London events in January

London galleries and museums churned out hundreds of excellent exhibitions and art shows in 2025. And our critics were on the ground to see a lot of them. Lucky for you, there’s the chance to catch the tail end of a few of these shows in January 2026. From Dirty Looks at the Barbican, to Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World at the National Portrait Gallery, and Secret Maps at the British Library, see these exhibits in Jan before it’s too late. 

Low and no-alcohol is bigger than ever, and London has never had so many options for having a tipple, without actually having a tipple. So if you’re thinking of doing Dry Jan, that doesn’t mean you’re going to be stuck with a month of watching MAFS on the sofa every weekend. You still go out! And we recommend heading to one of London’s best alcohol-free bars, from Raven Records, to Club Soda, there’s loads to choose from. 

Immersive theatre legends Punchdrunk returned in 2025 with a ‘stealth based exploration game’ based on ‘videogame mechanics’ that saw audiences deployed in teams of four onto an alien planet to try and find out the fate of the titular landing vehicle, which has disappeared mysteriously. It closes on February 1, so January is your last chance to play. 

Straits Kitchen brings a polished hit of Singaporean flavour to the first floor of Pan Pacific London, and it feels like the ideal way to lift the January lull. The room stays calm and elegant, while the kitchen delivers bright Southeast Asian flavours with sharp technique. Adam Bateman’s team cooks with confidence, using British produce to keep everything fresh and vibrant.

This Winter's Time Out offer makes it even easier to treat yourself after the festive fog: a four-course menu with a glass of bubbles and a snack for £39.50 (was £59). It’s a refined escape from grey days and a sharp introduction to one of the city’s more elegant takes on Singaporean-inspired dining.

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London might always be bustling with fun things to do and, come winter, a jam-packed calendar of unmissable events, but sometimes you just need a break from it all. When the capital’s hustle and bustle leaves you feeling a little drained, you can find some escape from the crowds and hordes of tourists by getting up and getting out just for a day. In dire need of crisp country air, a relaxing spa day or a gorgeous, long walk? These day trips from London are all under two hours from Zone 1 and will give you the relief you need this winter.

RECOMMENDED: The best day trips from London

Trying a plant-based diet this January doesn’t have to be boring. Whether you’re after a lavish night of culinary theatre, a delicate Middle Eastern spread, a Michelin-star winning tasting menu, or brisket at a vegan smokehouse, creative chefs are showing off their prowess with plants across the city, creating pitch-perfect imitations of meaty comfort food classics, or dreaming up new vegetable-based delights.

A citywide mega-exhibition involving dozens of galleries from around the world, Condo is the best thing that happens in the London art world every January. The idea is that commercial galleries from over here invite galleries from over there to share their spaces for a month. The 2026 edition sees 50 international galleries showing across 23 spaces. They include Sadie Coles HQ hosting Sans Titre from Paris, The Sunday Painter hosting Jhaveri Contemporary from Mumbai, Hollybush Gardens hosting Galerie Tschudi from Zurich, Public hosting Pruyectos Ultravioleta from Guatemala City and loads, loads more. It’s a chance to see what contemporary art from all around the world looks like, and also to judge London’s art hipsters flocking between venues on their terrible choices in jackets and winter footwear. 

Returning for its 22nd year, the 2025 edition of the London Short Film Festival features a whopping 204 new shorts across more than 60 venues, as well as a bunch of talks, workshops and walking tours. Highlights of the programme include the opening night which features new work from Andrea Luka Zimmerman and John Smith; Trans Sister Seventies! featuring newly unearthed archival shorts charting the trans-feminine experience of the 1970s; My Eye Is My Ear – a selection of new UK short films exploring Deaf lives, culture and identity and Everybody’s Darling: Melodrama in 80s & 90s Punk Cinema – a series of short films platforming women and queer artistes and the legacy of Warhol’s ‘superstars’, John Waters’ trash cinema and the Cinema of Transgression. 

In 1824, the young King Liholiho and Queen Kamāmalu travelled across oceans from their kingdom, Hawaiʻi, to seek an alliance with the British Crown. This winter British Museum will shine a light on the lesser-known story about the historical relationship between Hawaiʻi’ and the United Kingdom, showing artefacts and treasures created by Hawaiian makers of the past and present. You’ll be able to see everything from feathered cloaks worn by chiefs, to finely carved deities, powerful shark-toothed weapons, and bold contemporary works by Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) artists.

Dijon, Mariah the Scientist, Tasmin Stephens’ TTSSFU and PVA are among some our favourite artists putting on gigs in London this month. Dijon will bring his sophomore album Baby to O2 Academy Brixton, PVA will rock up at Rough Trade East for a stripped-back performance and signing session and TTSSFU will be at Windmill Brixton to perform as part of Independent Venue Week. See all the best concerts happening across the city this month (that still have tickets available) here. 

Burns Night always falls on January 25, the day Robert Burns was born in South Ayrshire way back in 1759. With this year’s celebration falling on a weekend (Sunday, to be exact), you can probably expect this year’s festivities to be even more raucous than usual. Whether you want to get sweaty at a ceilidh, pipe in a haggis, or have a classy time at a whisky tasting or indulgent Burns supper, read on for all sorts of suggestions for a kilt-raising good time this January.

Designed by the legendary Tom Dixon, Sea Containers Restaurant serves all-day dining on the River Thames, marrying the glamour of transatlantic travel with fresh, local ingredients. This January, shake off the winter blues with three vibrant courses from their new menu, packed with bold flavours and a glass of prosecco. For a little extra indulgence, add a cocktail at the 12th Knot Bar and take in the stunning riverside views. 

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Photography fans are in for a real treat this month, as Nan Goldin’s seminal series The Ballad of Sexual Dependency goes on display in full for the first time ever in the UK. Staged at the St Davis Street branch of Gagosian, the exhibition marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Goldin’s formative photobook, featuring 126 photographs shot between 1973 and 1986. An intimate, wistful portrait of Goldin’s downtown NYC community it includes photographes of pop culture icons like Cookie Mueller and Greer Lankton, shot in Goldin’s signature saturated, moody hues. 

Happy Dry Jan! In the past those two words have signified a dull month of self-discipline, with mango and passionfruit J2O being the most exciting non-alcoholic beverage on offer. But over the last few years that’s all changed. The ‘no and low’ drinks market is now huge and London now has a vast spread of sober events happening throughout January. Among them is the brand new G0.0D Week festival. The nine-day fest will involve zero-alcohol masterclasses and tastings, restaurant hopping tours, live music and a one-night-only street food bonanza at Market Place St Paul’s. 

Yes, it's cold out. It's also quite wet. The leaves have fallen from the trees and turned the pavements into a slimy, slippery ice rink. But we're lucky to have some amazing, huge, parks in London, and walking around in them on a crisp winter's day is genuinely one of life’s great joys. Whether you're a Royal Parks stan or a fiend for Hampstead Heath, there are loads of parks to choose from. So, get out there. 

When the Royal Academy was founded in 1768, its members included two women, yet there would not be another female academician until Dame Laura Knight was elected in 1936. Despite this institutional exclusion, women artists in Britain continued to train, practice and exhibit during this period, particularly in the field of landscape watercolours. The Courtauld Gallery’s upcoming exhibition seeks to bring to light some of these women artists. Focussing on 1760-1860, the showcase will take you through the work of 10 artists over 100 years of landscape drawings and watercolours including some of the first ever depictions of the ethereal Lake District. 

Is there anything more wonderfully wintry than wrapping up warm, pulling on some ice skates and gliding around a frosty slab of ice with your loved ones? Each winter, London fills up with pop-up rinks, from the legendary Somerset House to the newer Glide at Battersea Power Station. At all, you’ll find festive vibes ramped up to the max, especially come December – and a lot of fellow Londoners vying for a spot on the ice. Book in advance to guarantee you can show off your best ice moves (or your ability to stay upright, at the very least). Here are some of the best rinks to soar across this winter.

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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High Noon is a haunting classic of a Western film, designed to be an allegory for Hollywood blacklisting. Will this dialogue-heavy movie work on stage? Hard to say, especially since it concludes with an epic gunfight. But this team should be in with a shot: it includes cult US actor Billy Crudup and Denise Gough, in a screenplay from Academy Award winner Eric Roth (Forest Gump; Dune).

For centuries, female artists were largely absent from the Royal Academy. But this institutional exclusion doesn't mean they weren't painting, training, and exhibiting their works all over the UK. The Courtauld Gallery’s upcoming exhibition seeks to bring some of these forgotten women artists to light. Focussing on 1760-1860, the showcase will take you through the work of 10 artists over 100 years of landscape drawings and watercolours including some of the first ever depictions of the ethereal Lake District. 

Save over 30% on vouchers, only through Time Out Offers 

The ultimate sadgirl ballet is returning to the Royal Opera House in winter 2026. Wayne McGregor’s sweeping and expressive ballet exploring the life and work of Virginia Woolf, accompanied by Max Richter’s haunting original score, has been one of the Royal Ballet’s big hitters over the past decade. First staged in 2015, the dance triptych inspired by extracts from Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves picked up an Olivier award for best dance production. 

If you've been depleted by a December of office parties, omnipresent treats, and mulled wine on weeknights, then help is at hand. 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. With an hour in the sauna costing just £12, it's definitely gentle on your worn out January bank balance as well as your body.

Find out what the UK's most promising fine art graduates have been up to in this annual showcase of up-and-coming talent from across the UK, which is now in its 76th year. Featuring 22 exhibitors selected by renowned artists Pio Abad, Louise Giovanelli and Grace Ndiritu, the London leg of the exhibition this year takes place at Camberwell’s South London Gallery

Gecko’s fantastic dance-theatre production The Wedding is back on in London. Surreal, funny and full of heart, The Wedding takes a poke at the marriage contract, takind the audience on a wild trip through a dystopian world where we are all brides, wedded to society. Part of MimeLondon, this production will be a stripped back imagining of Gecko’s beloved production. 

London’s established winter art fair features over 120 international galleries showing modern art, photography, sculpture and everything in between. The 2026 edition of the London Art Fair will feature large-scale installations and thematic group displays from some very influential 20th and 21st century artists, including Tracey Emin, Barbara Hepworth, Francis Bacon, William Kentridge and Louise Bourgeois, while a Platform section will be presenting work from artists ‘redefining the boundaries between craft, applied art, and fine art, and challenging artistic expectations around materials’. A new partnership with the National Trust will see the conservation charity present an exhibition of surrealist and post-war abstract works from the collections of The Homewood and Erno Goldfinger’s 2 Willow Road, never before exhibited outside these iconic modernist homes.

Metatheatrical mischief maker Tim Crouch directs his first original production for the Globe, a a high concept version of The Tempest in which he will star as exiled magician Prospero. In it, Propero, his daughter Miranda and his supernatural servants Ariel and Caliban are exiled with no hope of escape. Instead they gather once a month to tell stories of how they might be rescued – with the plot to Shakespeare’s play just one of them. It’s certainly an arresting concept

The London International Mime Festival was a true city staple, bringing weird and wild physical theatre from across the globe to the capital each year. Rarely ‘mime’ in the stereotypical sense, the fest brought mind-expanding theatre to London for 47 years straight. The 2023 edition was its last, but MimeLondon is the same idea in all but name, and returns for its third year in January 2026. While LIMF was staged across multiple venues, the general idea behind MimeLondon is that it’s all staged at the Barbican. However, with the iconic interantional arts centre shut this year for upgrade works, MimeLondon will once again go travelling, with shows at Sadler’s Wells and The Place.