London events in May
Get ready for a marvellous month with our selection of the best events, exhibitions and things to do in May 2020 in London
Prepare yourself for a marvellous May in London. Spring has officially sprung, the days are warming up and London’s parks are at their blooming best. Spend those sunny May days in London exploring the capital's great outdoors or sinking a drink (or two) on one of London's rooftop bars, which have just started to open. Be sure to make the most of not one, but two Bank Holidays in May, by checking out the city's new exhibitions and theatre shows. May in London is also the month of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London Craft Week, London Wine Week, the Hackney Half Marathon, Chelsea Fringe and Museums at Night. Here's our guide to the best events, parties, pop-ups and things to do in May 2020 in London. You're in for one sweet, sweet month.
While your diary’s out, remember that it's never too early to start planning for June either.
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Bank holiday in London
Sound the long weekend klaxon! Spring is upon us and you know what that means – there's a bank holiday on the horizon. The early May bank holiday (Friday May 8 2020) is the most important for Londoners. Yes, it’s one of two bank holidays this month, and this year it falls on Friday: we're celebrating Victory in Europe (VE) Day. 2020 marks the 75th year since the end of World War II. This means late hours for pubs, with closing time moved from 11pm to 1am on Friday night, as well as commemorative arts and cultural events at London institutions including the Imperial War Museum.There are heaps happening across London, so where do you start making plans? Right here, that’s where. We’ve compiled the ultimate guide to celebrating the weekend. Whatever you like to get up to in your spare time (well, within reason), we’ve got you covered with all the best new art exhibitions, new theatre shows, day trips and the best clubs in London. And if you enjoyed this bank holiday, you're going to love what's coming up later this month... Tat's right, two bank holidays in one month. The late May bank holiday this year falls on Monday May 25. No excuses for not living your best life this month. You have many sweet, empty days to fill. Make them count.
‘The Seagull’
The Jamie Lloyd Company kicks off a busy 2020 with Anya Reiss’s unique modernisation of Chekhov’s wistful masterpiece ‘The Seagull’. Emilia Clarke makes her West End stage debut as vain young actress Nina alongside a first-rate cast including Robert Glenister, Daniel Monks, Indira Varma, Danny Ashok and Sophie Wu.
‘Omeros’
Poet Derek Walcott's ‘Omeros’ is his landmark work; in it, he reimagines Classical epic the Iliad for a setting on Caribbean island Saint Lucia.
May bank holiday parties
Skip, bounce and bogle into the new season with our round-up of the long weekend’s best club nights from Friday May 27 to Sunday May 29 2017. If you feel a sudden spring in your step, you could go for a full three-day bender. Just make sure you plan for a very quiet Tuesday. RECOMMENDED: Your guide to the May bank holiday in London
Cao Fei: ‘Blueprints’
Time is slipping, narratives are falling apart and reality is spinning into fantasy in this immersive show from Beijing-based multimedia artist Cao Fei, featuring VR headsets and an immersive recreation of her Beijing studio. It’s brutally relatable, time-travelling sociopolitical art about people and places being transformed by work and capitalism, surveillance and control.
‘Leopoldstadt’
The 81-year-old theatre legend’s new play is about the titular Jewish quarter of Vienna and follows it from its heyday as a haven for the Jews of Europe to the clampdown of the Nazi regime.
‘Orfeus: A House Music Opera’
You want a mash-up of opera, house music and the Orfeus myth? SURE YOU DO. Created by American baritone Nmon Ford, ‘Orfeus’ is set in a dystopian near-future and features creator Ford himself as the eponymous hero, who must save the poet Eurydice from his fascist father, Pluto.
Masculinities: ‘Liberation Through Photography’
Guns and cowboys, beer and beards, this show might be packed with typical images of masculinity, but with it's intimate, erotic shots of soldiers and films of men crying, it’s also full of subversion. In a society where gender is ceaselessly melting into an ever more fluid substance, this exhibition makes you walk away asking infinite questions.
‘Welcome to Iran’
Artistic director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nadia Fall has written and will also direct this narrative of Tehran life. It's a story of illicit raves and escaping the morality police, which aims to create an alternative view into an often-misunderstood country.
‘Dear Evan Hansen’
The tearjerking Tony-winner ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ comes to London. The musical concerns the eponymous troubled teen, who writes himself a series of letters to help him cope with a profoundly difficult time in his life, following the tragic death of a school friend.
‘British Surrealism’
A uniquely British look at the twentieth-century art movement, this exhibition provides a fascinating context for legends such as Paul Nash, Henry Moore and Francis Bacon.
Isa Genzken: ‘Window’
Come fly with German punk minimalism supremo Isa Genzken with his brand-new art installation about planes and spaces. Genzken’s work creates in-between spaces, nowheres and adds a bit of nuance in a black and white world.
‘Steve McQueen’
A heavy-hitting art exhibition from Turner Prize- and Oscar-winning Steve McQueen. Go for a painful, moving and totally amazing show about racism, violence, greed, oppression, manipulation and sadness. It’s truly eye-opening stuff.
‘Dóra Maurer’
This year-long free display will introduce British audiences to Dóra Maurer, an Hungarian artist who started making work at a time when her country's government were trying to mould artists' output to their own political ends.
Kehinde Wiley: ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’
A collection of paintings of real women that Barack Obama’s portraitist Kehinde Wiley met on the streets of Dalston, this show is a joyous celebration of black identity.
‘Aubrey Beardsley’
The Victorians have a reputation for being buttoned-up, but Aubrey Beardsley’s black-and-white drawings are full of sex and death. This gorgeous retrospective covers pretty much everything Beardsley did, from early medievalist and mythological subjects through to illustrations for The Yellow Book and explicit pictures of Ancient Greeks getting frisky. It’s audacious, bold, sexy and knowingly funny.
‘Hairspray’
Check out this revival of the big-hearted, acceptance-preaching, ’60s-homaging musical. It’s being billed as a new production, though fans of the original are unlikely to be disappointed, as it reunites director Jack O’Brie, choreographer Jerry Mitchell, and star Michael Ball.
Kimono: ‘Kyoto to Catwalk’
A beguiling look at the history of Japan’s most iconic garment, from the Edo Period (1603-1868) through to the Dutch kimono trade, Victorian obsessions with Japan and modern reinterpretations. This is another excellent exhibition from a museum known for its fashion blockbusters.
‘Sunday in the Park with George’
Jake Gyllenhaal made his stage debut in London, but has stayed away since. Finally, though, he’s back, reprising his lead role in this recent Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant 1984 musical.
Find great things to do all year round
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