Pop-up outdoor cinema - Vauxhall, London (free event!)

Picnics. Parks. Lazy evenings.

There is something magical about summer evenings that makes us Brits want to spend every possibly minute of the day, enjoying the outdoors. And it seems that organisers and events have caught on to that as there is a plethora of outdoor activities and pop ups sprouting in London. I love it.

a bunch of girls, loving mean girls 

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens 

Tuesday evening, a group of us girlies descended into the park at Vauxhall for a perfect pop up cinema experience. With the weather on our side, blankets, an epic picnic and Mean Girls, this is what long summer days are about. And the best bit – totally free!

Yes, not one penny was charged for this!

the park was packed! 

I had forgotten how funny Mean Girls was too, with hilarious sarcastic one-liners and dry characters such as the head-teacher. This is Lindsey Lohan in her hay day (before the melt downs, crack and DUIs I believe).

We took our own picnic, though it was advertised that there would be food stalls. Caterers clearly didn’t get the memo at how lucrative this would be as there was only one food van! If you are planning on going, I strongly suggest you take your own picnic (and booze).You can also hire blankets and deck chairs for a reasonable price.

enjoying our picnic dinner 

Try to plan ahead though and purchase it before 7pm – we popped to the little Sainsburys by Vauxhall station and it was rammed! Queues out the door and shelves bare, it seems every other woman in a 5 mile radius had the same idea as us and was in this little shop. I have never seen Vauxhall like this in 4 years of commuting there – hundreds of young women clutching on to their picnic goodies, waiting for friends. It was people gridlocked!

dear god no! Sainsbury's has run out of hummus!!!!!!!! 

Don’t be limited though and think outside the box – literally. People were bringing in dominos pizza and one guy even had a BBQ. On his own. Whether carrying in a Sainsbury’s bag or luxury hamper set, everyone was in the picnic mood.

picnic time! 

for this chap, only a BBQ will do! 

The event takes place at Vauxhall’s Pleasure Gardens – be warned there is another park very close by.  We did start out evening traipsing round the wrong park! Get there for about 7pm too for a good spot! There are several evenings throughout summer on a Tuesday hosting films in Vauxhall, so check the website out.

take a coat because it will get chilly when the sun goes down!  

This was the perfect summer evening!

X x X

PS, 

The one downside though was the lack of toilets – two to be precise. I heard the girl behind me saying that she queued for nearly 50 min! Just wait until the film starts and sacrifice missing a couple of minutes.

PPS, 

This wasn't a female only event - there were some males there!