With the cold creeping in and nights getting darker, it’s finally time to settle into cosy evenings. November’s list of events lets you practically and emotionally prepare for the busy festive season with arts and crafts workshops, restorative meditation sessions, and indulgent evenings filled with music, art, and theatre. You’ll be spoilt for choice!

Tuesdays

Taco Tuesdays

The Pilgrim Pub in Kennington and Vauxhall is famed as one of the best venues for live sports. Their beer garden with retractable roof has two large and two medium screens suited to rain or shine. It’s a proper local pub and their taco Tuesdays make it even more of a must-go. Every single Tuesday, sit back, relax, and dig into tacos priced at just £2.50 each. Thank us later. 

2.30pm – 4.30pm | The Pilgrim Pub, SE11 5QU | Free

Throughout November

Small Business Saturday Tour

The Small Business Saturday Digital Tour is back as part of the general tour which sees the team calling at 23 different towns and cities across the UK throughout November to spotlight and support small businesses. The digital tour offers a free daily programme of online events including workshops, webinars, mentoring, and entrepreneurial stories to give small businesses a helping hand and a much-needed boost.

10.00am – 2.00pm | Online | Free

Thursday 2nd

Hyrox Launch Event

Gym enthusiasts, this one’s for you. Sleven Fitness is hosting its very first Hyrox Simulation. For those of you who don’t know, Hyrox is a global fitness race that combines functional strength training, high intensity interval training, and endurance training for the ultimate gym challenge. The simulation will be programmed for pairs and will last between 45 – 60 minutes. Come already paired or solo and you’ll be found a partner in the heats. Interspersed with runs, the simulation will start with an 800m run, followed by a 1000m ski erg, 100 line facing burpees, 1000m row, 100 wall balls, and 2000m BikeErg, before finishing off with 100 kettlebell lunges. 

From 5.30pm | Sleven Fitness, SE1 7TP | £12 – £25

Sunday 5th

Strollers Social

Settle into a wholesome day out ahead of the Bonfire Night festivities at one of the oldest and most central city farms. Vauxhall City Farm’s Strollers Social is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and to get some peace and quiet surrounded by the wonders of the countryside. Whether you’ve been before or it’s your first time, the guided tour will show you all the best bits of the farm this November. Refreshments will follow the tour at 4.30pm in the McLaren House Common Room. 

1.00pm – 4.00pm | Vauxhall City Farm, SE11 5HS | Free

Thursday 9th

The Planets in Imagination – Mars, Jupiter, Saturn

This is the second event of a three-part series exploring the planets, as part of a collaboration between Invisible College and the British Interplanetary Society. Speakers Noah Kumin, Jacob Phillips, and Nina Power will host three short presentations discussing planetary history, art history, myth, and philosophy relating to Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. An evening for those looking to brush up on some atmospheric academic knowledge that’ll put you in the mood for darker nights ahead of the Christmas season. 

7.00pm – 9.00pm | British Interplanetary Society, SW8 1SZ | £10

Friday 10th

Rest & Restore with Paula Hines

With the weather getting that bit colder and the nights getting that bit darker, why not treat yourself to a much-needed soothing evening of relaxation to round off the week? Paula Hines hosts an evening of contemplative practices designed to regulate your nervous system and restore your equilibrium. With the aim of leaving you rested, calm, and uplifted, the session, which is grounded in restorative yoga, incorporates yin, breathing practices, meditation, and guided relaxation for the ultimate zen experience. 

7.00pm – 8.30pm | Embody Wellness, SW8 2LE | £20

Saturday 11th

The Magic of Opera

An evening of sensory delights, GS Wines presents the Magic of Opera 2023, a gala concert of classical music and operatic arias paired with a tasting of Italian wines. Lithuanian Soprano Vaiva Datenyté and Perth-born tenor Roberto Abate will be joined by emerging talents, tenor Joshua Furtado Mendes, mezzo-soprano Andrea Rodriguez-Gomez, award-winning baritone Tey Kamal, and soprano Daisy Livesey for an evening of songs by great Italian composers including Puccini and Verdi. 

5.00pm – 8.30pm | St Peter’s Vauxhall, SE11 5HY | £26.16

Sunday 12th

Introduction to Screenprint

Learn a new skill ahead of Christmas and create a whole host of handmade gifts and cards for your loved ones. Screenprinting is a simple, accessible way to produce a repeated graphic image or photograph on paper or fabric. The process involves forcing ink through the mesh of a screen using a squeegee. With the use of paper stencils and digitally printed positives, you’ll learn how to screenprint your own images and patterns. Gain a foundational practical knowledge that you’ll be able to put to use again and again.

10.00am – 4.00pm | Bainbridge Print Vauxhall, SE11 3RB | £95

Saturday 18th

Autumn Family Rewilding

Those who joined Phoebe Collings-James to make a clay plant pot in October can now collect them as they return from being fired in the Mudgang Pottery kiln. Otherwise settle into a seasonal day of making original Christmas gifts, decorations, and cards, as well as preparing for the upcoming Winter and Spring seasons by making winter bird feeders, spring bulb pots, festive seed bombs, and orange pomanders with artists Minna Haukka, Ella Joy Nelson, Ellis Parkinson, and horticulturalist Lucy Gregory. Keep an eye out on their website closer to the day for timings. 

Beaconsfield, SE11 6AY

Sunday 19th

Horse Meat Disco 20-Year Celebration

For 20 years, Horse Meat Disco has been the stalwart of Sunday nights in Vauxhall. The nights have become a thing of legend, known high and low as a queer party for everyone. This November, their 20-year celebration party is going to be no different and promises to be bigger and better than ever, welcoming special guests The Patchouli Brothers, as well as Jim, James, and Severino. Tickets for entry before 10pm are limited but completely free, otherwise, standard tickets can be bought for £8. If there’s ever been a good reason to be a bit sleepy on a Monday…

8.00pm – 3.00am | Eagle, SE11 5QY | Free – £8

Thursday 23rd

The Handbag Factory Launch Event 

The new affordable creative coworking space which includes event hire and an art gallery opened its doors last month. To celebrate the opening, Artists Studio Company (ASC) which manages the space is putting on an exhibition that will feature works by ASC artists and makers. ASC is a charity dedicated to providing affordable creative workspaces to artists across London and the exhibition will be a celebration of the architectural design and heritage of the new building. The event is a perfect opportunity to connect with the coworking community, as well as a wide network of local creatives, businesses, and organisations. 

6.00pm – 9.00pm | The Handbag Factory, SE11 5RB | Free

Saturday 25th 

Christmas Wreath Workshops

The perfect way to get in the festive spirit, these Christmas wreath-making workshops allow you to create your own wreath from scratch using a variety of seasonal foliage. The workshops run for two hours and include a demonstration, tuition, all the materials, and even some cosy festive refreshments. Book a place sooner rather than later as they only run until 4th December. 

From 10.00am – 6.30pm | Windmill Flowers, SE11 5DW | £55

Tuesday 28th 

Tossed – RVT Panto

Kicking off the very beginning of the Christmas season is RVT’s much-loved panto. Running from November until the first week of January, the show tells the story of what happened after Jack slayed the giant and felled the beanstalk. Joined by a cast of hilarious characters including his pushy showbiz mother, an impish sorcerer, a talking cow, and the giant’s daughter Gina T, it’s bound to leave you with a stitch from laughing. Settle into a night of hit songs and hilarity courtesy of Vauxhall’s much-loved queer venue. 

7.00pm – 11.45pm | Royal Vauxhall Tavern, SE11 5HY | £18 – £23

Wednesday 29th 

Christmas in Little Portugal

It’s time to let the streets twinkle! Little Portugal welcomes the Christmas festivities by adding that little bit of sparkle to their streets. As well as switching on the Christmas tree lights, storefronts will be decorated to the nines, and businesses will be open until 9pm. It’s the perfect way to get in the Christmas spirit ahead of December. 

From 6.00pm | Little Portugal | Free

Thursday 30th 

Vauxhall Christmas Lights Switch On

Christmas finally and officially arrives in Vauxhall with the sparkly and festive Christmas light switch on. From 5pm, cosy up with hot chocolates and a pastel de nata, served piping hot and delicious. Count down with us at 5:15 when the big button press will bring twinkling lights to the streets of Vauxhall. To finish the evening, settle down to listen to the Boury Academy and Real Voices sing. Merry Christmas season!

5.00pm – 6.00pm | Vauxhall | Free