Best Christmas Events in London for 2025 hand picked by our editors

If you've ever watched curling during the Winter Olympics and thought 'pass me that broom, I could do better', you're in luck. This winter, the Curling Club will be taking up residence in both London Bridge's Vinegar Yard and in a new Waterloo location, giving you the chance to have a go at this eccentric team sport. Both venues will be given a proper apres-ski makeover with wintry cocktails, Alpine-inspired street food and entertainment on hand.

72-82 St Thomas Street, SE1 3QX.

In 2025 A Christmas Carol returns to the Old Vic for the ninth year in a row. Don’t miss out because this is possibly its last run, as it’s Matthew Warchus’s final Christmas at the Old Vic. Paul Hilton will play Scrooge in this festive classic that’s guaranteed to get you in the feels. 

Old Vic, 103 The Cut, SE1 8NB.

In one of his best works, Matthew Bourne transforms the classic 1948 Powell and Pressburger film, The Red Shoes, into a dance-drama that uses Bourne’s gift for storytelling in full force. The audience is whirled through the tragic story of Vicky Page, the dancer who must choose between her art and her heart on her quest to become the world’s best ballerina. 

Sadlers Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN.

Somerset House’s annual ice rink pop-up has long been one of the city’s favourite festive traditions, with thousands of Londoners and tourists alike making it part of their celebrations each year, and for good reason. Gliding (or nervously shuffling) around the rink, gazing upon the surrounding Georgian architecture and the courtyard’s magnificent 40ft Christmas tree feels like you’ve skated onto a movie set, ready to be watched by families settling in for their post-turkey food coma. 

There’s more to this rink than just skating, though. There are seasonal drinks and warming food options available from a rinkside chalet, alongside a Shelter Boutique with takeovers from sought-after brands including Oliver Bonas, All Saints and Nobody’s Child in the run-up to Christmas. And there also a variety of events to keep you entertained throughout the season, including the venue's famous Skate Lates, where you can soar round the rink to a DJ soundtrack. The line-up for 2025 includes trailblazing women-run radio station Foundation FM, NTS Radio host Ruf Dug and queer dance party Sue Veneers.

RECOMMENDED: More places to go ice skating in London.

Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA.

This is the tenth anniversary of the Palladium panto, which is remarkable in a way as it kind of feels like London’s biggest festive show has been around forever. In part that’s because there is relatively little annual variation: as ever it’s built around Julian Clary, who effortlessly walks off with the show by playing a series of flimsily disguised variants on himself, with his every utterance a virtuosically smutty innuendo that blessedly sails over the heads of primary schoolers. This year big guest star is Catherine Tate, who’ll be playing Carabosse the Wicked Fairy.

London Palladium, 8 Argyll St, W1F 7TF.