Renowned musicians, a new bar launch, birthdays, Bangkok baths, awards, and a couple of festivals. If variety is indeed the spice of life, then this weekend in our fair London is the seemingly endless herb and spice aisle at my local supermarket on Brick Lane: you name it, it's there.

This weekend's guide is brought to you in association with The Importance of Being Earnest, showing now at the Vaudeville Theatre. Click here for details of the UJ subscriber offer we have for tickets to see Penelope Keith leading the way in Oscar Wilde's delightful and ever-popular comedy.

Billy Cobham
Where the trumpet had Miles Davis, the drums have Billy Cobham. The open-handed maestro has played with everyone from Santana to Sonny Rollins; he founded the Mahavishnu Orchestra and was central to fusion; he's been sampled variously by the likes of Massive Attack and Souls of Mischief, and is here on an entirely unmissable trip to London.

90 Free Friday
Ditch those overpriced West End entrance fees, the stuck-up West London dress code and it's typical East End scruffy equivalent. Slap in the middle of Brick Lane, the 90 Free Fridays offer an alternative: Canadian, Warp-signed rock-pop trio Born Ruffians, raw pop-blues outfit The Brute Chorus, and jerky pop-art genii The Late Greats, all for free. And not a dress code in sight.

East Village Launch Party
From the ashes of Great Eastern Street's long-suffering Medicine, Shoreditch's latest addition proudly arises, ditching the preoccupation for vacant aesthetics and wanky cocktail menus in favour of pure, cracking tunes. Tonight sees the launch of East Village with its new, eponymous night of belters from resident DJ Stuart Patterson and this week's guests, Idjut Boys, Disco Bloodbath, Karizma and Tomoki Tamura.

Simon Pope
Like something from an Auster novel, one contemporary ICA resident converses with the subject of his work, another predecessive Institute artist from 1976 who's been dead for thirty years. Reflecting on André Cadere - best known for his multi-coloured, systematized barres de bois - Simon Pope creates a daily-evolving diary in the ICA bar between the Romanian conceptual artist and his own interpretations of contemporary practice.

Mulletover Anti-Valentine Party
With last week's LFW smothering the effects of Valentine's, this weekend will be catch-up for many a single and taken Londoner alike. If of the former proclivity, and especially if you have still have something to get off your chest, try this hefty, electro-mess to ease your pain, with Sian and Efdemin leading the main carnage, and Death from Abroad leaking their beaty agony in the second.

Brand New Fiction
A big, feisty warehouse party from the king of Chicago house himself, Derrick Carter. The eminent US DJ, producer and ambassador of all things boompty is packing out the Elephantine Studios with a massive three hour set, plus support from the Acid Casuals DJs, Digs, Woosh, and Lakuti to take this hefty night straight through into Sunday breakfast.

Brainiac
Ostensibly one for the geeks out there, Sky's Braniac team is descending on East London for a weekend of scientific abuse (or abusive science). If there's any kind of closet science nerd, Jekyllian chemist or explosives-obsessed pyromaniac in you, then what better way to spend Sunday than watching stuff get frozen, shattered and blown up? In the name of education, of course...

Dig Your Own Rave 2nd Birthday
To celebrate two whole years of cracking Sundays and broken Mondays, this regular East London institution pulls out all the stops to really mess with your week. The full crew of residents - Jamie Jones, Matthew Styles, Hector, Rob Mello, Jonny Rock and Dave Congreve - are all on board for this birthday bonanza, together with some top secret guests to help out.

Modern Music Hall Soirée
LGBT month gets all theatrical in its celebrations as it settles into the Horse Hospital for an evening of music hall and show tunes hosted by the wonderful folks at Wotever World. Overseen by the inimitable Mr Meredith, the cast includes Hilda Eusebio, Lazlo Pearlman and Claire Benjamin in an extravaganza of absolute drag delight.

Tough Time, Nice Time
Sticking to the same slightly barmy spirit of innovation that has defined the 15 year history of their two man troupe, David Woods and John Haynes return to the Barbican with another of their wonderful Ridiculusmus performances. Two rather unpleasant individuals, one a drug-dealing, former rent-boy turned lawyer, the other a jaded writer, meet in a bathtub in a Bangkok spa and spend the next hour relating a series of dark, delightfully bleak tales in an absorbing spin of sharp dialogue and outrageous, beer-fueled language. Hardly one for the faint of heart, Tough Time, Nice Time is nothing if not captivating.

Jerwood Moving Image Awards
Fast approaching a decade old, the Jerwood is one of those rare and wonderful groups that provides support and opportunity for a wide variety of arts, but with sufficient funding, space and knowledge to do it damn well. Their newest initiative, the Moving Image Awards, sees them extend their reach into new-fangled digital media, where 30 shortlisted artists, drawn from a massive range of competitors, have been vying for one of three £10,000 prizes. Working from every conceivable tradition, from hand-drawn animation to dance and documentary, the 8 finalists are on show at the Jerwood Space in the build-up to the award announcements on March 4th.

Shen Yun
When I was a wee sprog, history was a thing trapped in dull, dusty tomes and relayed by a monotonous Welshman: needless to say, it was a subject jettisoned as soon as possible in favour of more dynamic fare. Shen Yun, which arrives in London for the weekend, relates a series of tales drawn from 5,000 years of Chinese history, portrayed with astonishing perfection by a cast of 100 impeccable singers and dancers and some of the most astonishingly colourful sets imaginable. If I'd had this lot had got to me all those years ago, who knows, maybe I wouldn't have keyed the Welshman's car.

London Word Festival
From Dickens strolling the banks of the Thames to J.M. Barrie penning Peter Pan from a Regents Street bench, George Eliot seeing out her days in Chelsea to Yeats rustling gods with Aleister Crowley, London is a city with words running through its veins. Fast forward to 2008, and the lit vibe is still burning strong and this festival highlights everything from Robin Ince's School for Gifted Children to Saul Williams and Dan le Sac, Jewish Book Week's East End Now to an exploration of the future of the book scene.

iTunes Live
José Gonzales, Stephanie Dosen, Nizlopi, Soweto Kinch, Alphabeat, Billy Bragg, KT Tunstall, Daniel Merriweather, Estelle, Charlie Winston, Natalie Clein, Laura Marling, Mystery Jets, Jason Mraz, Róisin Murphy, Tony Christie, Yoav, Spiritualized, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds… And there are more. Over 11 days. And all you need is an iTunes account to win tickets. What more do we need to say?