Tower Hamlets has a vibrant arts scene, and a host of family and community activities. We hope you find something to enjoy.
For more events taking place in Tower Hamlets this month, visit our What’s on Guide for arts and entertainment listings.
Altab Ali was the young Bengali man whose brutal murder in Whitechapel in1978 mobilised the Bangladeshi and wider community to take a stand against racial intolerance.
To keep alive the important messages about community cohesion and standing united against racism, it was announced in October 2015 that the London Borough of Tower Hamlets would host Altab Ali Commemoration Day annually on 4 May
This year there will be a commemorative event in Altab Ali Park. This will be followed by a talk, The Right to Rally at the Kobi Nazrul Centre and an exhibition - Underexposure: Brick Lane ’78, opening on 5 May. The exhibition includes work created in and after 1978 through photography and graphic design. It documents the strength of feeling at the time and the power of photography to capture this pivotal moment in the history of the East End
The short film Altab Ali and the Battle of Brick Lane is also available to watch online.
Image © VPF 2010>2022
We are delighted to welcome back the Victoria Park Friends for their tenth anniversary season. The 2022 Victoria Park Bandstand Season gets underway on Sunday 8 May and continues every Sunday in May, June and July.
From Sondheim to Ska via brass band standards, a ukulele sing-along and HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Fantastic free concerts to liven up your summer Sundays. Come and enjoy a great, free family afternoon at Vicky Park's famous bandstand.
Check out the the full line up of bandstand concerts.
Kay Kanté paints London street scenes, capturing moments of ordinary life and activity with joy and exuberance. Her paintings usually include details that link to both a place and a time: wheelie bins, street markings, vans, buses - living history. Kay has lived locally for 30 years and visitors may recognise many of the places in the paintings.
“Painting forces an artist to find beauty in their subject. I fall in love with London and Londoners every time I paint”.
One of Kay’s paintings, Stop/Go Whitechapel, was selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2021. That painting was a springboard for a new collection, which is being released for this exhibition at The Brady Arts Centre, 4 - 28 May. Drop-in and meet the artist at The Brady Arts Centre 11 May, 4-7pm. All welcome
Kay Kanté's Instagram
Spring half term fun in Tower Hamlets parks
We have lots of FREE family activities for you and your children to enjoy in Tower Hamlets parks in spring half term. Arts and crafts, donkey rides, planting a window box, adventure play, canoeing and fishing, pizza making and more! Find out what's going on and how to join in.
Trellis – a new exhibition from from UCL East Engage and UCL Culture at The Art Pavilion, Mile End Park.
Trellis showcases new, collaborative artwork. Six installations have been created by teams of artists, researchers and east London community organisations who have been working together over the past year.
There will be a programme of FREE workshops and events starting Saturday 30 April with Material Conversations. The workshop will include a walking audio exploration of Mile End Park and an indoor workshop creating sounds out of materials such as metal, cardboard, wood and glass using turntables and a variety of unusual turntable stylus. There will also be a late opening with a curator talk on Thursday 5 May. Find out more about the exhibition and events. The exhibition is free and open daily 29 April – 8 May.
#UCLTrellis #UCLEast
All aboard The Underline! Adventures On The Underline is set to reimagine the spaces under the Isle Of Dogs' DLR tracks with an interactive day of free live music, circus, street art and parkour. Taking place on Saturday 14 May, attendees of all ages can follow the tracks to discover a unique mix of outdoors arts, wellbeing and entertainment in the unused spaces below the DLR.
There’s no ticket needed to ride as all activities are free and take place around Crossharbour, South Quay and Marsh Wall within a few minutes’ walk of one another.
Urban Makers return to the Ecology Pavilion, Mile End Park on May 14 and 15 to host their annual spring market. Fifty different designers will be joining in each day selling everything from homeware, jewellery and art, to candles, toys, clothing and accessories. All sustainable and ethical. There will also be a range of workshops and Urban Makers Feast will be back with a great selection of food and drink. Free entry.
Children's activities at a street party in Bow, photographed by Stan Jones.
In the run-up to the Platinum Jubilee in June, Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives are hosting an event to showcase their archives illustrating historic street parties in the East End, which range from the Peace Parties of 1919 to the 2012 Olympics. If your neighbourhood is hosting a street party in early June, this event is for you...
On Saturday 21 May there will be a creative family workshop. Make bunting and decorations for your house inspired by old photos. In the afternoon there will be talks (suitable for an older audience) from our local history librarian on the resources we hold for researching the history of your house, street and the people who lived there. Come along discover the history of the street where you live!
Events are free but advance booking is needed. Book your free place!
Evening Neighbourhood Walks and Know and Grow Wildflowers
Join the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park for Neighbourhood Walks on Tuesday evenings. These walks are for those who just want a pleasant stroll, looking at wildlife, especially wildflowers. They are also for those who want to look at how green areas, large and small, might be improved for wildlife, and perhaps get involved in practical efforts to improve and care for them. There is no charge for these walks but donations are welcomed.
Know & Grow Wildflowers is a free, fortnightly, five session course starting on May 14.
The course is aimed at people who want to “make a difference” to public green space. Encouraging wildflowers and the wildlife they sustain is an important part of that. The course will familiarise you with many kinds of wildflower, their wildlife values, and how to persuade them to grow. Prior knowledge is not required.
On Saturday 21 May St John on Bethnal Green host a special edition of Grand Union Unwrapped. Trading musical ideas and techniques that have influenced them. Grand Union musicians reveal their artistic personalities and their contribution to the Grand Union Orchestra. Conversation, Q&A, and performance in a relaxed and informal setting, with the Grand Union house band.
On Sunday 22 May, Grand Union return to Rich Mix for a special edition of their Bengal to Bethnal Green concerts, showcasing Bengali musicians from east London.
UK Asian Film Festival are back with their 24th edition.
Each year the festival showcases the best in South Asian cinema to audiences across the nation – this year is no different and UKAFF are proud to have curated a line-up of heart-touching stories that will make you fall in love with film all over again.
This year’s theme is ‘Dare to Dream’; the British South Asian community knows how important dreaming is and how risky it can be. The films selected this year demonstrate the resilience, strength and ambition of South Asians across the world.
Join East London Printmakers at their Open Studio on Sunday 8 May.
Explore their screenprinting and etching/relief studios. Chat to the ELP team about their courses and open access sessions. Watch collagraph, monoprinting and screenprinting demonstrations by ELP tutors. Design and make your own lino print and grab a bargain at the original print sale. See the current studio exhibition of original prints by ELP artists.
For several years, photographer David Cantor has recorded a number of the characters who live, work and play along the iconic London street that is Brick Lane. With family connections to the area stretching back over 150 years, Cantor initially chose a documentary approach. Over the years, he has developed a street portraiture style involving direct engagement and subsequent encounters with his subjects.
In 2016, his portrait of Abdel Tavares, taken in Spitalfields, was chosen for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait was also used for a poster campaign on the London Underground.
David’s photography has also featured in the Tower Hamlets Black History month brochures. Come and take a look at this exhibition of new work at at Kahaila Café from 2 – 29 May.
Shewolves is a new play about teenage activism and will be at Poplar Union before they head to Edinburgh Festival Fridge in August. This play is uplifting, funny and empowering, all about forging friendships when you're a bit weird, the power of hope and the underestimated smartness of teens. The perfect theatre show for teenagers to feel inspired and empowered to make positive change!
If you are organising arts or cultural events, either online or at your venue in Tower Hamlets, please submit listings to our What’s On pages.
Use #TowerHamletsTogether to highlight your event and enter wider conversations about activities and support available to the local community.
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