The best things to do in London in April 2026

Just shy of a decade after it was first announced as part of the £1.1 billion development of Stratford’s East Bank cultural quarter, the long-awaited V&A East will finally open to the public on Saturday 18 April. The 7,000-square-metre museum will bring together exhibits that speak to both east London’s creative heritage and the voices that are shaping contemporary culture across the globe today.

Head down to visit its Why We Make Galleries, a permanent display arranged into ten key themes addressing the most pressing issues in contemporary society, as well as inaugural temporary exhibition The Music is Black: A British Story, which explores how Black British music has shaped culture in Britain and beyond and features Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar, looks worn by Little Simz and newly acquired photography by Dennis Morris and Jennie Baptiste. 

London has an amazing energy on bank holidays and Easter weekend is particularly blessed, because it’s a rare double bank holiday, meaning we get four whole days of work-free fun from Good Friday on April 18 to Easter Monday on April 21. The capital has plenty to keep you occupied over your extra-long weekend. From egg hunts to bumper club nights, check out our top picks for Easter weekend 2025 below. 

The first major London revival for the stage version of Ken Kesey’s countercultural classic in over 20 years comes this spring, as Clint Dyer directs Aaron Pierre and Giles Terera as two inmates of a hellish psychiatric ward. Published in 1962, Kesey’s darkly comic satire on psychiatry and institutionalisation was quickly adapted into a 1963 play that starred Kirk Douglas as Randall P McMurphy, a rebellious prisoner who makes the mistake of faking insanity, believing he’ll have an easier time of it in a mental hospital. Pierre – best known for his role in Netflix hit Rebel Ridge – will star as McMurphy, with Olivier winner Giles Terera as his fellow inmade Dale Harding.

Tucked inside the five-star Andaz London Liverpool Street by Hyatt, the Oak Room is one of London’s most intimate and atmospheric hidden spaces. Between April and July, award-winning magician Tony Middleton ‘Sonic’ invites audiences to a series of exclusive drawing room performances, exploring sleight of hand, mind-reading and feats that seem impossible.

With 12 years of The Magic Hour under his belt, Middleton is a master of close-up and parlour magic — and this new show promises something darker, more secretive and utterly spellbinding. It’s a rare chance to experience magic up close in one of the city’s most elusive and atmospheric venues. 

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Featuring a series of brand new works inspired by the gallery’s leafy setting within Kensington Gardens, Cecily Brown’s Serpentine show marks her first solo exhibition in the UK since 2005, and represents something of a homecoming for the artist, who has been based in New York for the past three decades.

Following her incendiary turns in The Writer and The Years, Romola Garai returns to the Almeida to take on the monumental role of disillusioned wife Nora in Ibsen’s explosive proto-feminist classic A Doll’s House. Expect a very modern adaptation from playwright Anya Reiss (a sample line her dialogue in the press release makes reference to ‘paying off the Amex’), while director Joe Hill-Gibbons is a reliable source of provocative, even twisted takes on the classics. The ever-intense Garai will be joined by James Corrigan, Olivier Huband, Tom Mothersdale and Thalissa Teixeira. 

Running a marathon is a truly gruelling feat requiring countless hours of training, so the 50,000 brave souls who are taking part London Marathon on Sunday April 26 very much deserve our support. Check out our route guide to find the best spectating spots and track down nearby pubs and bars for when all that whooping and clapping leaves you feeling nearly as thirsty as the runners. Remember: your presence at this monumental sporting occasion makes it absolutely fine to drink lager or rosé in the street at 10am on a Sunday.  

The annual Sony World Photography Awards exhibition is a calendar highlight for any shutterbug, featuring more than 300 gasp-worthy snaps encompassing sport, portraiture, landscape and fashion photography, shortlisted from over 430,000 submissions from more than 200 countries. Returning to Somerset House for its 19th edition, the exhibition will feature a special display celebrating the career of American street photographer Joel Meyerowitz, the recipient of the competition’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography award this year, and will be supplemented by a programme of talks, workshops and debates with leading photography practitioners and experts.

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Elevate your dining game this April, literally. Oblix East at The Shard invites you to a night of indulgence with a three-course chef’s signature menu designed for sharing, plus a glass of Champagne to kick things off in style. Tuck into a decadent selection of starters, from burrata and datterini tomatoes to crispy chicken with honey-lime glaze, followed by mains like roasted baby chicken or roasted prawns, all paired with sumptuous sides. Finish with a signature dessert platter while soaking in breathtaking views of London’s skyline. This exclusive Time Out offer gets you 23% off and is available every night Monday to Sunday, so treat yourself to a night above the clouds.

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Escape reality through maximum immersion and experience 42 masterpieces from 29 of the world’s most iconic artists, each reimagined beyond belief, through cutting-edge technology. Situated in Marble Arch, Frameless plays host to four unique galleries with hypnotic visuals and a dazzling score. Enjoy 90 minutes of surreal artwork from Bosch, Dalí and more for just £23.60!

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Spring in London is always a knockout. As we emerge from an extra-severe period of hibernation, the urge to get to the park and gawp at loads of pretty flowers becomes pretty intense and there are tons of amazing green spaces to enjoy the season’s pops of colour. From London's bright pink cherry blossoms to seas of lavender that swell in summer, take a look at our list of the best places to see flowers in London.

Ralph Fiennes has been beavering away busily over at Theatre Royal Bath this last year, curating and starring in a season of work at the prestigious South Western theatre. London seems very unlikely to get all of it, but here’s one nailed on transfer: Fiennes and Miranda Raison will star as the great Victorian actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry in Grace Pervades, the approximately millionth (well, thirty-second) play from the great David Hare (curiously it’ll run in the West End at the same time as a revival of his very early play Teeth ‘N’ Smiles). Jeremy Herrin directs the drama, which follows the stage legends plus Terry’s children Edith Craig and Edward Gordon Craig, and examines the dynasty’s wider influence on British theatre. 

Awaken your inner child by delving into enchanted lands, magical creatures and timeless tales at the British Library’s interactive family-friendly exhibition. All the bangers from your childhood will be explored – from Goldilocks, to Aladdin – through books, artworks, interactive displays, theatrical design, story sharing spaces, costumes and activities. Opening in time for the Easter holidays, Fairy Tales is ideal for passing a few hours with the little’uns. 

This play from Palestinian-Israeli actor Yousef Sweid and his writer-director collaborator Isabella Sedlak is an autobiographical work in which he reflects upon his complicated heritage: raised as a Christian-Arab-Palestinian-Israeli kid in Haifa, and now raising two Jewish-Arab-Austrian kids in Berlin (with a custody battle thrown in to boot). Originallly produced by the Maxim Gorky Theater in Berlin, Between the River and the Sea is the only show in the Royal Court’s 2026 Upstairs season to not be a script submitted for last year’s Open Submissions Festival. 

A fine cast let by Adeel Akhtar, Monica Dolan, Paul Hilton and Lyndsey Marshal star in actor and filmmaker Fran Kranz’s debut play, It’s an adaptation of his own well-recieved indie film about two couples painfully attempting to reconcile in the wake of a high school shooting in which one couple’s child took the life of the other’s and then himself. Carrie Cracknell directs, in her Donmar debut.

The capital’s special colourful spectacle that signals warmer days are on the way is here. Cherry blossom season in Japan is a major event, with vistors from around the world flocking over to get a glimpse of the petals in full bloom. If you can’t make it over for this year’s sakura season London has plenty of bloomin’ marvellous places to see the flowers.

There’ll be murder, mayhem, sleaze and sex in droves at the BFI’s upcoming season ‘Trash! The Wildest Films You’ve Ever Seen’. The programme is a homage to the low-budget DIY American movies that were confined to cheap drive-ins, alternative art spaces and midnight movie palaces. Delighting in ‘bad taste’, they’re some of the weirdest, trashiest, most transgressive films ever made. The season’s headline event is a cabaret show with filmmakers Mink Stole and Peaches Christ (April 10) featuring storytelling, film clips and live song inspired by trash cinema. It’s standout screening is the world premiere of a brand new 35mm print of Ed Wood’s bizarre Plan 9 From Outer Space, dubbed the ‘worst film of all time’ (April 21). A motley crew of other twentieth century B-movies from the likes of John Waters, Russ Meyer and George Kuchar will also be showing, including Sins of the Fleshapoids, Reefer Madness, Blood Feast and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. 

If there’s one thing that best encompasses the historic rivalry between academic titans Oxford and Cambridge, it’s the Boat Race – the annual oars-off between the two unis. Typically, over 300,000 people line the banks of the Thames to get a glimpse of the action. If you’re like the majority of them, then as well as the sporting spectacle, you’re also there for the excuse to knock back a few pints (or more). Whether you’re a diehard supporter or a fair-weather fan, here’s our guide to everything you need to know about the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on Sunday April 4 2026.

It might be a decade since Bowie’s passing, but the appetite for works by and about the musical icon shows no signs of stopping. This new immersive film is the latest show at Lightroom, and it's a dive into his story that's fully authorised by the David Bowie estate. Instead of narration, it'll be told fully using voice clips from the man himself, as well as footage from the Bowie Archive in New York.

It’ll be told in Lightroom’s signature style, which involves ultra high-powered projectors covering the walls, ceiling and floor with vivid imagery. It’s directed by Mark Grimmer, who led the design of the V&A’s David Bowie Is exhibition and went on to direct David Hockney: Bigger & Closer. Like all Lightroom shows, it’s designed to play on loop, and will be divided into themed sections including ‘theatricality, spirituality, songwriting and the transformative power of creativity’.

The latest show from immersive dining specialists The Lost Estate is intended as a trip back to 1850s Paris – specifically Montmatre and the legendary Le Chat Noir club that birthed cabaret as we understand it. There is a plot, which revolves around proprietor Rodolphe Salis summoning the four greatest entertainers of the era to create an audacious new revue. And there’s classic French food, including coq au vin, chartreuse de legumes, and more. There are varying grades on fanciness with the dining, although they all revolve around a three hour show and attendant three course banquet.

The Ideal Home Show 2026 is back at Olympia London this April, bringing endless inspiration for home and garden lovers. Explore over 600 brands across eight vibrant sections - from interiors and home renovation to outdoor living - and step inside the Ideal Home, the show’s Town & Country Living themed show home redefining modern living. Don’t miss the nation’s ultimate home and garden event – book your weekday or weekend tickets now!

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Christopher Brett Bailey made a big underground stir with his 2014 show This Is How We Die, a remarkable mash up of bug-eyed beat poetry and roaring post-rock gig. He’s had various projects since – notably his collaboration with Sleepwalk Collective, Psychodrama – and This Is How We Die has a long tail, eventually being performed on such rarified stages as the Almeida and Berlin’s Schaubuhne. So there’s not been a 12-year absence, but at the same time I Saw Satan at the 7-Eleven is kind of a follow up, a stage adaptation of his own novel that does indeed detail its narrator’s encounter with Beelzebub at a popular American convenience store. Expect intense, surreal poetics from the Jack White of the spoken word.