What’s on in SE15 · 23-29 July 2026

It’s shaping up to be a hot one — Friday especially — so this is a week for getting outside and letting the good stuff come to you. And it will: dance roaming through Nunhead Cemetery, Oona Doherty back on the Bold Tendencies rooftop, a quiet exhibition in the old station waiting room, a warehouse birthday at Jumbi. A lot of what’s on is happening somewhere that isn’t a stage.

There’s plenty to feel good about doing, too — £10 plates across Peckham raising money for Peckham Pantry, a comedy night for Black Minds Matter, and a couple of local meetings if you fancy having your say. Pace yourself, wear decent shoes, and I’ll see you out there.

🌦️ Showers: Thu · 🌞 Sunny: Fri · 🌤 Sunny spells: Sat · 🌤 Cooler: Sun

Thursday turns cloudier for a spell with a few light showers possible in the afternoon, then dries out with more sunshine by evening. Friday’s the standout — dry, very warm and full of sunshine, if a little hazy at times. Saturday and Sunday keep the sunny spells but bring patchy cloud and the odd isolated shower, turning cooler across the weekend. Source: BBC Weather (Peckham)

dispersal is a series of roaming, improvised performances that respond to spaces not normally used for it — co-ordinated by Iris Colomb, Joy Salomon-Corlobé and Daryl Worthington. Each one pulls together a different cast across poetry, performance, music and visual art, and moves through the space as it unfolds.

This Saturday it comes to Nunhead Cemetery with its biggest group of performers yet — a cast of 15, including Kate Carr, Petra Haller, Rick Jensen, Carys Mai, Agathe Max and Luigi Monteanni. It begins in the chapel by the Linden Grove entrance, so aim for the 2:30pm start; once it moves off, you’ll be following it through the grounds. Full line-up is on Instagram.

🗓 Sat 25 Jul, 2:30–3:30pm
📍 Nunhead Cemetery, Linden Grove entrance, SE15 3LP
🎟 Free · details via Instagram
♿ The grounds are wooded and uneven underfoot, so decent shoes are wise; check with the organisers for specifics

Special Guest is the open mic night where anything goes: one mic, one minute, and a room full of people deciding what happens next.

Expect true stories, hidden talents, shower thoughts, confessions, tiny performances and unexpected little acts of bravery. Taking the mic is optional; listening and clapping are the core functions.

🗓 Thu 23 Jul, 7–10:30pm
📍 Multi Story, Peckham Levels
🎟 £8–£15 · tickets via Special Guest
♿ Step-free access via lifts within Peckham Levels

If you were up on the roof for Hope Hunt last week — the solo that opened Doherty’s Life starts at 40 season — good news: she’s back for two more nights. On Thursday, Almost Blue & Navy Blue pairs a lone trumpet with her searching, physical farewell dance; on Saturday, Leather Jacket gets its world premiere.

Leather Jacket is Bold Tendencies’ second full-length commission: a violent, relentless work built around “the bounce”, where the dancers’ bodies become the sound and the score. Rooftop concrete, dusk, grit, weather.

🗓 Thu 23 Jul & Sat 25 Jul, 8pm
📍 Bold Tendencies, 95a Rye Lane, SE15 4ST
🎟 From £20 · tickets via Dice for Almost Blue & Navy Blue and Leather Jacket
♿ Check Bold Tendencies’ accessibility page before booking

Rago launches Until The Morning… at TOLA — a new late-night party series built from years of records, radio shows and curating dancefloors.

For the first edition, Goya Gumbani, Rago, Faye Frazer, Nina Yamada and Rimix take things from 10pm to 4am. Dress intentionally; stay a little longer than planned. A sensible instruction, for once.

🗓 Fri 24 Jul, 10pm–4am
📍 TOLA Peckham, 56 Peckham High Street, SE15 5DP
🎟 £7–£12 · tickets via RA
♿ TBC — check venue directly for access details

Jumbi turns four with a two-venue birthday takeover — friends, family, selectors and food from Original Flava Kitchen.

Leading a weighty line-up: NTS resident Martelo, No Requests (Tiffany Calver), Mia Koden, dare balogun and Maxwell Owin, with live sounds from Mangrove Steel Band and the Jumbi Family — plus a headline guest still kept under wraps. A big Copeland Park celebration with enough corners to scratch several musical itches. Last year sold out and this one’s already moving, so grab tickets ahead.

🗓 Sat 25 Jul, 2–10pm
📍 Jumbi, Copeland Park
🎟 £15–£36.90 · tickets via RA
♿ Check venue site for full access details

Black Minds Matter UK brings a one-night comedy bill to Theatre Peckham, headlined by Slim and hosted by Chizzy Akudolu.

Wes Defoe, Chantel Nash, Nadz, Micah Hall, Kobi Coker and Max McKenzie round out the line-up, with ticket sales supporting culturally appropriate talking therapy for Black individuals and families.

🗓 Sun 26 Jul, 6:45–9:15pm
📍 Theatre Peckham, 221 Havil Street, SE5 7SB
🎟 From £22.38 · tickets via Eventbrite
♿ TBC — check venue site for full access details

Peckham Art Flea Market brings independent artists to Peckham Oasis Gallery for a Sunday rummage through prints, stickers and one-off handmade pieces.

Ghostflower Creations and Sojaded Arts are among the makers. Free to get in — the sort of afternoon where you pop in for a sticker and leave with a stack of prints.

🗓 Sun 26 Jul, 3–6pm
📍 Peckham Oasis Gallery, Unit 4, Dovedale Trading Estate, SE15 4QN
🎟 Free · details via Instagram
♿ Check gallery directly for access details

The final chapter of Shirin Majid’s WANDER / WONDER series brings 21 sculptors, writers, painters, photographers, ceramicists, designers and makers into the Old Waiting Room.

Expect miniature still lifes, small worlds and quiet responses to presence, waiting and the strange little pause between where you’ve been and where you’re going.

🗓 Sun 26 Jul, 1–6pm
📍 Old Waiting Room, Peckham Rye Station
🎟 Free
♿ Check venue directly for full access details

1. 🌈 Club Bananas Pride collaging workshop (Thu 23 Jul, 7–9pm, Bussey Rooftop Bar, £5–£8): Make collages for your idols, icons, mothers and queens in a relaxed queer sunset session.

2. 🎂 Diasporas Now fifth anniversary at IKLECTIK (Fri 24 Jul, 7–11pm, IKLECTIK, £12.35–£24.69): Five years of Diasporas Now, marked with movement, live score, sound, archive, birthday cake and a closing set.

3. 🎶 Friends of Music and Life at SET Social (Sat 25 Jul, from 2pm, SET Social, free): A monthly jam-and-hangout for musicians, writers, artists and curious listeners — no experience needed.

4. 🌱 Plant & Bake Sale at Glengall Wharf Garden (Sun 26 Jul, noon–7pm, Glengall Wharf Garden, £2 · free under-16s): Plants, bakes, honey, Indonesian street food, hen hugs and botanical drinks in the garden.

5. 🎮 CONTROL panel discussion (Tue 28 Jul, 7–8pm, Peckham Oasis Gallery, free): Artists and curator Julia Greenway unpack video games, simulated worlds, control and contemporary art.

Leading the new releases is Spider-Man: Brand New Day (12A) — Tom Holland back as a forgotten Peter Parker, living alone as a full-time Spider-Man until the pressure tips something dangerous loose and a powerful new enemy turns up. Zendaya, Sadie Sink and Mark Ruffalo round out the cast. Opens Wed 29 Jul, then daily from Thu 30 Jul.

One night only: WHAM! 10 Days in China (12A), a music doc built around restored footage of the band’s 1985 tour of China — the trip that helped launch them worldwide and, at the time, had plenty of people calling them Britain’s biggest group. In English and Chinese. Tue 28 Jul, 8:30pm.

Also showing: The Odyssey (15), both Moana live-action screenings (regular and sing-along), Minions and Monsters (U), The Invite (15), Backrooms: Everything Must Go (15), Obsession (18), Toy Story 5 (PG), The Mandalorian & Grogu (12A), and Michael (12A) — the Michael Jackson biopic, which just tipped past a billion dollars worldwide, joining only 63 other films to reach ten figures.

Subtitled screenings this week: Toy Story 5 (PG) — Sun 26 Jul, 3:45pm; The Invite (15) — Mon 27 Jul, 2:20pm.

🗓 Full schedule here
📍 Peckhamplex, 95a Rye Lane, SE15 4ST
🎟 £6.99 every film, every seat, every day
♿ Fully accessible venue

The stuff that happens every week or month — pub quizzes, open mics, classes, regular nights, deals.

Browse by day:
MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | ALL | HAPPY HOUR | FREE
Know a great recurring event? Spotted something that’s changed? Let me know!

Looking ahead — three to pop in the diary.

🎬 Peckham & Nunhead Free Film Festival · Fri 4–Sun 13 Sep · various Peckham & Nunhead venues — the volunteer-powered neighbourhood film festival returns for its 17th year, with free screenings across SE15. Planning’s underway now, and volunteers are welcome if you fancy helping bring the programme to life. 🎟 Free · details via PNFFF.

🎭 Peckham Playground · Wed 30 Sep–Sun 4 Oct · Copeland Park — the comedy festival returns to Peckham’s cultural quarter for five days, with line-up and tickets still to be announced. Presales start Thu 23 Jul, so join the mailing list for a code if you want first dibs. 🎟 Join the mailing list.

🎤 The Poetry Foyer: Open Verse · Thu 30 Jul · Theatre Peckham — Poetic Unity’s July edition throws the mic open for first-come open-mic slots, with a competition where poets can win a paid feature slot at August’s edition. Runs 6:30–9:30pm, fully accessible venue. 🎟 Free · register via Theatre Peckham.

A few bits of neighbourhood news (and a couple of ways to have your say) this week.

📣 Copeland Community public meeting on the Arada development
Copeland Community is holding a final public meeting before Arada’s development plan goes in for planning approval. Representatives from Arada and Southwark planning officers are expected, and residents are invited to share concerns and feedback. It’s at The Green, Nunhead (SE15 3SS) on Thu 23 Jul, 6–8pm.

🎨 Open call: Anglican Chapel ruin projects
Southwark Council is inviting proposals for art exhibitions, performances, workshops and engagement activities in the Anglican Chapel ruin at Nunhead Cemetery, part of the East Lodge restoration. Family-friendly ideas are especially welcome — email Catrin Podgorski at catrin.podgorski@southwark.gov.uk to talk through an idea.

🎓 Pecan is now a training centre
Trainers can now hire rooms at Pecan — the Peckham community charity — for their courses. For information and costs, including on accredited training programmes, email employment.support@pecan.org.uk.

👉🏽 Know something local more people should hear about?
Suggest local news here (selected listings featured weekly).

Peckham Weekend is back for a third year: 20 local restaurants, bars and cafés each serving a £10 special, with £1 from every one going to Peckham Pantry — the membership food club at Pecan that helps local families on lower incomes eat well for less.

Here’s the bit worth shouting about: last year the weekend raised over £1,000 for the Pantry. There are even more places taking part this time, so there’s every reason to think we can beat it — and it’s about the easiest kind of giving there is, since you were going to eat out anyway.

The edible map runs from Mr Bao’s BBQ mackerel and Lai Rai’s roast pork bánh mì to Forza Wine’s cauliflower fritti, En Root’s crispy jerk shroom burger and Ganapati’s prawn dosa — plus Rice Paddy, Peckham Cellars, Shorty’s, Janda Diner, NOLA, Bà Ba, Kruk, Bara, Eastern Bloc, Maiz and more. Useful, delicious, pleasingly SE15.

So pick a few, eat your way round, and know that every plate and glass chips in. Twenty kitchens, one Pantry — let’s beat last year’s total.

🗓 Fri 24–Sun 26 Jul
📍 Across Peckham
🎟 £10 specials · see the full line-up

That’s it for this week’s wander around SE15. Next issue lands Thursday morning.

If you go to anything here, I’d love photos, tiny reviews, or overheard moments, get in touch or DM @peckhamlive.

See you out there,
Cat 🐾

😺 Small print: double check the details (and the weather!) before heading out — Peckham loves a last-minute change.

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