What's On - Culture Challenge

There's plenty to see and do in the Docklands area

5 Events in 5 Days

South East London is brimming with cultural events and exhibitions this summer and the Docklands Light Railway is challenging commuters to visit five events or exhibitions in five lunchtimes or evenings.

Instead of eating lunch at your desk, or going straight home after work, why not pop by a local exhibition or outdoor concert? There’s plenty going on throughout June and July and the latest getoutmore guide details some of the cultural events taking place. The guide is available at DLR stations.

We have taken the liberty of putting an itinerary together for you. It mentions just a few events to choose from that are taking place in the week beginning Monday 16 June and challenges you to do five events in five days. Go on – fill your world with culture!

Monday, 16 June

• The Spitalfields Festival is taking place between the 2 and 20 June and will involve three summer weeks of great entertainment, filling London’s East End streets and venues with music.
• Photographic Lightboxes by Catherine Yass are currently on display in Canary Wharf.

Tuesday, 17 June

• Fusion, an exhibition showing at Trinity Buoy Wharf in the Electrician’s Basement, will be showcasing an exciting end of year MA show by a group of emerging artists.
• Tuesday nights at the Oliver’s Jazz Bar in Greenwich are known as ‘The Twist @ Olivers’.
• Diva Eve will be performing at The Space, Westferry Road at 8.00pm. Rumoured to have the witty rock of Alanis Morisette and a bit of Madonna’s cool pop.

Wednesday, 18 June

• If you fancy something more classical, the Grand Union Orchestra will be playing Now Comes the Dragon’s Hour as part of the Spitalfields Festival at 7.30pm at Christ Church.
• Blues Jam at the Heathcoate Arms will be taking place, as it does every Wednesday.
• Returning to the scene of London’s most infamous crimes in Jack the Ripper and the East End, this exhibition at Museum in Docklands is the first to explore the murders and their enduring legacy.

Thursday, 19 June

• As part of the festival, there will be mystery ‘Music in the Market’ in Bishops Square, Spitalfields Market at 1.00pm.
• Free Range, one of the world's largest art fairs, shows the work of recently graduated art and design students from 45 colleges, spread over 11 acres at the Old Truman Brewery and on display throughout June and July.
• Each Thursday, Theatre of Wine holds wine tasting at its shop in Greenwich (77 Trafalgar Rd).

Friday, 20 June

• At 6.00pm, the Srishti Dance Company will be putting on a free performance of Bend It… an energetic fusion of Football and South Asian dance.
• At IndigO2, Gari Glaysher will be playing with special guests Craig Ogden, Eliza Emery, Robyn Sevastos and Rebecca Naomi Watson.
• The Lizzie Roper Peccadillo Circus will be performing at 8.00pm at Stratford Circus.

Great Music Venues

• Cargo is fast making a name for itself in ultra-trendy Hoxton. Set against an urban décor of stripped-down natural materials and bare bricks, the up-for-it crowd have turned out in force for superstar DJs and hip bands. The 1 o’clock finish makes it the ideal pre-club venue… if you can tear yourself away. more info...
• Cargo is fast making a name for itself in ultra-trendy Hoxton. Set against an urban décor of stripped-down natural materials and bare bricks, the up-for-it crowd have turned out in force for superstar DJs and hip bands. The 1 o’clock finish makes it the ideal pre-club venue… if you can tear yourself away. more info...
• Brick Lane is metamorphasising into the place to hang out. And Vibe Bar has got it all: cool venue, innovative DJs, film showings, Sunday lunches, weekend late opening and a chilled out kind of crowd. Shoreditch tube
• The Amersham Arms, New Cross. The Amersham Arms is one of the best if not the best regular live music venues in SE London, with acoustic acts in the bar and new bands out back - on a Friday its known as the Catapult Club (£6 gets you in for 3 quality bands, acoustic support and a decent DJ). 388, New Cross Rd, London, SE14 6TY. Greenwich DLR
• 93 Feet East. A cracking music venue on London’s hippest street, Brick Lane, a bar come club with three brightly decorated rooms as well as a roof terrace – perfect for summer evenings. Offering some of the best music nights in East London, this bar is well worth a visit. Plenty of funky lighting affects to amaze and amuse the regular punter, lots of seating (with cushions!) in the main bar area. This place gets very packed on the weekends

More Great Cultural Events

• Comment Art - Comment Art is the perfect information source for the small hidden-away spaces of contemporary art in east London. Comment Art publish the quarterly East London Art Map, a free, comprehensive guide that encourages discovery of east London as an exciting place to live, work and visit. Listing over three hundred art galleries, public art installations, studios and art schools. The map is downloadable from www.commentart.com
  
• Trinity Buoy Wharf - Trinity Buoy Wharf is located on the North bank of the River Thames. Primarily used in the 1800’s for manufacturing buoys and docking lightships, it is now becoming a thriving place for the arts and cultural enterprise. Trinity Buoy Wharf also houses London’s only lighthouse, designed in 1863 for Michael Faraday, and inventive studio space made from shipping containers. The site is exceptional and has amazing views of the Thames and London from the lighthouse. It is open to the public all year round and there is rehearsal and performance space available. Nearest station DLR: East India.
  
• Hackney spice festival - Following the huge success of The Spice Festival 2006, this years Hackney arts showcase will feature over fifty events in and around the Hackney Empire including Music, Art, Comedy, Drama, Fashion, Roller Skating, Film, Clubbing, Literature, Food, Comedy, Dance, Cabaret, Puppetry, Poetry & Dance. This year, for two weeks only, we have the fantastic addition of the Spice House Roller Disco. Once again “Spice on the Square” will be back, this year on Sunday 15th July featuring a huge market of work from designers and makers from Hackney with fantastic food and entertainment from all over the world all with that touch of carnival spice.
• First Thursdays - Late Night Gallery and Museum Openings - First Thursdays – Late Night Gallery openings in east London is an exciting new opportunity for late night viewing of some of east London's top art galleries and museums. Launching on Thursday 3rd May 2007, First Thursdays opens up some of the most cutting-edge contemporary art galleries and popular museums across east London until 9pm on the First Thursday of every month. East London is home to thousands of artists and over 160 galleries. First Thursdays is a late night chance to see and invest in art, creating a new social and cultural experience in one of the most vibrant destinations in London. First Thursdays will also present special events and free exhibition previews together with free specially created tours. First Thursdays is organised by Whitechapel and Parasol Unit and other participating galleries include: Ancient & Modern, Barbican Art Gallery, Bloomberg Space, Chisenhale, The Drawing Room, Hauser & Wirth Coppermill, Herald Street, Hotel, Kate MacGarry, Matt's Gallery, Museum in Docklands, Museum of London, Victoria Miro, and Vilma Gold Various venues in east London, E1, E14, E2, EC2. find out more...
• City of Stories - 29th March 2008 until 31st August 2008
  A new multi-sensory exhibition in the Story Den at this fantastic storytelling centre in Stratford East, City of Stories celebrates East London's characters and history through the real life stories of its residents. They're a well-travelled bunch, bringing tales from Albania, Bangladesh, Somalia, Poland and London. With music and installations by artist Cathy Wren, the multi-sensory part really lifts the words from the page to appeal to kids - something Discover does consistently well.
• July 7 IndigO2 - Mick Hucknall – Tribute To Bobby Doors open at 7:00pm / £40
• Motor Show Music Festival - 23rd July 2008 until 2nd August 2008 ExCel London Exhibition Centre, 1 Western Gateway, Newham, London, E16 1XL

For more events, or more details on the above listed events, please click here