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London events calendar

Your month-by-month guide to the best new events in London

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This week's hottest London events

  1. Prometheus
  2. London Zoo Lates
  3. Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012
  4. Secret Cinema
  5. World Street Food Festival
  6. Field Day
  7. The Big British Tea Party
  8. David Guetta
  9. Henry Moore: Large Late Forms
  10. Coldplay
Full hot list details

The best of London

Time Out's critics recommend the best films, shows, exhibitions, events and restaurants in London right now

More critics' choice events

Top London festivals

More London festivals

Welcome to Time Out's London events calendar. In this guide you'll find our hand-picked selection of the best new events that begin this month, next month and indeed every month. From theatre, exhibition and film openings to gigs, festivals and comedy, if it's new, it's here - dive in!

May highlights

  • The Dictator

    Film From Wed May 16

    Re-teaming with director Larry Charles, Sacha Baron-Cohen plays an exiled dictator desperately trying to keep his country free from democracy

  • Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

    Theatre Until Sat Sep 8, Regent's Park

    A straight up rep season that plays to the Theatre's strengths: a Shakespeare play and a musical

May events in London

  • Christian Louboutin

    Museums & Attractions Until Sun Jul 8, Design Museum

    A retrospective of shoemaker Christian Louboutin, examining the evolution of the French designer'...

  • The English Flower Garden

    Around Town Until Sat Jun 30, Chiswick House

    An outdoor installation by ceramic fine artist Paul Cummins that celebrates the quintessential En...

  • Bauhaus: Art as Life

    ArtCritics' choice Until Sun Aug 12, Barbican Centre

    Founded in Germany in 1919 the pioneering and influential Bauhaus art school, led by Walter Gropi...

    Bauhaus Art and Life

  • Picasso Prints: The Vollard Suite

    ArtFree Until Sun Sep 2, British Museum

    An exhibition of Picasso's 'Vollard Suite', which has been recently acquired by the museum. The s...

    Faun uncovering a sleeping woman by Pable Picasso

  • The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

    Theatre Until Sun Sep 9, Kensington Gardens

    Expect a rougher, elemental telling of CS Lewis's classic children's novel in Rupert Goold's new ...

    The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

  • Cantina

    CabaretRecommended Until Sat Sep 29, London Wonderground

    This year sees the South Bank Udderbelly cow site expanded to fill a whole 'Wonderground' of lark...

  • Dark Shadows

    Film Dir Tim Burton, From Fri May 11

    Johnny Depp gets to play one of his favourite characters from childhood in Burton's revamp of th...

  • The Dictator

    Film Dir Larry Charles, From Wed May 16

    Sacha Baron-Cohen plays a dictator in exile who is desperately trying to keep his country free fr...

  • The Queen: Art and Image

    Around Town Until Sun Oct 21, National Portrait Gallery

    Portraits of the Queen to celebrate her diamond jubilee. Spanning the 60 years of her reign, the ...

  • Jimmy Carr - Gagging Order

    Comedy Sat May 18 2013, Brixton Academy

    The sharp, edgy one-liner merchant is back on the road with more gags.

  • Mind the Map: Inspiring Art, Design and Cartography

    Museums & Attractions Until Sun Oct 28, London Transport Museum

    London Transport Museum's collection of maps from the past 100 years forms the basis of this exhi...

    The Tate Gallery by tube, by David Booth of the agency Fine White Line, 1987

  • Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

    Theatre Until Sat Sep 8, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

    An unusual summer for the Open Air Theatre next year, which will eschew the formula of sombre sea...

  • Chelsea Fringe Festival

    Around TownCritics' choice Until Sun Jun 10, Various venues

    The first ever Chelsea Fringe, which takes place during the Chelsea Flower Show and Open Garden S...

    The Edible Bus Stop project

  • Mascots of the Olympic Games

    Museums & Attractions Until Sun Oct 28, V&A Museum of Childhood

    A display of 50 mascots from the last 44 years of summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic Games ...

    Wenlock and Mandeville

  • Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950

    Museums & Attractions Until Jan 6 2013, V&A

    The redesigned Fashion gallery opens with an exhibition of around 80 ballgowns created by British...

  • The Suit

    Theatre Until Sat Jun 16, Young Vic

    The Young Vic's second contribution to the World Stages London season is the return of the venera...

  • Wah! Wah! Girls

    DanceCritics' choice Until Sat Jun 23, Peacock Theatre

    Sadler's Wells joins forces with Theatre Royal Stratford East and Kneehigh to create a Bollywood ...

  • Jubilee: A View from the Crowd

    Museums & AttractionsNew Until Wed Oct 31, Kensington Palace

    The Palace's major exhibition for summer 2012 tells the story of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee...

  • Moonrise Kingdom

    Film 

    Straightaway you know you’re in a film by Wes Anderson. ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ opens with the c...

  • Men In Black III

    Film From Fri May 25

    Agents J and K return to kick alien ass, but plot details are being kept under wraps.

  • Cymbeline

    TheatreNew Until Sat Jun 2, Barbican Centre

    Yukio Ninagawa brings his acclaimed Ninagawa Company back to the Barbican for a production of Sha...

  • Snow White and the Huntsman

    Film From Wed May 30

    As it sounds, this Snow White tale focuses on her relationship with the Huntsman who is ordered t...

  • The Accidental Festival

    Around Town May 31-Jun 3, Roundhouse

    The Roundhouse is given over to 21 young producers who put on a wide range of experimental perfor...

  • Heatherwick Studio: Designing the Extraordinary

    ArtNewRecommended May 31-Sep 30, V&A

    This major solo exhibition by the experimental British designer Thomas Heatherwick will cover pro...

More May events in London

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