What’s on in London this week: 23-29 March 2026
Discover our pick of events in London this week: 23-29 March 2026
Somerset House Studios Assembly 2026
Somerset House Studios will host Assembly 2026 from 26–28 March, its biannual festival celebrating experimental sound, music, and performance. The festival features UK premieres, commissioned works, and pieces developed during residencies, showcasing artists including Jasleen Kaur, Laurel Halo & Hanne Lippard, felicita, Onyeka Igwe, Ellen Arkbro, Hannan Jones & Samir Kennedy, and DeForrest Brown, Jr. Across three days, audiences can experience immersive performances, installations, and talks that explore harmonic clarity, improvisation, cultural memory, and the intersections of electronics, percussion, and vocal experimentation. Some exhibitions will remain open to the public free of charge until 12 April.
Click here for the Full Assembly programme.
Date: 26–28 March 2026. Location: Somerset House Studios, London, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: Full day Saturday: £48.50 / £38.50 concessions. Individual performances: £12–£20 (varies by event). Free exhibitions: Sour Loop open until 12 April 2026. Book now
felicita (Dominik Dvořák), czysta forma
Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2026
The Barbican Centre will host the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2026, an evening celebrating the brightest emerging literary talent from the UK and Ireland. Attendees will enjoy readings from the shortlisted authors, Ben Brooks (The Greatest Possible Good), Gurnaik Johal (Saraswati), Liadan Ní Chuinn (Every One Still Here), and Harry Shukman (Year of the Rat),followed by a discussion chaired by Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo. Recognised as the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious prize for writers aged 35 and under, the award honours outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, with past winners including Sally Rooney, Jay Bernard, Raymond Antrobus, and Max Porter.
Date: 23 March 2026. Location: Frobisher Auditorium 1, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Price: £12 + £1.50 Booking Fee. Book now
Ballad Lines
It’s the last chance to see Ballad Lines, a soaring folk musical by Finn Anderson and Tania Azevedo. The story follows Sarah, a queer woman in New York, who is pulled into the lives of the women who came before her, her 17th-century Scottish ancestor Cait and Jean, an Irish teenager a century later. Across three generations, the musical traces a powerful story of inheritance, sacrifice and the legacies passed down through family.
Date: 23 January – 21 March 2026. Location: Southwark Playhouse Elephant, 1 Dante Place, London SE11 4RX. Price: From £25 (standard), £20 concessions, previews £16, opening preview £10. Book now
Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2026 to take place 23 March.
National Gallery’s Picture This
The National Gallery’s new monthly conversation series, Picture This, launches this week in the newly refurbished Pigott Lecture Theatre. Hosted by broadcaster John Wilson, the series will feature leading figures from fashion, science, music, literature, gastronomy, and film reflecting on their lives and work through the lens of a painting from the Gallery’s collection. The inaugural event on Friday 27 March features British model and writer Erin O’Connor MBE, known for her runway work with designers including Alexander McQueen and Christian Dior.
Date: 27 March 2026. Location: Pigott Lecture Theatre, Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN. Price: In person: £22 (£17 concession). Online: £10. Book now
The Big South London Flea
The Big South London Flea is back this weekend at Peckham Salvage Yard, Copeland Park. The one-day market is a treasure trove for vintage lovers and bargain hunters, offering an eclectic mix of vintage furniture, reclaimed industrial fixtures, unique lighting, salvaged electricals, quirky homewares, curiosities, and unexpected oddities. With so many one-of-a-kind finds on offer, it is the perfect opportunity to refresh your home or discover something special. The market is also near a lively selection of food stalls, cafés, and bars, making it a great day out for browsing, shopping, and grabbing a bite.
Date: 28 March 2026, 10 am – 5 pm. Location: Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Road, Peckham, London SE15 3SN. Price: £2 entry. Book now
Image courtesy of Hackney Flea Market
London Festival of Chamber Music
The inaugural London Festival of Chamber Music will take place from 25–29 March 2026 at Smith Square Hall, bringing together internationally acclaimed musicians, including Sarah Aristidou, Alena Baeva, Lucille Chung, François Leleux, Eugene Lee, Lawrence Power, Natalia Lomeiko, Nabil Shehata, Paul Watkins, and Radovan Vlatković, for seven concerts, workshops, and collaborative performances. Programmes will feature works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Ravel, Ligeti, Berio, Strauss, Kurt Weill, Respighi, Garth Knox, and selections of Cypriot folk songs. Public workshops will offer audiences insight into the rehearsal process and the collaborative nature of chamber music.
Click here for the full programme of events.
Date: 25–29 March 2026. Location: Smith Square Hall, London SW1P 3HZ. Price: from £15.
An evening with Nelio Biedermann at Hatchards Piccadilly
This literary event brings together Nelio Biedermann and Pandora Sykes for a discussion of Biedermann’s debut novel Lázár. Hosted at Hatchards, the evening focuses on the novel’s portrayal of a Hungarian aristocratic family’s decline across the 20th century. The conversation will address history, identity, and memory, alongside the personal influences behind the book, which has already received recognition in its original German publication and is now available to English-speaking readers.
Date: 26 March 2026. Location: Hatchards, 187 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1J 9LE. Price: £5-£10. Book now
Image courtesy of Stratford East Theatre
Choir Boy
Choir Boy, the coming-of-age play by Academy Award-winning writer Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight, The Brother/Sister Plays), opens this week at Stratford East. Directed by Nancy Medina, this acclaimed production was first seen at Bristol Old Vic in 2023, where it won three Black British Theatre Awards, including Best Production and Best Director. The play explores the complexities of growing up as a Black, queer young man, as Pharus navigates spirituality, sexuality, race, identity, and brotherhood. Featuring a cappella gospel hymns and spirituals, Choir Boy celebrates both individuality and community, offering a moving and tender portrait of adolescence.
Date: 26 March – 25 April 2026. Running Time: Approximately 2 hours 20 minutes (including interval). Location: Stratford East Theatre, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, London, E15 1BN. Price: £10.00 - £39.50. Book now
Young Barbican Takeover Festival 2026
The Young Barbican Takeover Festival is a one-day creative event bringing together London’s emerging artists for a dynamic mix of live music, workshops, and a makers market. Taking place across the Barbican Centre, the festival is curated by and for young creatives, offering opportunities to explore new work, join interactive sessions, and connect with peers. Highlights include performances from the Barbican Young Poets in the Conservatory and a full day of activities designed to showcase fresh talent and ideas.
Click here to discover more.
Date: Sunday 29 March 2026. Location: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Price: £12, or £10 for Young Barbican members. Book now
Restless Taxis. Photo by Alice Denny
BBC: Defund or Defend?
The Spectator will host a debate this week, BBC: Defund or Defend?, on the future of the BBC. The discussion will examine whether the Corporation remains a vital public service or has become a source of controversy, covering editorial errors, perceived bias, high-profile resignations, scandals, and the pressures on its licence-fee funding model. Speakers include Michael Gove, Charles Moore, Jon Sopel, Allison Pearson, and Isabel Hardman, who will debate whether the BBC should be defended as a national institution or reformed in response to changing audiences and financial challenges.
Date: 24 March 2026, 7:00 pm. Location: Emmanuel Centre, Marsham Street, London SW1P 3DW. Price: £27.50 - £37.50. Book now
Whisky Live & Fine Spirits London 2026
Whisky Live & Fine Spirits London 2026 is the UK’s premier whisky and fine spirits event, taking place over two days at the Fireworks Factory at Woolwich Works. Attendees can sample a wide selection of limited‑edition, rare and award‑winning whiskies alongside street food and live entertainment from Mr. Tom Carradine with traditional sing‑a‑long performances. Premium Experience ticket holders gain exclusive access to the Premium Lounge and rare whiskies.
Date: 27 – 28 March 2026. Location: The Fireworks Factory, Woolwich Works, 11 No. 1 Street, London SE18 6HD. Price: from around £61.91 per person (varies by date and type). Book now
Whisky Live & Fine Spirits London 2026 Takes place in Woolwich this weekend.
English National Ballet: Body & Soul
English National Ballet presents a programme featuring two premieres that focus on human experience through movement and music. Body & Soul (Part 1) by Crystal Pite, making its UK premiere, builds from a controlled duet into a larger ensemble, using repetition, spoken text, and shifting formations. Kameron N. Saunders presents Proper Conduct, a new three-part piece shaped by his personal experiences, exploring social judgement and the search for authenticity. Both works feature live music performed by the English National Ballet Philharmonic.
Date: 25 – 28 March 2026. Location: Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN. Price: £15 + £4 transaction fee. Book now
London Symphony Orchestra: Half Six Fix – Dvořák
This Wednesday, kick-start your evening with the London Symphony Orchestra’s 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, conducted and presented by rising German conductor Anja Bihlmaier. The programme features Dvořák’s homage to the United States, composed during his years at America’s National Conservatory of Music, combining spirituals.
Date: Wednesday 25 March 2026. Location: Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Price: £15 - £35 + £4 Booking Fee. Book now
English National Ballet. Body & Soul. © Drew Forsyth
Cinema
Orwell 2+2=5 + ScreenTalk with Raoul Peck
Orwell 2+2=5 is an unflinching documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro), exploring the continued relevance of George Orwell’s political insights. Drawing on Orwell’s iconic works 1984 and Animal Farm, Peck combines historical footage, diary readings, cinematic references, and contemporary imagery to create a vivid portrait of the author and a fresh perspective on his prophetic vision. With Orwell voiced by Damian Lewis, the film highlights patterns and connections that reveal how Orwell’s warnings resonate today. Following the screening, Peck will join Barbican Head of Cinema Rebecca Fons for a ScreenTalk, offering insight into his creative process and the enduring power of Orwell’s ideas.
Date: 24 March 2026. Location: Cinema 2, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Price: £15.50 + £1.50 BF. Book now.
Orwell 2+2=5 + ScreenTalk with Raoul Peck to take place at the Barbican on 24 March. Image courtesy of Barbican Centre.
Arts & Culture
Opening this week
Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art
The Victoria and Albert Museum’s much-anticipated exhibition dedicated to the Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli opens this week. It explores the evolution of the House of Schiaparelli from the 1920s to its current direction under Daniel Roseberry, showcasing over 200 objects including garments, artworks, photographs, perfume, and jewellery. Among the pieces on display are the V&A’s iconic “Skeleton” and “Tears” dresses, alongside works that challenged fashion norms through collaborations with artists such as Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. The exhibition also examines Schiaparelli’s London studio and her role as a pioneering businesswoman, reflecting on her lasting influence and the continued relevance of her ideas in contemporary design.
Date: 28 March – 1 November 2026. Location: Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL. Price: from £28 weekdays/ weekends. Book now
Click here for our guide to art exhibitions opening in London in March.
Tears dress with veil, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dalí, summer 1938. Photograph © Emil Larsson. Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Hurvin Anderson
The first major solo exhibition of British artist Hurvin Anderson brings together more than 80 paintings from across his career, from early student works to previously unseen new pieces. Anderson’s colour-drenched landscapes and interiors reflect ideas of belonging and diaspora, shaped by his movement between the UK and the Caribbean. Many of the works draw on family, childhood memories, and culturally significant spaces such as barbershops, combining locations and recollections to examine the tension between personal and cultural heritage. With a strong sense of atmosphere and influences from British landscape painting, the exhibition highlights Anderson’s distinctive approach to identity, memory, and place.
Date: 26 March – 23 August 2026. Location: Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Price: £18. Concessions available. Book now
Hurvin Anderson, Hawksbill Bay, 2020. Tate: Lent by Tate Americas Foundation, courtesy of Mala Gaonkar 2023. © Hurvin Anderson. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and VeneKlasen
Konrad Mägi
Dulwich Picture Gallery will present the first major UK exhibition of Estonian modernist painter Konrad Mägi, in partnership with the Art Museum of Estonia. The show brings together over 60 works, including his iconic landscapes and lesser-seen portraits, highlighting Mägi’s experimentation with colour, brushwork, and perspective, as well as his engagement with European movements like Pointillism, Neo-Impressionism, Cubism, and Expressionism. Visitors will trace Mägi’s artistic journey from his early Norwegian landscapes and Baltic island works to his late-life depictions of Southern Estonia, revealing his fascination with nature, the mystical, and the sublime. The exhibition also features a new site-specific installation by contemporary Estonian artist Kristina Õllek, reflecting on Baltic Sea ecology through materials such as sea salt, cyanobacteria, and limestone, creating a dialogue with Mägi’s landscapes. Curated by Kathleen Soriano, the exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore Mägi’s impact on European and Estonian art.
Date: 24 March – 12 July 2026. Location: Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, Dulwich, London SE21 7AD. Price: from £15. Concessions available. Book now
Cecily Brown: Picture Making
Picture This, a major solo exhibition by Cecily Brown, opens at the Serpentine South Gallery. Marking her first UK show since 2005, the exhibition will feature new paintings inspired by Kensington Gardens, alongside monotypes and drawings that explore the English landscape and narrative traditions.
Date: 27 March – 6 September 2026. Location: Serpentine South, Kensington Gardens, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA. Price: Free. serpentine galleries.org
Michaelina Wautier - The Triumph of Bacchus (detail), c. 1655–59. Oil on canvas. 271.5 x 355.5 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Picture Gallery, inv. 3548 Photo: © KHM-Museumsverband
Michaelina Wautier
The Royal Academy of Arts will host the first UK exhibition of Baroque painter Michaelina Wautier (c.1614–1689), showcasing around 25 of her works alongside pieces by her brother Charles Wautier and contemporaries Peter Paul Rubens and David Teniers the Younger. The show offers the most comprehensive survey of her career to date, highlighting her pioneering achievements in seventeenth-century Brussels and her overlooked legacy.
Date: 27 March – 21 June 2026. Location: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD. Price: from £15. Concessions available. Book now
The Coming of Age
The Coming of Age at Wellcome Collection explores what it means to grow older in an era of unprecedented longevity. Examining ageing from adolescence through middle age to later life, the exhibition considers how society understands age and the persistent desire to resist or reverse it. Transhistorical and cross-disciplinary in scope, it brings together contemporary art, folklore and new population health research, alongside documentary films and longevity products associated with tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson. Works on display range from sculpture and photography to 20th-century advertisements and 17th-century etchings, with highlights by artists including Paula Rego, Robert Mapplethorpe, Serena Korder and John Coplans.
Date: 26 March – 29 November 2026. Location: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE. Price: Free. wellcomecollection.org
Por um fio (By a Thread), from Fotopoemação (Photopoemaction) series, 1976/2017, Anna Maria Maiolino, Photographed by Regina Vater. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. © Anna Maria Maiolino.
Hrair Sarkissian: Stolen Past
Hrair Sarkissian’s Stolen Past is on display at Ibraaz. The installation features 48 tombstone-like plinths, each containing a backlit lithophane revealing images of ceramic vessels, clay tablets, ancient figurines, and pottery fragments, artefacts originally from the Raqqa Museum in Northern Syria. Many of these objects were looted or destroyed during Islamic State’s occupation of Raqqa between 2013 and 2017. Sarkissian 3D-printed the works using photographs taken by local archaeological teams and residents, preserving the memory of these lost objects. The exhibition offers a space for mourning and reflection on cultural erasure, collective memory, and the global systems that facilitate the displacement of heritage.
Date: 25 March – 24 May 2026. Location: 93 Mortimer Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 7SS. Price: Free. ibraaz.org
Artist talk
When Art Comes Alive: A Transatlantic Conversation on the Work of Laura Lima
When Art Comes Alive is a panel discussion and Q&A taking place at the ICA, coinciding with Brazilian artist Laura Lima’s exhibition The Drawing Drawing, currently on display at the venue. Bringing together artists, curators, and scholars, the event explores Lima’s distinctive practice across sculpture, performance, installation, and living systems. Held simultaneously in London and Rio de Janeiro in partnership with Solar, the discussion will also feature Lima joining remotely to respond to the panel and audience questions, offering insight into her collaborative and unpredictable works and the ideas behind them.
Date: 25 March 2026, 6:45 pm. Location: ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH. Price: £12 (includes entry to the exhibition). Book now
Laura Lima, courtesy of the artist.
#FLOFavourites: Pick of the Week
Free event of the week
V&A Lates
V&A Museum. Image credit Brett Jordan
V&A Lates return this week with Player/Performer, a celebration of games, interactivity, and performance as part of the London Games Festival. The evening explores the creative possibilities of play through experimental live-coded music, comedy, live-action roleplay, cosplay drag, and video game acting. Photography and filming will take place throughout the evening.
Date: 27 March 2026. Time: 6.30pm - 10pm. Location: V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Price: Free, drop-in (first-come, first-served). vam.ac.uk
Art news of the week
Tate unveils plans for its first garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Dame Barbara Hepworth, Bicentric Form, 1949. Barbara Hepworth © Bowness. Photo © Tate Photography (Sonal Bakrania and Matt Greenwood).
Tate is creating its first garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, The Tate Britain Garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith and inspired by Tate Britain’s art collection. The garden will feature Dame Barbara Hepworth’s Bicentric Form for the first time at the Show, alongside sustainable planting, recycled materials, and innovative design elements that preview the forthcoming Clore Garden at Tate Britain, opening in 2027. It combines art, nature, and community spaces for relaxation, learning, and creativity.
Click here for more art news to be on your radar this week
Food of the week
Gaucho is launching Sondio Sessions
Image courtesy of Gaucho
Gaucho Canary Wharf is launching Sonido Sessions, a new brunch experience in partnership with PATRÓN, running until 2 May 2026. The brunch features free-flowing cocktails, including the PATRÓN Chimichurri Margarita and PATRÓN Paloma, alongside sharing-style dishes such as Prawns Chicharon, Wagyu Beef Empanadas, Salmon Tacos, Steak and Eggs, and Dulce de Leche Pancakes. A live DJs and musicians create a fun Buenos Aires-inspired atmosphere with Latin, pop, and house music. Sonido Sessions begins at 12pm every Saturday, priced at £55 per person, and requires pre-booking online. Guests must be over 18.
Location: 29 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London E14 8RR. Website: gauchorestaurants.com Instagram: @gauchogroup
Cause of the week
Samaritans
Image courtesy of Old Spitalfields Market
Samaritans is a charity that provides support to anyone going through a difficult time, offering a safe space to talk and be heard. Volunteering with them is a meaningful way to help others and make a real difference in people’s lives. Becoming a listening volunteer involves supporting people by phone or email with empathy and understanding. With full training and ongoing support, you’ll develop valuable communication skills while making a real difference in people’s lives, often at their most vulnerable moments.
Click here to discover more and volunteer.
