Young arts run free: the 50 best things to do in the UK for zilch

To have a free day out is to beat the system. It’s the cultural equivalent of gorging yourself at an all-you-can-eat buffet, except it costs much less and you won’t go to bed praying for death because you consumed enough lukewarm spring rolls to murder an ox. Picking free entertainment is a learned skill, however. Opt for something too mainstream and your enjoyment will be dented by swarms of other people. Pick something not mainstream enough – say, the time I went to the opening of a ferry on the Isle of Sheppey as a teenager – and there’s a good chance you’ll spend your day bored, cold and eating cheese-and-pineapple cocktail sticks in a windowless indoor car park that stinks of exhaust fumes. When it is just right, however, free stuff can expand your horizons like nothing else. Let’s imagine that you’re on the fence about, say, jazz. The expectations that come with a financial transaction are far too high to risk a full afternoon of potentially directionless skronk. But if it’s free, like the Barbican’s Women in Jazz will be in October, you have nothing to lose. This guide is nothing but potential reward. Go to a free… Read full this story

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