Unmissable Things to Do in London in 2025

Woah there! You started 2025 without us! We’ve awoken from hibernation and we’re raring to go with another bumper list of Unmissable Things To Do in London (and beyond) – 2025, be amazing (please)!

First things first: some distracting things to do this January. Then, on to some of the other magnificent marvels 2025 has to offer – and, of course, we’ll have a dedicated February list for you, next month…

Main image: Positive Spin The Kazimier and illustrator Liz Harry featuring at Winter Lights 2025 (Pic from Culture Liverpool)

Scroll down for your January fix – or jump ahead to…

Banish those January blues!

Colin Hoult: Colin | Soho Theatre | 8-11 January | From £19

The legendary creator of the divinely silly alter ego, actress Anna Mann (Alien the Musical), Colin Hoult gets personal as himself (but can he weld?).

The Lonely Londoners | Kiln Theatre | 10 January – 22 February | From £15

Trinidadian writer Sam Selvon’s game-changing narrative of the Windrush generation’s cold arrival into London is a must-see in this new theatrical production.

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture | From 10 January

Head up the M1 (on your push-bike of course) to find cultural gems from the get-go, with a spectacular opening from Steven Frayne (previously known as Dynamo), and so much more.

Treacles x Bender Defenders | Zhulin Hidden Village | 19 January | £10

Treacles is creating an important FLINTA and queer space in South London. Join this collab with queer self-defence organisation Bender Defenders to combat hate.

MimeLondon 2025 | Barbican | 14 January – 1 February

MimeLondon heads to the Barbican for four shows, including this epic puppet retelling of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

London Short Film Festival | 17-26 January

London’s most exciting film festival queers the mainstream with an unbeatable programme of the finest short films. Forget the cookie cutter blockbusters and embrace new ideas through short film in 2025.

Including:

• LSFF x The Vintage Mobile Cinema | Crystal Palace Park | 19 January
• Lo-Budget Mayhem | Rio Cinema | 20 January
• LSFF x LCC: Films On The Spectrum | Rich Mix | 24 January
• LSFF x LCC: Love Bites | Rich Mix | 24 January
• Ragga to Rocklands: The Sounds of Deptford and New Cross | Lewisham Arthouse | 25 January
• WTF! | Rio Cinema | 25 January

Christine Bovill – Piaf Revisited | Wilton’s Music Hall | 21-25 January | From £12.50

Glasgow’s finest Christine Bovill brings the pain and majesty of Edith Piaf back to Wilton’s for a thrilling reprise of her hit show.

Winter Lights | Canary Wharf | 21 January – 1 February | FREE

A free light festival to cheer up the misery of January, which pulls off the impossible by enlivening the grey monstrosities of Canary Wharf.

Deptford Flower Market* | Deptford Market Yard | 25 January & Then Weekly

Under the guise of our creative side-hustle Where Have All The Flowers Gone?, we are curating a beautiful new independent weekly Saturday market in the heart of Deptford Market Yard. Come buy flowers & more! *Not just flowers! 

Fridaze | Omnibus Theatre | 24 January & Monthly (4th Friday of the Month) | £5

A fabulous new platform for emerging musicians, comedians and drag performers in Clapham’s new performance powerhouse.

Graeae’s New Writing Festival | Rich Mix | 25 & 26 January | From £10

See new theatre works by d/Deaf, Disabled, and neurodivergent playwrights.

Antigone [on strike] | Park Theatre | 30 January – 22 February | From £15

Unmissable immersive theatre from punk performance pioneers Ferodo Bridges, exploring the Greek myth of Antigone through contemporary Syria.

Gutter: A Bouffon Comedy Ritual | The Pen Theatre | 31 January | From £13.70

A bonkers outing of clownery.

February

Rat Park | A Secret Venue in Vauxhall | 1, 8, 15 & 22 February | From £10

Queer men over 40 discuss intimacy, pleasure, chemsex, cruising and shame in this interactive performance.

PUNK 4+4 TRANSEXUALISM: EIGHT IS THE NUMBER | New Cross Inn | 2 February | £10

Piglet – our favourite activist musician – features at this night of punks 4 trans at our local live music venue.

2025 Leicester Comedy Festival | 5-23 February

Lol until you die (like Richard III, possibly) at this hilarious reason to visit Leicester.

Including:

• b i r d | Phoenix – The Nest | 7 February
• John Tothill: Thank God This Lasts Forever | Duffy’s Bar – Venue Space | 8 February
• Lou Sanders: No Kissing in the Bingo Hall | The Y Theatre | 21 February
• Toussaint Douglass: Purple Drizzle | PETER Pizzeria – Violin Room | 22 February
• Weirdos Comedy Present: The Millennium Bug | The Guildhall – The Great Hall | 22 February

Naughty Cabaret | Jacksons Lane | 7 February | From £16

Join Naughty the clown for an ever-changing offbeat and unexpected line-up of talented women, non-binary, and queer performers.

PALENTINES MART – Queer art Market | Deptford Lounge | 9 February | Pay What You Can

F*CK VALENTINE’S DAY – LONG LIVE PALENTINE’S! A beautiful chance to support the creativity of LGBTQIA+ artisans at South London’s community hub, Deptford Lounge.

Count Dykula | Soho Theatre | 11 February – 1 March | From £11

Queer musical mayhem for those vampires out there.

TESTO | Battersea Arts Centre | 11-22 February | Pay What You Can

Wet Mess is the most innovative, mind-blowing artist around. Get closer to the phenomenon before they end up at the O2 like Chappell Roan.

Unlucky in Love – A Night of Comedy for Pink Noise | The Clapham Grand | 13 February | From £21.44

Clapham Grand tickles your funny bone with this night of hilarity for charity.

Deptford Northern Soul Club’s Valentine’s Day Ball | EartH | 14 February | Prices Vary

Why is Deptford Northern Soul Club never in Deptford any more? Who knows, but if you head to Dalston you’ll find out what all the floor filling fun is all about this VD.

Lynn Faces | New Diorama Theatre | 18 February – 1 March | From £11

An ode to music and silliness set around a band themed on (our favourite) Lynn from Alan Partridge.

The Face Magazine: Culture Shift | National Portrait Gallery | 20 February – 18 May | £23

Long before the fashion magazines all merged into the i-D and VICE corporations, The Face dominated the hip mag market with its outré photography, bad-assery and street style.

Shon Faye: Love in Exile | Southbank Centre | 26 February | From £15

Shon Faye, author of the acclaimed bestseller The Transgender Issue, debuts her new book.

Leigh Bowery! | Tate Modern | 27 February – 31 August | £18

The icon is explored in this epic exhibition – hopefully, Tate will have invested enough time & effort to match the epic 2022 LEIGH BOWERY Tell Them I’ve Gone to Papua New Guinea exhibition at The Fitzrovia Chapel.

The Sisters Fig | Soho Theatre | 28 February – 1 March | From £17

Jesters Blaise Wopperer and Lara Ciulli channel Summer-Heights High and Mexican daytime TV for an inexplicable haha feast.

March

Cry-Baby, The Musical | Arcola Theatre | 3 March – 12 April | From £12

John Waters’ essential, camp, 50s heartthrob film is repurposed for stage, so you don’t have to watch Johnny Depp any more!

Zines Forever! DIY Publications and Disability Justice | Wellcome Collection | 14 March – 14 September | FREE

The political power of the zine is explored in this free exhibition.

Happy Hour | Jacksons Lane | 14 March | From £14

Mind-bending circus explores Scandinavian contradictions around alcohol.

Boney M 50th Anniversary Tour | Broadway Theatre, Catford | 15 March | From £35

RAH RAH RASPUTIN! The most fun you can have in London this year? Ear worm hit makers, Boney M are back for a special 50th anniversary show in the gorgeous Broadway Theatre in Catford.

Mary and the Hyenas | Wilton’s Music Hall | 18-29 March | From £13.50

Uncover feminist Mary Wollstonecraft’s story and legacy in this new show featuring music by Billy NoMates at London’s most spectacular relic, Wilton’s Music Hall.

April

THISISPOPBABY: WAKE | Sadlers Wells Peacock Theatre | 2-5 April | From £18

The Irish trad-pop performance company turns a wake on its head with a sexy, euphoric night of aerial artistry, tap, cabaret, slam poetry, pole-dancing and more.

Cro Cro Land | Stanley Arts | 5 & 6 April | From £20

40 bands over 2 days in Croydon’s music festival for the people. The mosh pit beckons.

2025 Musical Comedy Awards Grand Final with Jazz Emu | Bloomsbury Theatre | 12 April | £18.50

Comedy with songs has never been funnier thanks to ToKTiK or whatever it’s called. But make sure to catch the very best musical comedians live IRL.

Giffords Circus: Laguna Bay | Various Venues | 17 April – 28 September | Prices Vary

Giffords never disappoint with Cal McCrystal’s exquisite joyful circus creations. Sunny 1950’s Americana is the theme for their next show.

Future Ritual Festival | Peckham | 23-27 April

Performance art, ritual and magick from Anne Bean, Emilyn Claid, Marilyn Arsem, Liz Rosenfeld and VestAndPage.

TAMBO & BONES | Theatre Royal Stratford East | 29 April – 10 May | From £10

A comedic exploration of America’s challenging history of race.

Passion Fruit | Barbican | 30 April – 3 May | £18

Dior Clarke is a game-changing performance maker, and in this show Romeo – a Black, Gay, British-Jamaican boy – comes of age in North London.

May

MOTH Club: Cerys Hafana / Gaye Su Akyol / Freak Slug | MOTH Club

MOTH club is at risk of being shut if new developments get the go ahead – sign the petition to help support the venue. The May programme of incredible diverse artists shows Lanzarote (the club’s promoter) taste is unrivalled in London. From Welsh songmaker Cerys Hafana to Turkish artist Gaye Su Alyol via UFO aka Freak Slug, the venue’s gold glitter ceiling is looking down on the most exciting nightlife programme in town.

Goner | Battersea Arts Centre | 6-10 May | Pay What You Can

A blood-soaked psychological horror from Marikiscrycrycry.

Wide Awake | Brockwell Park | 23 May | £54.50

By far the best line up for edgy new music this year, Wide Awake feels like a DIY breath of fresh air in a sea of corporate festivals.

Kate Butch: Wuthering Shites | Wilton’s Music Hall | 28 May | From £11

Cliche-free RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Kate Butch has written a Kate Bush musical. Heathclifffffffffff…..

June

Hercules | Theatre Royal Drury Lane | From 6 June | From £29.50

Disney’s offbeat, soulful musical – with music from Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid) – about the muscular god puts Meg at the centre to revamp the greek tragedy.

The Mists of the Marshes | Purfleet | 28 & 29 June

Head to the edge of the Thames estuary for a vampiric tale in Purfleet, London home to the eponymous count in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Teatro Vivo are one of our favourite theatre companies – don’t miss this opportunity to head east to Purfleet!

July

Ura Matsuri 2025 | Venue TBA | Date in July TBA

Japanese culture is no better challenged and redefined than at this event featuring ESEA talent, from traditional music and folk dance to Frank Chickens’ post-modern pop pastiche.

August

Greenwich+Docklands International Festival | SE London | August Dates TBC | FREE

London’s spectacular FREE festival returns with new ways to boggle our tiny minds in the most unexpected places.

September

The Drifters | Hackney Empire | 20 September | £31

Tina Treadwell (daughter of the group’s original founders, George & Faye Treadwell) takes the legendary Drifters’ music to Hackney.

October

Gilbert & George: 21ST CENTURY PICTURES | Hayward Gallery | From 7 October

London art star provocateurs G&G show works from 2001 to now.

TBC

The Traitors Live | Details TBA

Love the TV show? Think you’d be a good Traitor? Prove it. Details to come soon, but we think this might be a bigger hit than Taskmaster Live.

Did we miss any big incredible things to do in London (or beyond) for 2025?

We almost certainly did – please let us know in the comments below!