What's on in London this week: 9 - 15 November 2026
Discover our pick of events in London this week: 9 - 15 November 2026.
festivals and seasonal
Oxford Street Christmas lights switch-on
The capital's biggest shopping street turns on its festive display on Monday 9 November. This year's lights come from a new collaboration with HBO Max on a Harry Potter theme, replacing the stars of recent years.
Date: Monday 9 November 2026, Location: Oxford Street, London W1. Price: free.oxfordstreet.co.uk
Oxford St. Christmas Lights.
Covent Garden and Bond Street Christmas lights switch-on
Two displays go on within a few streets of each other on Thursday 12 November. The Theatre of Christmas returns to the piazza with live performances and a countdown, the tree in the West Piazza, and bows, baubles and mirror balls through the market building and the surrounding streets including Seven Dials. In Mayfair, the Crown Jewel display has a live brass band leading a countdown before the lights come on at 7pm.
Date: Thursday 12 November 2026, Bond Street 4pm - 8pm with the lights on at 7pm, Covent Garden in the evening. Location: Covent Garden Piazza, London WC2E 8RF, and New Bond Street, London W1S. Price: free. coventgarden.london
Click here to discover more dates for Christmas light switch on in London.
Skate at Somerset House
The ice rink returns to the courtyard with Virgin Atlantic Holidays on 11 November, under a 40ft Christmas tree, with festive food, drink and shopping around the edges. Entry to the courtyard is free and a ticket is only needed to skate. Skate Lates with Aperol Spritz take over Wednesday to Friday evenings from 12 November, with sessions from 8pm and music until 11pm, opened on Friday 13 November by queer Latinx party 2CPERREA. Extended sessions, Skate School and a Kids' Club for ages 6 to 12 all start on 14 November, and relaxed and wheelchair sessions are on throughout.
Date: 11 November 2026 - 10 January 2027, Skate Lates from 8pm. Location: Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: adults £13 - £28.50, children £11 - £15, plus a £1.50 per ticket fee, courtyard entry free. Book now
Skate at Somerset House returns (12 November 2025 – 11 January 2026). Image credit Owen Harvey. Courtesy of Somerset House.
Christmas at Kew
The UK's original festive light trail opens on 13 November with a freshly designed three-kilometre route and around 30 installations through London's largest UNESCO World Heritage Site. Four are world premieres made for Kew, among them a work by French collective TILT with oversized blooms programmed to music and Infinite Choir by Squidsoup at the Treetop Walkway. The Christmas Cathedral, Fire Garden, Pealight Tree and Palm House Pond finale all return, the last with a new fountain display.
Date: 13 November 2026 - 3 January 2027. Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, London TW9 3AE. Price: adult £29.50 to £37, child aged 4 to 15 £20 to £24, family £89 to £108, under-4s free but need a ticket. Book now
Christmas at Kew, the UK's original festive light trail opens on 13 November 2026.
Theatre and dance
A Christmas Carol
Matthew Warchus's version of the Dickens story returns for its tenth year, with Giles Terera as Scrooge alongside Khalid Daley and Gleanne Purcell-Brown. The staging puts the audience around the action, with handbells, carols and mince pies handed out during the show. It opens on 10 November and books through to early January.
Date: 10 November 2026 - 9 January 2027, evenings 7.30pm, running time 2 hours. Location: Old Vic Theatre, 103 The Cut, London SE1 8NB. Price: from around £81 in the opening week. Book now
Desire Under the Elms
Eugene O'Neill's 1924 play, written out of Greek tragedy, is set on a remote New England farm in the mid-19th century and follows the tensions between an ageing farmer, his younger new wife and his son. Ebenezer Bamgboye directs, with Zackary Momoh in the cast. It will open on 10 November, ahead of Dominic Cooke's first season as artistic director.
Date: 10 November - 19 December 2026. Location: Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London N1 1TA. Price: from £15. Book now
Desire Under the Elms. Photography by Marc Brenner
The Jungle Book
Anupama Chandrasekhar has written a new play from the Kipling stories, set in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, where Mowgli grows up among the wolves, birds and tigers. It will open in the Olivier on 13 November and is recommended for ages 7 and over.
Date: 13 November 2026 - 6 February 2027. Location: Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PX. Price: from £30. Book now
Christos Papadopoulos: My Fierce Ignorant Step
Two performances only from the Greek choreographer, whose dancers begin almost still, shoulders and heads shifting in time with taps in the score, before the movement and Kornilios Selamsis's music build together. Papadopoulos has described the work as a rebellion of hope against the reality of our days. It was commissioned and produced by Onassis Stegi, premiered in May 2025, and comes to London supported by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Date: 13 - 14 November 2026, 7.30pm. Location: Sadler's Wells Theatre, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN. Price: from £15. Book now
My Fierce Ignorant Step @ Pinelopi Gerasimoufor Onassis Stegi High
music
EFG London Jazz Festival
The 34th edition of the festival produced by Serious opens on 13 November, with ten days of concerts at more than 70 venues across the city and a programme built in part around the centenaries of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Opening night includes Coltrane 100 at the Barbican, with Joe Lovano, Melissa Aldana, Nduduzo Makhathini, Linda May Han Oh and Jeff 'Tain' Watts, and Emma-Jean Thackray's Dear Miles at EartH. Both weekends bring free music to the Southbank Centre, the Barbican and Milton Court, and The Jazz Social, the pop-up hub near the Barbican, has live performances, workshops, talks and radio broadcasts alongside a record shop and bar.
Date: 13 - 22 November 2026. Location: venues across London. Price: from £5, many events free.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk
La Discothèque 10th birthday
The disco night marks ten years with a three room takeover on 13 November, open from 7pm until 3am. Purple Disco Machine closes the X Room, with Masters At Work, Folamour, Jayda G, Dan Shake, Ron Trent and the La Discothèque Orchestra also on the bill. A State of Trance takes over the same venue the following afternoon, with Armin van Buuren leading the first indoor ASOT festival to be held in the UK.
Date: Friday 13 November 2026, 7pm - 3am. Location: Drumsheds, 6 Glover Drive, Meridian Water, London N18 3HF. Price: from £38 plus booking fee. Book now
EFG London Jazz Festival returns from 13 November 2026.
FOLD x Mala Junta (extended)
Berlin's Mala Junta returns to the Canning Town warehouse for an extended night across both rooms, from midnight on the Saturday through to midday on Sunday. The line-up has Byron Yeates, D.Dan, DJ Miss Parker, DJ Tool, Hyperaktivist, Kasra V, Nina Pixina, Riva, Voicedrone b2b James Newmarch and more.
Date: Saturday 14 November 2026, 11.59pm - 12pm. Location: FOLD, Gillian House, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, London E16 4SA. Price: check the venue website. fold.london
London Symphony Orchestra: Steve Reich at 90 with Susanna Mälkki
Susanna Mälkki conducts and introduces two works by Steve Reich to mark his 90th birthday, Three Movements and Music for Ensemble and Orchestra, which she gave the world premiere of in 2018. It is a 60-minute early evening concert with no interval.
Date: Half Six Fix on Wednesday 11 November 2026, 6.30pm, full concert on Thursday 12 November 2026, 7pm. Location: Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Price: check the venue website. Book now
Susanna Mälkki conducts five of Steve Reich's works to mark his 90th birthday,
cinema
Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro's 2006 film returns for its 20th anniversary in a new 4K restoration. Set in Spain after the civil war, it follows Ofelia, a young girl who finds refuge from her stepfather, a captain in Franco's army, in an underground world of fantastical creatures. The 2D version has been on since 7 November and a 3D conversion is to follow from 13 November.
Date: 2D from 7 November, 3D from 13 November 2026. Location: BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XT. Open until 11pm. Price: £4 for 16 to 25 year olds, standard prices vary by screening. bfi.org.uk
Guillermo del Toro's 2006 film returns for its 20th anniversary.
Art & Culture
Opening this week
Tradition/Rebellion: Coming-of-Age Style in Kitakyushu, Japan
A free exhibition opening on 11 November about the clothes worn by 20-year-olds in the Japanese port city of Kitakyushu for the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, which is held across Japan every January. In most of the country the day is marked with formal kimono and speeches. In Kitakyushu a counterculture of one-upmanship has grown up around it, producing fur-trimmed kimono, glittering parasols and gravity-defying hair. The show will follow eight of the city's new adults from their first fitting to the ceremony itself, along with the kimono renters, designers and hairdressers who make the looks.
Date: 11 November 2026 - 28 February 2027, open until 8pm Monday to Saturday and 6pm on Sundays. Location: The Gallery, Japan House London, 101 - 111 Kensington High Street, London W8 5SA. Price: free. japanhouselondon.uk
One of the young people featured in Tradition/Rebellion © Nakamura Kenta
BEYOND THE STREETS
A new exhibition on the art, music and culture of the streets will open at Saatchi Gallery on 11 November, three years after the first edition there drew more than 150,000 people in three months. Lead curator again is Roger Gastman, the graffiti historian who founded the platform and produced the Oscar-nominated Exit Through the Gift Shop. The show will fill more than ten rooms for six months, bringing together over 100 international artists in paintings, sculpture, fashion, large-scale installations, site-specific commissions, rare archives and interactive sections. Gastman has said it is about respect and truth instead of nostalgia or spectacle.
Date: 11 November 2026 - 5 May 2027, 10am - 6pm, last admission 5pm. Location: Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY. Price: tickets from £15. saatchigallery.com
Image: Kenny Scharf. Closet #42 Bestest Ever. Photo by Charles White of JW Pictures, 2022.
Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury
The first major exhibition to chart the relationship between Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and the five decades of work they made together, opening on 12 November with more than 300 works. It will trace them from their early post-impressionist and abstract paintings to their late self-portraits, landscapes and still lifes, and will include the ceramics, textiles and furniture they designed as directors of the Omega Workshops. The studio they shared at Charleston in East Sussex is being recreated in the Linbury Galleries, the first time its contents have left the house.
Date: 12 November 2026 - 11 April 2027, daily 10am - 6pm. Location: Linbury Galleries, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Price: £20, £5 for Tate Collective, free for members. Book now.
Vanessa Bell Interior with the Artist’s Daughter c.1935-36. The Charleston Trust. © 2026 Estate of Vanessa Bell. All rights reserved.
Exhibition closing soon
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends
The final week of the show marking 50 years of the Bristol animation studio, with more than 150 models, sets, storyboards and early character sketches from the archives, many never shown in public before. Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run and Morph all feature, with hands-on sections on making your own stop-motion film. It closes on 15 November.
Date: until 15 November 2026. Location: Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PA. Price: £12.50, with re-entry throughout the run. Book now.
Inside Aardman Wallace & Gromit and Friends at the Young V&A.
#FLOFavourites: Pick of the Week
Free event of the week
Late at Tate Britain: The 90s
Late at Tate Britain returns 13 November 2026.
A free after-hours evening across the whole gallery on 13 November, tied to The 90s: Art and Fashion and taking its cue from rave culture and the underground music spaces of 90s Britain. Trinity Laban MA and MFA dance performance students premiere a new work made with artist and choreographer Eve Stainton. A panel discussion looks at the political and social power of 90s music, including garage and jungle. DJs including DJ Millz and Distinction play across 90s electronic genres in Room 8 and the Djanogly Cafe, with workshops and creative activities alongside. Most of it is drop-in, with a few things needing a free ticket booked on the day.
Date: Friday 13 November 2026, 6pm - 10pm. Location: Manton Entrance, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Price: free, listed as 18+. tate.org.uk
Food of the week
Kolamba
Studio Fils Interior Design. Ground Floor Kolamba Carnaby. Restaurant Bar Design Kingly Street.
Sri Lankan home cooking from Eroshan and Aushi Meewella, who both grew up in Colombo and opened the Soho site in 2019, with recipes gathered from family and friends on the island. The menu is built for sharing and the drinks list features cocktails with Sri Lankan spirits. The room was designed by the founders' own studio alongside work by contemporary Sri Lankan makers. The second site near Liverpool Street is larger, with a central bar and two private dining rooms.
Date: open daily, check the website for current hours. Location: Kolamba, 21 Kingly Street, Soho, London W1B 5QA, and Kolamba East, 12 Blossom Street, London E1 6PL. Price: around £26 to £40 a head at Soho, higher at Kolamba East. kolamba.co.uk · @kolamba.ldn
Interview of the week
In conversation with Nelson Yang, founder of Bon Bao
Nelson Yang, founder of Bon Bao.
Nelson Yang is founder of Bon Bao, serving steamed bao and pan-fried sheng jian bao on Tisbury Court in Soho. We spoke to Nelson about the two bao traditions behind the menu, what drew him to Soho, and what he has learned about opening in central London.
Click here to read the full interview.
cause of the week
Pan Intercultural Arts
Pan Intercultural Arts
A London arts charity using theatre, drama and singing with survivors of trafficking, refugees and asylum seekers, and young people in special education settings. Its Amies projects are drama and singing workshops for female survivors of trafficking, giving participants a space to make friends, learn new skills and get creative together. Three sessions go on each week in term time, with childcare provided in a room next door so parents are nearby. The charity is looking for volunteers, predominantly for childcare, asking for twice a month, one session helping with childcare and the other assisting with the workshops.
To get involved, email Emmeline Holwell at post@pan-arts.net with your interest and any experience, and they will arrange a short call.
Click here to discover more about Pan Intercultural Arts.
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