Mayfair Art Weekend is back, the event described as “the annual celebration of the world’s internationally renowned gallery district” kicks off this Friday night and runs throughout the weekend. The ninth edition will take place from 24th to 26th June 2022, with “the extended programme of free events including the Mayfair Sculpture Trail in collaboration with Art in Mayfair; a curated artists’ moving image screening, the May Fair Showreel; family activities and more”. What it basically means is pretty much all the establishment galleries of the Mayfair/West End area open relatively late on the Friday night, 6pm until 8pm (although I do wish they’d go the extra hour, by the time those of us who work get themselves into central London it is all but over, it can be a frustating scramble to catch one more gallery at 7.50pm). What you do get is loads of galleries open later usual on the Friday evening and probably marked by those great big green balloons so you can spot them, if it isn’t giant green balloons outside the front doors so you can spot the space again this year it will be something similarly inviting. There’s always something exciting to see, true, a lot of it can be a little playing it safe and establishment conservative, there is always something though, well usually more than just the one “something”, there will be three or four galleries really on it, there will be something more than worth your time and effort. And yes, you can actually explore these galleries free of charge on any given afternoon on any day of the year (well Mondays and Tuesdays don’t happen so much as later in the week in terms of galleries being open), but the Mayfair weekend does make for a sense of an event, and there may just be a pint of gin or two on offer, or more importantly the artists themselves hanging about and in most cases happy to talk. Actually the Mayfair Art Weekend is a really friendly event, far less aloof than the East End. Friday evening and then events and tours and talks during the daytime Saturday and Sunday

More details via the official Mayfair weekend website and the list of galleries