September events
Photograph: Jamie Inglis / Shutterstock
Photograph: Jamie Inglis / Shutterstock

Amazing things to do in London in September 2025

The best events, exhibitions and all-round great things to do in London in September 2025

Alex Sims
Written by: Rhian Daly & Liv Kelly
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September in London may be ‘back to school’ time, but it’s also when the city comes alive. A lot of London’s cultural scene goes into semi-hibernation mode over the summer, but come autumn it kicks back into gear with landmark museum exhibitions, new theatre and art shows and brand new food and drink openings. 

There’s also a whole host of city-wide fests taking over the capital, including Open House London – giving us a chance to get a sneak peek inside usually private buildings – London Design Festival and Totally Thames – the brilliant celebration of London’s watery main artery.

While autumn is still on the horizon, summer isn’t over yet. So make sure you grab your final chance to enjoy the spoils of the season by booking a seat at some of London’s best rooftop bars and alfresco restaurants and lolling about in the city’s best urban beaches, parks and lidos. Get your diary out and start filling it up now.

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Things to do in London in September 2025

  • Music
  • Hackney Wick

Created by the minds behind Brainchild Festival, Colour Factory, Orii Community and Voices Radio, Jazz on Wick is a new festival for 2025. Taking place across multiple venues in Hackney Wick, the day-to-night celebration of jazz and adjacent astral sounds features neo-soul singer BINA, genre-blending quartet oreglo, multi-instrumentalist Allexa Nava and a special edition of the Orii Jam (complete with special guests TBA). 

  • Drama
  • South Bank

This is a bold opener for Indhu Rubasingham’s first season in charge at the National Theatre: first time playwright (though he’s got decent pedigree as an actor) Nima Taleghani offers up what sounds like a racously modern – and probably quite foul-mouthed – adaptation of Euripides’s shockingly violent Ancient Greek tragedy. Rubasingham herself will direct the show, which has a cast including James McArdle, Clare Perkins and Ukweli Roach.

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  • Museums
  • Art and design
  • South Kensington

Fashion lovers will lose their heads over the V&A’s big autumn 2025 exhibition, focusing as it does on the sartorial tastes of one of history’s most notable bonce droppers. Marie Antoinette Style will look at the ill-fated French queen’s enduring impact on fashion, design and culture, as well as ‘the origins and countless revivals of the style shaped by the most fashionable queen in history’. The V&A’s art collection features two portraits of Antoinette by Jean-François Janinet and François Hubert Drouais which we’d imagine will feature in the exhibition, while visitors can also expect to get up close to some serious couture pieces too; Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Moschino, Dior and the exhibition’s sponsor Manolo Blahnik have all created past collections inspired by the guillotined French Revolution monarch. Let them eat ’fits!

There's just a few weeks left to see Lightroom's 'The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks', so don't miss your chance to see this breathtaking spectacle for just £19. Tom Hanks narrates an epic experience that offers a unique new perspective on humankind’s past and future voyages to the moon. See this exciting Apollo Remastered collaboration with Tom Hanks, Christopher Riley and 59 Productions with an insight into the impending return of crewed surface missions by going behind the scenes of the Artemis programme, including interviews between Hanks and Artemis astronauts. 

Save up to £10 on ticket to 'The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks' at Lightroom, only through Time Out Offers.

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  • Drama
  • South Bank

The last Lyttelton theatre show to be programmed by Rufus Norris prior to his departure looks like a good one: following the Jodie Comer-fuelled West End smash Prima Facie, writer Susie Miller and director Justin Martin join forces with a new star for for follow-up Inter Alia. Rosamund Pike has had a good few years with screen hits Saltburn and The Wheel of Time, and now she makes her National Theatre debut to star as Jessica Parks, a maverick high court judge who precariously balances her work and her home life. We don’t know a lot more about the Miriam Buether-designed show just yet, but the fact Pike will be joined by actors Jamie Glover and Jasper Talbot points to the fact that this won’t be a monologue in the vein of Miller’s last.

  • Things to do
  • Film events
  • Canary Wharf

Helping replace Canary Wharf’s corporate image with something fun and family-friendly, Canada Square Park has erected a big screen showing movies throughout the summer. For the final month, you can head down there on watch ‘A League of Their Own’ on September 4, ‘Champions’ on September 9, ‘Whip It’ on September 16 and ‘Invictus’ (September 23). It’s very much a BYO set-up, so bring your own blankets and snacks – though there’s a Waitrose nearby for any last-minute picnic needs.

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If you're a theatre lover, you’re probably familiar with the all-time Broadway hit Guys & Dolls. However, you might not have experienced it quite like the recent run at the Bridge Theatre. Step into the Hot Box and be transported to the streets of Manhattan and the bars of Havana, as you become part of the show itself in this immersive, show-stopping favourite. Whether you’re a long-time fan or eager to see it for the first time, Time Out has you covered with an incredible offer on all standing tickets. Grab your tickets now and be part of the magic. 

Get £19.50 standing tickets for Guys & Dolls, only with Time Out Offers.

  • Music
  • Music

Anyone who’s ever stepped inside the Royal Albert Hall will understand that it can’t be filled with just any old music – it needs scale and drama. And every year it gets exactly that with the BBC Proms, one of London’s best-loved and most dazzling cultural festivals. This year, highlights include Florence + The Machine – Symphony of Lungs (Sep 11) where Florence Welch and conductor Jules Buckley lead celebrations of her BRIT Award-winning debut album, and of course, the Last Night at the Proms (Sep 14), which is apparently the world’s biggest classical music party. 

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  • Things to do
  • Festivals
  • King’s Cross
  • Recommended

Tired of merely listening to your favourite podcast hosts yabbering away? Now you can watch them at it IRL at London Podcast Festival, which is hosting some of the best podcasting talents from the UK and US live at Kings Place. This year get a front seat at plenty of big shows in the audio world, including No Such Thing As A Fish, Wrong Turns with Jameela Jamil, The Empire Film Podcast and History Hit.

Mark your calendars for September 27 and 28! Ministry of Sound, the legendary home of beats and bass, is turning 33. To celebrate, they’re throwing two epic nights for both veteran and up-and-coming ravers (with Mella Dee and Groove Armada, no less). Relive the '90s from 10pm to midnight with throwback tunes and 1991 prices. How does £1.50 Bacardi and Coke sound?

Grab your Ministry of Sound birthday weekender tickets for £10, only through Time Out Offers.

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  • Music
  • Music festivals
  • Acton

Organised by the people behind Percolate and Love International festival in Croatia, mid-September’s electronic music one-dayer Waterworks is a final chance to squeeze every last drop of festival fun out of the summer. Returning to west London’s Gunnersbury Park for its fifth edition, the festival’s line-up features DJs playing just about every genre of dance music, including the likes of Two Shell, Yung Singh, Special Request, Palms Trax, Skee Mask, Lukas Wigflex, Octo Octa, Eris Drew, Tash LC, DJ Stingray and Djrum. You’ll struggle to find a festival line-up more packed with world-class selectors than this. 

  • Art
  • Photography
  • Shoreditch
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

What is a portrait, really? What is its role? And what makes it different from ‘just’ a photograph of a person? These are all questions that spring to mind when walking around A Thousand Small Stories, the first ever retrospective of Eileen Perrier’s photography. Since the 1990s, the London-born photographer has used her camera to capture individuals in their local communities, and this show highlights some of her finest work. 

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  • Things to do
  • Festivals
Fill up on beer and wurst at Oktoberfest
Fill up on beer and wurst at Oktoberfest

Charge the steins! You don’t have to travel all the way to Germany for a lederhosen-clad knees-up this Oktoberfest – and you don't even have to wait until October. Munich’s world-famous beer festival is very much on in London and starting this September; with big steins of beer, platters of excessively long wurst and loud oompah bands blowing brass like they don’t give a schnitzel. 

Whether you’re after a traditional take on the event or want to cut loose with some raucous table dancing, authentic Bavarian beers or east London craft IPAs, you can find the perfect Oktoberfest for you right here in London. Give yourself a warm willkommen at one of these London Oktoberfest events.  

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  • Things to do
  • Festivals
  • London

Ever wanted to have a nosy around some of London’s coolest private buildings? Open House London gives guests free access to architectural wonders that are not normally open to the public – from schools and offices to places of worship. It’s an often rare chance to explore iconic or just interesting buildings that make up the capital’s storied history, while the programme usually includes tons of workshops, exhibitions and more, as well as the usual tours. This year, the full programme will be announced on July 16, with bookings opening on August 20. Get practising your clicking now – these tickets go faster than Glastonbury.

  • Things to do
  • Concerts
  • Alexandra Palace

Ally Pally is collaborating with British-German composer Max Richter for two very special overnight events celebrating the tenth anniversary of his epic composition SLEEP. Comprising 204 individual tracks, SLEEP the mammoth epic, 8 hour and 30 minute-long lullaby was created for listeners to fall asleep to, and has already been performed live at some of the world’s most iconic concert venues, including Sydney Opera House and the Philharmonie de Paris. And now it’s north London’s turn to host more of his truly special all-nighters, with two performances taking place this September, starting at 10pm and finishing at around 6am as the sun rises. 

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  • Musicals
  • Victoria

Yes, it’s a musical adaptation of the 2004 Adam Sandler/Drew romcom, which was a massive hit at the height of Sandlermania, and remains at least fairly well remembered. Its aggressively goofy plot about a louche marine biologist – with a posse of eccentric humans and animals – who falls for a woman who can’t remember the events of the previous day would seem to lend itself to the intrinsic silliness of the genre. Whatever the case, this world premiere run for 50 First Dates at the mid-size The Other Palace looks like it has the potential to be a big deal: American humourists David Rossmer and Steve Rosen have written the songs and script, while the big deal is director Casey Nicholaw, best known for The Book of Mormon, and suggesting this run is a tryout for Broadway.

  • Music
  • White City

Bringing together a wide spectrum of voices from various disciplines of alternative East and South-East Asian creativity, Margins United is back for its second year in the capital. Created by Eastern Margins, a platform for alternative Asian culture in the UK, the multi-venue festival will feature a full takeover of Exhibition in White City and an afterparty at Scala, King’s Cross. The first announcement centres around Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, a trailblazer in both hyperpop and J-pop who previously collaborated with SOPHIE and Charli xcx. She's joined by DJ Jax Jones, LA’s alt-pop riser Emei and south London rapper Jianbo.

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Get ready! This autumn, Camden hosts its largest celebration of Bavaria cuisine and of course, beer. Electric Ballroom will be transformed into an all-singing, all-dancing beer hall complete with long wooden tables and traditional bunting, fit for a decadent bohemian party with a host of games and prizes to be won. Enjoy the authentic German taste of sausages and schnitzel to the sound of live music from Oompah Bands & more. 

Get 50% off tickets to Oktoberfest 2024 at Camden's Electric Ballroom, only through Time Out Offers.

  • Things to do
  • Aldwych

It’s been 25 years since Somerset House transformed from a government office into a cultural powerhouse. Celebrate it’s big quarter century at this birthday weekend extravaganza, which free, open-to-all invitation for people to explore and get to know the entire building. Guests will be able to discover the lesser-known spaces including the Deadhouse and Maker Street where you can meet Somerset House’s resident creatives. There’ll also be dance, music, performance, exhibition viewings, film showings, workshops, tours, family activities, retail and more. Phew. Watch this space for more details closer to the time. 

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If you’re captivated by the stars and the stage, Hampstead Theatre’s latest production is a must-see. For just £15, down from £55, see ‘The Lightest Element’, set in 1956 Boston, where Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, a pioneering astronomer, faces two obstacles: a covert investigation into her political affiliations and the sexism of her male colleagues. When a student journalist offers a profile opportunity, it seems like a chance to shape her own story – if the invitation is genuine…


Head to Hampstead Theatre for just £15, down from £55, only through Time Out Offers.

  • Museums
  • Art and design
  • Kensington

London’s cultural institutions are having a love affair with the New Romantics this year. First there was Outlawsthe Fashion and Textile Museum’s exhibition on the subversive fashion trends of 1980s London. Then the Tate Modern announced a major retrospective on pioneering fashion maverick Leigh Bowery. Now it’s the Design Museum’s turn to direct its attention towards the most flamboyant subculture of its era, via this exhibition on the Blitz club, the iconic (and we really don’t use that word lightly) Covent Garden nightclub where New Romanticism was born in 1979. Forty years after it closed, the trailblazing club’s atmosphere will be recreated through a ‘sensory extravaganza’ incorporating music, film, art, graphic design and some very ostentatious outfits. This will include several items that have never been on public display before, while some of the scene’s key figures have been involved in the development of the exhibition. Time to liberally apply the kohl eyeliner, fish out your frilliest shirt and whack on some Spandau Ballet: the 80s are back, baby!

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  • Musicals
  • Regent’s Park

This 1947 musical from My Fair Lady writers Lerner & Loewe has faded out of fashion in recent years, presumably largely because its premise of a couple of American tourists stumbling across a magical Scottish village that only appears every couple of hundred years is actually pretty patronising to the Scottish. That’s presumably why top Scottish playwright Rona Munro has been brought in to update the book of the first major UK revival since 1988, which will see Drew McOnie direct his in augural production as Open Air Theatre artistic director. The exact nature of the update is TBC, but it appears that lost-in-the-Highlands American protagonists Tommy and Jeff have been changed from game hunting tourists to crashed WW2 fighter pilots.

  • Things to do
  • Exhibitions
  • Battersea
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

This month is your last chance to take your dino-loving kid to Jurassic World: The Experience. Staged at NEON, a new venue just outside Battersea Power Station, the experience is roughly 45 minutes long and begins with boarding a ‘ferry’ to get to Isla Nublar, home to Jurassic World. Expect gigantic animatronic herbivores, ‘baby dinosaur’ petting, velociraptor feeding and a face-to-face T-rex encounter.  

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  • Art
  • Hyde Park

Peter Doig is one of the greatest living painters, an artist whose approach to hazy, memory-drenched figuration has had an enormous impact on the visual landscape of today. For his show at the Serpentine, he’s going well beyond the canvas, filling the gallery with speaker systems to create a ‘multi-sensory environment’ and explore the impact of music on his work. 

See why this D&D London restaurant sits at the forefront of the capital's food scene, with a best of British menu, created by executive Head Chef Owen Sullivan. For starters, you can enjoy refined, comforting classics, like the leek and potato soup and spicy salmon maki avocado. It only gets better with the mains, with Delica Pumpkin Tortellini and Aged Beef Ragu on offer. Top it all off with your pick of dessert and a glass of prosecco.

Enjoy three courses and a glass of prosecco for an exclusive £23, only through Time Out Offers.

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  • Things to do
  • Sport events
  • Twickenham

The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup is already smashing records before a single match has even been played. A record 220,000 tickets have been sold to date – the fastest-selling tournament ever. The much-anticipated competition will take place between August to September next year across 32 matches, with the final taking place in London at the iconic Twickenham Stadium. There’s even more reason to be excited: England are one of the favourites to win, and we all know that England’s female sporting teams have a greater track record of being victorious. So, fingers crossed, the England women’s rugby team get their own Euro ’22 moment. 

  • Art
  • Piccadilly

Kerry James Marshall is an artist with a singular vision. He has become arguably the most important living American painter over the past few decades, with an ultra-distinctive body of work that celebrates the Black figure in an otherwise very ‘Western’ painting tradition. This big, ambitious show at the Royal Academy will be a joyful celebration of his lush, colourful approach to painting, and artist’s largest ever exhibition outside of the US. 

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  • Drama
  • Covent Garden
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Don’t miss the final run of Stereophonic’s West End shows. The musical is a lightly fictionalised account of the recording of the Fleetwood Mac’s mega-selling Rumours album, and while not every detail is the same, many are identical, from the cities it was recorded in (Sausalito then LA) to the gender, nationality and internal-relationship makeup of the band, to details like female members ‘Holly’ (aka Christine McVie) and ‘Diana’ (aka Stevie Nicks) moving out out the studio accommodation they were sharing with the band’s menfolk in favour of their own condominiums. 

  • Art
  • Trafalgar Square

If you thought the National Gallery answered every question that could possibly be asked about what came after the impressionists in their huge blockbuster ‘After Impressionism’ show in 2023, you thought wrong. Because they’re coming back for another go with ‘Radical Harmony’, which will feature the work of the neo-impressionists, including pointilist masters Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. It’s enough to drive you dotty.

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