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The Late Edition

London's evening edition. Independent, updated daily.

Coming upUpdated 5 Sep 2026

Coming up in London: what opens, and when

Places opening in the next few months, the annual fixtures with their dates, and everything dated further ahead than this week.

Three lists, in order of how far away they are: the places that have announced an opening date, the annual fixtures with dates confirmed, and the dated listings further out than the coming week.

Everything here is a date somebody has announced rather than one we expect. Where a date is the usual pattern and not yet confirmed, the guide for it says so.

Opening soon

All openings
  1. 7 Sep Nakimushi
    From the team behind The Pelican, The Hero and The Fat Badger, which is a west London pedigree arriving in Clerkenwell. Opens on 7 September.
  2. 23 Sep Cassette
    Two restaurants in one building: a ramen counter downstairs from Robin Kosuge, and a Japanese room upstairs. Opens 23 September.

The dates ahead

All guides
  1. Sat 12 to Sun 20 September Open House London 2026: how it works and the buildings worth queuing for
    12 to 20 September 2026, hundreds of buildings, all free. Ballot, pre-book and walk-up explained, and the openings we would queue for this year.
  2. Wed 16 September to Sun 1 November Frieze week in London 2026: the fairs, the free sculpture park and the gallery nights
    Frieze London and Frieze Masters, 14 to 18 October in Regent's Park. What costs money, what is free, and the week of openings around it.
  3. Thu 17 to Mon 21 September London Fashion Week: what the public can actually get into
    17 to 21 September 2026. The shows are invite-only, but the City Wide Celebration is not. What is open to anyone, what costs nothing, and where to stand.
  4. Fri 16 October to Sun 1 November Halloween events in London 2026
    Ghost tours, the after-dark trails, the late museum openings and the club nights, with the dates that sell out first. Rewritten every year.
  5. Tue 20 October to Tue 10 November Diwali in London 2026: Trafalgar Square, the temples and the fireworks
    Diwali on the Square is Sunday 25 October, free. Diwali itself is 8 November. The temples to visit, and which firework displays are Diwali ones.
  6. Sun 1 to Sun 8 November Bonfire Night fireworks in London 2026
    Every London firework display worth crossing town for, which nights they actually happen on, what they cost, and where to stand for free.
  7. Sun 1 November to Thu 24 December Candlelit concerts in London: what they are and what they cost
    The Candlelight series, the free church recitals and the December carol services, with prices and the difference between them.
  8. Mon 2 November to Sun 10 January London Christmas lights 2026: switch-on dates and the walk that sees them all
    When Oxford Street, Regent Street, Carnaby and Covent Garden switch on, how long they stay up, and a ninety-minute route past every one of them.
  9. Mon 2 November to Mon 4 January London Christmas markets 2026: dates and the ones worth going to
    Southbank, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, London Bridge, Kingston and Greenwich, with opening dates as they confirm and the best time to go.
  10. Sat 7 November to Mon 11 January Ice skating in London 2026: every Christmas rink and when they open
    Somerset House, Hampton Court, Alexandra Palace, Battersea Power Station and the new Leicester Square rink, with dates, the one that has closed, and the year-round rinks that are better ice.
  11. Sun 15 November to Thu 31 December Christmas in London 2026: what to book, what is free, and the days themselves
    The shows and concerts to book in October, the free things that need only a coat, and what actually happens on Christmas Day and the week after.
  12. Thu 19 November to Sun 3 January Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2026: dates, tickets and when to go
    Open 19 November to 3 January. How the free entry works, the one-pound off-peak days, what is worth the money and the days to avoid.
  13. Thu 24 to Mon 28 December Bank holiday weekend in London: what to do, what is open, what is closed
    Rewritten before every bank holiday. Next: Christmas, Friday 25 to Monday 28 December 2026, then New Year. What is open, the transport works and the weekend list.
  14. Thu 31 December to Fri 1 January New Year's Eve in London 2026: fireworks tickets, free views and what else is on
    The midnight fireworks are ticketed. How and when to get one, where the free views really are, and the nights indoors that are better than the river.

Further ahead

Everything

Sunday

13 September

  1. Markets Free

    Totally Thames: river festival, whole programme

    All day Various riverside venues, South Bank

    Until 30 Sep

    A month of walks, boat trips, art on the foreshore and one super-choir on the river. Most of it costs nothing and needs no booking.

  2. Food and drink From £5

    Late night food: Brick Lane Beigel Bake

    Open 24 hours Beigel Bake, Shoreditch

    Until 30 Sep

    Open every hour of every day. Salt beef with mustard and pickle at 03:00 is the correct order and the queue moves fast.

  3. Sport From £4.50

    Open air swimming at Hampstead Ponds

    07:00 to 19:00 Hampstead Heath Ponds, Hampstead

    Until 30 Sep

    September is the good month: the water is still warm from August and the summer crowds have gone. Cash or the app at the gate.

  4. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: Museum of London Docklands

    10:00 to 17:00 London Museum Docklands, Stratford

    Until 30 Sep

    A Georgian warehouse on the quay with the best account of the docks and the slave trade in the city. Always free, rarely busy on a weekday.

  5. Comedy From £15

    Comedy at the Soho Theatre

    19:30 Soho Theatre, Soho

    Until 20 Sep

    Three rooms, most shows an hour, tickets from fifteen pounds. The downstairs bar runs late. Book the 21:30 slot if you want the room that has already had a drink.

  6. Theatre From £15 Selling fast

    Old Vic evening performance

    19:30 The Old Vic, Waterloo

    Until 27 Sep

    Day seats go on sale at 10:00 online and there are usually returns at the box office an hour before curtain.

  7. Free

    Crossrail Place Roof Garden

    06:00 Crossrail Place, Canary Wharf

    Until 4 Sep

    A garden under a timber lattice roof on top of the station, planted either side of the meridian with species from the hemisphere they belong to. Free, open early, and covered.

  8. Sport Free

    Dogs on Hampstead Heath

    07:00 Hampstead Heath, Hampstead

    Until 4 Sep

    Eight hundred acres, off lead almost everywhere, and the one swimming pond dogs are allowed in is not one of the bathing ponds. Busiest at the Parliament Hill end on a weekend morning.

  9. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: Westminster Cathedral

    07:00 Westminster Cathedral, Victoria

    Until 4 Sep

    Neo Byzantine, still unfinished above the arches, and free to walk into. The campanile lift is ticketed and gives one of the least crowded views in central London.

  10. Food and drink Free

    Leadenhall Market

    07:00 Leadenhall Market, The City

    Until 4 Sep

    A Victorian covered market in cream and burgundy, free to walk through and open to the street. Busy with the City at lunch and almost empty at the weekend, which is when to photograph it.

  11. Free

    Parliament Hill viewpoint

    07:00 Parliament Hill, Hampstead

    Until 4 Sep

    A protected view all the way to the City, which is why nothing is allowed to be built in front of it. Ten minutes up from Gospel Oak and worth doing an hour before sunset.

  12. Sport Free

    Dogs in Richmond Park

    07:30 Richmond Park, Richmond

    Until 4 Sep

    The largest of the royal parks and the one with the deer, which is why dogs must be on a lead in May and June and in September and October. The gates open and close with the light.

  13. Sport Free

    Dogs in Battersea Park

    08:00 Battersea Park, Battersea

    Until 4 Sep

    Flat, walled, and small enough to do a full circuit in half an hour, with the river along one side and a cafe at each end. The one park on this list you can reach on foot from a station.

  14. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: Southwark Cathedral

    08:00 Southwark Cathedral, Borough

    Until 4 Sep

    Free, next door to the market, and almost always empty by comparison. Shakespeare's brother is buried here and there is a memorial to the man himself along the south aisle.

  15. Free

    St Dunstan in the East

    08:00 St Dunstan in the East Church Garden, The City

    Until 4 Sep

    A Wren church bombed in 1941 and left as a ruin with a garden planted inside it. Free, open from eight, and quietest before the City arrives. The tower is still standing.

  16. Free

    St James’s Park, free all day

    08:00 St James's Park, Westminster

    Until 4 Sep

    The oldest of the royal parks and the one with the pelicans, fed near Duck Island in the afternoon. The bridge gives the view down the lake to Horse Guards that ends up on the postcards.

  17. Free

    The Italian Gardens, Kensington Gardens

    08:00 Italian Gardens, Bayswater

    Until 4 Sep

    Four basins and a pump house Albert built for Victoria, at the Lancaster Gate corner of the park. Best in the hour before the fountains go off for the night, when the light comes across the water.

  18. Free

    The Kyoto Garden, Holland Park

    08:00 Holland Park, Kensington

    Until 4 Sep

    A Japanese garden given to the borough in 1991, with koi, a waterfall and peacocks that have no fear of anyone. Free, and quietest before the school run ends.

  19. Sport Free

    Towpath walk: Paddington Basin to Little Venice

    09:00 Paddington Basin, Paddington

    Until 4 Sep

    Twenty minutes of canal that most people who work here never walk. Comes out at the pool where three waterways meet, with the narrowboats and the puppet theatre barge.

  20. Exhibitions From £32

    Churchill War Rooms

    09:30 Churchill War Rooms, Westminster

    Until 4 Sep

    The bunker left as it was on the day it closed in 1945, down to the pins in the map. Book a slot: it sells out, and the queue on the day is outdoors.

  21. Exhibitions From £30

    Westminster Abbey

    09:30 Westminster Abbey, Westminster

    Until 4 Sep

    Ticketed for sightseeing, free if you come to a service, and Evensong is sung most weekday afternoons in term. The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries are up in the triforium, which most visitors miss.

  22. Free

    Carnaby Street and the courts

    10:00 Carnaby Street, Soho

    Until 4 Sep

    The street itself takes five minutes; Kingly Court behind it takes an afternoon. Three floors of a courtyard with the roof open in summer and closed in winter.

  23. Exhibitions From £24

    Frameless

    10:00 Frameless, Marylebone

    Until 4 Sep

    Four rooms of projected painting, floor to ceiling, under Marble Arch. Permanent rather than a touring show, so there is no rush, and quietest in the first hour of the day.

  24. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: Kenwood House

    10:00 Kenwood House, Hampstead

    Until 4 Sep

    A Robert Adam house at the top of the Heath with a Rembrandt self portrait and a Vermeer in it, and no admission charge. The library is the room people stand in longest.