Free And Cheap Things To Do In London This Week: 4-10 August 2025
Things to do for a fiver or less.
Budget-friendly things to do in London this week for £5 or less.
Looking for more free things to do in London? Here are 102 of em! We've also compiled this epic map of free stuff in London, and have a helpful guide to where to see art in London for free, and where you can catch cheap and free comedy.
See photos from all over the world
The Royal Photographic Society opens the 166th edition of its International Photography Exhibition, a free show on display at Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea. View contemporary photos from all over the world by 51 different photographers, including this year's winners Lydia Goldblatt and Keerthana Kunnath, on a range of topics and themes.
Free, 5 August-20 September.
Catch a free concert of Coldplay songs
Ahead of Coldplay's concerts at Wembley Stadium later this month, catch a free rendition of their greatest hits reimagined for string quartet at the Sound Shell in Wembley Park on Wednesday evening. The City String Quartet covers tracks including Fix You, Paradise, Clocks, Yellow, and A Sky Full of Stars. Arrive early for the best seats.
Free, 6 August.
Take the kids to a free Play Day
Get the kids out of the house for a free day of family-friendly activities.
Coram's Fields in Bloomsbury — famous for being a place where no adults are allowed without accompanying children — hosts PlayDay 2025, its annual celebration of children's right to play. The free event includes live music, roaming performers, inflatables, creative workshops, sensory zones, animal encounters and sports challenges.
Find other free things to do with children in London in the summer holidays.
Free, 6 August.
Watch a screening of the Dr Strangelove play for free
We gave the West End run of Dr Strangelove — starring Steve Coogan as four different characters — ★★★★☆ when it came out in 2024. Though the show's long wrapped up, there's a chance to watch it on a big screen in Devonshire Square near Liverpool Street this Thursday from 5.45pm-8pm. It's free, but you must confirm your spot by emailing frontdesk@dsq.london
Free, 7 August.
See the latest installation at Somerset House
The latest installation opening in the courtyard at Somerset House on Thursday is Tai Shani's The Spell or The Dream. It features a luminous blue figure caught in a suspended state atop a plinth, accompanied by a newly commissioned soundscape, and aims to provoke a discussion around how we can build a better future together.
It's one of our art critic's picks for the best exhibitions to see in London this summer.
Free, 7 August-14 September
Watch a free performance in the streets
Drag-on-A-I-meme-drag — an outdoor performance drawing on science fiction, Hollywood cinema and folk tradition — takes place in the street outside the Photographers' Gallery, near Oxford Circus.
London-based collaboration and performance fiction group Plastique Fantastique use songs, sonic improvisation and storytelling, as well as masked enactments, to address meme cultures and their social effects. It's inspired by the gallery's current Felicity Hammond: V3 Model Collapse exhibition, about the relationship between geological mining and data mining, and image-making and machine learning
Register on the website for further updates about the free performance.
Free, 8 August.
Enjoy free live music at Battersea Power Station
The park in front of Battersea Power Station hosts a free afternoon of live music on Saturday. Plugged In at Battersea Power Station showcases six talented local acts spanning indie rock, pop, and funk, including folk-punk singer Alex Comaish and modern indie-rock singer Broken Hertz. Bag yourself a deckchair or a spot on the grass to sit down and enjoy the performances.
Free, 9 August
See West End stars performing for free
Meanwhile, over in King's Cross, An Evening Of Songs From The Shows brings together West End stars for a free live show. Part of the ongoing (free!) Summer Sounds series, Daniel Boys (King George III in the touring version of Hamilton) is one of the main performers, with tunes from 15 different shows featured. It's likely to be popular, so get there in plenty of time if you want a spot near the front.
Free, 9 August.
Celebrate South Asian Heritage Month in Camden
Camden Market marks South Asian Heritage Month with a Bollywood Mela Weekend. Head to Hawley Wharf for traditional and contemporary dance performances, live music, family crafts, a tuk tuk and rickshaw display, giant walkabout puppets, henna and face painting.
Free, 9-10 August
See what's on at Summer by the River
A reminder that free entertainment festival Summer by the River continues all month, on the South Bank of the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. There's something happening most days, from free film screenings to music quizzes, to live music including choir performances.
Free, until 30 August.