Morning, London! Happy Thursday. Autumn officially started yesterday. You may now say “it’s getting dark early” every evening until March.

Still nice and warm out there, thankfully. But we all know what’s coming. That first cold week when whoever controls the heating insists it’s not cold yet. The rest of the house gets a jumper and no say in the matter.

Plenty to get you out this weekend. There are even sheep crossing Southwark Bridge on Sunday, because London can never just have a normal weekend.

Last week’s The Littlest Yak giveaway winner is below too. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Let’s go.

🎵 Apple Is Opening Its Own London Music Venue. Apple is opening a new 600-capacity concert venue underneath its Battersea Power Station HQ, hosting one-off gigs from major artists and new bands, all filmed and streamed live. Full story

⚡ Pikachu Is Heading to the Science Museum. A free Pokémon Space Trail lands on 2 October, teaming up with the European Space Agency to send families hunting through the galleries until 3 January. There’s also a dedicated shop selling Astronaut Pikachu plushies. Clever, really. Get the children interested in space, then demonstrate a black hole using your wallet. Full story

🚆 A New Overground Line Could Be Coming to West London. TfL is asking Londoners what they think of plans for a new 11-mile Overground route linking Hendon and Hounslow, with several new connections across west and north-west London. Still only a proposal for now, but anything that makes getting across London without going via Zone 1 gets our vote. Full story

Congratulations to Micki and Lincoln. We hope you and your very own Littlest Yak have a brilliant time at the show! Thank you everyone for participating.

Didn’t win? The cool team behind the show have kindly offered London Scoop readers £10 tickets. The show is at Harrow Arts Centre this Sunday, 27th September, at 12.30pm and 2.30pm. Use the code YAK10. Info

🐺 Peter and the Wolf @ The Cockpit
Date & Loc: Sep 24 (Thu), Marylebone NW8
A gentle retelling of Peter and the Wolf for little ones, followed by a sensory stay-and-play session.
Age: 2–5 | Price: from £10 | Info

🤹 Mixed Doubles: Enrico Touché / Dulce Duca @ Jacksons Lane
Date & Loc: Sep 24 (Thu), Highgate N6
Two contrasting circus performances combine juggling, movement and physical comedy in an evening outing for families with older children.
Age: 12+ | Price: from £10 | Info

🕵️ The Comedy About Spies @ Adelphi Theatre
Date & Loc: Sep 24–26, Strand WC2
Mischief’s 1960s spy caper returns to the West End, packed with rogue agents, double agents and the sort of escalating chaos you’d expect from The Play That Goes Wrong team.
Age: 10+ | Price: from £15 | Info

💃 The Twirly Wiggly Story, Craft & Dance @ British Library
Date & Loc: Sep 25 (Fri), St Pancras NW1
Join author Farrah Riaz for storytelling, a very wiggly dance and mehndi-inspired crafts. Booking essential.
Age: 3–5 | Price: no cost | Info

🤸 Mixed Doubles: Joli Vyann / Mimbre @ Jacksons Lane
Date & Loc: Sep 25–26, Highgate N6
Two acrobatic shows mix dance, spectacular balances and humour, exploring how we catch, carry and support each other.
Age: All ages | Price: from £10 | Info

🪄 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Concert @ Royal Albert Hall
Date & Loc: Sep 25–27, South Kensington SW7
Watch Harry’s first Hogwarts adventure on a giant screen, with a live orchestra and choir performing John Williams’ score.
Age: 7+ | Price: from £20 | Info

🚇 Depot Open Days: Design Classics @ London Transport Museum Depot
Date & Loc: Sep 25–27, Acton W3
Explore historic buses and Tube trains, try transport-themed activities and discover the designs that keep London moving.
Age: All ages | Price: from £10 (under 3 free) | Info

🎪 Vitality Wellness Festival @ Green Park
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Westminster SW1A
Try circus skills, sports, crafts and a LEGO challenge at this free family festival. No running required.
Age: All ages | Price: no cost | Info

⚓ RNLI Day @ Cutty Sark
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Greenwich SE10
Practise throwing rescue lines, try rope-making and meet the RNLI team for a day of lifesaving activities aboard and beneath Cutty Sark.
Age: All ages | Price: from £9 | Info

🐺 The Big Bad Wolf @ Lyric Hammersmith
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Hammersmith W6
The Big Bad Wolf gets a rock ’n’ roll makeover in a musical comedy full of live music, plotting and badly behaved fairytale characters.
Age: 5+ | Price: from £12 (+£2 per booking) | Info

🐧 Wallace & Gromit Double Bill @ Barbican
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Barbican EC2Y
The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave on the big screen: one criminal penguin, several sheep and absolutely no sensible inventions.
Age: 5+ | Price: from £2.50 (+£1.50 per booking) | Info

📚 Stories on Stage with Chloe Savage @ The Well Walk Theatre
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Hampstead NW3
Meet author and illustrator Chloe Savage for a book presentation, questions from curious readers and a signing.
Age: Everyone | Price: from £12 | Info

🌟 Little People, BIG DREAMS @ Shakespeare’s Globe
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Bankside SE1
Celebrate the book series with creator Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, plus drawing, music and an interactive game show.
Age: Everyone | Price: from £15 | Info

🐰 Boppin’ Bunnies Interactive Music Show @ Tranquil Hall
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Blackheath SE3
Live music and plenty of joining in for babies, toddlers and preschoolers at this special interactive show.
Age: 0–5 | Price: from £12 | Info

🖌️ Family Paint! @ artsdepot
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), North Finchley N12
Paint a canvas together with guidance from an artist, all materials supplied and no previous painting skills required.
Age: 5+ | Price: from £20 per adult-and-child pair | Info

💛 Safe Harbour @ National Maritime Museum
Date & Loc: Sep 26 (Sat), Greenwich SE10
A relaxed creative workshop especially for foster and adoptive families, with museum objects, making activities and space to meet other families.
Age: Under 13s and their families | Price: no cost | Info

⛏️ The Big Dig @ London Museum Docklands
Date & Loc: Sep 26–27, West India Quay E14
Excavate reconstructed trenches and uncover real objects in a hands-on archaeology session, returning for the museum’s Mudlarking Weekend.
Age: 5+ | Price: from £6.50 | Info

✈️ Airfix Model Club: Mustang @ RAF Museum
Date & Loc: Sep 26–27, Colindale NW9
Build your own Mustang model aircraft with help from the museum team, then take your miniature flying machine home.
Age: 8+ | Price: from £5 | Info

😂 James Campbell’s Comedy 4 Kids: Reducks @ Museum of Comedy
Date & Loc: Sep 26 onwards, Bloomsbury WC1A
Stand-up for children from James Campbell, with ridiculous stories and plenty for the accompanying grown-ups to laugh at too.
Age: 6+ | Price: £14 | Info

🚀 Unboxing the Universe @ National Maritime Museum
Date & Loc: Sep 26–27, Greenwich SE10
Discover what space smells like and how rockets launch in a live science show packed with demonstrations and questions for real astronomers.
Age: 7+ | Price: from £8 | Info

🚂 September Steam Up @ London Museum of Water & Steam
Date & Loc: Sep 26–27, Brentford TW8
See the museum’s historic machinery in steam during a special weekend celebrating the engines that helped supply London’s water.
Age: All ages | Price: £5 | Info

💰 Pocket Money @ Unicorn Theatre
Date & Loc: From Sep 26 (Sat), London Bridge SE1
Children vote on what happens next in an interactive show about money, with a live DJ and a mischievous clown.
Age: 7–12 | Price: from £3 | Info

🐑 Woolmen Sheep Drive & Livery Fair @ Southwark Bridge
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), City EC4R
Sheep take over the bridge while the free public fair on Queen Street offers rare breeds, shearing demonstrations and traditional crafts.
Age: All ages | Price: no cost | Info

🌸 Craft Afternoon @ Dr Johnson’s House
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Fleet Street EC4A
Turn dried flowers and vintage papers into handmade greeting cards, then explore the townhouse where Johnson compiled his dictionary.
Age: Everyone | Price: from £5 | Info

🌾 Hay! @ artsdepot
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), North Finchley N12
A scarecrow comes to life and discovers a world of birds, weather and mud in this playful show using just one word: “Hay!”
Age: 3+ | Price: from £13.75 | Info

🫧 The Bubble Show @ Stanley Arts
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), South Norwood SE25
Mr Bubbles mixes magic, science and storytelling with extraordinary bubbles, including a bubble volcano. Consider your washing-up liquid thoroughly outclassed.
Age: 3+ | Price: from £11 | Info

✂️ Collage Pop Art @ Stanley Arts
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), South Norwood SE25
Create a colourful pop-art poster or postcard inspired by buildings, with artist Ella Yarde guiding the cutting and sticking.
Age: 3+ | Price: from £6 per adult-and-child pair | Info

🌻 Harvest Festival @ Brixton Windmill
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Brixton SW2
Celebrate the harvest with music, crafts and milling demonstrations beside Brixton’s windmill, with optional children’s baking workshops available separately.
Age: All ages | Price: no cost | Info

🏮 Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival @ Deptford Lounge
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Deptford SE8
Celebrate with lion and bamboo dancing, creative workshops and a food fair at this Vietnamese community festival.
Age: All ages | Price: no cost | Info

🎭 Baby Broadway @ Chickenshed
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Southgate N14
West End singers perform musical favourites with bubbles, puppets and plenty of opportunities for little audience members to join in.
Age: 0–6 | Price: from £7.50 | Info

🍂 Autumn SEND Family Day @ London Wetland Centre
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Barnes SW13
A day designed for children with SEND and their families, featuring Singing Hands, pond dipping, minibeasts and a quieter early opening.
Age: Children with SEND and their families | Price: from £8 | Info

🎨 Family Art Day: Discover, Play and Share @ Estorick Collection
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Canonbury N1
Explore the gallery together through creative activities, play and making at this relaxed family morning.
Age: All ages | Price: from £9.50; children no cost | Info

🏴‍☠️ Big Fish Little Fish Pirate Family Rave @ fabric
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Farringdon EC1
DJs Terry Farley and Aphrodite soundtrack a pirate-themed family rave with bubbles, crafts and room for some highly questionable parental dancing.
Age: 0–8 | Price: £11 | Info

🎨 Art Sundays @ Dulwich Picture Gallery
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Dulwich SE21
Experiment with colour and make your own artwork inspired by the gallery’s collection, with artists on hand to help.
Age: 7–12; siblings welcome | Price: no cost | Info

🗣️ Make a London Chatterbox @ Tower Bridge Collective
Date & Loc: Sep 27 (Sun), Tower Bridge SE1
Fold an origami chatterbox inspired by the sounds of London, with materials provided for this children's craft session.
Age: Everyone | Price: £3 | Info

🌌 Astronomy Photographer of the Year @ National Maritime Museum
Date & Loc: Open now, Greenwich SE10
The new exhibition brings together spectacular photographs of distant galaxies, glowing stars and our celestial neighbours.
Age: Everyone | Price: from £6 | Info

💭 House of Dreamers @ Immerse LDN
Date & Loc: Open now, Royal Docks E16
Wander through 16 surreal dreamscapes filled with giant pink ball pits, cloud swings, digital forests and interactive creatures. Subtle it is not.
Age: All ages | Price: from £15 | Info

🐷 The Three Little Pigs @ Polka Theatre
Date & Loc: Oct 1–4, Wimbledon SW19
Three resourceful pigs need help building a wolf-proof shelter in a lively retelling with puppets, physical comedy and audience participation.
Age: 3–7 | Price: from £10 (+£2.50 per booking) | Info

🌈 Prism Break @ Royal Institution
Date & Loc: Oct 3 (Sat), Mayfair W1S
Find out how rainbows form and why the sky is blue, with bubbles, flames and chocolate helping explain the science of light.
Age: 7–13 | Price: from £10 (+booking fee) | Info

🇯🇵 AnimeCon UK @ Olympia London
Date & Loc: Oct 3–4, Kensington W14
Two packed days of anime, manga, cosplay, J-Pop, K-Pop, special guests and an Artist Alley full of fan-made creations. One for the Pokémon-and-beyond crowd.
Age: All ages | Price: from £25 | Info

💭 A Class of Your Own @ Polka Theatre
Date & Loc: Oct 3–4, Wimbledon SW19
Physical theatre and video projections explore growing up, difficult feelings and why the labels other people give us don’t have to stick.
Age: 8–12 | Price: from £14 (+£2.50 per booking) | Info

🍎 Apple Day @ Fulham Palace
Date & Loc: Oct 4 (Sun), Fulham SW6
Celebrate the orchard harvest with garden games, themed activities, market stalls and plenty of apple-inspired food.
Age: All ages | Price: from £3 | Info

🎻 Aurora Orchestra: Meet the Instruments @ Kings Place
Date & Loc: Oct 17 (Sat), King’s Cross N1
A lively interactive concert where kids can sing, dance, play games and discover the sounds of different orchestral instruments.
Age: 3–7 | Price: from £15 (+booking fee) | Info

🙏 If this makes your week a bit easier, pls think of two parents who'd love it, or drop it in a WhatsApp group. Takes 20 seconds. Please don’t ignore me 😂.
Appreciated, kind Londoner!

Got any comments or suggestions? Feel free to reply; I’d love to hear from you.

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