Here’s some ideas for ways to make your London stay that little bit more special this August. Our hand picked events take in some of the best happenings and locations, giving you a real taste of London life when you stay with us at Euston Square Hotel…
Situated at 48 Doughty Street, Camden, Dickens’s London home from 1837-1839, the house opened to the public in 1925 and houses a significant collection linked to Dickens and his works. It’s an intriguing look at this world famous author and social justice pioneer.
Today the Charles Dickens Museum is set up as though Dickens himself had just left. It appears as a fairly typical middle-class Victorian home, complete with furnishings, portraits and decorations which are known to have belonged to Dickens. A visit to the museum allows you to step back into 1837 and to see a world which is at once both intimately familiar, yet astonishingly different. A world in which one of the greatest writers in the English language, found his inspiration. It’s here that he wrote Oliver Twist.
In addition to being open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, here’s some of their events for August:
August 3rd and 24th – Oh Poo! Workshop – This wonderfully weird family day is brilliant fun, and a great way to inspire your kids. Follow the toilet trail, dress up as a Victorian servant and play family parlour games. Keep an eye out for the resident hedgehog, Billy Spikes!
August 13th – The Great Dickens Adventure – Join a walking tour, and seek out the real places in London which inspired so many of Dickens’s remarkable stories
August 17th, 18th and 19th – Pickwick’s Incredible Family Adventure! – Taking place over three consecutive days in the summer holidays, Pickwick’s Incredible Family Adventure! will allow families to join Pickwick on a journey back in time to discover what life was really like in Victorian England
August 24th – A Guided Evening Tour – Begin your evening with a complimentary glass of wine in the courtyard garden or café, before stepping back in time to experience the historic home of Charles Dickens with one of the museum’s experienced guides.
See their site for details: Dickensmuseum.com
One of London’s larger and long standing music venues, the O2 Forum Kentish Town sees a wide variety of larger acts tread the boards in front of eager fans. This multi level venue is also quite something inside, being one of the UK’s best preserved, original cinematic theatres.
It was originally built as an Art Deco cinema in 1934 by Herbert Yapp, a cinema magnate who also owned the Forum cinemas in Ealing and Fulham and the architect was J. Stanley Beard with interior design managed by his partner W.R. Bennett. The period features are all breathtaking in their own right.
In recent years, O2 Forum Kentish Town has seen some legendary performers take to the stage including, Dave Grohl and Sound City players, Jack White, Rihanna, Bobby Womack, Justin Timberlake and KISS.
Some of this month’s acts include:
August 6th – Alec Benjamin – Singer-songwriter, Alec Benjamin tours his stunning, sophomore album ‘(Un)commentary’
August 11th – Noah Cyrus – Multi-platinum selling, GRAMMY® Award-nominated songstress, Noah Cyrus tours her debut album, ‘The Hardest Part’
August 18th – Flogging Molly – Armed with a fistful of rousing songs that are timeless in sentiment, their live shows are nothing short of legendary
August 29th – ROLE MODEL: TouRX 2022 World Tour – Role Model – aka Tucker Pillsbury – heads to the UK on his first ever “TOURx 2022” world tour, in celebration of his dynamic debut album, ‘Rx’
See the venue site for full listings and details O2 Forum Kentish Town
One of London’s most unusual small venues with a rich and varied 27 year history of amazing events and exhibitions. Expect the unexpected.
“There’s not another venue like it on the planet. The Horse Hospital, crouched there in Bloomsbury on Colonnade’s chopped-off corner since the 18th century, engulfs the visitor on entry in its cask-aged atmospherics, otherworldly and unique. Adjusting psychologically to gentle gradients where stairs had been expected, a bipedal modern clientele descends into the building’s clattering history amongst the steaming ghosts of carriage-horses, tired and worn out, hackneyed, to an exhibition and performance space that is anything but…” – Alan Moore
Here’s some of the calendar for August:
August 3rd – Raid R. Issue 4 Launch Event – Raid.R magazine celebrates the launch of their 4th issue with an evening of art and performance at The Horse Hospital, featuring contributions from Annie Watkins, Caitlin Dawkes, Charles O’Brien, Jade Baldo, Kashish Saini, Laurie Luna Martin, Thomas Holland, TL Walker.
August 11-24th – Nina Porter: meet me there – An exhibition of new work by Nina Porter. Silent Pact will bring together residual works of film, objects, and drawings made by Nina Porter over the past year.
Time and space, sense and orientation agree to exist finally, within the same dimensions.
August 25th – Nina Porter and Kobby Adi: meet me here – A screening of films by Friedl vom Gröller and John Smith, alongside new works by Nina Porter and Kobby Adi.
Don’t miss a visit to this iconic London avant garde institution. Find more details HERE.