July 2023's must-sees

Not many outdoor cinemas can boast quite such a backdrop as the Luna Cinema, which takes over Dean's Yard from 25 to 30 July with Westminster Abbey rising above it. This year's six-day season takes in music, high-stakes drama and classic comedy. Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical is followed by Baz Lurhman's Elvis and Moulin Rouge; Tom Cruise stars in Top Gun: Maverick, and the season ends with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Some Like it Hot.

This month offers the last chance to see a major exhibition by Ai Weiwei at the Design Museum, which closes on 30 July. Ai Weiwei: Making Sense draws on Ai's lifetime engagement with hand-made Chinese artefacts, and offers a meditation on the value we place on histories and skills that have since been ignored or erased. In a mix of recent pieces and specially commissioned installations, this is the first show to place his work in the context of design.

Kew Gardens may be world famous for its 120 hectares of rare and exotic trees and flowers, but from 11 to 16 July the gardens also play host to some of the best-loved names in British pop. Kew the Music features live performances from Bastille, The Vamps, Jack Savoretti, The Human League, Haçienda Classical with Craig Charles, and the ever-popular Jools Holland to wind up the set. Bring your own food and wine for an evening of sylvan sounds.

The National Portrait Gallery, adjoining the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, is the oldest portrait gallery in the world. It's also one of the largest, with around 195,000 portraits in its collection. Closed for the last three years for a £35.5 million programme of rebuilding and refurbishment, it reopens on 22 June with a First Look Festival to celebrate its transformation, plus an exhibition of previously never-seen photographs by Paul McCartney from 1963-64, when The Beatles first went global.