Give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve managed to slog it through the first, and what always feels like the longest, month of the year. Now the days are slowly getting longer and lighter, it’s less treacherous to walk around outside. It can only mean February is here and the promise of spring is just around the corner.
As we transition into a brand new month, London’s cultural scene is packed full of events and things to do. This week, get ready for warmer days by visiting Kew Garden’s annual Orchid Festival. It’s got a Cameroonian theme this year and will see the hot and steamy Prince of Wales Conservatory filled with your fave floral animal sculptures. For alternative theatre head to ‘Saint Jude’, an immersive, AI-powered, choose-your-own-adventure tale – no we’re not making any of that up. Or, check out eye-popping art, including The Perimeter’s show dedicated to Joseph Yaeger’s paintings of found imagery and film snippets and the Castor gallery’s show of Clyde Hopkins’s big, splashy canvases.
Head out of the cold and underground for more off-the-beaten-track happenings, like guided tours of the Postal Museum’s hidden Mail Rail tunnel and Vault Festival, London’s subterranean celebration of new theatre with over 500 theatre and comedy shows. Or, add a bit of cheer to the cold winter days by heading to the Grimaldi Clown Service – back in baggy-trousered person for the first time in two years.
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Still got some gaps in your diary? Fill your eyes with neon at Battersea Power Station’s winter light festival. Make some time to check out London’s major art exhibitions this weekend like the National Gallery’s huge Lucian Freud retrospective, Tate Modern’s ambitious Cezanne exhibition, Tate Modern’s brilliant show of Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz’s towering fabric sculptures and the RA’s sprawling ‘Making Modernism’.
Head to one of London’s best bars or restaurants and take in one of these lesser-known London attractions. This is also a great time of year to explore London on a budget and without the crowds. Plus, lots of the city’s best theatre, musicals, restaurants and bars offer discounted tickets and offers. What are you waiting for? Put your coat on.
RECOMMENDED: Check out our guide to the best things to do in February.