Psst! Join Londonist for a party in a brewery on Wednesday 12 June — to celebrate our 20th!
Wednesday: if you squint hard enough, you can just about make out the weekend in the far distance. But there's still a way to go, so you should probably treat yourself to drinks/night out/activity. Maybe you call Wednesday hump day. Maybe the phrase 'hump day' makes you a bit sick in your mouth. Either way, here're our surefire guide to keeping yourself entertained on a Wednesday in London.
GO ON A GUIDED TOUR: "A Wednesday in London sets me up again and starts me," Charles Dickens once almost said (he didn't specifically cite Wednesday but y'know.) Lots of guided tours take place every Wednesday in London, including City Guides' walk in the footsteps of Charles Dickens. Other Wednesday walks are themed around The Waste Land, the Beatles and hidden pubs.
LAP UP A LUNCHTIME CONCERT: Westminster Cathedral hosts 30-minute lunchtime concerts every Wednesday starting at 1.15pm — and they're free to enjoy.
SHIMMY TO SALSA: Rumba Latina UK shimmies into Boxpark Wembley every other Wednesday, offering up a beginners' class, an improvers' class — and ending on a social dancing free for all.
SOAK UP LIVE JAZZ: Patterns brings its improv jazz show to NT's Loft in Hackney every Wednesday (you can also expect to hear soul, broken-beat and hip hop), and it's free to enjoy if you get there before 7.30pm.
CATCH THE LAUGH TRAIN HOME: Every Wednesday, the Laugh Train Home comedy club at the Four Thieves in Battersea invites you aboard for a rollicking ride, starring top stand up-comedians — think Maisie Adams, Sophie Duker, Jordan Brookes, Janine Harouni... we could go on and on. Other comedy clubs taking place on a Weds include Kilburn Comedy Club (Kilburn), Comedy Bandits (Clapham) and Comedy Virgins (Stockwell).
TRY YOUR HAND AT LIFE DRAWING: A different model each week, professional stage lighting, and stonking playlists are promised at the Owl and Hitchhiker's weekly Wednesday life drawing classes.
SIGN UP TO AN OPEN MIC: Wednesdays are popular for open mic nights, where you can watch acts perform for free, or even have a turn yourself. They include:
- Cock & Bottle, Notting Hill (weekly)
- London Unplugged Showcase, George IV, Chiswick (weekly)
- Kilburn Arms, Kilburn (weekly)
- Ram Jam Records, Kingston (weekly)
- Phil's Open Mic Night, Stag's Head, Hoxton (every other Weds)
- Lasso the Moon, Grove Tavern, Hammersmith (first Weds of the month)
TEST YOURSELF WITH A PUB QUIZ: Many weekly pub quizzes across London fall on a Wednesday, but here's a selection of particularly good quizzes/pubs:
- Hackney Church Brew Co, Hackney Central — £75 prize
- The Montpelier, Peckham — £50 prize
- Exhibit, Balham — free to play
- The Porchester, Bayswater — lots of prizes to be won
- Royal Oak, Borough — boost your brainpower with a couple of pints of Harvey's
A WICKED WEDS WETTING YOUR WHISTLE: It might be called the Last Tuesday Society, but Wednesday is arguably the most tempting day on the calendar at Viktor Wynd's emporium of oddities — once a month on this day it hosts a liquor tasting masterclass, honing in on the likes of rum, brandy and mezcal.
GET GAMING: The Table in Battersea Rise holds a games night on the first Wednesday of the month, where you and your pals can dig into a range of board games while sipping a cocktail or two, or even shovel smoked ham hock and chorizo hash into your gob while contemplating your next move.
SCORE WEDNESDAY BARGAINS: Seeking midweek deals? Here are a few that have caught our eye:
- The Prince in West Brompton (which has a marvellously verdant roof terrace) does a Wednesday Club drink deal each week, where you can score a house cocktail for £7 or a pint of Jubel for £5.50.
- The Travellers Friend in Wood Green has a 2-for-1 deal on burgers every Wednesday.
- Camden tiki bar Jungla does 90 minutes of bottomless Bellinis for £23.99 every Wednesday between 5pm and 8pm.
- FAM Bar, just off Oxford Street has a happy hour every Wednesday, 4pm-7pm, feat. £8 cocktails and £4 draught beers.
- Hay's on the River, in the beautiful Hay's Galleria near London Bridge, has 2-for-1 pizza every Wednesday from 12pm-4pm.
SOAK UP SOME SPOKEN WORD: Jawdance is London's "biggest spoken word night", and it takes place at Rich Mix in Shoreditch one Wednesday each month, featuring three poets who unerringly possess a fascinating backstory, twinned with dazzling performance skills.
GET YOUR GROOVE ON: One Wednesday a month, Upstairs@Ronnie's hosts Braziliance — a night of live bossanova, samba and other such genres, as played by The GAB Trio, that'll transport you to the sun-drenched beaches of Rio.
Have we missed a regular Wednesday happening? Email [email protected] and we'll consider adding it!
