London events in February 2026

The Tate Modern kicks off its 2026 programme with a retrospective tracing the 40-year career of Croydon’s finest artistic export, Tracey Emin. Over 90 pieces will be exibited in the landmark exhibition, including some of the Young British Artist’s most defining works, from her famous neons and her controversial Turner Prize-nominated installation My Bed, to painting, video, textiles and never-before-exibited sculptures. Expect plenty of raw, confessional art exploring love, trauma and the female body.

Remember that one-woman Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook? Well the Australian team behind it have made a couple of other high-tech one-woman stage adaptations of classic Victorian horror novels. And in 2026 Dracula will come to London with a proper big name at its centre: Cynthia Erivo, in her first West End role in over a decade.

Things are getting mystical over at Somerset House next year, as the gallery’s landmark exhibition is going to be all about magic. Think less rabbit out of a hat, and more ancient philosophy, as Abracadabra! will explore the power of magical thinking across time and cultures, from ancient rituals to modern-day mysticism. Work from artists, designers, musicians, philosophers, and poets will be conjured to transport visitors into the supernatural realm, while the audience will be called upon to cast spells, create stories and take part in the act of magical thinking. 

LGBTQ+ history shouldn’t be contained to a single, short month every year. Thankfully, in London you can find some of the best gay bars and queer club nights in the world, along with special events that celebrate LGBTQ+ life, all year round. But things really hit their peak in February, when hundreds of talks, workshops and festivals appear for LGBTQ+ History Month. From film screenings and alt-cabaret to queer history lectures and family-friendly crafts, prepare to be enlightened, inspired and entertained by a rainbow of celebratory events taking place across the capital. Here’s our round-up of our favourites. 

Michael Sheen recently put his screen career on hold in order to lead and launch the new Welsh National Theatre. He’ll star in its first production, a revival of Thornton Wilder’s metatheatrical masterpiece ‘Our Town’, which transfers to London after touring Wales.

Guess what: it’s somehow half-term again. It might seem like mere days since the end of the Christmas hols, but the kids are getting a whole week off, which means it’s only a matter of time before somebody complains that they’re bored and you’re racking your brains for something to do besides plonk them in front of the telly. Luckily, London has plenty of brilliant kid-friendly museums and galleries that really come into their own when school is out. And February half-term is a particularly good one, with plenty of family-friendly exhibitions just getting started, plus the return of the redoubtable Imagine Children’s Festival to the Southbank Centre. 

Between 1885 and 1890, OG Neo-Impressionist Georges Seurat spent five summers observing the port towns along the northern coast of France, capturing impressive seascapes, regattas and other oceanic activities. Twenty three of these paintings, oil sketches and drawings are to be showcased at the Courtauld from February next year, offering a nautical insight into this elusive French artist. The exhibition will borrow works from world-class galleries including MOMA and the Musée d’Orsay, making it even more worth the peek.

Whether you’re flying solo, newly coupled up, or have been with your other half for decades, London is a great place to be on Valentine’s Day. There’s something for everyone on February 14 no matter what your relationship status: eccentrically themed speed-dating nights, ironic drag show, galentine’s parties or warm, fuzzy date spots for all those loved-up couples out there. We’ll be updating this page with our pick of the best as events are announced.

The NPG will be the UK’s first museum to stage an exhibition focussing on Lucain Freud’s works on paper, including some artworks seen on display for the first time. Focussing on Freud’s mastery of drawing in all forms, Drawing into Painting will look at the artist’s lifelong preoccupation with the human face and figure, from the 1930s to the early 21st century.

The Six Nations Men’s rugby tournament is back for 2026. From February 5, it will be taking over pubs, beer gardens and outdoor screens across London most weekends up until Saturday March 14. 

France took home the title in 2025. In 2026 games take place at venues including Paris’ Stade de France, Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, and London’s very own Twickenham Stadium as England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales try to burst the French team’s bubble.

You’ll find the matches on screens at London’s many rugby pubs and bars, but if you want to watch with the most atmos possible, get yourself to one of our favourite places to grab a seat and a pint and get stuck into all the action.

One of the most magical things about London is its community of mudlarkers, who comb the Thames foreshore for ancient relics of this city's long past. So don't miss the chance to brighten your February with this exhibition of over 350 mudlarked objects, from intimate personal items to priceless treasures, before it floats away for good.

British painter Rose Wylie takes on films, celebrities and ancient civilisations in her work. Often focusing on women, she paints colourful bold lines with a punk abandon, depicting figures from Elizabeth I to Nicole Kidman. The Royal Academy of Arts will bring the largest selection of her work to date to the capital this February, showcasing her adventurous, socially observant paintings to a wider audience.

It's hard to overstate just how much of an influence the Saatchi Gallery has had on London's contemporary art scene. But this substantial show really does do it justice. Curated by Philippa Adams, who previously served as the gallery’s Senior Director for over 20 years, it's divided into spaces dedicated to key themes which have underpinned its exhibitions over the last four decades: abstraction, landscapes, AI and technology, and climate change. Go along to catch works by artists including Jenny Saville,  John Squire, and Damien Hirst, as well as seeing deliciously eccentric installations from years gone by including Conrad Shawcross’s Golden Lotus (Inverted), a gold car suspended from the ceiling and rotating to a hypnotic sountrack.

Put a spring in your step with the National Theatre's gorgeous, lively show about three adopted sisters with big ambitions. This family-friendly hit is full of leftfield wit and creativity as it shows how they achieve their dreams of ballet dancing, acting... and being a car mechanic. It returned for the 2025 festive season after a hit run the previous year, but this story is definitely too good to be just for Christmas. 

This heartstring-tugging new musical was a hit at Chichester Festival Theatre, before heading to the West End to brighten up our collective Februaries. It's adapted by Rachel Joyce from her own hit novel-turned-movie about the eponymous 65-year-old man, who walks the length of England to say goodbye to his colleague. The songs in Katy Rudd’s production are by indie musician Passenger, and Mark Addy and Jenna Russell will reprise their roles as Harold and his wife Maureen in this limited run transfer.

It’s with grimly perfect timing that Tom Stoppard’s undoubted masterpiece – the jewel in the crown of one of the most remarkable bodies of work by any playwright ever – gets its first major London revival in ages less than two months after his death. Arcadia is a tremendously witty meditation on the nature of history, truth, sex, mathematics and more that skips between two timelines. Carrie Cracknell directs.

Contemporary dance heads have long been awaiting the UK premiere of Sweet Mambo, an expressionist dance work by the legendary Pina Bausch which explores human emotion in its many forms. Although it was first staged in 2008, this Sadlers Wells outing is the first time it's been shown in London, so this is a pretty big deal. 

New festival Equanimity is designed to help Londoners reset and recharge in the heart of King's Cross. The centrepiece is Slomo's pop-up spa, which offers two wood-fired saunas, three cold plunge pools and a roaring fire, offering a corner of Scandinavia in Lewis Cubitt Square. On Sundays, the Slomo tipi will offer somatic breathwork sessions and Reset Retreats. There'll also be yoga, breathwork, meditation and sound healing sessions led by a range of expert practitioners, perfect for adding some relaxation to your lunchbreak.