The best events to book on Time Out Tickets right now
Tove Lo.
The best concerts, films, comedy shows and more on Time Out tickets
SPORT
Run to the Beat 2018
Ming Tombs Reservoir. May 20. 128RMB (5km); 188RMB (10km); 228RMB (half-marathon)
Taking place in May at the Ming Tombs Reservoir in Changping, Beijing's first music half marathon features live bands and DJs performing alongside the course to entertain runners. The party then continues at the main stage after participants cross the finish line.
The Color Run 2018
Beijing Garden Expo Park. Jun 9. 288RMB; 228RMB (depending on package)
Run, crawl, walk or party your way along the course of this untimed race where you get paint chucked at you at intervals along the route. Billed as 'the happiest 5K on the planet', this year's Color Run features a giant paint-throwing party at the end. There's only two rules: wear white at the beginning and finish looking like a unicorn threw up on you.
NIGHTLIFE
Creamfields Music Festival 2018
Topwin Golf & Country Club. May 12-13. 780RMB (two-day pass)
An electronic music festival that needs little to no introduction, UK festival Creamfields has been running for the last 21 years and has finally set its sights on the Mainland this year. The lineup features a whole host of dance music legends, including the likes of Diplo, Martin Garrix, Above & Beyond, Alan Walker and much, much more.
MTA Festival
Tianmo Nature Scenic Area, Hebei. May 18-20. 450RMB (one-day pass); 900RMB (two-day pass); 1,280RMB (three-day pass)
Set to take place next week, MTA Festival seems set to arrive in Beijing with little to no fanfare. Yet this three-day fest out in Tianmo Desert features massive international headliners such as Tove Lo, Nervo (pictured), Kehlani and countless more. Dedicated festivalgoers can even camp out in the desert for the full three days (it's basically the closest we're getting to Burning Man).
Great Wall Festival 2018
One of Beijing's best outdoor festivals returns with a killer lineup, including Chris Liebing, Carl Craig, Nina Kraviz (pictured), Dixon and Recondite. There's a 5km fun run before the festival starts, while the actual party kicks off at 2pm, with four stages packed with local talent including Ou Yang, Huang Weiwei and Shen Yue.
Bemet
Dusk Dawn Club. May 20. 120RMB; 100RMB (presale)
Hod Moshonov aka Bemet is an Israeli keytarist, and frankly, need we say more? In town for this year's MTA Festival, the multi-talented musician is also performing at DDC on May 20, bringing his unique brand of psychedelic electronia to the Gulou masses.
MUSIC
The Cribs
Yugong Yishan. May 13. 220RMB; 190RMB (presale)
Rowdy indie-rock veterans The Cribs crash into Beijing this May with a gig at Yugong Yishan – their first in the city. The NME darlings became known for some pretty riotous live shows and stage antics when they burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s, and have shown no signs of slowing up with their latest album, 24-7 Rock Star S**t.
Leo Kalyan
Yugong Yishan. Jun 1. 150RMB; 120RMB (presale)
Based in East London, Kalyan was born into a Muslim family and spent his youth traveling between London and Lahore. After experimenting with making music for several years, in 2014 he began teaching himself to produce in earnest and subsequently uploaded remixes (or 'refixes') of Jessie Ware's 'Running' and Duke Dumont's 'Need U' to SoundCloud. The tracks caught on, gaining blog attention and helping Kalyan rise to the top of influential music blog aggregator Hype Machine.
Wolf Alice
Tango. Aug 15. 400RMB; 350RMB (presale)
An evocative North London alt-rock outfit led by vocalist Ellie Rowsell, Wolf Alice deftly mixes folk, grunge, and electronic elements with vintage '90s indie rock. Their 2015 debut album My Love is Cool would go on to be nominated for a whole raft of awards, including the Mercury Prize as well as a Brit, Ivor Novello and Grammy Award. They're set to arrive in Beijing this August performing music off 2017's Visions of a Life.
THINGS TO DO
The Beatles, Tomorrow
Today Art Museum. Until May 27. 80RMB
Multimedia exhibition The Beatles, Tomorrow, retraces the career of one of the biggest bands in history. Visitors can view more than 250 newspaper and magazine clippings, vintage video clips of live performances, vintage vinyl records as well as a reconstruction of the Ed Sullivan Show set that hosted their breakthrough live performance.
Neighborhood Earth
Indigo. Until Jun 17. 45RMB (any day ticket, limited); 88RMB (any day ticket); 68RMB (weekday ticket)
Using images provided from NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory, visitors to Neighborhood Earth can view a 30-minute film that gives visitors an in-depth, 360-degree look at the solar system, as well as interact with hands-on, educational exhibits including a life-size International Space Station.
Alice: Into the Rabbit Hole
Chaoyang Joy City. Until Jul 9. 70RMB
This interactive art exhibition celebrates Lewis Carroll's classic novel Alice in Wonderland with a series of stunning multimedia art and design works. Previously exhibited in Seoul, Korea, Alice: Into the Rabbit Hole quickly became a viral sensation, with 6,000 uploads on social media platform INS per day.
STAGE
The Bolshoi Ballet: Le Corsaire
NCPA. May 18-20. 280-1,280RMB
One of the world's top ballet companies returns to Beijing with Le Corsaire, the swashbuckling drama inspired by a Lord Byron poem that includes captive maidens, rich sultans, an awe-inspiring shipwreck and plenty of romance. Featuring logic-defying leaps and stunning showmanship, this is one of dance's most entertaining ballets.
National Theatre: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre. May 24-27. 99-880RMB
Based on the acclaimed novel by Mark Haddon, adapted by Simon Stephens and directed by Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has been hailed by The Times as 'a phenomenal combination of storytelling and spectacle'. Winner of seven Olivier Awards in 2013, including Best New Play, Curious Incident has also won five Tony Awards and is one of the longest-running Broadway productions in over a decade.
Matthew Bourne: Cinderella
Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre. Aug 7-12. 99-880RMB
Matthew Bourne has made ballet into big business by remembering a very simple lesson – that dance, originally, was about entertainment. His production of the iconic fairytale is set in London during World War II with Cinderella's prince reimagined as a young RAF pilot. And like everything else he does, it's a hit.
Kinky Boots
Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre. Aug 24-30. 280-1,080RMB
Inspired by true events, Kinky Boots tells the story of a struggling shoe factory in Northampton. When factory owner Charlie Price has a chance encounter with drag queen Lola, he's inspired to create a line of sexy heels for transvestites in order to help save the family business. Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, with music and lyrics by pop icon Cyndi Lauper, this Tony Award-winning musical is fabulously sassy, dazzling and uplifting.
Cats
Beijing Century Theatre. Sep 22-27. 180-1,280RMB
Based on TS Eliot's Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical Cats is set in a larger-than-life junkyard playground that's home to a variety of feline characters. With spectacular sets, breathtaking choreography and of course, the hit song 'Memory', Cats is a musical like no other.
Rent
Beijing Century Theatre. Oct 11-17. 80-880RMB
In 1996, an original rock musical by a little-known composer opened on Broadway... and forever changed the landscape of American theatre. Two decades later, Jonathan Larson's Rent continues to speak loudly and defiantly to audiences across generations and all over the world. A re-imagining of Puccini's La Bohème, Rent follows a year in the lives of seven impoverished artists struggling to survive in the thriving days of New York City's Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
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