Alright, you had all of January to hibernate. Now that the evenings are finally getting a little bit brighter and the days are becoming ever so slightly warmer, it’s time to defrost and get out there to once again enjoy everything this brilliant city of ours has to offer.
Short though it may be, February is packed with important dates for your diary. There’s Valentine’s Day, Lunar New Year, LGBTQ+ History Month and half-term, not to mention big cultural happenings like the Super Bowl, the Six Nations and London Fashion Week. That doesn’t mean you have to spend loads, though.
Whether you’re on a strict budget or have money to burn, there are a bunch of great things happening in the capital over the next few days that happen to be completely free. From watch parties to a relaunched queer museum to a night of improvised jazz, here are all the best free things that London’s got going on this weekend.
The best free things on in London this weekend, February 6-8 2026
The National Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts and National Portrait Gallery will be staying open beyond their normal hours on Friday as part of this year’s Art After Dark. While you’ll have to pay entry as normal for the RA, the National Gallery and National Portrait will, as always, be totally free to enter. They’ll all stay open until 9pm, after which you should head to Piccadilly Circus to see the centre piece of the Art After Dark festival. Standing in the middle of the plaza will be a towering art installation named ‘Rise and Shine’ by London-based artist Lakwena Maciver. The trippy 7m structure is made of disco lightboxes and will be illuminated by acid-bright visuals, playing a soundtrack of hip-hop, soul and funk. You won’t miss it.
Various West End locations. Until Feb 10. Free.
Sunday night’s Super Bowl shodwon between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks promises to be a huge cultural – whether you’re actually interested in the intricacies of American football or you just want to see the newly Grammy-decorated Bad Bunny in his half-time performance. Pubs and bars across London will be hosting late-night watch parties for the occasion, several of which are free entry. Screenings at Greenwood Sports Bar in Victoria, Long Arm Brewery & Taproom on Liverpool Street, 40FT Brewery in Walthamstow and Box Piccadilly will all be free to attend (pre-booking is strongly advised). Of course, unless you have a very generous group of mates, you’ll probably want to put some cash aside those late night pints!
Various locations. Sun Feb 8 11.30pm. Free.
More of a rugby person? There’ll be plenty of that this weekend too. The Six Nations kicks off this week, with Italy and Scotland going head to head on Saturday afternoon shortly followed by England taking on Wales. Our favourite places in the city to watch the games for free (not including pints) include the Faltering Fullback in Finsbury Park, Pillars Brewery in Walthamstow, BLOODsports in Covent Garden, Big Penny Social in Walthamstow (though there’s a £10pp deposit for groups of more than 11) and Bat and Ball in Stratford. Again, we strongly advise booking or turning up extra early to ensure you get a table.
Various locations. Sat Feb 7. Free.
4. Get stuck into LGBTQ+ History Month
Queer Britain, the UK’s only museum dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, reopened in King’s Cross this week with six brand new displays covering everything from queer stories in sport to gay protest songs. The free-to-enter gallery is also running two special exhibitions: Queer Print will explore the history of radical and alternative print cultures while 40 Years of BFI Flare will look back at the last four decades of one of Europe’s biggest queer film festivals.
Elsewhere in the city, the National Maritime Museum is putting on a day-long family festival Out at Sea dedicated to sharing LGBTQ+ maritime stories (Sat, Feb 7). There’ll be drag queens telling tales of maritime fashion, a workshop investigating the hidden queer histories and more. And over at Torriano Meeting House in Camden, there’s a programme of events focusing on gender-fluid French surrealist Claude Cahun. That includes a free piece of performance art inspired by Cahun’s The Invisible Adventure and a free reading from Cancelled Confessions, both happening on Saturday.
Various locations. Various dates. Free.
While most of London’s Lunar New Year festivities aren’t happening until later on in the month, there are a few events happening this weekend to get us warmed up. A huge two-day fete from East Asian market Urban Garden Fair will be an ode to not just Chinese culture but Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Hong Kongese and Malaysian culture too. There’ll be more than 100 stalls offering up all sorts of delicious East Asian street food, snacks, dumplings, sweets and teas as well as traders selling handmade trinkets and workshops covering traditional crafts like calligraphy, daruma painting and origami. Sorry adults, you’ll have to pay £1.50 entry, but kids can get in and take part in all the workshops for free.
Woolwich Works, 11 No 1 St, Royal Arsenal, SE18 6HD. Feb 7-8. Free entry for children under 12.
The Tate Modern began keeping its galleries open until 9pm last year, and it’s been taking full advantage of those extra hours ever since, hosting free live music performances at its Corner Bar. This Friday, it’s collaborating with King’s Cross-based community station Voices Radio for an evening of improv jazz, with a roster of London jazz scene heavyweights will meet on stage for the first time and breaking out into live improv jazz. There’ll also be vinyl DJ sets in between sets, a bunch of boardgames to play for free, and a curated selection of natural wines from the Tate’s cellar. It’s worth knowing that this isn’t a one-off free event. Natural Jazz is now taking place at Corners every first Friday of the month.
Corner, Bankside, SE1 9TG. Fri Feb 6 6.30pm-11pm. Free.
Get excited for February with our guide to the best things to do in London in February.
And plan for the year ahead with Time Out’s roundup of the 26 best things to do in 2026.
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