Mark 20 years of Museum of London Docklands this Summer with an evening of live outdoor music, pub quizzing, makers markets and more! Twenty years to the day Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened the Museum of London Docklands, Drag Race royalty Vanity Milan will help lead the birthday celebrations.

As the sun sets on the Quayside, watch party pioneers Hackney Showroom host an evening of live performances on outdoor stage the Bobby Dazzler and enjoy street food and pop-up bars showcasing the best local food and drink from rum cocktails and craft beer, to Jamaican patties and filled roti.

Head inside to explore our galleries after hours, hear a range of curated talks and tours, and watch film screenings that bring new light to London’s history. From the origins of street parties to the iconic Notting Hill carnival, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the festivities that continue to bring us together. Visit our makers market – a homage to east London’s creative thinkers, artists, and craft-lovers!

OUTDOOR LIVE PERFORMANCES

Hackney Showroom will host an evening of live performances on outdoor stage the Bobby Dazzler. With resident host MC Chu-I setting the vibes, enjoy appearances from vinyl connoisseur DJ Sherrine, drag king Mr IPM and the Cocoa Butter Club’s very own Sadie Sinner the Songbird.

PUB QUIZ HOSTED BY DRAG ROYALTY, VANITY MILAN

Serving charisma and talent, Drag Race finalist and lip-sync assassin, the iconic drag queen Vanity Milan will make a star appearance at the event, hosting our East End Pub quiz. Drop in to flex your London knowledge and raise a toast to mark twenty years since the museum’s doors opened.

Prizes for first place and second to last teams confirmed.

MAKER’S MARKET

Visit our makers market – a nod to east London’s artists, craft-lovers and iconic market stall holders. From handmade ceramics to jewellery and fine art, there’ll be something to tempt everyone. Join us and meet our curated selection of makers and buy direct to support small businesses.

The selection will include sustainable candles and wearables from Abalon UK, home décor from Atelier Dante, afrominimalist jewellery from Dear Katiopae, limited edition prints from Nikki Braunton, earrings and bangles inspired by the natural world from Fable Jewellery, African fabrics from Dovetailed London, unique and vibrant homeware from By Shax and playful lasercut jewellery from Kam Creates.

ARTS & CRAFTS

Get crafty with us in creative workshops where you can design festive bunting to mark the occasion and make your own carnival-inspired headpiece.

In an homage to the many creatives that have called the East End their home, join artist Mariam Hussein in our street portraiture corner and have your portrait painted right in front of you.

Mariam Hussein is an emerging mixed media artist whose dark rich colour palette and energetic lines reveal a true passion for the human form.

TALKS, TOURS AND SCREENINGS

Head inside to explore our galleries after hours, hear a range of curated talks and tours, and watch documentary footage that brings new light to the history of London celebrations. From the origins of street parties to the iconic Notting Hill carnival, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the festivities that continue to bring us together.

FOOD & DRINK

We’ll be working with our partners to keep you fed and watered throughout the evening. Port Royal patties will bring the taste of the Caribbean to the museum with authentic Jamaican street food. With golden flaky pastry and aromatic spicy fillings, their patties are bound to keep you in the party spirit through the evening. For drinks, enjoy island inspired cocktails from expert mixers Rumblin’ and locally brewed craft beer from London-based artisans Brew By Numbers.

Windrush 75: Riddim and Poetry (20 June, paid advanced booking)

Performance | Ages 15+ | 6.30pm-8pm

Celebrate Windrush Day 2023 with an evening of performance and readings from poets of Caribbean heritage, exploring intergenerational themes of migration, home and community and reflecting on the museum’s own connections to this history. Join us for this event fusing words, sounds, dance and discussion as we mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks and honour the enduring spirit of one of London’s most vibrant communities.

Dal Puri Diaspora screening + Q&A (31st May, paid advance booking)
Screening | Ages 14+ | 6.30pm-8.30pm
Follow the journey of dal puri across space and time; from indentured workers from India’s Gangetic plain in 19th-century British and Dutch Caribbean colonies, to today’s global Indo-Caribbean community.
As the wrapped roti has moved from home fire to street stall to restaurant, and from festival to fast food, it has transformed in ingredients, cooking method, ways of eating and identity. Shot in Toronto, Trinidad and India, this film by Richard Fung explores colonialism, migration and the globalisation of tastes with interviews from leading food writers and scholars including Pushpesh Pant, Naomi Duguid, Brinsley Samaroo, Radhika Mongia and Patricia Mohammed.
Featuring a Q&A with Chandani Persaud, discover stories of Indo-Caribbean heritage and the role of food in conserving culture while you enjoy a complimentary taster of traditional Trinidadian doubles.
This event is part of a special series inspired by our new, free-to-visit display, Indo + Caribbean: The creation of a culture.

LGBTQ+ life in Limehouse: a queer beer crawl (17th June, paid advance booking)
Walk | Ages 18+ | 2pm-4.30pm
Join The Urban Rambler, Nick Collinson for an afternoon jaunt through the streets of Limehouse – the former Chinatown of London, and favourite haunt of foreign sailors. You will hear all about the vibrant history of the area, focusing on the LGBTQI+ community, both historical and contemporary. We will also be taking a number of stops along the way at LGBTQI+ friendly/led pubs to keep the stories flowing!

Untold stories: a Docklands scavenger hunt (24th June, paid advance booking)
Walk | Ages 7+ | 2pm-4pm
No birthday celebrations would be complete without a scavenger hunt. Put together your team and solve clues that take you through the untold and lesser known stories of the docks. Our hosts and actors will take you through both the museum collections and the living history in the immediate areas surrounding the Museum of London Docklands.

Spitalfields ballad walk (1st July, paid advance booking)
Walk | Ages 14+ | 11am-1pm
Join folk singer and researcher Vivien Ellis for a unique musical walking tour focussing on the rich history of street vendors and others who used song to make a living on the streets. You’ll learn more about the unsung heroes of East End and get first-hand experience of how music and song were crucial for bringing communities together.
Vivien Ellis is a singer specialising in early, folk, and new music. She is part of the growing field of arts and health research and practice, and an Associate of The Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health.

The radical city – architecture and revolution through old Finsbury (22nd July, paid advance booking)
Walk | Ages 14+ | 11am-1pm
Nestled on the banks of the River Fleet at the fringe of the city’s core, the old Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury was once one of the most overcrowded places in London. Shaped by rapid population growth and the fallout of unchecked industrialisation, in the late 19th century worsening poverty and dire living conditions incubated revolutionary politics and it became an epicentre for urban reformers, progressives and other social agitators whose ideas on housing, healthcare and the public city would have a legacy across the UK.

In this walking tour, urban historian Mike Althorpe – aka The London Ambler – charts radicalism, urban change and big ideas through the architecture, streets and spaces that changed London.
Mike Althorpe is an urban historian, architectural researcher, storyteller and guide ‘The London Ambler’ with a background in fine art and architectural history. Between 2006-2009 Mike was part of architectural think tank Building Futures and from 2011-2015 was public programmes curator at the Royal Institute of British Architects. Since 2016 he has worked with Karakusevic Carson Architects and in 2017 co-authored the practice-led book Social Housing and curated the exhibition of the same name in London in 2017 and at New York’s Center for Architecture in 2018. In 2019, he was the recipient of RIBA Research Fund and published Revolutionary Low Rise – a publication exploring international low rise, high density housing with Abigail Batchelor.