Open House and the London Design Festival land on exactly the same nine days

Both run 12 to 20 September. Open House is in its 35th year and opens buildings across all 33 boroughs for free. The London Design Festival is in its 24th and fills the design districts with installations, open showrooms and talks, much of it also free.

Nine days, both free, both citywide, and no coordination between them that we can see. If you were planning to do one properly you now have to choose, or accept doing both badly.

The practical advice is the same as every year for Open House: the good buildings go first. Some need a ballot, some need booking, most are walk in, and the ones people actually want, the ones normally closed to the public, are gone within days of the programme going live. Check the programme before the weekend rather than on it.

The Design Festival needs no such planning. Almost all of it is walk in, the landmark installations are outdoors, and the districts are close enough to do two in an afternoon.

Both are now in our listings, and our Open House guide covers the ballot buildings.