TOTW: seize the day
Illustration: Natalie Hapeshi
This year sees the return of the Leap Year. Saturday 29th February marks 24 hours you didn’t have last year and 24 hours that you wont have next year! Such a gift calls for you to seize the day, reinvent yourself, do something selfless, work on your mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing…. Or perhaps you would rather just kick back and appreciate an extra day of Netflix and chill!
What is a Leap Year ?
During a Leap Year there are 366 days in the year. The Georgian calendar we know has 365 days in the year, based on the approximate time it takes the Earth to Orbit the Sun. However, the actual time it takes for the Earth to Orbit the Sun is 365.25 days. Therefore, to ensure the calendar seasons are in sync with the solar seasons, an additional day is added to the calendar every four years.
FYI: The background colour of the illustration is 2020's pantone colour of the year, 19-4052 classic blue, "instilling calm, confidence and connection
This week in London (19 - 25 October 2026), Hokusai opens at Dulwich Picture Gallery and Freddie Mercury's wardrobe goes on free display at the V&A. Spiritland opens in the Barbican and Bubala opens in Covent Garden. Plus Critical Sound at Fabric, Carl Stone at Café OTO, two UK premieres at Sadler's Wells, and the clocks go back on Sunday.
Frieze London and Frieze Masters return to The Regent's Park from 14 to 18 October. Here are fifteen places to eat, and the art to see within walking distance of each table…
This week in London (5 to 11 October 2026), the BFI London Film Festival opens its 70th edition, Dance Umbrella returns, and Murakami's End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland reaches the Barbican. Robert Ryman and Sabine Moritz open new shows, Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy closes, and Oktoberfest lands across four sites…
There are 18-hour marathons in Canning Town, a new riverside warehouse opening its doors, an ambient night in a Hackney church and a sweaty basement for hard house heads. Here are the music events to book this weekend…
The first Oktoberfest was held in Munich in October 1810 to mark the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. It has since become a two-week festival drawing around six million visitors a year, and has been copied in cities around the world. London has been holding its own version since 2011.
Tickets are now on sale for Skate at Somerset House with Virgin Atlantic Holidays, which returns to the Strand courtyard from 11 November 2026 until 10 January 2027.
This week in London (21–27 September): Wigmore Hall opens its Autumn Piano Festival, Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss swap roles nightly in Electra/Persona at the National Theatre, and major new exhibitions from Amar Kanwar and William Kentridge open across the city's galleries…
This week in London (14–20 September): Panels at Southbank's Letters To The Future, AW26/27 opens at Drumsheds, Grand shows at Fashion Week, Rodrigues' Catarina at the National Theatre, Outdoor art at Frieze Sculpture, Awakenings at the V&A Late, Historic tea at the Royal Albert Hall.
Mike Skinner, the man behind The Streets, is teaming up with PATRÓN Tequila for a one-off evening in the capital this month, billed as Re-Mastered Live. The night will feature an in-depth conversation between Skinner and two long-time collaborators who've worked alongside him…
Kew Gardens is rolling out a new discounted admission scheme this autumn, offering entry for £10 every Tuesday starting 8 September 2026 and continuing through 29 December 2026…