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The Late Edition

London's evening edition. Independent, updated daily.

Things to do in London in February

Short, cold, and better than its reputation. Chinese New Year around Chinatown, London Fashion Week in the middle, the BAFTAs and half term.

February is the month people write off, and the month with the best odds on a table anywhere. It also carries two of the biggest set pieces in the London year.

What is on

Chinese New Year usually lands in February, and the celebration around Chinatown, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square is the largest outside Asia and free to walk into. London Fashion Week runs in the middle of the month, mostly trade but with public events attached. The BAFTAs take over the Royal Festival Hall. Half term falls in the middle two weeks depending on the borough.

What to book, and when

Valentine’s night is the one thing in February that genuinely sells out, and restaurants release those tables in January. Otherwise February behaves like January: available, and cheaper than it will be again until the following winter.

The practical part

Still dark and still cold, but the light comes back fast: sunset moves from about half past four to nearly six over the month, which is the biggest swing of any four weeks in the year. It is the cheapest month for hotels. Bring a coat that handles rain rather than snow, because London rarely gets the second.

If the weather turns

London has more indoor answers than almost anywhere, and most of the good ones cost nothing: the free museums are open every day and the collections are free, and we keep a guide to where to go when it rains. If it stays dry, the free views need no ticket. Everything free this month is on our free listings, and if you are out after eleven, what is open late.

Where to go

Soho and Chinatown for Chinese New Year, which spills into Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square and is the biggest street celebration of the month. the City if you want somewhere warm with a view. Shoreditch and Clerkenwell for the restaurants that are impossible to book in December and easy now.

What is free

Chinese New Year is free from start to finish, including the parade and the stage in Trafalgar Square. The museums are still free and still quiet. Half term brings free programmes at most of the big institutions, which are worth checking before paying for anything aimed at children.

With children, or visitors

Half term is the middle of the month and every museum runs something for it. Book the ticketed ones the week before rather than on the day. The Horniman and the Museum of London Docklands are the ones that stay manageable when the central museums do not.

If you do one thing

Stand on Charing Cross Road for the Chinese New Year parade. It is free, it is the largest outside Asia, and it is the one thing in February that feels like an event rather than a way of getting through the month.

The listings below are what we have actually checked for February, soonest first.

What is on in February

Mon 1 to Sun 28 February

Monday

1 February
  1. Free

    Crossrail Place Roof Garden

    06:00 Crossrail Place, Canary Wharf

    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.

  2. Sport Free

    Dogs on Hampstead Heath

    07:00 Hampstead Heath, Hampstead

    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.

  3. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: Westminster Cathedral

    07:00 Westminster Cathedral, Victoria

    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.

  4. Food and drink Free

    Leadenhall Market

    07:00 Leadenhall Market, The City

    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.

  5. Free

    Parliament Hill viewpoint

    07:00 Parliament Hill, Hampstead

    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.

  6. Sport Free

    Dogs in Richmond Park

    07:30 Richmond Park, Richmond

    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.

  7. Sport Free

    Dogs in Battersea Park

    08:00 Battersea Park, Battersea

    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.

  8. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: Southwark Cathedral

    08:00 Southwark Cathedral, Borough

    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.

  9. Free

    St Dunstan in the East

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

    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.

  10. Free

    St James’s Park, free all day

    08:00 St James's Park, Westminster

    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.

  11. Free

    The Italian Gardens, Kensington Gardens

    08:00 Italian Gardens, Bayswater

    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.

  12. Free

    The Kyoto Garden, Holland Park

    08:00 Holland Park, Kensington

    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.

  13. Sport Free

    Towpath walk: Paddington Basin to Little Venice

    09:00 Paddington Basin, Paddington

    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.

  14. Exhibitions From £32

    Churchill War Rooms

    09:30 Churchill War Rooms, Westminster

    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.

  15. Exhibitions From £30

    Westminster Abbey

    09:30 Westminster Abbey, Westminster

    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.

  16. Free

    Carnaby Street and the courts

    10:00 Carnaby Street, Soho

    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.

  17. Exhibitions From £24

    Frameless

    10:00 Frameless, Marylebone

    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.

  18. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: Kenwood House

    10:00 Kenwood House, Hampstead

    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.

  19. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: the Design Museum

    10:00 Design Museum, Kensington

    The permanent collection upstairs costs nothing and takes about an hour. The building is the old Commonwealth Institute, and the roof is worth standing under before you look at anything.

  20. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: the Natural History Museum

    10:00 Natural History Museum, South Kensington

    Free, permanent, and busiest between eleven and three. Go at opening or after four and Hintze Hall is almost yours. Timed tickets are free but worth booking at the weekend.

  21. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: the Science Museum

    10:00 Science Museum, South Kensington

    The permanent galleries cost nothing. Making the Modern World runs the whole length of the ground floor and is the one to see if you only have an hour.

  22. Exhibitions Free

    Free entry: the V and A

    10:00 Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington

    Seven miles of gallery, free, and nobody sees it all. The cast courts and the John Madejski Garden are the two most people remember, and the garden is a good place to stop rather than leave.

  23. Exhibitions From £25

    Kensington Palace and the sunken garden

    10:00 Kensington Palace, Kensington

    The state apartments are ticketed, but the sunken garden outside them is free and is the bit most people photograph. Go on a weekday morning and the King's Staircase is almost empty.

  24. Free

    Leake Street Arches, the legal graffiti tunnel

    10:00 Leake Street Arches, Waterloo

    A road tunnel under the station where painting the walls is allowed, so it looks different every week. Bring a torch for the far end and expect the smell of aerosol.

  25. Exhibitions From £11

    Leighton House, the Arab Hall

    10:00 Leighton House, Kensington

    A Victorian painter built himself a house with a domed hall of Damascus tiles in it, and it is still there. Small, so an hour does it, and rarely busy.

  26. Exhibitions Free

    Outernet London

    10:00 Outernet, Soho

    Four storeys of screen wrapped around a public hall by Tottenham Court Road station, free to walk into. What is on changes constantly; five minutes is usually enough.

  27. Free

    Sky Garden

    10:00 Sky Garden, The City

    Three floors of planted terrace at the top of the Walkie Talkie, free but booked in advance and the slots go about three weeks out. Sunset slots go first. Photo identification on the door.

  28. Free

    Street art on Brick Lane

    10:00 Brick Lane, Shoreditch

    The walls change every few weeks, so the walk is different from the one anybody photographed last year. Start at the Truman Brewery and work north up the side streets.

  29. Free

    The floating pocket park, Merchant Square

    10:00 Merchant Square, Paddington

    A garden built on a pontoon in the basin, open to anyone. Small, and that is rather the point: it is a place to sit on the water in the middle of a building site of a neighbourhood.

  30. Sport From £34

    Turkish baths at Porchester Spa

    10:00 Porchester Spa, Bayswater

    A 1929 Turkish and Russian bath house run by the council, so it costs a fraction of the spa hotels. Check which days are mixed and which are single sex before you go, because it changes through the week.

  31. Exhibitions From £45

    The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience

    11:00 The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience, Soho

    The television set rebuilt under Shaftesbury Avenue, played in teams of up to eight with a maze master shouting at you. Ninety minutes, and you do need to book.

  32. Food and drink From £14

    Crazy golf at Swingers, West End

    12:00 Swingers West End, Mayfair

    Two nine hole courses under a glass roof with street food traders around the edge. Over 18s in the evening, and booking is effectively required at the weekend.

  33. Talks From £12

    Planetarium show at the Royal Observatory

    12:00 Peter Harrison Planetarium, Greenwich

    The only planetarium in London, in a cone of bronze angled at the pole star, with a live astronomer rather than a recording. Shows run through the day and last about half an hour.

  34. Food and drink From £6

    The Spaniards Inn

    12:00 The Spaniards Inn, Hampstead

    A 1585 coaching inn at the top of the Heath with a walled garden, a dog wash at the door and a long history of letting them in. Low beams, so mind your head rather than the dog.

  35. Food and drink From £6

    Netil360 rooftop, Hackney

    16:00 Netil360, Hackney

    A roof above a car park in London Fields with the whole City skyline lined up in front of it. Small, so it fills on a warm evening; the view is the reason rather than the drinks list.

  36. Food and drink From £12

    Darts at Flight Club, Shoreditch

    17:00 Flight Club, Shoreditch

    Darts with the scoring done for you and a camera on the board, booked by the oche rather than the person. Cheaper before six and on a weekday, and it does run late.

  37. Clubs From £6

    Rooftop at the Bussey Building

    17:00 Copeland Park and the Bussey Building, Peckham

    Peckham's roof bar, up several flights above the old cricket bat factory, looking back at the city from the south. Runs late at the weekend and the yard below keeps going after it shuts.

  38. Food and drink From £6

    The George Inn, the last galleried coaching inn

    17:00 The George Inn, Borough

    The only galleried coaching inn left in London, owned by the National Trust and still working as a pub. The yard fills early on a warm evening.

  39. Free

    Evening at the Brompton Oratory

    17:30 London Oratory, South Kensington

    An enormous Italianate interior a minute from the museums, free to walk into, and almost always quiet. Sung services are listed on the door.

  40. Sport From £12

    Public skating at Queens Ice and Bowl

    18:00 Queens Ice and Bowl, Bayswater

    A full size rink under Queensway, open sessions most of the day and into the evening. Skate hire is included in the session price. Book ahead at weekends, because it fills with birthday parties.

  41. Free

    Evening walk: Kensington Gardens to the Round Pond

    18:30 Kensington Gardens, Kensington

    The pond sits on the axis of the palace, so the view back at it in low light is the one the garden was laid out to give you. Twenty minutes from the High Street.

  42. Free

    Waterloo Bridge at dusk

    19:00 Waterloo Bridge, Waterloo

    The only crossing with both the City and Westminster in one turn of the head. Built largely by women during the war, which is why it is sometimes called the Ladies Bridge.

  43. Free

    Stargazing on Hampstead Heath

    20:00 Parliament Hill, Hampstead

    As dark as central London gets, which is not very, but Parliament Hill has the horizon and the local society runs public evenings on the hill through the winter. Take a torch and a coat.

  44. Food and drink Advance fares vary

    A day in Brighton

    09:00 Brighton

    An hour from Victoria or London Bridge and the most reliable seaside day out from London. The Lanes when it rains, the pier when it does not, and the last train back is late.

  45. Food and drink Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Whitstable

    09:30 Whitstable

    Around an hour and a quarter from St Pancras on the highspeed, and under ten minutes from the station to the beach. Oysters on the harbour and the huts along the shingle.

  46. Free

    A walk through Hampstead village

    11:00 Hampstead village, Hampstead

    Lanes that were a hill village before London reached them, and still read like one above the high street. Flask Walk and Holly Mount are the two to take if you only take two.

  47. Food and drink From £35

    Bottomless brunch in Soho

    11:30 Soho, Soho

    More bottomless brunch per square yard than anywhere in London, and the offers change often enough that the street is the reliable part rather than any one room. Book: Saturdays go.

  48. Food and drink From £28

    Bottomless brunch in Brixton

    12:00 Brixton, Brixton

    The market halls do it best and cheapest, and you can walk between three sittings in five minutes if the first is full. Two hours is the usual limit.

  49. Free

    Hippodrome Casino

    12:00 Hippodrome Casino, Covent Garden

    A Victorian theatre off Leicester Square turned casino, free to walk into at any hour, with a working cabaret room upstairs.

  50. Food and drink From £10

    Ping pong at Bounce, Old Street

    17:00 Bounce, Shoreditch

    Tables by the hour in a basement that used to be a ping pong hall, which is a rare thing to be able to say. Loud after nine and quiet before seven.

  51. Cabaret Free upstairs, basement shows ticketed

    The Glory

    17:00 The Glory, Dalston

    An East End pub with a performance basement, and one of the rooms new drag and cabaret acts in London actually come up through.

  52. Cabaret Free entry, minimum spend on some nights

    Cellar Door

    18:00 Cellar Door, Covent Garden

    A former gentlemen's public convenience at Aldwych, now a forty seat bar with cabaret on every night. Free to walk into.

  53. Film From £14

    A screening at the BFI IMAX

    20:00 BFI IMAX, Waterloo

    The biggest screen in the country, in a glass drum in the middle of a roundabout. Worth it for something shot on film stock, less so for anything upscaled.

  54. Late night Late

    Sophisticats

    22:00 Sophisticats, Soho

    A licensed strip club on Brewer Street, open Monday to Saturday from ten until three and closed on Sunday. Over 18s, photo ID on the door.

  55. Clubs Guest list or a table booking

    Cirque le Soir

    23:00 Cirque le Soir, Soho

    A circus themed nightclub on Ganton Street that puts the performers on the floor rather than a stage. Guest list or tables, not a walk up.

  56. Cabaret Table booking or membership

    The Box Soho

    23:00 The Box Soho, Soho

    A late night theatre club on Walker's Court running a variety show that is deliberately hard to describe. Over 21s, tables and membership only.

  57. Exhibitions Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Margate

    09:30 Margate

    An hour and a half from St Pancras. Turner Contemporary is free, the sand is the best within reach of London, and the old town is a short walk from the station.

  58. Food and drink From £30

    Bottomless brunch in Shoreditch

    12:00 Shoreditch, Shoreditch

    Cheaper than Soho and longer sittings, mostly around Redchurch Street and the Boundary. Sundays run into the evening here in a way they do not further west.

  59. Food and drink From £11

    Bowling at All Star Lanes, Brick Lane

    16:00 All Star Lanes, Shoreditch

    Four lanes in a basement done out as an American diner, which sounds worse than it is. Booked by the lane for up to eight, and the kitchen runs as late as the bowling.

  60. Exhibitions Advance fares vary

    A day in Oxford

    09:00 Oxford

    An hour from Paddington or Marylebone. The Ashmolean and the Pitt Rivers are both free, and most colleges let visitors in for a few pounds in the afternoon.

  61. Free

    Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace

    10:45 Buckingham Palace, Westminster

    Free, and busier than anything else on this list. It does not run every day and it is called off in bad weather, so check the Household Division calendar the morning you go.

  62. Food and drink From £7

    Lower Marsh Market

    11:00 Lower Marsh, Waterloo

    A weekday street market that has been there since the 1850s, now mostly hot food at lunch. Quieter and cheaper than Borough, and five minutes from the same trains.

  63. Food and drink From £8

    Lunchtime in Leadenhall Market

    12:00 Leadenhall Market, The City

    The traders under the roof are mostly food at midday, and the pubs put their tables out under the ironwork. Weekdays only: most of it shuts by early evening and all of it at the weekend.

  64. Exhibitions Advance fares vary

    A day in Cambridge

    09:00 Cambridge

    Fifty minutes from King's Cross, which makes it the closest of the university towns. The Fitzwilliam is free and punting is the thing everyone does and nobody regrets.

  65. Theatre From £25

    Evening performance at the Victoria Palace Theatre

    19:30 Victoria Palace Theatre, Victoria

    A Matcham house from 1911, restored to the gilt and then some. Day seats and returns go at the box office in the morning, which is the cheapest way in.

  66. Food and drink Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Broadstairs

    Times vary Broadstairs

    An hour and twenty-one minutes from St Pancras. Seven beaches and bays for a town this size, three of them Blue Flag, with Viking Bay in the middle.

  67. Exhibitions Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Canterbury

    Times vary Canterbury

    Fifty-one minutes to Canterbury West on the highspeed from St Pancras. A UNESCO cathedral, cobbled streets and the Stour running through the middle of it.

  68. Food and drink Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Deal

    Times vary Deal

    Under an hour and a half from St Pancras. A seafront nobody has built on, a high street that keeps winning awards, and a castle at the end of it.

  69. Exhibitions Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Dover

    Times vary Dover

    An hour and a quarter to Dover Priory on the highspeed. The white cliffs, a castle with wartime tunnels under it, and France on the horizon on a clear day.

  70. Food and drink Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Folkestone

    Times vary Folkestone

    Just under an hour from St Pancras on the highspeed, which makes it the quickest way from London to the sea. The Creative Quarter is the cobbled half.

  71. Exhibitions Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Hastings

    Times vary Hastings

    Under two hours from Charing Cross, the longest here and the only one not on the highspeed. The Old Town alleyways, the castle ruins above them and the pier.

  72. Food and drink Advance fares vary, kids £1 each with an adult

    A day in Tunbridge Wells

    Times vary Tunbridge Wells

    Around fifty minutes from London Bridge, the shortest trip on this page. A spa town for four hundred years, with the Pantiles at the middle of it.

  73. Food and drink From £8

    Borough Market, full market days

    10:00 Borough Market, Borough

    The full market runs Wednesday to Saturday, and Wednesday is the one where you can actually reach a stall. Monday and Tuesday are limited, which catches people out.

  74. Exhibitions Free

    The Fitzrovia Chapel, open to visitors

    11:00 Fitzrovia Chapel, Fitzrovia

    All that survives of the Middlesex Hospital: a gold mosaic chapel standing on its own in a new square. Free, and open on set days in the middle of the week rather than daily, so check before crossing town.

  75. Free

    The Rolling Bridge at Merchant Square

    12:00 Merchant Square, Paddington

    Thomas Heatherwick's footbridge curls up into an octagon instead of lifting. It runs to a published timetable posted at the square, and the whole thing takes about three minutes.

  76. Theatre From £25

    Evening performance at the Apollo Victoria

    19:30 Apollo Victoria Theatre, Victoria

    An art deco cinema turned musical house, and one of the few West End auditoriums where the building is worth arriving early for. Straight across from the station.

  77. Exhibitions From £25 Sold out

    The Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum

    10:00 to 17:00 British Museum, Bloomsbury

    Seventy metres of embroidery, in England for the first time in nearly a thousand years, in Room 30 until July. Every ticket to 31 December has gone. January to March goes on sale on 21 October.

  78. Theatre From £30

    Evening performance at the Menier Chocolate Factory

    20:00 Menier Chocolate Factory, Borough

    A small house in a Victorian factory that sends more work to the West End than its size suggests. The dinner and show ticket is decent value and the room seats under two hundred.

  79. Exhibitions Advance fares vary

    A weekend in the Cotswolds

    09:00 The Cotswolds

    Moreton-in-Marsh is ninety minutes direct from Paddington and you can walk out of the station into the countryside, which is not true of most of them. Book beds well ahead in summer.

  80. Exhibitions Advance fares vary

    A weekend in Bath

    08:30 Bath

    An hour and a half from Paddington. The whole city is a world heritage site, the baths are open until ten in summer, and everything is within twenty minutes on foot.

  81. Food and drink Advance fares vary

    A weekend on the Norfolk coast

    08:30 North Norfolk

    Two hours to Norwich then a bus, or drive. Holkham is the beach everyone means and it is big enough to absorb a bank holiday. Seals at Blakeney, seen from a boat rather than the shore.

  82. Sport From £4.50

    Swimming in the Hampstead mixed pond

    07:00 Hampstead Mixed Pond, Hampstead

    Open all year, lifeguarded, and colder than you are expecting from about October. The men's and ladies' ponds keep their own hours and their own rules.

  83. Exhibitions

    The 90s: Art and Fashion at Tate Britain

    10:00 to 18:00 Tate Britain, Westminster

    Edward Enninful's 90s: Juergen Teller and Corinne Day beside Westwood, McQueen and Hirst. Opening weekend.

  84. Exhibitions £23 to £25

    Tim Walker’s Fairyland at the National Portrait Gallery

    13:30 National Portrait Gallery, Covent Garden

    Five years of Tim Walker portraits of queer trailblazers, open from 1.30pm Friday, and late until nine.

  85. Theatre £12 to £39

    Arcola Theatre, Studio 1: Incident at Vichy, by Arthur Miller

    Times vary Arcola Theatre, Studio 1, Dalston

    Until 20 Feb

    Incident at Vichy, by Arthur Miller at the Arcola Theatre, Studio 1. The run is published; the performance times and the prices are on the booking page.

  86. Theatre £15 to £25

    Bush Theatre: Ripples, by Tafadzwa Muchenje and Rosie MacPherson

    20:00 Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush

    Until 27 Feb

    Ripples, by Tafadzwa Muchenje and Rosie MacPherson at the Bush Theatre. The theatre publishes the run and puts the times and prices on the booking page.

  87. Theatre

    Young Vic: La Distance

    19:30 Young Vic, Main House, Waterloo

    Until 13 Feb

    La Distance at Young Vic, Main House.

Tuesday

2 February
  1. Gigs £22.50

    Electric Ballroom: Dagny

    19:00 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    A headline show from Dagny, presented by Kilimanjaro.

Thursday

4 February
  1. Gigs £23.50

    Electric Ballroom: Melrose Avenue

    19:00 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    Melrose Avenue headline, with Arankai and Call Me Amour in support.

Friday

5 February
  1. Theatre Free

    Sadler’s Wells Theatre: Culture Club

    14:00 to 15:00 Sadler's Wells Theatre, Islington

    Culture Club at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. The run is published; the times and prices are on the booking page.

  2. Gigs £27.50

    Electric Ballroom: The Specials Ltd

    18:30 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    The Specials Ltd, an eight-piece tribute to The Specials, play Gangsters, Rat Race, Too Much Too Young and more.

  3. Gigs £26 in advance plus booking fee

    The 100 Club: Bywater Call

    19:30 to 23:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    Toronto seven-piece Bywater Call bring Southern soul, roots rock, horns and the voice of Meghan Parnell.

Saturday

6 February
  1. Gigs £27.50

    Electric Ballroom: Dead Poet Society

    18:00 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    Dead Poet Society headline, with special guests.

  2. Gigs £25 in advance plus booking fee

    The 100 Club: Remembering Bob Marley

    19:30 to 23:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    Earl 16 and the One Drop All Stars play Bob Marley's songs on what would have been his 82nd birthday.

Sunday

7 February
  1. Food and drink Free

    Chinese New Year in Chinatown

    10:00 Chinatown, Soho

    The largest celebration outside Asia: lion dances through Gerrard Street, the parade up to Trafalgar Square and stages on the square itself. Free, and packed from midday.

  2. Seasonal Free

    Chinese New Year parade and stage, Trafalgar Square

    12:00 Trafalgar Square, Westminster

    The parade leaves Charing Cross Road around midday and the square runs performances into the afternoon. Best watched from the north terrace rather than in the crowd.

Thursday

11 February
  1. Gigs £19 in advance plus booking fee

    The 100 Club: The Allman Brothers Project

    19:30 to 23:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    The Allman Brothers Project play a show promoted by Solid Entertainments.

Friday

12 February
  1. Theatre £10 to £45

    Bush Theatre: Insane Asylum Seekers, by Laith Elzubaidi

    19:30 Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush

    Until 20 Mar

    Insane Asylum Seekers, by Laith Elzubaidi at the Bush Theatre. The theatre publishes the run and puts the times and prices on the booking page.

  2. Gigs £16 in advance plus booking fee

    The 100 Club: Hung Like Hanratty

    19:30 to 23:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    A rock show from Hung Like Hanratty, the only act named on the bill.

Wednesday

17 February
  1. Theatre £20 to £29

    Arcola Theatre, Studio 2: The Reckoning

    Times vary Arcola Theatre, Studio 2, Dalston

    Until 27 Feb

    The Reckoning at the Arcola Theatre, Studio 2. The run is published; the performance times and the prices are on the booking page.

  2. Gigs £25.27 including booking fee

    The 100 Club: Danielle Nicole

    19:30 to 23:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    Grammy-nominated singer and bassist Danielle Nicole, back with Fireflies, her most personal album yet.

Thursday

18 February
  1. Exhibitions Free

    London Fashion Week: the City Wide Celebration

    10:00 to 20:00 Across London, Soho

    Until 22 Feb

    Free public talks, late openings and launches in London shops for fashion week. February 2027 dates are ours until the BFC publishes.

  2. Free

    Fashion week window displays, Regent Street

    11:00 Regent Street, Mayfair

    Until 22 Feb

    Fashion week windows along Regent Street, free from the pavement. The February 2027 dates are ours until the organisers publish them.

Friday

19 February
  1. Gigs £27.50

    Electric Ballroom: Half Man Half Biscuit

    18:00 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    Half Man Half Biscuit play a headline show.

Saturday

20 February
  1. Gigs £28.50

    Electric Ballroom: MONO “Snowdrop” World Tour (Part 1)

    18:00 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    MONO on the first part of their Snowdrop world tour, with special guests.

  2. Gigs £22.50 in advance plus booking fee

    The 100 Club: Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse

    18:30 to 22:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse play an early-evening show promoted by Solid Entertainments.

  3. Clubs £15 on the door

    The 100 Club: 6T’s Northern Soul All-Nighter

    23:00 to 06:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    A northern soul all-nighter from the 6T's Rhythm and Soul Society, established in 1979.

Tuesday

23 February
  1. Gigs £18

    Electric Ballroom: Haiden Henderson

    19:00 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    Haiden Henderson on the Dumblond Tour, with special guests.

Friday

26 February
  1. Gigs £25

    Electric Ballroom: Warhaus

    18:00 Electric Ballroom, Camden

    Warhaus headline a DHP Presents show.

  2. Gigs £54.75 to £72

    Roundhouse: Dominguinho

    19:00 Roundhouse, Camden

    Dominguinho at Roundhouse. Starts at 7pm, tickets £54.75 to £72.

Saturday

27 February
  1. Gigs £14 in advance plus booking fee

    The 100 Club: The Phogues

    20:00 to 23:00 The 100 Club, Soho

    Somerset Pogues tribute The Phogues make their London debut, marking 40 years of Red Roses for Me.

Questions people ask

What are the best things to do in London in February?

Chinese New Year, which in 2027 falls in the first half of the month and fills Chinatown, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square for a free afternoon. Valentine's Day on Sunday 14 February 2027, and the Six Nations, with England at Twickenham against France on that same Sunday.

What are the free things to do in London in February?

Chinese New Year is free from start to finish, including the parade and the stage in Trafalgar Square, and the celebration around Chinatown and Leicester Square is the largest outside Asia. The museums are free as always and quieter than usual, and everything else free this month is marked on our free listings.

When is half term in London?

Set by each borough, so neighbouring schools differ. The pattern is the week containing the third Monday of February. Family attractions are busiest between eleven and two and much quieter after three.

Is there a bank holiday in February?

No. February has none. The next one after New Year's Day is Good Friday, which in 2027 is 26 March.

Is February a good time to visit London?

It is short, cold and cheap, and the museums and theatres are at their best because everything happens indoors. Book restaurants for the Valentine's weekend in January.

How dark is it in London in February?

Dark by about five at the start of the month and closer to six by the end, which is the point at which London starts to feel like it is coming back.

Guides for February

All guides

London month by month

Twelve guides, one a month

What is on right now

All 2189 listings

This guide is rewritten each year before the dates come round. For what is actually happening this week rather than what happens every year, the listings below are dated, checked against the venue and carry the venue's own link.

Next up

  1. Theatre £45 to £110, under 30s and students from £10

    Main Stage: Kimberly Akimbo

    Times vary Main Stage, Hampstead

    Until 7 Nov

  2. Theatre £15 to £35

    Bush Theatre: Darkling, by Titas Halder

    19:30 Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush

    Until 24 Oct

  3. Theatre From £31

    Young Vic: Thelma and Louise

    19:30 Young Vic, Main House, Waterloo

    Until 24 Oct

Or pick a part of town

This page keeps its address every year and is rewritten each time the month comes round, with every listing checked before it goes in. How we choose what goes in.