The Ellie Project

20+ THINGS TO DO IN LONDON THIS SEPTEMBER 2026

Looking for the best things to do in London in September 2026? From major art exhibitions and design festivals to free outdoor events, family-friendly celebrations and theatre openings, September brings a packed calendar of events across the capital.

As summer winds down and the city gets back into full swing, London in September is filled with art, architecture, food, music and riverside celebrations. Whether you’re planning weekend activities, looking for cultural inspiration or searching for free things to do in London, here are 20+ events worth adding to your calendar this month.

Paul Smith Selfridges Corner Shop
To celebrate his 80th birthday, Sir Paul Smith has packed his colourful studio world into a MINI parked at Selfridges’ Corner Shop, with shoppable archive pieces, a memoir signing and T-shirt printing workshops.
📅 7–19 Sep
🆓 Free

Bayeux Tapestry – British Museum
The 70-metre medieval embroidery of the events of 1066 is on British soil for the first time in 900 years. It’s displayed flat in one continuous length for the first time in its history.
📅 10 Sep–11 Jul 2027
💷 £27–£33

Fourth Plinth: Lady in Blue by Tschabalala Self – Trafalgar Square
The 16th commission for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth is a bronze paying homage to a young, metropolitan woman and reflecting contemporary Londoners.
📅 From 10 Sep
🆓 Free

Emerge East – Barking Riverside
A free riverside festival of music, art, wellness, food and drink, headlined by DJ AG, with an open-air stage, makers’ market and a Riverside Sauna & Wellness Zone.
📅 12 Sep
🆓 Free

Luke Jerram: Pollenarium – Barking Riverside
Behind a curtained doorway, more than 100 lenses, each a camera obscura, reveal an upside-down mosaic of the landscape showing how bees see the world. Part of Emerge East.
📅 12 Sep
🆓 Free

London Design Festival
The 24th edition fills the capital with installations, exhibitions, talks and commissions across eleven Design Districts. Much of it can be explored for free.
📅 12–20 Sep
💷🆓 Varies

Open House Festival
Buildings and sites across all 33 London boroughs open to the public for free. There are over 800 venues and activities, and most are drop-in.
📅 12–20 Sep
🆓 Free

Totally Thames – Along the River Thames
A month-long celebration of the river, including Culture Cargo, a historic sailing barge turned floating cultural venue. Highlights include Catherine Yass’s Turning the Tide, projected onto the columns of Blackfriars Railway Bridge.
📅 1–30 Sep
🆓 Free

CelebrASIA – Battersea Power Station
London’s largest South East Asian festival returns for a third year, with live music, dance, national dress parades and street food. This year adds expert talks and a week of rarely screened films.
📅 11–13 Sep
🆓 Free

The Big Brine (Pickle Festival) – Hackney Bridge
London’s first festival dedicated to pickling and fermentation, with more than 30 traders, chef demos, talks and workshops.
📅 12–13 Sep
💷 From £20

Classic Boat Festival – St Katharine Docks
Over 50 vintage and preserved vessels gather in the docks, including the Dunkirk Little Ships, with live music, talks and kids’ activities.
📅 12–13 Sep
🆓 Free

Fleurs de Villes: DIANA – Somerset House
Leading London florists have created 15 fresh floral mannequins reimagining iconic looks worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. Part of the ticket price supports The Diana Award.
📅 16 Sep–6 Oct
💷 £32

Frieze Sculpture – Regent’s Park
Now in its 14th edition, this free outdoor exhibition has 11 international artists sited throughout the historic English Gardens, curated by Fatoş Üstek. Free curator tours run on 20 Sep and 1 Nov, 12–1pm.
📅 16 Sep–1 Nov
🆓 Free

London Sculpture Week
A citywide celebration of public art, linking the Fourth Plinth, Frieze Sculpture, East Bank, Sculpture in the City and The Line, with a symposium at the Warburg Institute on 25 September.
📅 19–27 Sep
🆓 Free

Bermondsey Street Festival
A free village fête in the city, with live music in Tanner Street Park and a family area in Leathermarket Gardens featuring a dog show and maypole dancing.
📅 19 Sep
🆓 Free

Pearly Kings & Queens Harvest Festival – Guildhall Yard
The Pearlies gather in Guildhall Yard for displays and dancing before parading to St Mary-le-Bow church. It’s a 125-year-old tradition rooted in charity, and harvest offerings are donated to the Whitechapel Mission.
📅 20 Sep
🆓 Free

Classic Car Boot Sale – King’s Cross
Vintage fashion, accessories and homeware traders sell from the boots of vintage vehicles, alongside classic cars from the 1920s to the 1990s and live vinyl DJs.
📅 26–27 Sep
🆓 Free hemingwaydesign

Art on Your Doorstep – The National Gallery x Brentford
Life-size, framed reproductions of National Gallery masterpieces are displayed outdoors around Brentford, viewable 24 hours a day. Up to 30 paintings are placed in unexpected locations around the town, themed around love.
📅 4 Sep–Feb 2027
🆓 Free

Amar Kanwar – Serpentine North
A major solo show by the New Delhi-based filmmaker, filling darkened galleries with a trilogy of films, including the premiere of the seven-screen installation The Charcoal Man.
📅 23 Sep–Jan 2027
🆓 Free ser

The Burberry Trench: Crafting an Icon – V&A
A free display tracing the trench coat from Thomas Burberry’s 1879 invention of gabardine through its craftsmanship to 19 standout runway looks from the past 25 years.
📅 From 21 Sep
🆓 Free

Yuja Wang: Playing with Fire – Southbank Centre
A 45-minute virtual concert featuring a pre-recorded avatar of Yuja Wang in an immersive environment, not a live recital.
📅 9 Sep–Jan 2027
💷 From £22

Thelma & Louise: A New Musical – Young Vic
A world-premiere musical of the road-trip classic, starring Rachel Tucker and Amy Lennox, with a book by original screenwriter Callie Khouri and music and lyrics by Neko Case.
📅 3 Sep–24 Oct
💷 Varies

Sheep Drive – Southwark Bridge
Freemen of the City drive sheep across the bridge, an ancient right revived by the Worshipful Company of Woolmen. Anyone can watch. A Livery & Wool Fair at the north end of the bridge has shearing demonstrations, rare-breed sheep, food and drink.
📅 27 Sep
🆓 Free

Great River Race – Millwall to Richmond
London’s river marathon: almost 300 crews race 21.6 miles along the Thames, and you can watch from anywhere along the course.
📅 12 Sep
🆓 Free