and drink? The Birdcage pub has a cute outdoor drinking terrace now, which is bookable, as is the foliage-filled garden at the Royal Oak further up the road. Tapas joint Laxeiro has tables spilling out on the street for lunch, though if you’re after a hand snack, the Pavilion bakery still does a mean cinnamon bun and Maks newsagent does legendary samosa

There’s a lot riding on Bros. While, misleadingly, it’s been touted as the first gay romantic comedy ever released by a major studio – erasing the straight-to-streaming gems Fire Island and Kristen Stewart’s festive romp The Happiest Season, not to mention teen heart-warmer Love, Simon – it is the first (at least adult romcom) to get a wide theatrical release. It’s also the first major studio film with an all LGBTQ+ principal cast and the first time an openly gay man, Billy Eichner, has starred in and written his own major studio film released in cinemas. With so many firsts, a film might buckle under the avalanche of the accompanying expectations. Thankfully, Bros is so belly-achingly funny, sharply observant and wryly self-aware that it can more than withstand such a crushing weight. The film follows Bobby (Eichner), a 40-something writer, podcast host and the curator of a soon-to-be-open LGBTQ+ museum who has given up on love. Instead, he fills his life with disappointing Grindr hook-ups and a bullish determination leave his mark as a queer personin a world of boorish heteronormativity. His anti-romantic resignation is disrupted at a launch party for Zellwegr, a new dating app for ‘gays who want to talk about actresses’, when he catches the eye of ‘straight acting’ lawyer Aaron (the dashingly handsome Luke Macfarlane). Like Bobby, Aaron has also sworn of relationships, although the pair find themselves in a strange courtship: ‘We went on one date,’ Bobby says, ‘and had sex

With this documentary about ’80s boyband Bros, co-directors Joe Pearlman and David Soutar have created one of the most searing, raw and, at times, unintentionally hilarious documentaries about the impact of fame in recent memory. We meet Bros twins Matt and Luke Goss, now pushing 50, as they’re about to embark on a 2017 reunion tour. The shows are the first the brothers have played together in nearly 30 years. ‘After the Screaming Stops’ initially plays like a fairly conventional music doc. Matt and Luke narrate their meteoritic rise to stardom and chart the crash when it was all over. For those unfamiliar with Bros, they were British pop’s biggest boyband from 1988 to 1992, and caused the sort of hysteria where a record signing at an HMV could muster 130,000 fans. These days, however, the Bros brothers are suffering the fallout of their fame. Drummer Luke, now an actor, feels inadequate after years of self-doubt, while Matt, a Vegas crooner, resents his brother for calling it quits in 1992. Their reunion is an attempt to solve their own issues and give their old fans a treat in the process, but old wounds still fester. ‘After the Screaming Stops’ captures these tensions with a candour rare in a pop doc. The squabbling siblings seem to forget that the cameras are there, letting their vulnerabilities hang out and occasionally slipping into a self-parody of ageing pop stars. It cuts back and forth between past memories and modern-day fights, with Matt and Luke punctuating thing

Brixton Village and Market Row, two indoor markets housed in separate arcades, are integral to Brixton’s rich history. Over the last decade they have transformed into an epicentre for London’s culinary diversity, housing nearly 130 independent traders. Foodwise, you’ll find successes such as Franco Manca and Honest Burgers, both of which started in Brixton Village and have since multiplied across London, plus plenty of other cafés and restaurants to explore. Try Jamaican/European fusion seafood at Etta’s Seafood Kitchen, street-style Mexican food at Jalisco, smokey Portuguese grill at Brixton Village Grill, French spot Champagne + Fromage, where you can sip on champagne while trying out cheeses, and of course, a multitude of Caribbean restaurants and takeaways. If you don’t fancy eating out, or just want to pick up something for dinner, there are fruit and veg shops and stalls, fishmongers and butchers like Dombey & Son, which has been in business for more than 30 years. A visit to Brixton Village and Market Row is about more than food, though. A stroll through the arcades will reveal a treasure trove of shops selling clothing, jewellery, homeware, art, music and more. Leftovers is an antique and vintage fashion emporium favoured by costume-lovers and designers, while Cornercopia Homestore is the perfect place to pick up enamel pots, wooden spoons and unique cookware. Top tip: On Saturdays, Brixton Station Road hosts a space that cycles between a flea market, a makers’ mar

Across the cobbles from the iconic Covent Garden Market is Jubilee Market, a fairly compact hall that runs alongside Tavistock Street. It’s one of the more eclectic shopping destinations, partly due to its revolving array of traders. Visit on Monday for antiques, with everything from vintage brooches to old comic strips on sale. From Tuesday to Friday the general market takes over and there’s the opportunity to pick up sweets, fridge magnets, belts, bags, clothing and knick-knacks. On Saturday the market shifts again, focusing on arts and crafts, although you may also find some vintage clothing and assorted bric-à-brac. While there’s no street food on offer, there is an Italian restaurant, a café serving English breakfasts and, upstairs, fast-food joint MEATmarket. Alim Kheraj RECOMMENDED: London’s best markets

It might be a bit of stretch to call this spot a market as it’s housed inside what was once a Job Centre. Rather, the refurbished building, which is just a stone’s throw from London Fields, Netil Market and Broadway Market, operates more as a shopping hall. In this 10,000 sq ft space you’ll find a deli selling charcuterie and cheese, an off-licence selling local beers and organic wines, a florist and a record stall. If you’re after hot food, there’s the Open Kitchen restaurant and The Dining Room, which also operates as a furniture shop. What’s more, the whole place is cashless and there’s no plastic packaging to be found anywhere.  RECOMMENDED: London’s best markets

Victoria Park Market is one of a new breed of markets that have opened thanks, in part, to gentrification and renewed interest in avoiding supermarket chains. There are seasonal fruit and vegetables artfully laid out to entice as well as quality organic meat and fresh fish. You’ll also find locally baked bread, charcuterie, cheeses, olives, local honey and herbs and spices. The market operates every Sunday from 10am-4pm – the perfect time to pick up brunch or lunch, such as a grilled cheese sandwich or Mexican fried chicken. There’s sometimes live jazz there too. Alim Kheraj RECOMMENDED: London’s best markets

Open seven days a week, Old Spitalfields Market is one of east London’s busiest shopping hubs. Built in the 1800s, the structure was refurbished and rejuvenated in the early 2000s and is now one of the capital’s most unique shopping, eating and drinking destinations. Circling the giant roofed market are numerous permanent boutiques, eateries and salons, from many big brands such as Deciem, & Other Stories, Dr Martens and Diptyque, but it’s the heart of the market that’s the most exciting. You’ll find traders selling arts, crafts, clothing and sustainable homewares in the two central concourses. On Thursdays you’ll also encounter the weekly antiques market, with around 80 stalls selling vintage maps, books, furniture, fashion and collectables. These days no London market is complete without food and Old Spitalfields Market has more than its fair share of restaurants and street food vendors. Grab a gloriously succulent burger to go from Bleecker , soup dumplings from Dumpling Shack, or London's best seafood buns at Shrimpy. Want to dine in? Enjoy and Italian menu and wine at Bottles or try cocktails and rotisserie chicken at Coqbull. Top tip: Music fans should visit on the first and third Friday of each month for the vinyl market, where you can flick through old, new and collectable records. Alim Kheraj Recommended: London’s best markets

Moving to Haymarket hasn’t lessened the magnificence of Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo’s groundbreaking mecca for the fashion-obsessed. With a beautiful array of stuffed birds and a trio of reimagined Burberry trenches on the way in, it is brilliant from the off. A champion of our capital’s pioneering fashion designers, it houses collections from some of London’s brightest stars, such as Grace Wales Bonner’s wonderfully elegant menswear and Molly Goddard’s dream dresses woven out of tulle. The style of the market, which is reminiscent of a Harajuku shopping complex, and a vending machine that dispenses Dover Street Market-bralimanded T-shirts, are nods to Kawakubo’s home country. Her label, Comme des Garçons, is well represented here alongside lines such as Valentino, Givenchy and Azzedine Alaïa. The basement houses more affordable streetwear, and the ground floor has a smart selection of edgy jewellery plus all of the Comme des Garçons fragrances. Once you’ve taken it all in, head to the top floor for a sit-down in the Rose Bakery. Top tip: If you’ve fallen in love with the fashion but just can’t justify the price tag, keep your eyes peeled for the sales, which can see items reduced by up to 40 percent. Alim Kheraj RECOMMENDED: London’s best markets

The Easter Bunny doesn’t only deal in chocolate. We have it under good authority that the rarely spotted rabbit has, once again, teamed up with Highbury wine bar and shop Top Cuvée for an Easter egg hunt that promises to reward participants with, among other things, free wine.  Top Cuvée hosted an Easter egg hunt last year in Clissold Park. Taking place on Easter Sunday, the free event saw eager entrants roaming the park in search of ‘eggs’, which were in fact QR codes offering rewards. Spoils included free wine, chocolate (natch), vouchers, stickers, tote bags and discounts, with a main prize of a three-month wine subscription. That’s one generous bunny.  Because we Londoners can’t ever get enough of free stuff, the event was a hopping great success. And now Top Cuvée has announced that its Easter egg hunt is set to take place once again on Easter Sunday (April 17). Described as ‘bigger, better, funner than ever’, this year’s hunt will undoubtedly see Top Cuvée dole out some egg-cellent prizes, especially as it’s teaming up with some friends for this year’s event. Others involved in the hunt include Tony’s Chocolonely, Time Out’s inaugural Clash of the Slices winner Yard Sale Pizza, Jolene bakery, Supa Ya Ramen, Mam Sham, Patty & Bun, Brindisa and many others.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Top Cuvée (@topcuvee) So that things don’t get out of hand, this year potential egg hunters will have to register in order to take pa

Each year, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show sees garden lovers flock to SW3 to get their annual fix of horticultural goodness. There’s always much chatter about the most spectacular floral displays, but one of the gardens at this year’s show has been designed to spark debate of a different kind: about racial and climate injustice.  Titled Hands Off Mangrove by Grow2Know, the garden is inspired by the story of the Mangrove Nine, a group of activists who were arrested and persecuted by the police in 1970 following raids on the historic Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill. The subsequent trial saw all nine defendants acquitted, with the judge describing ‘evidence of racial hatred’ in the Metropolitan Police. Steve McQueen made a film about it, ‘Mangrove’, which was part of his ‘Small Axe’ anthology series that screened on the BBC in 2020.  Another inspiration for the garden is the deforestation of mangroves around the world. In its centre will be a four-metre-tall sculpture with nine bare roots, each recognising a Mangrove Nine defendant, surrounded by various lush species, including edible plants like beetroot, peppers, rocket and tomatoes. The crushed concrete path that runs through the garden represents the challenges and threats of racism, poverty and violence in 1970s Notting Hill and today.  The garden has been created by Grow2Know, a non-profit organisation started after the Grenfell Tower fire that aims to demonstrate the healing and unifying power of gardening. Speaking abo

It’s a sad day for couples who like to argue at the weekend while perusing homeware: IKEA has announced that it’s calling time on its Tottenham branch.  According to a report in the Guardian, the Swedish retailer said that it was closing the north London superstore in order to keep up with ‘changing shopping behaviours’, given that more than half of its sales are now made online. It has pledged to redeploy as many of the store’s 450 employees as possible. This comes as IKEA is staking a claim on the high street. The furniture giant recently opened a smaller iteration of its usually giant shopping warehouses on Hammersmith’s King Street with a focus on home accessories and soft furnishings. And last year, London’s meatball lovers rejoiced when IKEA announced it would be taking over the giant Topshop on Oxford Street after bidding a whopping £400 million to secure the space. This new central location is set to open in the autumn of 2023.  IKEA has not said when it plans to shutter the north London store, but flat-pack furniture fans are already in mourning. And someone’s even started a petition to keep it open. IKEA Tottenham: how we will miss you.  losing the tottenham ikea will leave a gaping hole in my life. i don't think anything or anyone has ever abandoned me quite so violently. — Ava-Santina (@AvaSantina) March 30, 2022 ikea tottenham is shutting down my life is over what’s the point anymore — soph, msc🪷 (@sophsdayoff) March 30, 2022 IKEA Tottenham closing is

We have more than one reason to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Not only does it mark the 70 years that she’s been on throne, but it’s also the reason we’re getting an extra bank holiday in June. And now we’ve learned that, so we can maximise our jubilation, pubs in London will be allowed to stay open later over the long weekend.  The government has announced that pubs all over England and Wales can extend their closing time to 1am on June 2, 3 and 4 in honour of Her Majesty. In a statement detailing the change in licensing hours, Home Office minister Kit Malthouse, said: ‘The Order being laid before the House today, will apply to premises already licensed until 11pm for the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises, for the provision of late-night refreshment (only where there is also the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises), and for the provision of regulated entertainment in England and Wales.’ For those who don’t speak politician, what that means is that, if your local’s usual last orders are 11pm, it will be able to stay open and keep serving until 1am, giving you ample time to get the pints in for Lizzie.  As well as pubs opening late, there are loads of events taking place to mark the Platinum Jubilee, including the unveiling of a colossal metal dragon. Fortnum & Mason has launched a competition to find a new pudding to commemorate the occasion, which will be judged by Mary Berry, chef Monica Galetti and the Queen’s head chef Mark Flanagan. An

Something strange is afoot in London. Aside from the usual nonsense and foolery that is every day life in the city, people have started noticing a bizarre phenomenon: some of the capital’s iconic red Royal Mail letterboxes have turned pink. And this seems to be happening all over the UK. View this post on Instagram A post shared by C H L O E T A Y L O R (@chloe_taylor_c) Speculation about what has led to this change in colour has been rife. When pink letterboxes appeared in Kilmarnock, Scotland in 2021, the Daily Record reported that Facebook users were wondering whether vandals might have been having some fun with a brush and some pots of paint. There were also suggestions that the new pink colouring meant that the postboxes were designated for Covid-19 tests. However, such theories turned out to be incorrect. Nor was Royal Mail planning a pink rebrand (although it definitely should consider that).  The explanation for the pink letterboxes is fairly straightforward and doesn’t involve any conspiracies or skulduggery. In a statement given to Birmingham Live, Royal Mail said the repainting of the letterboxes is part of an ‘an ongoing programme of postbox maintenance which involves application of a pink primer before the box is repainted in its iconic red’.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emilyn Swag (@emilynswag) This isn’t the first time that letterboxes in the UK have changed colour

Carnaby Street is no stranger to an installation or two, and its latest makeover is a sign that football is, indeed, coming home. To celebrate 100 days until Uefa Women’s Euro England 2022, the iconic shopping promenade has transformed into a giant table football game.  The player models are nine feet tall, suspended five metres above the ground all along Carnaby Street and, unlike on a traditional table, all women. There’s also a regular-sized table football game on the ground that anyone who finds themselves walking down Carnaby Street can play for free.  The installation was unveiled yesterday (March 28), to coincide with tickets to games in the tournament going on sale, by a bunch of football legends including Rio Ferdinand, Millie Bright, Jess Carter, Fara Williams, Kenza Dali, Elz the Witch and Ann-Katrin Berger.  A team of giant female football players bobbing above shoppers’ heads definitely signposts just what a major deal the Women’s Euros are going to be. With 16 nations taking part in the tournament, 31 games will be played at ten venues around England, including in Brighton, Manchester, Milton Keynes and, naturally, London. Ticket-wise, the European Championship, which was due to take place last year but was postponed due to the pandemic, is looking to be a record-breaking event, surpassing 2017’s tournament in the Netherlands. In fact, demand is so high that more than half of the 700,000 tickets available have already been snapped up in various pre-sales, public

Hey cool cats and kittens, the Tiger King is back. Well, sort of: the dramatisation of everyone’s favourite lockdown true-crime story and big cat feud, Joe vs. Carole, has arrived. And like the story it’s based on, it’s wilder than a pride of lions. Starring Saturday Night Live staple Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin and Hedwig and the Angry Inch’s John Cameron Mitchell as Joe Exotic, the show is based on the hit podcast of the same name. Released in the early pandemic days of 2020, the Netflix documentary series, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, told a tale so outlandish that it could only true. Focused on the bitter feud between the eccentric Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida, and Joe Exotic, the larger-than-life owner of G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma, it plunged into the murky world of big cat conservationists and collectors, private zoos and animal sanctuaries, and the mad lengths people go to protect, and profit from, exotic animals. Naturally, it was announced that this true crime story would be getting a mini-series adaptation. And that show, Joe vs. Carole – streaming now on Peacock in the US and Now TV in the UK – is every bit as dramatic, bizarre and out-there as its source material. Here are five wild reasons you should give it a go. 1. The casting is purrfectGiven their ‘unique’ personalities, it would have been easy for Baskin and Exotic to verge on parody here. Thankfully, McKinnon and Cameron Mitchell have found the humanity as well as the hu

さあ、ベルボトムのほこりを払い、厚底ブーツを引っ張り出し、ひげを伸ばして、髪形をフェザーカットにする時だ。なぜかって？　それはあのスウェーデンのポップグループ、ABBAが復活したからだ（ここで「SOS！」と口ずさもう）。それも、単に40年ぶりのアルバムをリリースするためだけではない。1982年の解散以来初めてとなるコンサートも開催される。ただし「ある種」の、だ。 ABBAの音楽へもう一度感謝を伝えられるチャンスが訪れるのは、2022年5月。彼らは、ロンドンのクイーン・エリザベス・オリンピック・パーク近くの専用アリーナで、レジデンス型コンサート『ABBA Voyage』をスタートさせる。10人の生バンドをバックに、『マンマ・ミーア』『ザ・ウィナー』『恋のウォータールー』といった往年のヒット曲をはじめ、プラチナムセールスを獲得しているニューアルバム『Voyage』からの楽曲も披露する予定だ。 アバターでの「没入型デジタルコンサート」 このコンサートついて、一つだけ奇妙なことがある。それは、ABBAのメンバーが「実際には」ステージにいないということ。そう、『ABBA Voyage』は普通のコンサートではないのだ。 『ABBA Voyage』は、いわゆる「没入型デジタルコンサート」。「ダンシングクイーン」であるアグネッタ・フェルツクグとアンニ・フリッド・リングスタッド、楽器演奏を担当し、曲も書くベニー・アンダーソンとビョルン・ウルヴァースらは、デジタルアバターとなり、バーチャルパフォーマンスを行う。この企画のために特別にデザインされたアバターの呼び名は、すばり「ABBAtars」だ。 ABBAtarsは、グループの全盛期だった1970年代のメンバーの姿を踏襲している。60歳代後半から70歳代になった今の彼らではなく、ユーロビジョンを席巻し、その後の50年間で4億枚のレコードを売り上げることになる音楽的レガシーを築き上げ始める頃の彼らだ。 Photograph: ABBA Voyage アバターは「ホログラム」とは違う 実際のスターが登場しない「バーチャール」エンターテインメントというと、コンピューターで生成されたホログラムを使うものを思い出すかもしれない。ホログラムは、2012年の『コーチェラ・フェスティバル』のステージにおいて、その15年前に殺害されたトゥパック・シャクールをよみがえらせることに使われて以来、ライブ音楽業界を騒がせてきた。2014年のビルボード・アワードでは、ホログラムのマイケル・ジャクソンが登場。もうこの世にいないロイ・オービソンやホイットニー・ヒューストンが「ホログラムツアー」を行ったことも記憶に新しい。 故人をデジタルで復活させることについての反応には、驚きと反発が入り混じりがちだ。2016年に他界する前、プリンスはホログラムについて「想像し得る限り最も悪魔的なもの ......そして私は悪魔ではない」と発言。オービソンとヒューストンのツアーに対する評価もさまざまで、ある評論家は、故人の遺産を活用した「悪趣味な換金行為」と評している。 『ABBA Voyage』には本人たちが参加 『ABBA Voyage』に登場するABBAtarsたちは、こうしたコンピューターで生成されたホログラムとは違う。さらに言うと、「故人」をよみがえらせたホログラムではなく、アーティスト本人の参加があるという点で大きく異なるといえる。 このユニークなライブ音楽体験を実現するため、ABBAのメンバーは、2年以上準備してきた。協業したのは、『スター

Throughout my life, I’ve constantly interrogated what exactly ‘queer London’ is. Growing up in the ’90s under the vice of Section 28 (a Thatcherite law prohibiting the ‘promotion of homosexuality’), Soho held an unknowable allure whenever I visited its higgledy-piggledy streets. It maintained that magic as I became a teenager: Soho was where, aged 14, I went alone to my first Pride, only to bump into my biology teacher on Greek Street. I remember the nervous excitement that hummed through me as I walked with the crowd, soaking up the fact that there were so many LGBTQ+ people in London. The first gay club I went to, Ghetto, was tucked away between the Astoria and Soho Square. Like many queer kids who came of age in the 2000s, my gay education began and ended with ‘Queer as Folk’. I devoured both the British and American versions, and believed that – like Manchester and the fictional version of Pittsburgh – each city around the world had its own gay village. In my young mind, London’s was Soho. Photograph: Tim Boddy Naturally, that changed. On a night out with my sister, we (rather naively) went to Fire in Vauxhall. It offered a version of what I’d come to know from Soho, but on steroids. Muscular men danced with their tops off, people were clearly on drugs and it was, for me at least, a little too much – although none of that stopped me going back. When I returned to London after studying in Brighton, wizened a little to the realities of the gay scene, Soho had lost its shi

It’s no secret that independent venues around the UK have struggled this year. Multiple lockdowns have decimated the live-entertainment industry, and according to reports in September more than half of staff at venues across the country have been placed on furlough, with employment in the live entertainment sector falling by 15 percent.  All of this makes initiatives like Independent Venue Week all the more important. Each year, hundreds of grassroots venues across the UK take part in an exciting week of live music that celebrates independent live music venues all around the country, while championing the people that run them and the communities that they foster.  This year, the festival's eighth edition, is kicking off January 25 (that's this Monday). Featuring more than 100 venues, 96 performances, 23 'in conversation with' type thing, some nice panels and even a handful of quizzes, this is well worth your time. Musicians performing include Liam Gallagher, Blossoms, Idles, Bombay Bicycle Club, Sam Smith, DMC and Beverly Knight. Obviously there's loads more besides (including Gruff Rhys playing guitar in what looks like a swamp), so why not just get yourself over to their website and have a look for yourself.  ‘Independent venues are the backbone of live music,’ says the festival's ambassador Arlo Parks. ‘I’m determined to help to support and protect these national treasures.’  Much-loved London venues being used for performances and interviews next week include The Clapham

The BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival has been cancelled, representatives from the BFI have confirmed today.  As of last week, the status of the festival, which was due to kick off on Wednesday and run until March 29, was business as usual. However, given the situation in the country regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision was made that the festival would not take place.  ‘It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that, due to the scale and complexity of running a large international film festival with filmmakers set to travel from across the world, the BFI has taken the very difficult decision to cancel the 2020 edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival as the Covid-19 pandemic rapidly evolves,’ said a statement.  ‘BFI Flare is a very special and long-standing festival with a loyal and dedicated following and we realise that this is a very disappointing situation for audiences, our staff and festival teams and all of the incredibly talented and passionate filmmakers involved.’ However, the BFI did note that it is looking at ‘ways of sharing some elements of BFI Flare digitally’. More information will be available over the next few days. BFI Southbank remains open and operational.  To keep track of cancelled events in London, click here.  Don’t miss your queer film fix. Here’s our list of the best LGBTQ+ films. 

For 34 years, BFI Flare has prided itself on showcasing the best in queer cinema – and 2020’s edition is no different. Kicking off on March 18, the festival has just announced a line-up that includes more than 60 feature films, heaps of special screenings, short films and events, and, of course, the now infamous BFI Flare club nights.  Opening the festival is ‘Cicada’ from writer, director and star Matthew Fifer. Following the non-committal and transient bisexual Ben as he meets handsome stranger Sam, the film is an open and honest look at intimacy and confronting trauma. From the short preview shown at BFI Flare’s launch event, the film looks like it could easily become a quiet and contemplative queer classic, like Andrew Haigh’s ‘Weekend’ or Ira Sachs’s ‘Keep the Lights On’.  The festival will close with ‘Summerland’, a World War II romance starring Gemma Arterton about a woman nursing a broken heart, while the centrepiece screening is ‘Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen’, a documentary about transgender representation in TV and film.  The festival is split into three themes – Hearts, Minds and Bodies – with many films reflecting a spirit of activism, resistance and rebellion. Highlights include Xavier Dolan’s ‘Matthias & Maxime’, the Henry Golding-starring ‘Monsoon’ from ‘Lilting’ director Hong Khaou, ‘Lingua Franca’, the story of a transwoman navigating life as an immigrant in New York, and the hilarious looking ‘Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt)’ about a lesbian teenage