08/09/2026
We’ve been looking into some thing to look forward to nnow that autumn is here. These events feel particularly worth saving in your calendar — three completely different rooms, but each one built on the same idea: creativity, connection and a genuinely good time that doesn’t need to hinge on drinking. Here’s what’s on our radar and why each one made the cut.
First up is the Peckham & Nunhead Free Film Festival (Peckham & Nunhead Free Film Festival), because there’s something genuinely lovely about a festival that hands its programme entirely to volunteers and community spaces rather than big sponsors. Ten days of totally free screenings in gardens, pubs and car park rooftops across SE15 — proof that a great creative outlet doesn’t need a ticket price attached.
Then there’s Black to the Future (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park), the closing weekend of The Music is Black Festival at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Free, genre-bending and curated by FLOHIO, it’s built around Afrofuturism and reimagining what Black British sound can be — the kind of ambitious, inclusive programming worth shouting about, not just showing up to.
And finally, Ecstatic Dance London (Ecstatic Dance London) — because if you’ve never danced for two hours straight with zero alcohol involved, cacao ceremony included, it genuinely reframes what a big night out can feel like. No booze, no pretence, just movement.
Three very different rooms, one shared thread: these will be good days.
