London events in December

Somerset House’s annual ice rink pop-up has long been one of the city’s favourite festive traditions, with thousands of Londoners and tourists alike making it part of their celebrations each year, and for good reason. Gliding (or nervously shuffling) around the rink, gazing upon the surrounding Georgian architecture and the courtyard’s magnificent 40ft Christmas tree feels like you’ve skated onto a movie set, ready to be watched by families settling in for their post-turkey food coma. 

There’s more to this rink than just skating, though. Typically, there are seasonal drinks and warming food options available from a rinkside chalet. And there also a variety of events to keep you entertained throughout the season, including the venue's famous Skate Lates, where you can soar round the rink to a DJ soundtrack.

Amazing news for lovers of neat symmetry, loud primary colours and twee outfits. Following on from autumn 2024's major exhibition on director Tim Burton, west London’s Design Museum will be staging a blockbuster show delving into the iconic aesthetic of another of Hollywood’s most distinctive auteurs, the Texas-born Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning director Wes Anderson. London has had several Anderson-inspired openings over the years, including the ‘Isle of Dogs’ exhibition at 180 The Strand and the ‘Accidentally Wes Anderson’ photo show, but the film director’s first official retrospective promises to be a different beast. A collaboration between the Design Museum and Cinémathèque Française, it has been curated in partnership with Wes Anderson himself and his production company American Empirical Pictures and follows his work from his early experiments in the 1990s right up to his recent Oscar-winning flicks, featuring original props, costumes and behind-the-scenes insights.

The works of US playwright Rajiv Joseph have occasionally been seen in the UK: most notably Jamie Lloyd directed his play Guards at the Taj, which had a seperate revival at the Orange Tree last year. Joseph’s biggest domestic hit, though, is 2009’s Pulitzer-nominated Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which went on to transfer to Broadway in 2011, with the late, great Robin Williams in the role of the titular fast-talking tiger.

Following the bewildered beast as he attempts to adjust to unexpected events in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s overthrow, the dark, somewhat supernatural comedy clearly had its roots in the actual aftermath of the Second Iraq War and the US occupation that was still winding down when the play debuted. Presumably concern as to the play’s topicality may have partially explained why there has been no UK production since, but it feels likely that not actually being about a current situation may prove quite liberating, especially in the hands of this production’s director, mischievous surrealist Omar Elerian.

Even if you think Christmas is a load of consumerist claptrap, you can’t deny that London looks a whole lot better when it’s hung with strings of glistening lights. And London is never in short supply of some thoroughly excellent festive light displays. From the classic angels that beam over Regent’s Street to the snazzy, themed displays over Carnaby Street, a trip to one of these gleaming streets will flutter the heart of even the most Scrooge-like of souls. 

Each year, Hyde Park gets transformed from pretty park to a dazzling, snow-covered, Alpine-themed, 350-acre festive funscape. One of the largest Christmas events in the UK, Winter Wonderland returns for its eighteenth year in 2025, and is expected to welcome around 2.5 million visitors over six magical weeks. 

As you make your way around the space, you’ll find fairground rides, a child-friendly Santa Land (including a Santa’s Grotto, where presents lie in wait) and traditional Christmas markets where you’ll be able to buy gifts for all your loved ones. Other highlights include circuse shows from Cirque Beserk, which take place three times each evening, and the biggest outdoor ice rink in the UK.

Entering it’s final month, Titanique is a cabaret-style parody that marries the considerable kitsch appeal of James Cameron’s 1997 film with that of its true star – Quebecois singing icon Celine Dion, forever associated with the movie thanks to ubiquitous power ballad My Heart Will Go On. Dion the main character here. She genuinely believes she was on la Titanique and tells the story of the sinking from her perspective. 

Markets, eh? They’re pretty nice to wander around at nearly every time of year. But, at Christmas? Well, that’s when London’s markets really come into their own. Every year the capital fills with the kind of markets that host fairy-light-lined stalls, festive street-food sellers and community tombolas, with a playlist of Christmas songs on loop in the background. In fact, whether you’re looking for tasty treats, traditional decorations and cutting-edge arts and crafts or are just shopping for a last-minute present, the capital’s selection of Yuletide stalls are here to help. 

Returning for a second Christmas season, the National Theatre’s big festive family show is a sumptuous adaptation of Noel Streatfeild’s classic 1936 children’s novel Ballet Shoes. Slick, classy and meticulously directed by Katy Rudd, the story follows the eccentric household initially headed by Justin Salinger’s Great Uncle Matthew (aka GUM), a paleontologist in the old-school explorer vein. A confirmed bachelor, he is initially aghast when he is abruptly made legal guardian of his 11-year-old niece Sylvia (Pearl Mackie). But he soon changes his tune when freak circumstances lead to him taking in three baby girls: Petrova (Yanexi Enriquez), Pauline (Grace Self) and Posy (Daisy Sequerra), each of whom he found orphaned while out on an expedition. The three women’s journey to self realisation is an enjoyable enough watch, even if the production won’t go down as an all time classic, and makes for a classy, Christmassy night out with the family. 

This exhibition puts the work of two rivals – and two of Britain’s greatest painters – J.M.W. Turner and John Constable side by side. Although both had different paths to success, they each became recognised as stars of the art world and shared a connection to nature and recreating it in their landscape paintings. Explore the pair’s intertwined lives and legacies and get new insight into their creativity via sketchbooks, personal items and must-see artworks.

Have we finally reached Peak Paddington? The Young Peruvian bear’s spectacular film-begat renaissance hasn’t just yielded a trilogy of hit film: there’s a tie-in TV series for younger kids, there was that skit he did with the late Queen, and 2024 saw the opening of official immersive attraction the Paddington Bear Experience. Now, there’s a big splashy West End musical. Super-producer Sonia Friedman has assembled a team headed by playwright Jessica Swale doing the book and kids’ author and McFly member Tom Fletcher on songs, all directed by Luke Shepherd, who did such a good job with the smash revival of Starlight Express.

Beyond that we don’t know a huge amount, other than the plot will roughly trace Paddington’s classic origin story of turning up at the titular station and being taken in by the kind-hearted Brown family.

Every year, thousands of professional and amateur photographers around the world submit their best portraits to The Taylor Wessing Photo Prize – a contest that has helped launch the careers of many top photographers. Around 60 finalists are selected and put on display at the National Portrait Gallery, giving an insight into the lives of friends and family of those behind the lens, or capturing a moment in time with stars in the spotlight. One image will take home the big prize, while the annual ‘In Focus’ display will feature a new work by an established photographer.

Belgian super director Ivo van Hove got his big English-language break with 2014’s astounding production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, and a couple of years later lucky New Yorkers got a deluxe production of Miller’s The Crucible that scored warm reviews (maddeningly it never played here despite its largely British and Irish cast). Now, he’s tackling the US playwright’s first big hit, All My Sons. 

Set in 1943, the drama concerns Joe Keller, an upstanding pillar of the local community whose business partner has been found guilty of selling faulty parts to the US Airforce. Joe has escaped any blame. But should he have? Van Hove has assembled a proper A-grade cast here, with US star Bryan Cranston – who led the director’s 2017 hit Network –  as Joe, with the wondrous Marianne Jean-Baptiste as his wife Kate and Paapa Essiedu as their son Chris. 

Many of us love a good old-fashioned Christmas complete with trips to festive markets, ice skating, carol services and all the trimmings. But it’s not everyone’s glass of eggnog. Thankfully, London is abuzz with unusual Christmas events come winter. Whether you fancy switching up your usual gift-shopping with a trip to the Satanic Flea Market’s Antichristmas Fayre, making the Yuletide gayer than ever at a camp as Christmas drag show, swatching some alt Christmas movies with only the most tenuous of links to the festive period or even spending December 25 pounding the pavements to complete an ultramarathon, have yourself a quirky little Christmas with our round-up of the ultimate unusual festive events in London. It is truly the most (weird and) wonderful time of the year.

Paranormal Activity is a theatrical adaptation of the 2007 sleeper screen hit. Found footage horror isn’t the obvious genre to put on stage by a long shot. But this adaptation has a real USP: it’s directed by Felix Barrett, aka the brains behind immersive theatre legends Punchdrunk, his first non-Punchdrunk theatre show in over a decade. If anyone can inject some menace and atmophere into a show that is nominally about two people buying a house, it’s him.

Rather than a stage retelling of the misadventures of the original film’s demon-haunted San Diego couple Micah and Katie, this adaptation concerns James and Lou, a couple who quit Chicago for London in the hope they can escape their past (spoiler alert: they can’t).

When scientists get involved in the food we eat, it's often viewed as something to steer well clear of, with scary headlines about 'Frankenfoods' surrounding genetically modified ingredients or e-numbers in our sweets. But what if science is the only way of putting food on our plates in decades to come? This new free exhibition at the Science Museum looks at fascinating projects like Norway's ice-cold seed vault and the first beef steak to be grown outside a cow, as well as looking at community-led sustainability projects. And it invites you to get involved, with a multiplayer game where you can cook up your own future for food. Delicious!

Bring the whole family to Christmas in Chelsea, London’s newest festive tradition, and enjoy 15% off child, adult, and family tickets! Experience the Royal Hospital Chelsea transformed into a magical winter wonderland. Wander through stunning light trails, browse the festive market, enjoy pop-up choirs throughout the evening and join in seasonal workshops – perfect for holiday photos, family fun, or a romantic stroll. Christmas in Chelsea has something for everyone, blending tradition, heritage, and holiday magic!

Get adult tickets for £14, child tickets for £8.90 and a family ticket for £37.40, only through Time Out Offers.

An evening of proper Christmas carols is an absolute must if you’re interested in getting entirely wrapped up in unalloyed festive cheer. Check out our comprehensive round-up of the jolliest and most moving services in the capital. Indoors and outdoors, cathedrals, churches and secular spaces, we’ll be adding to it constantly, as more events are announced. 

New Year’s Eve in London means you’re faced with some choices. Sometimes there’s so much choice, in fact, that you end up spending the night indoors with a few loved ones and plenty of booze. We’ve all been there, but London boasts loads of great New Year’s Eve events that should coax even the most reluctant NYE fan out of the house this year.