Jennifer Barton – a New York born Londoner – accepted Eventbrite’s #GTFOChallenge to go to 30 events in 30 days for the experience of a lifetime. This is her account.

As I continue to rack up events and activities and travel miles for July’s #gtfochallenge, I’m really starting to embrace London’s nightlife scene. Lots of the fab Eventbrite activities tend to run after work, from 7/7:30pm to 10pm each evening. 

Trust me, there’s a lot out there for anyone looking to book into a foodie event with a twist, or a themed nightclub experience, or a calming crafting session… 

Winging it: a tour of London’s top chicken wing joints in Soho

I love the idea of combining a bit of a city tour with a gastro experience, which is the thinking behind London’s Chicken Wing Tour, run by James (@londonwingtours). I’m mostly a vegetarian (!) so you might think this is an unusual choice, but it’s exactly the type of activity my husband and brothers-in-law would book into using Eventbrite, so I had to try it. Though James caters to a lot of London visitors/tourists, our evening was fun because it brought together a group of locals, all in search of some yummy wings.


We went to three different restaurants on the tour: El Pollote (@elpolloteldn), which just opened its newest location off Carnaby Street last month. We sampled these phenomenal guava-coated wings and the best buffalo wing I’ve tried, made with a habanero/queso sauce. 

Next we went to Bodeans (@bodeansbbq) – an American staple – and finally, Wingmans (@wingmanschicken), which I loved for the variety and flavours and heat on some of those wings. At Wingmans, we tried wings with flavours from the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East, as well as some truffle-coated buffalo wings, and my tastebuds couldn’t have ended the evening happier. I also loved how we had a bit of a break from eating between each restaurant. We walked from one spot to the next, picking up some anecdotes about Soho in the process.

Calling all Swifties: Swiftogeddon is the club night you need 

Swiftogeddon is a night of pure joy (and they’ve just launched a bottomless brunch event on Eventbrite, too). It’s a nightclub-based event taking place in London (as well as other cities in the UK), and every single song is a Taylor Swift song. For however many hours you stay, you’re only listening to Anti-Hero and Love Story and Shake It Off and 22 and it’s totally dreamy. 

Swifties are a colourful, vibrant, sequin-loving crowd, and I loved how many hen parties and birthdays and friend groups and couples I spotted. I went with my sis-in-law, which was lovely and was super happy to let my hair down, dance around, scream my favourite lyrics at full volume and relish in the fact I may not have gotten tix to see Taylor Swift live in concert when she hits the UK next summer, but this is super fun (and a lot cheaper) and I can get my Taylor Swift fix whenever I need it now… 

Spray the streets on this graffiti workshop in Waterloo 

Ok, so this event was technically in the daytime, but it felt like I was doing something illicit and nightlife-y since it involved graffiti-ing the walls of Leake Street’s famous arches. How cool is that?! 

Not only did the session, led by artist-in-residence at Leake St, Marc Craig (@creativethinkin), involve spraying our own graffiti artworks on those famous walls (the artwork will only last a couple of days before some Leake St artistry occurs and they’re sprayed over), but Marc showed us how to make Graffiti Galaxy artworks we could take home. Think spray painted planets – they came out awesome!

I also loved how we got a tour of the arches after the immersive graffiti art bit. I can tell you which ceiling artworks Marc created (look for the virus dude!), show you where the original Banksy used to be, point out Robbo’s signature and Blek Le Rat’s piece (under plexiglass). 

This was such a fun way to spend an afternoon and find out more about another side of London. I had no idea about the history and stories sprayed, and sprayed again, on those walls. I also love how kid-friendly this activity is, especially for tweens and teens. 

Keep reading about Jen’s adventures with the #GTFOChallenge on this blog – and follow her daily on: