London was never a cheap place to do anything as far as I can remember.
The Guardian sent Stephen Moss on a mission: How to enjoy a week of culture in London on 50 quids (food and drinks included).
Stephen Moss gives us his report in The artful ticket-dodger which goes under the headline "Times are tough. The opera don’t come for free. Can Stephen Moss
survive a week of intensive arts-going armed with just £50, a Thermos
and a packed lunch?"
Here is what he managed to see (quote from the piece) :
Symphonies No 1 to 3 of Beethoven marathon
in Kingston parish church FREE
Bonkersfest in Camberwell Green 20P (donation)
The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Opera House £26.55
(including coffee and banana in nearby cafe)
Tate Britain FREE
Colombian music festival, South Bank FREE
Volume art installation, South Bank FREE
Cézanne exhibition,
Courtauld gallery FREE
Electric Mouse comedy club at the Red Lion pub £12.20
(including therapeutic beer)
Jazz concert in Victoria Embankment Gardens FREE
Hunterian Museum FREE
Sir John Soane’s Museum £1 (for guidebook)
St Paul’s Cathedral (restricted view) FREE
Christopher Wren’s St Martin Within Ludgate FREE
Rossini/Haydn/Elgar Prom
conducted by Roger Norrington £5
British Museum exhibition of Mao artefacts
from the cultural revolution FREE
Sand sculptures on the Thames FREE
Street Art at Tate Modern FREE
BFI’s Mediatheque FREE
King Lear at the Globe theatre £5
Turning the Inside Out,
a performance by the Marc Brew company
with Nadia Adame in Kensington high street FREE
Secrets … at Southwark Playhouse £6
(including beer and sandwiches)
Evensong at Westminster Abbey FREE
Chinese video
bought from a Tibetan entrepreneur
on Hungerford Bridge £1.55
Violinist Young-Kyung Yu and pianist Susie Summers,
St James’s, Piccadilly FREE
Baghdad/Space Cog/Analyst at Frith Street gallery FREE
Rehearsal by the Naiades Ensemble
at St George’s, Bloomsbury FREE
David McAlmont concert
in Royal Festival Hall ballroom FREE
(TOTAL £57.50)
He did go over budget by 7.50, not bad..
Another Consumed to Thrifty experiment
Any Tips for Culture on the Cheap in these Credit Crunch Times in you neck of the woods?