Things To Do In London This Weekend: Feb 23 - 25
You've waited five days – better make these two count
Three days of fun, incoming
FASHION: London Fashion Week Festival
London Fashion Week is tough work. Really, it is. Not only do we have to sit and watch the fabulous fashion of the future on the catwalk (sigh), we then have to hobnob with style icons (double sigh) AND quaff on champagne (triple sigh). The horror of it all. Don't believe us? Well come try it for yourself at LFW Festival at Store Studios – where you'll be subjected to runway shows by the likes of Jamie Wei Huang and Nicopanda, talks by industry experts including Daphne Guinness, Orla Kiely and ELLE's own Harriet Stewart, and fizz from the Pommery Champagne Bar – and see how YOU like it.
22-25 Feb;
London Fashion Week Festival, The Store Studios, 180 Strand, WC2R
THEATRE: Girls & Boys
Carey Mulligan is having a moment. Sure, she's had plenty of moments – winning a Bafta for An Education, say; or getting off with the Gosling in Drive. But, just as her BBC drama Collateral is the show everyone's talking about, she's also now starring in a one-woman play at The Royal Court – meaning that this is a Moment with a capital 'M'. Written by Dennis Kelly (Matilda the Musical), Girls & Boys sees Ms Mulligan portray one side of an unravelling marriage – calling into question the nature of gender, violence and 'domestic bliss'. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll come away with one hell of a woman-crush.
Until 17 March; from £12
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, Chelsea, London SW1W 8AS
£12 Monday tickets go in sale at 9am every Monday during the run.
POP-UP: Poon's
It's a family aff-a-a-i-r, it's a family aff-air-air-air. Now that we've fixed that song firmly in your head (no need to thank us), allow us to introduce new Chinese pop-up Poon's. Or should we say old Chinese pop-up Poon's – because this is a revival of the legendary Michelin-starred Covent Garden restaurant, which closed in 2006 but is now being brought back for a three-month stint by the founder's daughter, Amy Poon. She'll be serving classic dishes alongside new additions based on family recipes; including claypot rice with wind-dried bacon, Hakka pork belly and DIY hotpots on Sundays. Book in quick – then get back to singing Sly & The Family Stone.
Poon's Pop-Up, 131-133 Central Street, Clerkenwell, EC1V 8AP
SHOW: Ovo by Cirque du Soleil
Listen up people – you have two weekends left - just two – to catch the extraordinary Cirque du Soleil doing their mind-blowing, acrobatic thing in the Royal Albert Hall. This season's extravaganza, Ovo, transports you into an exuberant insect world with a heart-warmingly romantic bug meets bug tale. Expect a riot of colour, aerial tricks, gymnastic feats and general awesomeness. And just when you think things can't get any better, you'll discover the brand new Laurent Perrier bar in the Grand Tier.
Ovo, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington. Tickets from £52.23
FOOD: Feast Canteen
Canteens usually get a bad rap. This is because a) they're usually to be found somewhere you don't want to be (work/school/prison) and b) they usually serve beige foodstuffs of an indiscriminate nature. But this isn't your average canteen – oh, no. This is FEAST canteen. Newly opened in Hammersmith's King's Mall, it's reinventing the whole food-court concept by hosting kiosks from only the hippest London restaurants – we're talking burger dons Patty & Bun, pizza supremos Made of Dough, the unstoppable Breddos Tacos and Dalston favourite Salvation in Noodles. All in one stylishly decked out food court. Efficient. So go, see if you can get round 'em all – and embrace the elasticated waistband.
Now open
Feast Canteen, Kings Mall, King Street, Hammersmith, W6 9HW
DRINK: Craft Beer Rising
And there was us thinking that craft beer had already risen; being, as it is, the drink of choice in the bars and pubs of London's hippest locales. But this event proves that, no, there is yet further to go. Taking over Brick Lane's Old Truman Brewery for a sixth annual celebration of all things artisanally brewed, this year's Craft Beer Rising is the biggest yet, with 175 varieties (count 'em) on tap, along with fine ciders, rums and whiskies, plus DJ sets (Krafty Kuts, Don Letts, Massive Attack's Daddy G…) and street food. Craft beer: world domination next.
22-24 Feb; from £15
Craft Beer Rising, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London E1 6QR
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