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The Late Edition

London's evening edition. Independent, updated daily.

Talks Thursday 1 October 2026 to Saturday 31 October 2026

Bloomsbury Festival

Bloomsbury Festival's twentieth year: 150 events through October in the squares, churches and colleges around Russell Square.

The festival runs all of October in 2026. Each event has its own date, time and price on the festival's programme.

Photo: Anurag Jamwal / Pexels

Book or find out more

Times and prices are what the venue published when we checked. They move, so confirm on the venue's own page before you travel.

Directions

What to expect

Bloomsbury Festival turns twenty this year and has gone back to full strength for it: more than 150 events in arts, culture and science, spread across the whole of October rather than squeezed into a long weekend. They happen in the squares, churches, libraries and university buildings around Russell Square.

What it is like

The programme mixes concerts, talks, film, walks and family events, and a good share of them are free and walk in. Among the dated highlights: Mad Song playing Steve Reich at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church on Thursday 8 October, £20; Sankofa at Holy Cross Church on 29 and 30 October, £10 to £15; and a free AKDC Diwali takeover at Holy Cross on Saturday 31 October. Our Bloomsbury page carries the festival events we list one by one.

The dates and those events were read on the Bloomsbury Festival’s own site on 27 September 2026. Earlier, this listing gave the festival as five days in mid October, which was wrong for 2026.

Listed by Angela. Checked 27 September 2026. Details can change on the night; the venue link is the one to trust.

More talks

All

  1. Talks From £12

    Planetarium show at the Royal Observatory

    12:00 Peter Harrison Planetarium, Greenwich

  2. Talks

    London Month of the Dead 2026

    Times vary Cemeteries and chapels across London

    Until 1 Nov

  3. Talks £5

    ESP Live From Soho

    18:00 Underbelly Boulevard Soho, Soho

    Until 2 Dec

  4. Talks £10 to £18, concessions from £7.50

    Wilton’s Music Hall: OneTrackMinds

    19:00 Wilton's Music Hall, Whitechapel

  5. Talks Free

    Bloomsbury Festival: Discovery Hub 2026

    10:00 Holborn Library, Bloomsbury

Part of a bigger week

Bloomsbury Festival Bloomsbury Festival 2026: 150 events across 40 venues, a lot of it free The festival's twentieth year, running across October in the squares, museums and university buildings of Bloomsbury. Much of the programme costs nothing.