The Time Out London blog team

A sweltering hello to you all! The heat is properly on now, and the prospect of sitting in a poorly air conditioned West End theatre is … less appealing than it might be. Fortunately London’s outdoor theatre is in full swing just in time for the first heatwave of the year, and it’ll be on for plenty longer too, running all summer and right up to the Globe’s ever bold late October close.  London’s two ‘main’ open air theatres are now in full swing and on good form: we’ve given four stars to all three of the shows you can currently see in outdoors in London, which are Sherlock Holmes at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mother Courage and Her Children at Shakespeare’s Globe. Beyond that, here are my top al fresco theatre tips for the summer ahead. The 8 best open air theatre shows to see in London The big one: Cats returns Andrew Lloyd Webber’s adaptation of TS Eliot’s whimsical book of cat poems was famously one of the most successful musicals of all time, the original production running for decades in the West End and beyond. While it infamously spawned a film adaptation that we absolutely do not talk about, there has only even been one stage version in the UK. Until this summer, that is: in quite the coup, the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has bagged the first ever British revival of Cats. Expect something new and exciting with neither the overt ’80s vibe of the OG or the CGI bumholes of the film we don’t talk about. Regent’s Park Open...

Llue skies and the longer days of summer are upon us, which means one thing: time to stock up on the factor 50 and head to the nearest shoreline, ASAP. As an island nation, we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to sunny coves and sandy dunes. But not all of the UK’s beaches have been made equal, and some are within much easier reach of the capital than others.  And even when you get to the beach from London, there’s no guarantee that it’ll be a clean stretch of coast. There are definitely some waters that are too murky to take a dunk. That’s where the Blue Flag award comes in. Beaches around the world which meet high standards for water quality, waste management, climate action and biodiversity protection can be awarded official Blue Flag status by the Foundation for Environmental Education. The Blue Flag Foundation has revealed this year’s list, featuring a total of 188 Blue Flag Awards across the UK and Ireland. Of those, a not-too-shabby 30 are near London.  Unsurprisingly, a number of Time Out’s top beaches made the cut this year, including Minnis Bay on the north Kent coast. Offering everything from a kids’ paddling pool to windsurfing, kiteboarding and the Viking Coastal Trail, it’s clear to see why this is a firm family fave. RECOMMENDED: The best beaches near London, according to Time Out. Photograph: Neil Lang / Shutterstock.comWalton-on-the-Naze beach, Essex Essex peninsular Walton-on-the-Naze also featured on the 2026 Blue Flag list, making these sandy shores...

Ambitious plans have just been revealed for an enormous new entertainment venue in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. With a capacity of up to 25,000 people, the proposed London Colosseum would overtake the O2 Arena and Manchester’s Co-op Live to be the largest indoor arena in UK.  As well as hosting live music performances, the arena is being pitched as a home for major sports events like the the NBA’s planned European competition, international esports tournaments, UFC events and world championship boxing. It’s not clear whether these plans are directly linked to proposals for a new basketball arena, which are backed by the Mayor Sadiq Khan and the London Lions basketball team.  The proposal also includes a ‘multifunctional tower’ that’ll house a hotel, residences and community facilities to ‘[extend] the life of the site beyond event-based programming and embedding it within the everyday rhythm of the city.’ Image: Jericho EstatesRender of the tower at London Colosseum On top of that, the development would include a second with with two smaller 3,000-seat venues making up an sports and entertainment campus named London Colosseum Academy. That would include a basketball school, a boxing gym and an esports training centre.   The project is being developed by Jericho Estates, Peacock Gym, Torch Sports and architects Chybik + Kristof. Ondrej Chybik of the latter said: ‘The London Colosseum’s bowl design allows the arena floor to effortlessly adapt to...