Things to do in London in May 2025
May in London signals the start of summer—a season of longer days, warmer evenings, and a packed cultural calendar. This month sees the return of several beloved pre-summer staples, including the world-renowned Chelsea Flower Show and the design-led celebration that is Clerkenwell Design Week. New highlights join the mix too, such as a weekend-long celebration of Tate Modern’s 25th anniversary, the grand opening of Soho Theatre Walthamstow, a host of rooftop bar reopenings, and a strong line-up of contemporary art exhibitions. Here’s your guide to what’s happening across the city this May.
Tate Modern’s 25th Birthday Weekender
Installation photography, Louise Bourgeois, Maman, Tate Modern 2000. Photo: Tate Photography.
#FLODown: In celebration of 25 years at the forefront of contemporary art, Tate Modern is hosting a Birthday Weekender filled with special events. The festivities will feature interactive installations, performances, art workshops, and panel discussions that reflect on the gallery’s transformative impact on London’s art scene. Click here to discover more about what to expect.
Date: 9-12 May 2025. Location: Tate Modern Bankside London SE1 9TG.Price: Free for most events (some require advance booking). tate.org.uk.
Clerkenwell Design Week
Clerkenwell Design Week 2024. Image courtesy of Clerkenwell Design Week.
#FLODown: Clerkenwell Design Week returns for its 14th edition this May, reaffirming its status as London’s leading independent design festival. Set in the heart of Clerkenwell—one of the capital’s most creative districts—the event showcases cutting-edge furniture, lighting, and interior design across a series of curated exhibitions, historic venues, and more than 160 participating showrooms. In addition to large-scale public installations, the festival offers insightful talks, live workshops, and networking events.
Date: 20 - 22 May 2025. Location: Various venues across Clerkenwell, London. Price: Free (registration required for some events). clerkenwelldesignweek.com
Photo London
Photo London will return to Somerset House in 2025 to mark its milestone 10th edition.
#FLODown: Photo London 2025 marks the fair’s 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of global photography excellence at Somerset House from May 15-18, 2025. This special edition features a strong lineup of returning and new galleries, alongside a variety of initiatives, including the Discovery section for emerging galleries, the new Positions section showcasing unrepresented photographers, and a special exhibition titled London Lives celebrating the city’s photographic heritage. Highlights include a solo show by Colin Dodgson, a Book Market dedicated to independent publishers, and the return of key awards such as the Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer of the Year and Hahnemühle Student Award. The fair’s diverse talks and events programme continues to foster discussions on the evolving role of photography in contemporary art.
Date: 15 - 18 May 2025. Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: £32. Concessions available. Book now.
Click here to discover more photography exhibitions in London right now.
V&A East Storehouse
Examples of 'Hacked End' displays at V&A East Storehouse © Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
#FLODown: Opening on 31 May 2025 in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the V&A East Storehouse is a groundbreaking new public space that gives unprecedented access to over half a million objects, books, and archives from the V&A’s vast collections. Designed by world-renowned architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Austin-Smith:Lord, and spanning four levels bigger than 30 basketball courts, it offers a behind-the-scenes look at museum life, from conservation practices to collecting stories, featuring curated displays on east London’s cultural heritage, scientific research, and new acquisitions. Visitors can view everything from minute artefacts to monumental objects like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kaufmann Office, engage with live conservation work, attend performances and workshops, and even book private viewings through the revolutionary ‘Order an Object’ experience, with the Storehouse also housing major archives including those of David Bowie and Glastonbury Festival.
Date: 31 May 2025. Location: V&A East Storehouse, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E20 3AX. vam.ac.uk.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
RHS Chelsea Flower Show returns from 20-24 May 2025. Image credit Alex Quezada.
#FLODown: Arguably the world’s most prestigious flower show, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a remarkable celebration of cutting-edge garden design and horticultural innovation. It offers an opportunity to admire intricate garden displays, explore sustainable gardening techniques, and take part in interactive demonstrations. This year’s event, held from 20–24 May 2025, introduces exciting new features, including the Avanade ‘Intelligent’ Garden, which uses artificial intelligence to monitor climate-resilient plants, and Monty Don’s first-ever Chelsea garden, the RHS and Radio 2 Dog Garden, a pet-friendly space with elements inspired by Don’s own Longmeadow garden. Sustainability remains a central theme, with several gardens focusing on biodiversity and climate resilience, including Gaze Burvill’s new collection of outdoor furniture made from sustainably sourced oak. With extended hours and a host of engaging experiences, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show will offer a glimpse into the future of horticulture.
Date: 20 - 24 May 2025. Location: Royal Hospital Chelsea Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4SR. Price: from £137.85. rhs.org.uk
Feel the Sound
Temporary Pleasure, Joyride, 2025, concept. Image courtesy of the artist.
#FLODown: Feel the Sound, the Barbican’s headline summer exhibition co-produced with Tokyo’s Museum of Narratives, will span the entire Centre—from The Curve to the underground car parks and the Lakeside. The show explores sound beyond hearing, inviting audiences to experience it through the body, memory, and emotion. Featuring 11 interactive installations, the exhibition includes new commissions by artists such as Miyu Hosoi, TRANS VOICES, and Temporary Pleasure, alongside adapted works by Evan Ifekoya and others. Highlights include a holographic choral experience, a car-park rave homage, AI-generated symphonies based on personal memories, and a poetic tribute to unheard sound through kite sculptures. Feel the Sound combines cutting-edge technology, art, and sensory exploration to shift how we engage with sound and one another.
Date: 22 May – 31 August 2025. Location: Barbican Centre, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: £20 + BF. Book now.
Click here to discover more art exhibitions opening in London in May 2025.
Art of Champagne: International Royalty at The Portrait Restaurant
International Royalty at The Portrait Restaurant, National Portrait Gallery.
#FLODown: On 3 May 2025, The Portrait Restaurant by Richard Corrigan, in partnership with Searcys, hosts a special event in their Art of Champagne series. The event begins with an exclusive, out-of-hours tour of the National Portrait Gallery, led by Senior Storyteller Daniel Hausherr, focusing on historic portraits of royal families from around the world. Following the tour, guests will enjoy a Champagne masterclass at the restaurant, hosted by Searcys’ Head of Champagne, Martin Dibben. The masterclass will feature five cuvées, each with connections to royalty, both past and present.
Date: 3 May 2025. Location: National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE. Price: £85 (Members / concessions £73.50). Book now.
Soho Theatre Walthamstow
Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come, on show at Soho Theatre Walthamstow from 9 – 13 September 2025. Image credit Michael-Wharley.
#FLODown: The reopening of the historic Granada cinema, now transformed into Soho Theatre Walthamstow, marks an exciting new chapter in Walthamstow’s cultural scene. This 960-seat venue, beautifully restored from its 1930s origins, will host a variety of comedy, cabaret, and dramatic performances. The inaugural programme includes acts such as Dara O’Briain, Josie Long, and Sara Pascoe, alongside Bryony Kimmings’ Bogwitch, the festive Aladdin & The Magic Lamp pantomime, and the live version of Brown Girls Do It Too.
Date: May 2025. Location: 186 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London E17 4QH. Price: Tickets starting from £15 (affordable options available). Click here for the full opening programme.
Little Venice Waterway Festival (IWA Canalway Cavalcade)
Little Venice Waterway Festival (IWA Canalway Cavalcade) 2024. Image credit MTotoe.
#FLODown: The Little Venice Waterway Festival returns this month, celebrating London’s iconic canals with boat parades, live music, and a host of family-friendly events. There will also be food stalls, local crafts, and the annual Illuminated Boat Procession on Sunday evening, where boats are lit up in a beautiful display. It’s a fantastic way to soak up the atmosphere of one of London’s most picturesque areas while enjoying a fun day out by the water.
Date: 3–5 May 2025. Location: Little Venice, London. Price: Free. No booking required.
London Craft Week
Courtesy of Ash & Plumb x The New Craftmaker for London Craft Week 2025.
#FLODown: London Craft Week returns from 12 - 18 May 2025, marking its 11th year with its largest programme yet, showcasing over 1,000 craftspeople from around the world. Highlights include The Art of Craftsmanship on Sloane Street, featuring artisan demonstrations from luxury boutiques like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Ferragamo, and Fendi; sculptural works by Charlotte Colbert at Battersea Power Station; workshops at cultural venues such as the British Museum, Natural History Museum, and Courtauld Gallery; a curated exhibition at No.9 Cork Street, spotlighting contemporary takes on heritage craftskills from artists like Omer Arbel and AOI; and special demonstrations at the V&A, including millinery with CHANEL’s Maison Michel and puppet-making with Oliver Hymans and Ash Appadu.
Date: 12–18 May 2025. Location: Various locations across London. Price: Varies (ranging from free events to ticketed workshops). londoncraftweek.com
Lewis Walker: Bornsick at The Round Chapel
Lewis Walker, Bornsick, 2025, trailer, still. Film by Leah Walker. Courtesy the artists, Serpentine and EAF.
#FLODown: As part of Serpentine’s 2025 Live Programme, choreographer and dancer Lewis Walker will premiere Bornsick on 21 and 22 May at the Round Chapel in Lower Clapton, London. Using gymnastics, dance, and physical theatre, Bornsick examines queerness, social conditioning, and the constructed self, presenting identity as a continuous process of layering and reinvention. Even in its most deconstructed form, identity is shown to remain a construct. Following its London debut, the performance will travel to Edinburgh for EAF25 in August 2025, co-commissioned by Serpentine and Edinburgh Art Festival.
Date: 21 - 22 May 2025. Location: The Round Chapel, 1D Glenarm Rd, Lower Clapton, London E5 0LY. Price: £15. Concessions available. Book now.
Rooftop Bar Openings: From The Culpeper to Frank’s at Bold Tendencies
The Culpeper Rooftop reopens 12 May 2025.
#FLODown: May marks the return of two must-visit London rooftops: The Culpeper in Spitalfields and Frank’s Café at Bold Tendencies in Peckham. The Culpeper’s rooftop garden reopens on 12 May, offering a new grill menu and woodland-inspired cocktails set amidst silver birch and hazel trees, with dishes celebrating British produce and in-house infused spirits. Frank’s Café, located on a car park rooftop in Peckham as part of the Bold Tendencies art space, reopens on 16 May, offering impressive views of London, sunset Negronis, and a selection of small plates to complement.
Fake Barn Country
Stuart Middleton, Personal effects and things that are biographical in amongst material that might be understood as generic without clear separation under compression (Kebab), 2024. Courtesy Carlos/Ishikawa
#FLODown: Opening at Ravens Row this May, Fake Barn Country has been co-organised by London-based artists Ruth Angel Edwards, Lawrence Leaman, and Oliver Williams. The exhibition explores a shared sense of practice among a diverse group of artists, bringing together established and emerging voices. The works featured engage with realism, using found materials and familiar objects, often through low-tech processes like repetition, layering, and reconstitution. Drawing on local, international, and intergenerational references, the show highlights connections between artists and their practices, with participants including Terry Atkinson, Rachal Bradley, Andrea Büttner, and many others.
Date: 8 May – 6 July 2025. Location: Raven Row, 56 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LS. Price: Free. ravenrow.org.
Click here to discover more art exhibitions opening in London in May 2025.
Sketch in Bloom
Sketch in Bloom 2024. Photo by Mark Cocksedge.
#FLODown: Sketch in Bloom returns this year with a floral tribute to Jane Austen, celebrating her 250th birthday. From 1 May to 1 June 2025, the iconic Mayfair venue will be transformed into an English garden inspired by Austen’s love of nature. Renowned floral designers Lucy Vail Floristry, Ricky Paul, and Rob Van Helden will create beautiful installations, including a living portrait photo opportunity, a wisteria tree in the Lecture Room, and a wild English garden in The Pods. The exhibition will also showcase limited-edition Jane Austen books, an afternoon tea experience, and exclusive Michelin-starred lunches. Visitors can enjoy floral-inspired cocktails, live music, and a programme of creative workshops. This year’s theme offers a rare opportunity to step into the world of one of England’s most beloved authors.
Date: May 1 – June 1, 2025. Location: Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, Mayfair, London W1S 2XG.
