Home secretary

The local line-up for your diary ―

Cara Cummings

Peckham Salvage Yard

If there’s one thing we’ve all missed during lockdown, it’s rummaging through other people’s stuff. Bargain hunters, rejoice: south London’s chicest flea market returns to Copeland Park this month. Expect more than sixty hand-picked traders selling homeware, furniture, curios and collectables. Perfect for an interiors overhaul or bartering for a vintage gem.

9 May, 11am-6pm. 133 Copeland Road, SE15 3SN. Free.

Brixton courtYard - Back with a Bang

Longing for sunnier climes? Brixton Jamm’s totally tropical outdoor space can cure your holiday blues. Yes, there’s even a beach. And with a packed schedule of brunch parties, DnB & Jungle BBQs and the return of ‘Socially Distanced Socials’ headlined by the likes of Craig Charles, Horse Meat Disco and Crazy P, who even needs Ibiza anyway?

Events throughout May. Visit thebrixtoncourtyard.co.uk for lineups and tickets.

PuB in the Park - June dateS for dulwich

Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge is bringing the mother of all knees-ups to south London next month. Graze on food from legendary pubs and restaurants including Kerridge’s double-Michelin starred The Hand & Flowers, Atul Kochhar’s Vaasu and Sindhu and local favourites The Begging Bowl, and groove to live sets from Toploader, Basement Jaxx, Gabrielle and the Brand New Heavies. The best pub visit, ever.

25-27 June. From £37.28; lineup and tickets at pubintheparkuk.com

crYStal Palace 5k, 10k and half marathon

If a different kind of en masse sweating is more your vibe, mass-participation running group Ru Through are staging a day of timed long distance races in Crystal Palace Park this month. Gun for a personal best in either the 5k, 10k or half marathon categories, with a guaranteed medal at the finish line even if you end up walking most of the way round…

9 May, 9.30am, Crystal Palace Parade SE19. Race slots from £22. runthrough.co.uk

norman JaY uP on the roof at Pow Brixton

Time Out has called the terrace at the Prince of Wales “arguably the best of any club in London”. This month, you can catch arguably the best DJ of British DJs - his royal funkess, Norman Jay MBE - playing an exclusive POW bank holiday bash. Book a custom made, 6-seater rooftop party booth and let the good times roll.

30 May, 467 – 469 Brixton Rd, SW9 8HH. Six-seater booths from £120. pow-london.com

reunion - Summer at SouthBank

The UK’s largest multi-arts centre reopens this month, with four months of music, art, literature and dance events planned across the Southbank’s entire site. Highlights include Esa-Pekka Salonen’s final two concerts as the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor; Aurora Orchestra with Nicola Benedetti; and Chineke!, an orchestra set up by double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE to provide outstanding career opportunities to Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians, who launch the season.

From 21 May. Visit southbankcentre.co.uk for lineups and tickets.

Live at the crystal Palace Bowl! ―

Laura Burgoine

Summer concert series will resurrect historical outdoor amphitheatre that has played host to music legends Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Elton John, and The Cure

Abrand new series of outdoor gigs is descending on Crystal Palace this summer. Dizzee Rascal, Supergrass, The Streets, Max Richter and The National English Opera are all on the line-up for South Facing Festival’s inaugural outing at the Crystal Palace Bowl in August.

Making up the first wave of massive acts in the series of 12 epic performances is Dizzee Rascal & The Outlook Orchestra, the English National Opera (ENO), Supergrass and The Streets.

Created by some of the people behind Field Day, Winterville, Cross The Tracks, Wide Awake and Dimensions, South Facing is a new annual event aiming to breathe new life into the Crystal Palace Bowl: a stunning outdoor amphitheatre soaked with a rich heritage of live music, untouched for the last decade. In its 60-year history, the venue (affectionately known as the 'Rusty Laptop’ by locals) has played host to some of the world’s most acclaimed artists - Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Elton John, The Cure, Lou Reed, Vera Lynn, to name a few - and South Facing aims to tie into this history by curating a standout series of bespoke and diverse concerts this summer.

From the pioneering grime of Dizzee Rascal - backed for the first time by the 20-piece, drum’n’bass-inclined Outlook Orchestra - and the iconic UK garage of The Streets, to the platinumselling Britrock of Supergrass, the award-winning compositions of Max Richter and the critically acclaimed English National Opera (ENO) (performing Tosca and featuring Conductor: Richard Farnes, Tosca: Natalya Romaniw, Cavaradossi: David Junghoon Kim, Scarpia: Roland Wood), South Facing promises to get music fanatics excited and to reboot the Rusty Laptop.

South Facing is working closely with the Crystal Palace Park Trust to re-establish its historical role and respond to the desire of park users. The Crystal Palace Park Trust says “the income generated by these events will be an important new revenue source enabling the Trust to start a programme of much needed improvements in the Park, such as the restoration of the concert platform.”

South Facing intends to deliver a highly sustainable event series. Challenging targets, focusing on every aspect of the event delivery from supply chain to audience experience to travel, will help achieve as close to net neutral impact by 2024.

South Facing Festival Director, Marcus Weedon, says: "After what’s been an extremely difficult 12 months for the live music industry, we can’t wait to put on a fantastic series of events that people can really get excited about. Not only do we have some amazing artists who are itching to put on a great show, we also have the privilege of being able to stage the festival at an iconic and important outdoor London venue, which has sadly been dormant in recent years. "We’re all working incredibly hard to make sure South Facing is a fitting return to glory for the Crystal Palace Bowl!”

South Facing runs from August 5-31 at the Crystal Palace Bowl. Early Bird tickets start at £35 + booking fee. southfacingfestival.com

Riverside picnics, outdoor tours and online offerings as old Royal naval college reopens ―

Laura Burgoine

Now we’re past the April 12 post, Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College is running digital workshops by illustrator Nick Ellwood, outdoor guided and self-guided tours, and has reopened the gift shops and café.

Illustrator Nick Ellwood, whose drawings feature in the Painted Hall Family Trail, will have a physical exhibition Mischief and Misadventure, opening this month. Online drawing workshops for children and adults are running ahead of the exhibition. The May workshops bring history to life as Ellwood guides participants through drawing tips and practical activities.

Those visiting the Old Royal Naval College can explore the stunning grounds with guided tours provided by knowledgeable volunteers. Tours will run four times daily showing off the beautiful grounds and exteriors of the Sir Christopher Wren-designed buildings. Guided tours will be limited to five people and must be pre-booked. Visitors can also download any of the three free self-guided tours of the Old Royal Naval College on the Smartify app. The Building Detectives tour takes families on a treasure trail around the outdoor spaces, allowing children to enjoy some time learning about their local history outside. The architecture tour takes visitors on a journey around the outside of the iconic domed buildings and the Greenwich Pensioners Tour, which launched in April, allows users to follow in the footsteps of the former naval officers and mariners who lived here.

The gift shops, in the Visitor Centre and King William Undercroft, are open again while the Old Brewery has resumed outdoor service and is taking bookings on their website. There are popup food stalls on the King William Lawn every weekend offering hot and cold food, a bar and pre-made picnics and afternoon teas to enjoy on the lawns. Visitors can hire a deckchair or picnic blanket.

Digital offerings include award-winning British-Nigerian playwright Adeola Solanke’s Phillis in London, which will be available to watch on the Old Royal Naval College website. The play, filmed in the magnificent Painted Hall, follows Phillis Wheatley, the first Black poet published in English, on her 1773 visit to London and the Old Royal Naval College.

The exhibition Black Greenwich Pensioners is closing after a successful run since September, and the Old Royal Naval College is making the exhibition available online for free so the public can still learn about the important and complex history of Black naval mariners in Greenwich.

Nick Ellwood workshops run on May 13, 20, 27 at 6pm. Cost: £50.

The Mischief and Misadventure exhibition is open from May 17-September 5. Cost: free.

King William Walk, Greenwich, London, SE10 9NN. www.ornc.org