ListingsUpdated Fri 23 Oct
Free events in London right now
Everything on this site that costs nothing, from museum late openings to cemetery open days and the free half of the big festivals. Free does not always mean unticketed: where a free event still needs a booked slot, the listing says so.
What to expect
108 listings filed under Free. The busiest rooms are Woolwich Works, Downstairs at the King's Head and Phoenix Arts Club. Concentrated in Woolwich, Crouch End and Covent Garden.
Nearby
Every listing here has been checked against the venue that is putting it on.
Showing in Westminster. Clear
Friday
23 October-
Free
St James’s Park, free all day
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.
-
Free
Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace
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.
Sunday
8 November-
Seasonal Free
Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph
Whitehall closes and the service is at eleven. Free to watch from the pavement if you are there by nine thirty; after that you will hear it rather than see it.
Thursday
3 December-
Seasonal Free
The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree
Until 6 Jan 2027
Given by Norway every year since 1947 in thanks for the war, lit with vertical strings of plain white bulbs in the Norwegian way. Carols are sung under it most evenings in December.
Friday
25 December-
Seasonal Free
Christmas Day walk in St James’s Park
There are no trains and no buses on Christmas Day, so the centre belongs to whoever walked. The park is open, the pelicans are in, and Horse Guards is empty enough to photograph.
Sunday
7 February-
Seasonal Free
Chinese New Year parade and stage, Trafalgar Square
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.
