Plan an amazing Christmas in London

Now approaching its nineteenth (!) year, Lovebox has firmly established itself as one of London’s most consistently brilliant festivals. That’s due in no small part to some slam-dunk programming, and the first wave of acts confirmed for 2020 is no exception. R&B prodigy Khalid will be headlining the Friday, UK house duo Disclosure will be headlining the Saturday, and Tyler, The Creator will be headlining the Sunday. Tyler is a particular coup because, five years ago, the provocative rapper was denied entry to the UK when he arrived at Heathrow ahead of his planned Reading and Leeds festival sets. In a seemingly arbitrary and unprecedented decision, Theresa May, then home secretary, used anti-terrorism legislation to refuse him a visa. She explained in a statement that his music, which contains anti-gay slurs used by many other artists who’ve been allowed into the UK, ‘encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality’ and ‘fosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts’. Because of this, he hasn’t played a UK festival since 2013… until now.  They’ll all be heading to west London’s Gunnersbury Park, which has been Lovebox’s home since 2018, when the long-running fest made the move from east London’s Victoria Park.  As this tempting trio of headliners suggests, after five years as a two-day festival, Lovebox is expanding to become a three-dayer again. The third day essentially replaces Citadel, which took place in Gunnersbury Park on the Sunday foll

You read that right: ‘Doctor Who: Time Fracture’ is a new immersive show that will give you the chance to join in with the adventures of everybody’s favourite Time Lord.  At this stage, there is not a lot of information about it beyond that, but fear not: it is totally legit, being a collaboration between BBC Studios and Immersive Everywhere (creators of ‘The Great Gatsby’ immersive show), and we’re promised ‘a journey across time and space’ that will see you visit a series of different worlds. There is no venue or firm dates yet – these will be revealed in February — but we’re promised it’ll be in London in late 2020, after the new season of ‘Doctor Who’ has aired. If you’re absolutely jonesing to get involved in it NOW, then good news: go to the official website and you can purchase a £57.50 ‘Gallifreyan Coin’, which effectively pays for your ticket in advance and gets you access to a special pre-sale so you can take first dibs on dates. You also get an exclusive coin pin badge, which may or may not look cool. Also do enjoy the official trailer, which doesn’t really give much away other than that the Tardis is in it, which frankly for £57.50 you’d damn well expect. Check out our immersive theatre page.

Last month, in the 2019 update of our London’s best restaurants list, we named the Soho branch of Hoppers the third-best eatery in the whole of the city. ‘There’s nothing like Hoppers in London,’ we declared. ‘Sure, there’s good Sri Lankan food in certain pockets of the capital. But very few restaurants are exclusively Sri Lankan; the few exceptions are okay, rather than amazing. So the fact that Hoppers is outrageously good is even more impressive.’ So it’s with a smack of the lips and a rumble of the tummy that news of a new King’s Cross branch arrives. Set to land in Pancras Square in February 2020, the restaurant promises to deliver all the flavours that have made Hoppers such a must-try, but with a bigger bar, broader drinks menu and a new selection of bar bites and snacks. Certain nibbles – including Black Pepper Curry Leaf Prawn Skewers, Quail Kari, and Sprat and Brinjal Pahe – will be exclusive to the new outpost, which will be collaborating with Camden Town Brewery and Salt Beer Factory near Bradford to produce two new beers. Hoppers isn’t the only eatery to roll into King’s Cross of late, either. Oh-so-Grammable Italian favourite Lina Stores recently opened its newest branch in Coal Drops Yard, with Bao (by JKS Restaurants, the team behind Hoppers) set to make an entrance in the area at the start of 2020. Following on from its Soho and St Christopher’s Place restaurants, the culinary maestro’s third outing has a lot to live up to. But we’ve no doubt its latest w

Big news for London’s tube travellers, transport geeks and cartophiles: there’s a new tube map in town. Transport for London has released the latest edition of its world-famous network diagram – and there are some major changes. The biggest? That’d be a place called Reading, which has appeared on the tube map for the first time since Harry Beck invented it in 1931. Why has Berkshire’s county town, which lies just over 36 miles from central London, been added to the tube map? Because TfL will be running trains to it from December 15, when the line switches over from Great Western Railway operation to become part of TfL Rail. The change is part of the drawn-out switchover to the Elizabeth line, which will zoom all the way from Shenfield in Essex to Reading via central London – once it finally opens. (The latest ETA, in case you’ve lost track, is 2021.) Image: TfL But don’t think about grabbing your Oyster card and cruising over to Reading for a bit of Christmas shopping: the new map shows the end of the line in a little blue box, indicating that you won’t be able to use your magic blue pass to go this far west. You’ll still need to buy a regular train ticket until January 2 2020, when you’ll be able to start paying by contactless. Other changes on the new tube map include new step-free icons on Gidea Park, West Hampstead and White Hart Lane stations, which have had recent work to improve disabled access. There’s also the snazzy addition of some new icons for TfL River Bus p

Precious few pop superstars make it to their fifth decade in the spotlight – but when you’re made from metal and circuits it’s not so hard to maintain that youthful visage. Still, Kraftwerk are looking pretty good for their age – especially when seen through 3D glasses – and in 2020 the original robot rockers will celebrate their fiftieth year in music with a headline slot at All Points East on Friday May 29th. Founded in Düsseldorf in 1970, Kraftwerk were the first band to really grasp the potential of newly invented synthesizers and drum machines. In the next decades, the krautrock pioneers had a game-changing effect on pop music: artists like David Bowie, Juan Atkins and Afrika Bambaataa all took inspiration from their man-machine rhythms. Without them there’d be no synthpop, no electro, no hip hop and certainly no techno. Standards have never slipped, either: in recent years, Kraftwerk have toured their mind-melting 3D live show around the world, reanimating tracks like ‘Computer World’, ‘The Robots’ and ‘Autobahn’ for new generations. The complete 3D spectacle will touch down in Victoria Park in May, the band’s only UK show of 2020. The supports announced so far are pretty legendary too, including the equally ageless Iggy Pop, jangly guitar hero Johnny Marr, fiery rocker Anna Calvi, hip hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash and cult US synthpop crew Chromatics. Sie sieht gut aus! Kraftwerk play All Points East on May 29 2020. Read more about APE's other headline announce so far.

This is not a drill: Taylor Swift is playing live in one of London’s biggest parks next summer. Her BST Hyde Park show on Saturday July 11 forms part of a world tour she’s calling ‘Lover Fest’ – named after this year’s acclaimed ‘Lover’ album. Swift previously played Hyde Park in 2015 and it’s not hard to work out why she’s chosen to return. When she announced her first ‘Lover Fest’ shows in September, she told fans: ‘For me, the “Lover” album is open fields and sunsets and SUMMER. I want to celebrate the album and perform it live with you in a way that feels authentic to the music.’ No word yet on whether she’ll be performing ‘London Boy’, a highlight from the album on which she namechecks Camden Market, Hackney, Brixton, Bond Street and Highgate. But she’d be mad not to, right? Taylor Swift plays American Express presents BST Hyde Park on July 11 2020. Check out Time Out's music hub here.

Get ready to rock the hell out: grunge legends Pearl Jam are playing a massive gig in Hyde Park next summer. And it’s a double whammy of alt-rock awesomeness because Pixies will be supporting them at BST Hyde Park on Friday July 10.   Seattle five-piece Pearl Jam can lay claim to being one of the biggest bands of their era – their 1991 debut ‘Ten’ went thirteen times platinum in the US, giving us enduring grunge bangers such as ‘Jeremy’ and ‘Alive’. And indie bands don’t come much more influential than Pixies, who released their seventh album ‘Beneath the Eyrie’ in September. So all in all, it’s another huge coup for the festival (which, FYI, has recently changed name from British Summer Time to American Express presents BST Hyde Park). Already announced in the series is a poptastic one-dayer led by Little Mix with support from Rita Ora, Kesha and Zara Larsson. More big names are due imminently also.  Pearl Jam play British Summer Time Hyde Park on Friday July 10th. Check out Time Out's music hub here.   

It's a truth universally known that Monday is officially the worst day of the week. Except for December 9. Why? Because Five Guys is giving away free meals to customers at its new St Paul’s joint. This site will be the fast food chain’s 100th UK store, so it’s burgers for everybody. Pop by between 8am and 10.30am and you’ll be able to sample the new breakfast sandwich made with eggs and streaky bacon. Or from 10.30am to 11pm, you can customise a single or double ham, cheese or bacon burger with as many pickles, onions and jalapeños as your belly can manage. If you still have room, you can grab some hand-cut fries and a soft drink. It is an American diner after all. The first 500 customers through the door will also get some Five Guys merch, including hats, umbrellas and jackets. Use them to make a perfect disguise for getting a second helping! To get a more permanent bun fix, read our guide to London's best burgers. While you're in the area, take a look around the City of London's best bits.

Stormzy – rapper, activist, Time magazine cover star, book publisher, educational philanthropist and Michael Gove-baiting don – has just announced one of the biggest tours we’ve seen in years. It’s a huge deal – especially for an artist who, five years ago, was more likely to be seen on a major stage in the background for Kanye West's seminal 2015 Brits performance. Wow, how things have changed.  The ‘Vossi Bop’ star will be playing two London dates at The O2 on September 3 and 4 2020. They’ll be his first headline London shows since 2017, and are just a small part of a monumental 55-date tour that takes in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, plus Ghana and Nigeria. The tour news comes on the cusp of his new, long-awaited second album, ‘Heavy Is the Head’, which drops in a few weeks. After confounding all possible expectations with his crafted, poignant and generally kick-ass Glastonbury headline slot, the mind races as to what he's got in store for this tour. Tickets go on sale on Fri Dec 6 at 9am.

Club cloakrooms may be filling up with cosy clobber, but Printworks is looking into the future. With Spring in their sights, the mega venue has announced the first acts of their SS20 line-up. A Printworks line-up drop is always exciting news: in just a few short years, the cavernous Canada Water club has become one of the definitive destinations in London for anyone after a dance. It's no surprise, then, that the former newspaper factory has scooped some headline names. Following a bass-heavy night from Holy Goof on 31 January, it's kicking off in style with a night featuring Maribou State, Quantic, DJ Seinfeld, Lil Silva, O'Flynn and Donna Leake, a line-up as eclectic as it is electric. This basis of savvily selected selectors sets a theme throughout the season. Take 21 February, for example; you've got legendary minimal house and YouTube algorithm faves DJ Koze and Matthew Herbert, but also DJ and singer-songwriter Nabihah Iqbal. Basically the fresh-off-the-press, hot take here is that Printwork's SS20 line-up is big news. Just a few months of wearing that winter coat out first, mind... Printworks Spring/Summer listings so far:Friday 31st January Holy GoofHoly Goof, Turno b2b Hendex.  Saturday 1st February  Printworks PresentsMaribou State (DJ), (A-Z) DJ Seinfeld, Donna Leake/Folamour, Lil Silva, O’Flynn, Quantic (solo live), SG Lewis (DJ).  Friday 7th February GoldFishGoldFish, guests TBA.  Friday 21st February  Printworks Presents DJ KozeDJ Koze, (A-Z) Floating Point

Peckham's Bussey Building is transformed into a winter wonderland for this Christmas Carnival hosted by DJ and renowned vogue dancer Jay Jay Revlon, with live performers, street food vendors and game stalls to keep you entertained as you groove to the best disco, house and garage til late.