London Today What changed in central London
A few things a week from the centre, each one checked against the source that reported it.
What is actually hanging in London right now
Ten London shows are on the critics' list. Six of them close before January, one has sold more advance tickets than anything in Tate's 128-year history, and two of the best are free.
Notting Hill Carnival turns sixty
A plaque at Westbourne Park names seventy people who built Carnival — unveiled for its sixtieth year, and for seventy years since London Transport went recruiting in the Caribbean.
FKA twigs takes Meltdown 2027
The Southbank Centre has named FKA twigs the 32nd curator of Meltdown, London's artist-curated festival, for 10 to 20 June 2027 — eleven days of concerts, two weekends of free events, and a one-off headline show of her own.
Spiritland comes to the Barbican
One of London's original listening bars takes Level 2 of the Barbican from 20 October: a hundred seats, Living Voice speakers and a whole album played through them at 5pm every day.
The 90s at Tate Britain
A London decade told through both of its industries at once: Edward Enninful curates the photographers and the artists into one show, 8 October to 14 February.
M&S joins London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week runs 17 to 21 September, with M&S making its debut on the schedule, Mulberry's first collection under Christopher Kane and McQueen's London return.
Self-driving Ubers in London
From 3 September an UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort anywhere in London except the airports can be a Wayve car driving itself, at the fare you were already quoted.
Kew is £10 on Tuesdays
From 8 September to 29 December the Tuesday ticket to Kew in south-west London is £10 instead of £25, and it includes the largest outdoor Henry Moore exhibition ever staged.
Saturn has grown a decagon
Hubble has confirmed a ten-sided wave at Saturn’s south pole that two amateurs spotted in 2024: a reminder of what a telescope in a London garden is actually good for.
Michael Ball is the Coliseum's Wonka
A new production runs 4 June to 18 September 2027 at the London Coliseum, directed by Nikolai Foster. Priority booking opens on 29 September.
The Bayeux Tapestry comes to London
Seventy metres of eleventh-century embroidery are on show in London from 10 September until 11 July 2027. Tickets are £33, and the next release is on 21 October.
Shut since 1943, open from 16 September
The new free gallery at London's Natural History Museum puts a 400,000-year-old hand-axe beside a Star Wars toy that spent the 1980s under the sea.
Lady in Blue takes the Fourth Plinth
Tschabalala Self's Lady in Blue goes up in London's Trafalgar Square from 10 September and stays until summer 2028 — the longest commitment in public art here.
Frieze Sculpture: free, and outdoors
From 16 September to 1 November, eleven artists take over the English Gardens of Regent's Park in London on the theme of hybridity. No ticket, no booking, no queue.
Apple's chairman: a policy job
Tim Cook stopped being Apple’s chief executive on 1 September. His new remit is policymakers, and many of the rules he will answer to are written in London and Brussels.
A British film opens Venice
Danny Boyle's Ink starts the 83rd Mostra on 2 September. It is the first of the three festivals that decide what London's cinemas show in October.
The V&A closing dates worth putting in a diary
Four exhibitions at the V&A's London sites have published closing dates and one opens in November. Schiaparelli goes first, on 8 November — and it is the one with the shortest run left.
A partial lunar eclipse, visible from London
London's second eclipse in a fortnight: 93% of the Moon in shadow at 5.12am on Friday 28 August, no glasses needed, and Parliament Hill the one obvious place to stand.