City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Two new exhibitions are launching for the reopening of City Art Centre on 12 September. Looking beyond the art deco and jazz of the era, Bright Shadows: Scottish Art in the 1920s aims to contrast artworks that deal with the losses of the first world war with pieces focusing on what was a new age of possibility. And City Art Centre at 40 includes highlights from the city’s collection, from 17th-century portraiture to contemporary abstract works. Mimi’s Bakehouse cafe on the ground floor has also reopened, serving all-day brunch and pastries.
• Entrance to exhibitions free with allocated time slots booked in advance, edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Liverpool Theatre Festival, Liverpool
The ruins of St Luke’s, known as “the bombed-out church”, will be hosting nine days of open-air live performance from 11-19 September, including musical theatre, drama, cabaret, family shows and comedy. The programme features the one-man comedy Swan Song, John Godber’s Shakers, standup from Laughterhouse and Deathly Confessions, and oral history project and theatre piece Sweet Mothers, plus fantasy pantomime for younger audiences (tickets from £10). Drinks and pizzas are also available onsite via an app.
• liverpooltheatrefestival.com
Truman’s Social Club, London
Joining Walthamstow’s craft beer scene, known unofficially as the Blackhorse Beer Mile, historic east London brewer Truman’s has transformed a derelict space into a taproom with a large, twinkly beer garden. The site is also home to Zero Sushi and Mexican Fried Chicken and hosts live music on weekends. There are plans to open the huge adjacent space indoors later this year as a community hub for culture and food, including a new brewery and events space for film screenings and live music.
• Booking advised, £5pp reservation deposit redeemable against drinks, trumansbeer.co.uk
Paragliding, County Antrim
These paragliding sessions can take participants soaring up to 2,000ft (600 metres) on their first tandem flight. Heights depend on weather (and courage) using just the natural lift of the wind to take to the skies in a free-flying aircraft. Aerosports UK in Ballynure runs one-day taster course for beginners (£120), including kit training, safety briefing and canopy-control techniques, followed by solo or tandem flights. The season can run through winter and hill jumping locations vary, with the Antrim hills, the Causeway Coast and the Mourne Mountains in County Down all options – depending on wind direction.
• aerosports.co.uk
Pub In The Park’s Drive In Garden Party, Knebworth
Kaiser Chiefs, Soul II Soul, Gabrielle, Basement Jaxx are some of the acts coming to Knebworth House for the Drive in Garden Party this weekend (11-13 September, £47pp). Each vehicle parks in a pre-booked spot with its own “garden”, which includes space for picnic blankets and dancing. Walk-in spaces are also available for those without a car. Local caterers include Kerridge’s, the Mariners and Atul Kochhar – orders can be placed in advance or during the event. Next week the party heads to Tunbridge Wells’ Eridge Park, with a similar line-up, plus Keane and Squeeze.
• driveingardenparty.com
Sea kayaking, Anglesey
Explore the natural playground of the north Wales coast with Sea Kayaking Wales’ courses, which run in autumn and winter – including full-day sea kayaking and half-days on Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia (£80/£55pp). Sessions include equipment training, boat-handling skills in both sheltered and open water, and rescue skills. For intermediate and more advanced seafarers, there are one-to-one coaching sessions and bespoke dynamic water courses.
• seakayakingwales.com
Slices of Time at Now Gallery, Greenwich
Created by Emmanuelle Moureaux, a vast web of technicolor paper numbers sit suspended in the air at this gallery, each representing a “slice of time” (free with a pre-booked ticket, until 27 September). Following other large-scale installations in Tokyo and Paris, this is the architect-artist’s first in the UK, and is inspired by its location close to the Greenwich meridian. Moureaux’s work has been influenced by the layers and colours on the streets of her long-time home, Tokyo, and by the Japanese concept of shikiri – dividing or creating space with colours. Also on show at Now this month is interdisciplinary collective Resolve’s site-specific installation (14-20 Sept) accompanied by a performances, workshops, screenings and talks challenging ideas of proximity and how it shapes local communities.
• nowgallery.co.uk
