Your new bank holiday plans

We’re with you – you had great bank holiday plans, or dreams for it at least, and now all is gone awry. But don’t fear. Before you pull back out that work laptop, set up camp in your home office and cry inside that ‘I might as well work, there’s nothing better to do’, remember all may seem cancelled but fun is not cancelled. And we’re here for you with almost like-for-like alternatives to your long weekend plans – so fun you’ll wonder why you ever thought you’d leave the house.

You were going to be: abroad

If you were in fact right now going to be on a plane, mulling over an in-flight snack purchase, dreaming of the European markets you were about to encounter, the wine, the sun, the culture, the romance… we recommend instead bringing the holiday to you. Adopt a foreign eating habit this weekend. Try fika, a contemplative pause for coffee and Swedish cinnamon bun. Make Taiwanese bao bing, often eaten around 4pm, which consists of shaved ice (you could just try crushed) complemented with various toppings from fresh fruit and peanuts to sweetened condensed milk.

Or order in the gastronomy. In London, get Sri Lankan hoppers and daals from Kolamba, pick up Middle Eastern goodies from Honey & Co, or sample the pretty legendary paella from Arros QD. Nationwide, order a fondue-it-yourself kit from The Cheese Bar or charcuterie, manchego and Spanish treats from Brindisa.

If you want to get into the spirit of the country, watch it (which is the next best thing, right?). Try Letters to Juliet in Verona, Once in Dublin, Lost in Translation in Tokyo. Or visit Versailles in a virtual excursion.

You were going to be: at All Points East

The real benefit of not being at an actual festival, but instead being at home (we’re looking on the bright side), is you can catch a bit of music while doing other things. Lyaness at Sea Containers London is streaming a five-hour live set on Instagram for Monday evening. The line-up from Big Weekend 2020, including Jonas Brothers and Lauv, will be performing from their living rooms, which gives us the benefit of multiple snooping opportunities.

Whip up unusual and forgotten cocktails from legendary bartender Salvatore Calabrese while you listen, or more experimental concoctions from London’s top mixologists with The Booze Brain.

There’s plenty of soothing music with Google’s Nest Sessions this weekend and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is going online. You could camp in the garden for full festival vibes, or buy a projector and set up an outdoor cinema. Alternatively, order Cutter & Squidge’s afternoon tea which, we have heard, must be enjoyed with bunting and floral tea dresses for maximum effect.

You were going to be: brunching and pubbing

Is it even possible for us to have a bank holiday when the pub, that great, lovely institution, is firmly shut? We propose it is. Try an online pub quiz or order craft beer and scrummy pub snacks from Hop Burns & Black.

Brunch-wise, try the Breakfast Box from 26 Grains, delivering around the London Bridge area, or make an event of crafting the perfect brunch – soaking your bircher muesli the night before, making your loaf and attempting Dishoom’s akuri, spiced scrambled eggs.

If one-on-one walks isn’t satisfying your need for group hangouts, get friends online at the same time for Zoom barre from Paola’s Bodybarre. Or challenge everyone this weekend to Alexander McQueen’s creative challenges. Or feel almost on stage with Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby in A Streetcar Named Desire streamed on YouTube.

With all of these plans, the weekend will fly by with so much achieved. It’s pretty hard to imagine how we ever had time to go out at all.