ListingsUpdated Sun 25 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.
Showing free. Clear
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.
Sunday
6 December-
Gigs Free
Downstairs at the King’s Head: Crouch End Jazz
A free jazz jam, founded in 1985 and a weekly fixture at the King's Head for more than 40 years.
Sunday
13 December-
Gigs Free
Downstairs at the King’s Head: Crouch End Jazz
A free jazz jam, founded in 1985 and a weekly fixture at the King's Head for more than 40 years.
Sunday
20 December-
Gigs Free
Downstairs at the King’s Head: Crouch End Jazz
A free jazz jam, founded in 1985 and a weekly fixture at the King's Head for more than 40 years.
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.
Saturday
26 December-
Seasonal Free
Boxing Day on Oxford Street
The sales open early and the crowd is at its worst between eleven and three. Go at nine or leave it to the 27th, when the same prices are still there and the street is walkable.
Friday
1 January-
Seasonal Free
New Year’s Day Parade
Ten thousand performers from Piccadilly down to Parliament Square, free to watch from the pavement. Grandstand seats are ticketed; standing anywhere along the route is not.
Tuesday
19 January-
Seasonal Free
Winter Lights at Canary Wharf
Until 30 Jan
Two weeks of commissioned light installations across the estate, free and outdoors, in the part of January when there is otherwise nothing at all. Quietest on a weeknight.
Sunday
7 February-
Food and drink Free
Chinese New Year in Chinatown
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.
-
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.
Thursday
18 February-
Exhibitions Free
London Fashion Week: the City Wide Celebration
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.
-
Free
Fashion week window displays, Regent Street
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-
Exhibitions Free
London Fashion Week: the City Wide Celebration
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.
-
Free
Fashion week window displays, Regent Street
Until 22 Feb
Fashion week windows along Regent Street, free from the pavement. The February 2027 dates are ours until the organisers publish them.
Saturday
20 February-
Exhibitions Free
London Fashion Week: the City Wide Celebration
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.
-
Free
Fashion week window displays, Regent Street
Until 22 Feb
Fashion week windows along Regent Street, free from the pavement. The February 2027 dates are ours until the organisers publish them.
Sunday
21 February-
Exhibitions Free
London Fashion Week: the City Wide Celebration
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.
-
Free
Fashion week window displays, Regent Street
Until 22 Feb
Fashion week windows along Regent Street, free from the pavement. The February 2027 dates are ours until the organisers publish them.
Monday
22 February-
Exhibitions Free
London Fashion Week: the City Wide Celebration
Free public talks, late openings and launches in London shops for fashion week. February 2027 dates are ours until the BFC publishes.
-
Free
Fashion week window displays, Regent Street
Fashion week windows along Regent Street, free from the pavement. The February 2027 dates are ours until the organisers publish them.