London’s biggest autumn events to know about in 2026
London is heading into a busy autumn, with the capital’s cultural calendar filled with major art fairs, design festivals, theatre productions, film screenings, literary events and live music. The season gets under way in September with the London Design Festival and Totally Thames, before Frieze week brings galleries, collectors and artists to the capital in October. Alongside these major events, venues including the National Theatre, the Old Vic and the Design Museum will stage new productions and exhibitions, while Drumsheds and the EFG London Jazz Festival lead a packed programme of live music.
Here are some of the biggest events taking place across London this autumn.
London Design Festival 2026
Kataginu - Arimatsu Narumi Shibori × Bethan Laura Wood
#FLODown: The 24th London Design Festival brings together exhibitions, installations, talks and events across 11 Design Districts, including the new Soho Design District and Blackhorse Creates. The 2026 programme explores the relationship between cultural heritage, craft, new materials and technology, with NIGO: From Japan with Love at the Design Museum presenting the first UK exhibition of the Japanese designer’s work, alongside Simone Brewster’s PLATFORM exhibition. The festival also includes the Global Design Forum at the V&A, Shoreditch Design Week and a wide-ranging programme of exhibitions, showroom events and new design commissions across London.
Date: 12–20 September 2026. Location: Various locations across London. londondesignfestival.com
London Art Fairs 2026
Frieze London 2023 Photo by Lyndon Douglas. Courtesy Frieze. Lyndon Douglas Photography.
#FLODown: London’s biggest month for art returns in October, with Frieze week bringing international galleries, collectors and artists to the capital. PAD London (13–18 October) takes place in Berkeley Square, followed by Frieze London and Frieze Masters (14–18 October) in The Regent’s Park, while 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair (15–18 October) takes place at Somerset House, alongside a wider programme of gallery exhibitions, openings and art events across the city.
Location: Various venues across London.
Drumsheds Autumn 2026
Drumsheds Radio1Dance. JakeDavis, @jakephilipdavis.
#FLODown: Drumsheds is back for an epic autumn season of electronic music and club culture, running from September through November. The programme moves from Defected London, featuring Armand Van Helden, Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada, to NEXUP, Bugged Out!, False Idols and Halloween, before continuing into November with Terminal V, La Discothèque, featuring Purple Disco Machine and Basement Jaxx, and Bugged Out! x Tresor x Leftfield, featuring Leftfield, Sven Väth, Helena Hauff and Sama’ Abdulhadi.
Date: September–November 2026. Location: Drumsheds, Meridian Water, London N18 3HF. drumshedslondon.com
The Nue Black Aesthetic
‘Strange Notes' 2025 by Giles Tettey Nartey. Courtesy of Giles Tettey Nartey.
#FLODown: The Nue Black Aesthetic at the Design Museum will be a major survey of contemporary Black design in Britain, bringing together more than 100 objects by 16 designers across fashion, furniture, architecture, product design and sculpture. Guest-curated by Charlene Prempeh with the Design Museum, the exhibition explores how identity, culture and community shape design, while drawing on the legacy of the Black Aesthetic movements of the 1960s and 1980s. Featured designers will include Mac Collins, Samuel Ross, Bianca Saunders and Giles Tettey Nartey.
Date: 6 November 2026 – 8 August 2027. Location: Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG.
Click here for more art exhibitions opening in London in the autumn.
London Literature Festival 2026
Dua Lipa, curator of the London Literature Festival in the Southbank Centre's 75th year. Credit Madison Phipps
#FLODown: The 2026 London Literature Festival will be a particularly high-profile edition, with global star and Service95 Book Club founder Dua Lipa taking on the role of guest curator. She will programme the opening weekend at the Royal Festival Hall and bring her book club to the festival through conversations and events featuring writers she admires, alongside the festival’s wider programme of author talks, readings, poetry, debate and spoken-word events. The festival also forms part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary celebrations and the UK’s National Year of Reading.
Date: 24 October – 2 November 2026. Location: Southbank Centre,Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. southbankcentre.co.uk.
BFI London Film Festival 2026
The 70th BFI London Film Festival returns for 12 days. Jesse Eisenberg.
#FLODown: The 70th BFI London Film Festival returns for 12 days of premieres, gala screenings, international cinema, filmmaker events and storytelling. The festival opens with the European premiere of Elsinore, directed by Simon Stone and starring a major British cast, at the Royal Festival Hall, while BFI Southbank will host the Official Competition, Screen Talks and free events. The festival will also take place at cinemas across London and at partner venues around the UK.
Date: 7–18 October 2026. Location: BFI Southbank, Royal Festival Hall and cinemas across London and the UK. bfi.org.uk.
EFG London Jazz Festival 2026
The EFG London Jazz Festival returns for 13-22 November 2026.
#FLODown: The EFG London Jazz Festival returns for ten days of live music across the capital, featuring major jazz artists and emerging talent. Melody Gardot performs at the Royal Albert Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Thanda Choir and Ibrahim Maalouf, while Goldie presents his specially commissioned Dare to Dream with live band, orchestra and choir. The festival also marks 100 years since John Coltrane’s birth, with performances including Coltrane 100 at the Barbican and a special concert by Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves.
Date: 13–22 November 2026. Location: Various venues across London, including the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, Southbank Centre, Roundhouse and British Airways ARC. efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk
GLUE Book Fair 2026
Glue 2025, ICA London. Photo Christa Holka.
#FLODown: GLUE Book Fair returns to the ICA London for its second edition, with over 90 independent and artist-led publishers. The weekend celebrates contemporary creative publishing through a programme of exhibitions, book launches, talks, workshops and performances, including Jesse Glazzard’s new exhibition and photobook launch. With contributions from artists, photographers, writers and publishers, GLUE explores the communities, friendships and independent ecosystems shaping publishing today.
Date: 12 & 13 September 2026. Location: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH, UK. Price: Free entry to book fair. Tickets for talks and workshops £5. ica.art
The Old Vic
The Old Vic. Image credit: Philip Vile. Courtesy of The Old Vic.
#FLODown: The Old Vic’s autumn programme features three major productions, beginning with Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy How the Other Half Loves, which runs until 19 September, followed by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s reimagined musical Martin Guerre. Opening in October for a limited five-week run, Martin Guerre is based on the extraordinary true story of forbidden love, deception and mistaken identity. Directed by Matthew Warchus, this new version features new music, lyrics and folk-influenced orchestrations, and will be staged in the round. The season then continues with the return of the Old Vic’s popular A Christmas Carol from November, running through the festive period into January 2027.
Dates: How the Other Half Loves: 29 July–19 September 2026; Martin Guerre: October 2026 – exact dates TBC; A Christmas Carol: 12 November 2026–9 January 2027. Location: The Old Vic, The Cut, London SE1 8NB. Price: How the Other Half Loves: £14.50–£76.50. Martin Guerre: ticket prices have not yet been announced; the Old Vic currently lists an access rate of £23.50–£26.50. A Christmas Carol: £14.50–£91.50, depending on performance and seating. oldvictheatre.com.
Frieze Sculpture 2026
Eduardo Paolozzi, Vulcan, 1999, presented by Pangolin. Frieze Sculpture 2017. Image credit Stephen White.
#FLODown: Frieze Sculpture returns to The Regent’s Park with a free public exhibition featuring 11 international artists, curated for the fourth year by Fatoş Üstek. The exhibition focuses on the idea of hybridity through sculptures that combine different materials, techniques, cultural references and environmental contexts, encouraging visitors to see the artworks as part of a wider relationship between art, nature and communities. Artists include Angel Otero, Conrad Shawcross, Tarini Sethi, Ivana Bašić and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, with works ranging from monumental structures to intricate stainless-steel screens. The exhibition forms part of London Sculpture Week and coincides with Frieze London and Frieze Masters.
Date: 16 September – 1 November 2026. Location: The English Gardens, The Regent’s Park, London. frieze.com
National Theatre
The National Theatre’s autumn season will include shows The Story, Electra/Persona, The Jungle Book and much more.
#FLODown: The National Theatre’s autumn 2026 programme brings an ambitious mix of new writing, international theatre and major revivals across its Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman stages. Highlights include The Story, a major new production starring Letitia Wright, Aliya Odoffin, Ashley Thomas, Lorraine Toussaint and Wilf Scolding.; Electra/Persona, starring Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss, which brings together Greek tragedy and Ingmar Bergman-inspired drama; and Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists, a UK premiere exploring political extremism and resistance. Later in the autumn, Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9 runs alongside The Jungle Book in the Olivier, followed by The Rise and Fall of Little Voice in the Dorfman.
Date: 19 August 2026 – 23 January 2027, depending on the production. Key autumn openings include Electra/Persona (19 August), The Story (27 August), Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists (19 September), Some Woman (7 October), Cloud 9 (2 November), The Jungle Book (13 November) and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (2 December). Location: National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX. Price: Ticket prices vary by production and seat. For example, The Story is currently listed from £10–£110, plus a £4 booking fee, while Electra/Persona is listed at £92–£120, plus a £4 booking fee. Book now
Totally Thames 2026
Turning the Tide, Catherine Yass. A Site-specific film installation live on the iconic Blackfriars Railway Bridge columns.
#FLODown: Totally Thames returns for a month-long celebration of the River Thames, bringing together art, performance, heritage, environmental projects and community events along the river. This year’s programme includes Catherine Yass’s Turning the Tide, a free film installation projected onto the disused Blackfriars Railway Bridge columns, alongside The Great River Race, Tidefest, mudlarking exhibitions, Shakespeare’s The Tempest aboard the Golden Hinde and new open-water swimming events. The programme stretches from Richmond to the Thames Estuary, exploring the river’s history, ecology and role in London life.
Date: 1–30 September 2026. Location: Along and around the River Thames, London. thamesfestivaltrust.org
London Book Festivals
Afua Hirsch and Jacinda Ardern at Wimbledon BookFest. Image courtesy of Wimbledon BookFest.
#FLODown: London’s book festival scene is full of exciting events this autumn, with author talks, literary discussions and family-friendly programmes taking place across the city. From Queen’s Park Book Festival, Barnes BookFest to Wimbledon BookFest, with appearances from authors including Philip Pullman, William Boyd and Maggie O’Farrell.
Click here full guide to five London book festivals to put in your diary this autumn 2026, including dates, locations and ticket information.
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