You may not want to think about it, but it's almost September. Never fear, London always puts on a last flurry of events and activities and happenings before the nights draw in, and we're all invited. Here's my weekend by weekend guide to free September delights.
All month
» Totally Thames (Sep 1-30): There was a time when the Mayor's Thames Festival filled the South Bank across an entire weekend and lit up the evening sky. No more. Now we get a whole month of events, many of them ticketed, ranging from walks to art to boat trips. In good news they've updated the presentation of the website's events section this year so it's not quite so frustrating to trawl through for one-off treats.
» Lambeth Heritage Festival (Sep 1-30): Dozens of talks, walks and openings across the borough, notably featuring Lambeth Palace, Brixton Windmill and the National Theatre (and a proper brochure to flick through, bliss).
Weekend 1: August 31/September 1
» Clapham Old Town Fair (Sat, 12-5): Featuring the London Fire Brigade, a fairground and the Clapham Mutts dog show.
» Camberwell Fair (Sat, 12-9): Music, food and market food, squished into Camberwell Green. Expect queueing.
» Chingfest (Sat, 1-9): Family-friendly music festival in Ridgeway Park, all part of #wfculture19.
» Angel Canal Festival (Sun, 11-5): Waterside gaiety beside City Road Lock, now in its 34th year. Expect the Mayor of Islington to arrive by narrowboat.
» Brentford Festival (Sun, 12-6): Live tunes, stalls and another dog show, for the 15th consecutive year, in Blondin Park W5.
» Palmers Green Festival (Sun, 12-7): All the fun of music on the green, yet another dog show and dozens of community stalls, in Broomfield Park N13.
Weekend 2: September 7/8
» Lambeth Local History Fair (Sat, from 10.15): A coming-together of local societies, heritage organisations, friends groups and local history publishers.
» St Katharine Docks Classic Boat Festival (Sat, Sun, 11-6): Annual gathering of small boats near Tower Bridge. Includes a visit by the Barnet Hill Lifeboat Crew Shanty Singers.
» Thames Tidefest (Sun, 9.30-5.30): River-based activities scattered between Brentford and Chiswick, with a particular marquee-focus at Strand-on-the-Green, W4.
» Hackney Carnival (Sun, 11-7): Not of Notting Hill proportions, but follow the feathers and sound systems along the revised route (or hang out in the hubs off Mare Street).
Weekend 3: September 14/15
» Heritage Open Days (Thu-Sun): Once again this year, TWO weekends when hundreds of buildings that aren't usually open are open. Most are outside London but 68 are in the capital, including the Crystal Palace Subway (Sat), tours of Kingston Guildhall and free entry to The Charterhouse.
» Mitcham Heritage Day (Sat, 10-4.30): Several buildings around the conservation area will be open, including the dovecote and cricket pavilion. I went last year, so can recommend.
» The Great River Race (Sat, 11.20-2.30): 300 craft engage in a spectacular paddle up the Thames from Docklands to Richmond.
» Scadbury Open Weekend (Sat, Sun, 2-4.30): Archaeological excavations, and refreshments, at the moated medieval manor house near the Sidcup bypass.
» Bermondsey Street Festival (Sat, 11-6): A designery "village fête", plus the obligatory dog show, plus city farm, plus food and stalls.
» Hidden River Festival (Sat, 12-6): In its seventh year, a music festival and family funday on the banks of the New River at Woodberry Down.
» London Design Festival (continues until next weekend): Hundreds of design-er events will be taking place across the capital, including several landmark projects, and based in eleven on-trend clusters. The programme's so vast you'll have to look hard for the best bits.
Weekend 4: September 21/22
» Heritage Open Days (Thu-Sun): Weekend two.
» Open House London (Sat, Sun): The grand-daddy of architectural festivals, with hundreds of weird and wonderful buildings throwing open their doors across the capital. The price of the printed guide rises to £10 on Monday, but Alasdair's excellent summary list is available for free here. A list of all the buildings which require pre-booking can be found here. As ever there's far too much to choose from, but if you need some inspiration here are my reports from 2016, 2017 and 2018 Be there, or regret it for the subsequent 52 weeks.
» London Car Free Day (Sun): Most of the City will be closed to vehicles, which sounds fun, while 22 other boroughs organise active-travel-friendly events.
» Chiswick House Dog Show (Sun, 11-5): Celebrity judges give the hounds of W4 the runaround.
Weekend 5: September 28/29
» Thames Barrier Closure (Sun, 8.10-6.10): Annual all-day maintenance closure (peaking around high tide at 1.45pm). Come and see water piled up on one side only (while it's only a practice).
» Regatta London (Sun): ...and while the Barrier's shut, come watch folk kayak, canoe, paddleboard or row 12 miles down the Thames.
» Woolmen’s Sheep Drive and Wool Fair (Sun, 10-5): Michael Portillo is the celeb leading this year's first tranche over London Bridge. Come too for wool-related trade stalls, lamb burgers and a bar on a bus.
» Japan Matsuri (Sun, 10-8): Music, martial arts and dance, a bit of origami, and the best of Japanese gastronomy, in Trafalgar Square.
» Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival (Sun, 12.30pm): Cockney royalty circles the City from Guildhall Yard to St Mary-le-Bow.
