What’s on at the South Bank this February
From the red carpet glamour of the BAFTAs to Britain’s biggest children’s festival, Valentine’s Day excitement and Chinese New Year, there is a busy month ahead on the South Bank.
To keep your calendar packed with fun events for the family, South Bank has a host of different activities to get stuck into in February.
This year the school holidays, Valentine’s Day and the Lunar New Year all fall in the middle of the month, as does the BAFTA Awards, which take place on February 18 at the Royal Festival Hall within Southbank Centre.
Special events will be running throughout the half-term break at venues like Sea Life London Aquarium, as well as Britain’s biggest family festival, the Imagine Children’s Festival, taking over Southbank Centre from February 7 to 17.
At Florence Nightingale Museum in Lambeth Palace Road, Super Women in STEM will celebrate the work of Ada Lovelace, Mary Anning, Mary Somerville and Florence Nightingale.
With hands-on activities and interactive museum trails running from February 10 to 18, visitors can learn about how these women took on statistics, astronomy, computer programming and palaeontology.
For something more relaxed, try out a special family screening of Aardman Animation’s latest feature film, Chicken Run: Return of the Nugget, at BFI Southbank on February 11.
Ahead of the screening, there will also be a drop-in arts and crafts workshop.
If you’re already missing the holiday celebrations, mark the beginning of the Year of the Dragon at these New Year events in South Bank on February 10.
Inspired by the 1970s TV show Generation Game, the arts collective Orang Collectif presents The Intergenerational Game – Lunar New Year Edition, a family celebration full of games, dance-offs and quizzes, at the Southbank Centre.
Entry is free and there are two opening slots at 10:30am and 1:30pm.
Right next door in South Bank’s BFI cinema, three films that spotlight China and Hong Kong will be showing.
There’s Stanley Kwan’s 1986 romance-murder mystery, Love Unto Waste, the UK premiere of Ann Hui’s new documentary about poetry in Hong Kong, Elegies, and Father, Dong Wei’s documentary telling the story of a father and son.
February is also the month of romance. From sunset strolls by the river to art gallery dates, speakeasy drinks and rooftop dinners, there are plenty of both classic and unconventional ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day in South Bank this year.
And looking further ahead, there are some brand new restaurants and bars opening soon including karaoke bar Lucky Voice at The Sidings shopping centre in Waterloo Station, Lebanese restaurant Comptoir Libanais at Southbank Centre, the Waterloo Arms pub at Waterloo Station – from January 25 – plus the Between the Bridges pop-up is back from April 26.
Pictured top: Imagine festival at Southbank Centre (Picture: Chotto Desh)