London events in July 2026

As soon as June hits, London is packed with parades, parties and protests for Pride Month to mark the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots. The London Pride parade is traditionally the focus of festivities, but there are plenty of other LGBTQ+ events taking place both before and after it. Over a million people take to the streets of London for the celebration each summer, with this year’s event scheduled for Saturday July 4.

Recommended: Everything you need to know about the London Pride parade 2025.

For years, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster adaptation of TS Eliot’s cat poems has been a byword for ’80s musical theatre kitsch, famous for feline perfomers in glam make-up and legwarmers. And the truly terrible movie adaptation didn't help. But now, it's getting a brand new staging as the Open Air Theatre's 2026 summer musical. It’ll be directed and choreographed by OAT boss Drew McOnie, who'll be tasked with making this banger-filled but resolutely weird show sing 
(or caterwaul) for modern-day audiences.

As a rising star of the avant garde art scene in ’80s New York, there’s no knowing what brilliant work Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta might still be producing if her career hadn’t been cut tragically short, but it’s doubly unfortunate that the work she did produce is often obscured by conversations about the murder trial that ensued after she allegedly fell to her death from Manhattan apartment she shared with her husband, modernist sculptor Carl Andre, aged just 36.

Great news, then, that the Tate Modern is putting the art front and centre this summer, in the largest UK exhibition of Ana Mendieta’s work to date, featuring many pieces never exhibited in this country before. Delving into the Havana-born, Iowa-raised artist’s groundbreaking practice spanning performance, photography and video art, it will explore Mendieta’s deep affinity with the natural world, while making the case that she deserves to be remembered as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. 

In the sweltering city heat, few things are more inviting than the prospect of plunging into one of London's finest al fresco swimming pools. And everyone knows it. The capital has well and truly caught the open-air bathing bug over the last few years, but that also means that on the hottest days of the year, you’ll need to book well in advance if you want to secure a poolside spot. The good news is that there’s a bounty of places for getting your outdoor swim fix in the city. Heated or unheated, regimented lanes or wide open water, serious fitness or chilled family fun – these are all of London’s best lidos and outdoor swimming pools for whatever floats your boat.

Nothing sums up the best of London’s balmy, thriving summers quite like the noble sunflower. The clue’s in the name, after all: during the part of the year where we’re blessed with the most of those sweet, sweet rays, that’s when we see the most of these golden, spindly, great-vibe giants. There are plenty of dazzling pick-your-own sunflower fields within very easy reach of London. Before you head off on a sunny adventure, make sure to check in with these sites in advance to be sure of fresh crops and full blooms – Mother Nature is an unruly and unpredictable force.

For a novel about Edinburgh heroin addicts written in dense Scottish dialogue, Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting has proved to be a remarkably enduring cultural artefact: a book (with numerous sequels), a film, a cult stage play and now – 33 years on – a musical written by Welsh himself. The truth, of course, is that Danny Boyle’s film is its most iconic and definitive form, which this musical pretty much acknowleges: its song list will mix tracks by Welsh plus collaborator Stephen McGuinness with bangers from the movie’s iconic Britpop-era soundtrack.

It’s hard to exactly imagine a musical about heroin addicted criminals in ’90s Edinburgh ending up as a Les Mis-style long-runner, but the show is directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, who has made a very solid fist of directing the live versions of Fawlty Towers and Only Fools and Horses – Trainspotting is significantly edgier source material, but the film was a big hit and they’re clearly leaning into nostalgia for it. Don’t expect any star names, but the lead role of semi-likeable casualty Renton (aka the Ewan McGregor role) goes to Scots actor Robbie Scott (pictured).

This magic extravaganza is inspired by the improbably successful ‘white collar crime fighting magicians’ Now You See Me series of films, although rather than a play or musical it’s very much ‘some guys doing spectacular magic tricks in the loose guise of the films’ Four Horsemen’. It’s a big glitzy spectacle that’s wowed audiences in Sydney (where it originates) and Singapore and now it’s headed our way for a summer 2026 stint.

‘Our’ Horsemen will be illusionist Enzo Weyne, escapologist Andrew Basso, ‘dynamic rising star of modern magic’ Gabriella Lester and ‘award-winning British magician and master storyteller’ Matthew Pomeroy.

 Open water swimming has been a spring and summer fixture at Canary Wharf’s Eden Dock for the past couple of years already, but now it’s becoming permanent, just in time for the summer. First announced in September, and due to open in late June, Sea Lanes has been built by the team behind the very successful Sea Lanes Brighton, the UK’s first National Open Water Swimming Centre.

The open air fresh water lido, which is 50 metres in length and 1.3 metres deep, features six lanes swimming lanes designed to cater to all ages and capabilities, from family dips to serious cold-water plunges. Who’s ready for an alfresco dip among the skyscrapers?

Another London summer beckons: clouds clearing, days lengthening, an imaginative structure being erected in Kensington Gardens. Mexican architecture firm LANZA atelier has been chosen to design this 2026 Serpentine Pavilion, which features a ‘crinkle-crankle’ wall. Traditional structures seen in English architecture from the 18th century, these wavy partitions temper climate, create shelter, and are ideal for growing fruit. And fittingly, they’re also known as serpentine walls. 

The prestigious architectural commission celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026, with a landmark series of talks programmed in collaboration with the Zaha Hadid Foundation, the charitable organisation founded by the late Iraqi-British architect, who designed the inaugural Pavilion 25 years ago. The programme kicks off with an Architects’ Talk hosted by Hans Ulrich Obrist, with a series of Family Days featuring hands-on workshops, creative activities and performances for all ages scheduled throughout the summer. Check out the Serpentine’s website for further details in due course. 

Outdoor cinema season is up and running in the capital. There’s a summer of moonlit movies ahead in an array of scenic park, rooftop and riverside spots and the projectors will soon start whirring at Rooftop Cinema Club, Adventure Cinema and many others. On the slate for 2026 are the usual mix of crowdpleasers, cult classics and recent blockbuster hits. But expect some exciting new additions from the past 12 months, too, including Sinners, Wicked: For Good, One Battle After Another and Weapons, to Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, La La Land and all the old favourites.

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Dulwich Picture Gallery's big summer exhibition will be an intriguing contrast with the pastoral landscapes found in its permanent collection. Portrait of a City is all about American urban life, as documented by photographers between 1907 and 2012. It'll offer a fascinating insight into how big cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco grew from low-rise communities into towering assemblages of skyscrapers and multi-lane traffic. Photos from big names including Diane Arbus, Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange will chart the faces and sights of cities in flux.

With its 210-foot tower, and walls adorned with over a hundred varieties of marble, Westminster Cathedral is already a sight to behold, but it’ll be looking more spectacular than ever this July, when this visual show wuill shed new light on the iconic building, quite literally. Known for hosting dazzling immersive experiences at World Heritage sites across the globe, Luminiscence will take over the neo-byzantine cathedral this summer, with an visual experience journeying through the history of the Big Smoke, told using light projections mapped onto its grand interiors, plus a voiceover by Hugh Bonneville, and classical hits from the likes of Beethoven, Vivaldi and Bach, performed live by the Lux Aeterna choir. It promises to be a truly special opportunity to familiarise yourself with one of London’s most iconic landmarks. 

This is a fun one: Death Note the Musical is an adaptation of the hit manga that tells the story of one Light Yagami, a brilliant student who is given a notebook by a capricious magical being. The book has one very specific function: anyone whose name is written in it will die within 40 seconds. It’s not your everyday story, that's for sure, but that goes for a lot of musicals, and you can actually kind of see it working. It's had various Asian productions over the last decade, but this new one from director Stephen Whitson is easily its biggest Western outing to date.

From swanky skyscrapers to casual warehouse hangouts and hidden pub terraces, London has a real crush on a rooftop bar. Sometimes we’re even blessed with perfect weather when we’re up there. To enjoy natural high, there are all kinds of rooftops which offer a winning combination of incredible city views and perfect drinks, be they on top of carparks, or hotels.

So take your pick from spots in stylish Shoreditch, buzzing Soho and Covent Garden, hipster haven Peckham and more – it’s time to soak up those sunsets. Some are only open in the summer, but quite a few are year-rounders, where you can sit under heaters, or, if you’re hardcore, in the brisk London breeze. If you’d rather something a little more grounded, then have a look at London’s best beer gardens. 

It may be known for its sleepy scent and soothing properties, but there’s nothing dozy about the explosion of colour that happens around London’s lavender fields each summer. There are several farms dedicated to the mauve blooms just outside the capital, in Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire. Immerse yourself in a purple haze this summer by visiting one of London’s fragrant lavender gardens, or head out of town on a day trip to find sweeping fields of the stuff.

It was announced earlier this year that rather than just cease all activities during its current period of closure and refurbishment, the tiny, historic Arts Theatre in the West End was going to try something a little different: it was going to build a temporary theatre that at 594 seats would be almost 250 seats bigger than the parent one. It would be next to Marble Arch, in roughly the spot where beloved London folly the Mound once stood.

The Arts at Marble Arch will open in July with a return to London for Heathers (Jul 9-Aug 22), the much loved cult musical adapted from the Winona Ryder/Christian Slater black comedy that has played several seasons in London, mostly at The Other Palace. It’ll christen TAAMA with a limited, 52-performance only run that will predate a UK tour. 

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