Queen Mary events at Being Human Festival 2025
From walking tours to creative workshops, discover free public events taking place across London, 6-15 November 2025
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We're delighted to be supporting researchers across Queen Mary to participate in this year's Being Human Festival - the UK's national festival of the humanities! Queen Mary researchers will be hosting a range of fun, free events this November across London, from walking tours to creative workshops.
Gardeners' Glees and Floral Making
8 November, 10:15-12:30 at Olden Community gardens, N5 1NH
A celebration of the narratives of forgotten gardeners and florists who met in market and town squares to sell their produce and later feasted with convivial singing! At this hands-on workshop you'll create a unique garden glee (a gardener's song) and decorate your own gardener's pole with floral decorations to take home. Booking required.
Illuminating Barts North Wing
10 November, 18:00-19:00 at Barts North Wing, St Bartholomew's Hospital, EC1A 7BE
Discover a quiet square at the heart of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in Smithfield, illuminated with light with a newly commissioned photographic projection and spoken performance. See glimpses of the figures, illustrious and ordinary, that haunt the hospital's eighteenth-century Great Hall; the artisans who built it and the donors who paid for it; the patients whose lives were changed; and the doctors, nurses, and students who came here to work from across the globe. Spectacular projections onto the building’s facade are accompanied by words from the Barts Health NHS Trust Archives. Booking is not required.
Hidden Faces, Hidden Stories
11 November, 12:30-13:30 at Barts North Wing, St Bartholomew's Hospital, EC1A 7BE
In this creative workshop you will create a drawing or poem of your own, inspired by the Pool of Bethesda (1726) painting which hangs in the North Wing at St Bartholomew's Hospital. The painting is believed to depict different kinds of illness and methods of care.
The Cockney Yiddish Podcast Live!
11 November, 18:30-20:00 at Rich Mix E1 6LA
Join Nadia Valman and Vivi Lachs of the Cockney Yiddish Podcast for a lively evening of music, song, words and discussion about the mixed languages of London.
Palestine on Stage: Voices from Gaza
12 November, 18:30-21:00 at Pinter Studio, Arts One, Queen Mary University of London, E1 4PA
Join the White Kite Collective and theatre studies academics for an evening of short plays from Gaza, exploring the power of performance to amplify Palestinian voices.
Legends of London
15 November, 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00 meeting at Tower of London Welcome Centre, EC3R 5BT
Travel back in time on this walking tour to discover the late-medieval legends that have defined London’s sites and streets for centuries.
Everyone is a Researcher! Improving Health Research Together
15 November, 12:30-14:30 at St Margaret's House, E2 9PL
A hands-on creative workshop to help shape better health research! After some flash talks introducing some of the current research taking place at Queen Mary, you'll be invited to reimagine everyday health research either in a pair or on your own using collage, sculpture, or drawing.
These events are part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 6-15 November 2025. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org.