An East London Greek weekend is the easy way to do the last weekend of October and the start of half term: a comic convention on the docks, a Bollywood panto in Stratford, a Greek comedian in Limehouse and free museum days for the kids, each paired with a Greek kitchen a short hop away. After our central, north and south London plans, this is the east side of the map, built from the Londonist weekend guide and the venues’ own pages, then matched to Greek List members in Stratford and Shoreditch.
Two things line up. The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, so you want plans that are indoors or close to a train. And most London schools break up on Monday 26 October, so the museums and theatres of the east are packed with family events, many of them free. Our east London Greek weekend starts in Stratford, moves to the Royal Docks and Limehouse, and spends the half term days in Docklands and at the Barbican, with a Greek stop at every turn.
The Victorian Theatre Royal Stratford East has turned Cinderella into Surinderella, a Bollywood flavoured family panto with a talking cow and a Devi Godmother. It runs until Saturday 31 October, with 2.30pm matinees on Saturday 24, Wednesday 28, Thursday 29 and Saturday 31 and 7.30pm shows on most evenings. Age guidance is 5 plus, it lasts about two hours with an interval, and water pistols are sprayed into the front rows at the start. Prices rise as the house fills, so book early.
Getting there: Stratford (Central, Jubilee, Elizabeth line, DLR, Overground), then five minutes on foot through the old town centre to Gerry Raffles Square.
Greek stop nearby: EPIC, Legendary Greek Streetfood in the Food Hall at Westfield Stratford City, on the other side of the station. Gyros, souvlaki and loaded pittas, open 10am to 10pm most days and until 6pm on Sunday, so it fits a matinee or an evening show.
The biggest crowd puller of the weekend is MCM Comic Con at ExCeL London, running until Sunday 25 October. Expect cosplay from every franchise you can name, panels with film, anime and gaming guests, and a huge comic village of independent artists. General entry is 11am to 7pm on Saturday and 12pm to 5pm on Sunday, and Sunday is usually the quieter day for a first visit with children.
Getting there: Custom House (Elizabeth line, DLR) for the West Entrance. From Stratford it is the Jubilee line to Canning Town and one DLR stop, about 20 minutes door to door.
Greek stop nearby: EPIC at Westfield Stratford City is the fuel stop on the way in or out: a souvlaki wrap before the Jubilee line, or gyros and loukoumades after the cosplay parade.
This is the Greek heart of the weekend. On Sunday 25 October the comedian Alexandros Tsouvelas brings his new show, Tsouvelas II, to Troxy, the 1930s Art Deco cinema turned concert hall at 490 Commercial Road. Doors open at 7pm, the show starts at 8.30pm and runs about 90 minutes, in Greek, with his characters and fast improvised stories. Age guidance is 14 plus. Full details and the ticket link are on the Greek List event page. If you only do one thing on this east London Greek weekend, this is it.
Getting there: Limehouse (DLR, c2c) is a seven minute walk. Shadwell (DLR, Overground) is ten minutes. Buses 15 and 115 stop outside.
Greek stop nearby: Yayacas, Authentic Greek Cuisine at 1 Bath Place, off Rivington Street in Shoreditch, is the pre show dinner: a small Greek kitchen run by two friends from northern Greece, open daily 12pm to 11pm, with sharing spreads, skewers, moussaka and bougatsa. Bus 135 takes you to Limehouse in 15 minutes, so eat at 5.30pm and you are at Troxy for doors.
For the half term days, the London Museum Docklands at West India Quay has a week of free spooky activities from Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October: clay charms and mythical creature crafts, superstitious sailors storytelling, a soul cakes cookery session on Monday 26, Fairy Tales Gone Bad with the former Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho on Tuesday 27 and a spooky silent disco on Thursday 29. Some sessions need advance booking. The museum itself, in a Georgian sugar warehouse, is open 10am to 5pm and free.
Getting there: West India Quay (DLR) is two minutes away, Canary Wharf (Jubilee, Elizabeth line) about five. From Stratford, the Jubilee line takes under ten minutes.
Greek stop nearby: EPIC at Westfield Stratford City is one Jubilee line hop away. Souvlaki and chips at the Food Hall beats the Canary Wharf lunch options on price, and the kids can run around the Olympic Park afterwards.
The Barbican dedicates a whole week to young film fans, from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November. It opens with a Shuffle of Shorts and crafting on Saturday 24 at 11am, then runs Howl’s Moving Castle through the week, The Mandalorian and Grogu on Tuesday 27, Matilda’s 30th anniversary on Wednesday 28 and a Halloween screening of Singin’ in the Rain on Saturday 31. Prices vary by screening. The free conservatory and lakeside terrace fill the gap between films.
Getting there: Barbican (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan) or Moorgate. Old Street (Northern) is a ten minute walk.
Greek stop nearby: Yayacas in Shoreditch is a 12 minute walk north east of the Barbican, across Old Street. The sharing menu suits a family table: tzatziki, spicy feta and aubergine spreads with warm pita, halloumi skewers for the kids and revani to finish, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options.
Young V&A in Bethnal Green is free, open 10am to 5.45pm, with clay character and film poster workshops from 29 to 31 October and the ticketed Inside Aardman exhibition; Yayacas is 20 minutes away on foot along Bethnal Green Road. Hackney’s Rio Cinema runs its Children’s Film Festival from 24 to 31 October, a few streets from Dalston Junction. ABBA Voyage at Pudding Mill Lane is still the best big night out in Stratford, ten minutes from EPIC. And on Wednesday 28 October the Rebetiko Lounge jam session on Hackney Road is the most Greek thing in east London all week, details below.
Alongside this east London Greek weekend, the Greek List events page is the most complete list of Greek events in the UK. Here is what is on between now and the start of November:
Running a Greek night, a tasting or a talk? Listing an event on Greek List is free and it reaches the whole community.
The businesses in this guide are Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month on the site, in the newsletter and in the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google for searches like “Greek restaurant in Shoreditch”. A listing puts your business in front of the people already looking for it.
Went east this weekend? Share your photos and your own Greek stops with the community in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino.
