Controversial… but we’re actually glad it’s not Christmas every day.
Because that would mean missing out on the flurry of events London’s got lined up for the mysterious, liminal space that is ‘twixtmas’ (between Christmas and New Year). This year there’s plenty worth rousing yourself from the sofa for – including rooftop hot cocktails and dazzling circus; candlelit carols and raucous ceilidh dancing; risqué cabaret; bottomless cheese; time-warped houses and a T-Rex in a Christmas Jumper…
Friday 20th December
Christmas at the Museum
There’s a fine science to getting into the Christmas spirit. And you’ll find it at the Natural History Museum‘s final Late of the year; a festive extravaganza with craft workshops, mulled wine, ‘seasonal science stations’, live harp music, after-hours access to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, and an animatronic T-Rex in a Christmas jumper.
Details: 20th December, 6.30-9.30pm | Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD | £27
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Xmas Massaoke
What is massaoke, you ask? Or, at least, we think you did, because we can’t hear you over the joyous crowds simultaneously singing along to some of the best Christmas songs ever written, played live on stage alongside projections of the lyrics and full-on pyrotechnics, creating one of the most euphoric mass-bonding experiences of your life. Maybe you just said ‘stop knocking my beer’.
Details: 20th December | Electric Ballroom, 184 Camden High Street, London NW1 8QP | £22
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The Rivoli Ballroom Cinema
If you’ve never been to the Rivoli, it’s worth going for the interiors alone: it’s a totally untouched 1950s ballroom in South East London, with a shimmering vaulted ceiling, chandeliers, and deep scarlet walls. The fact that they’re turning the whole place into a pop-up festive cinema this month is just the icing on the cake, really. Just be warned that the bookkeeping system hasn’t updated since the ’50s either, and it’s a cash-only bar.
Details: 20th – 22nd December | Rivoli Ballroom, 350 Brockley Road, Crofton Park, SE4 2BY | £10
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Explore Sir John Soane’s Museum By Candlelight
This house hasn’t been touched in over 200 years. And this month, they’ll be celebrating like it’s 1799 with mince pies, mulled wine and carolling, in an entirely candlelit atmosphere.
Details: 20th December | Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A | £25
Saturday 21st December
All Souls Carols
This colourful, upbeat, and entirely free series of carol concerts sits slap bang in Central London – so when you’ve officially lost the plot navigating last-minute Christmas shopping on Oxford Street, you can slip into this stunning church for an hour of brass band-led carols, festive readings, and free mince pies & hot punch.
Details: 21st & 22nd December | All Souls Church, Langham Place, London, W1B 3DA | Free, just turn up
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The Christmas Pajama Party
You’re probably going to do this at home anyway, so why not put on your finest night-togs and settle in for a festive movie marathon at one of the finest independent cinemas in London. The Prince Charles Cinema is showing The Muppets Christmas Carol, Elf, Gremlins, Home Alone and Die Hard across one epic sleepover, with a bar open till 2am.
Details: 21st December, 11pm-9am | Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Pl, London WC2H 7BY | £20
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Christmas Carols at St. Paul’s Cathedral
It doesn’t get more classic than this: huge, twinkly trees; a proper choir and one of London’s most iconic settings. St. Paul’s Cathedral’s family-friendly carol service on the morning of the 21st is free and unticketed, so prepare to have your morals tested when trying to get a seat.
Details: 21st December, 11am-12pm | St. Paul’s Cathedral, London EC4M 8AD | Free, just turn up
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Sunday 22nd December
Carols by Candlelight at Union Chapel
Emile Holba
It’s one of the most popular carol services in London, illuminating the vast, grade II listed Union Chapel in Highbury with the glow of thousands of candles. There’ll be performances of classic carols and parts of Handel’s Messiah sung by the Union Chapel Voices choir, accompanied by the church’s amazing organ, as well as well-known carols to sing along to.
Details: 22nd December, 6pm for 7pm start | Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, N1 2UN | Free, arrive early to get seats
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The Snowman
Now a regular festive fixture, the Mozart Symphony Orchestra are ditching their namesake for the day to play a live soundtrack to accompany this screening of The Snowman. Bring tissues.
Details: 22nd December, 1.30 & 4.30pm | Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ | £18-34
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Hackney Flea Market
If you’ve still got a stubborn name on your Christmas shopping list who’s impossible to buy for… you probably still won’t find anything at Hackney Flea Market. But at least you’ll have a good time – especially if you finish with a slap-up brunch at Esters.
Details: 21st & 22nd December, 11am-5pm | Abney Public Hall, 73A Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0AS
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Carols at The Ned
The cathedral-like interiors of The Ned make for a pretty epic setting for Christmas. This year, you can settle in for a Christmassy meal at one of their four restaurants; enjoy a festive afternoon tea; or soak up the dulcet tones of Gareth Malone’s choir while you enjoy drinks and canapés at The Nickel Bar.
Details: 22nd December, from 8pm till late | The Ned, 27 Poultry, EC2R 8AJ | £60 standing, or £175 inc. three-course meal or bites & drinks
Monday 23rd December
Canopy Market & Club Curling
Decking its Victorian steel and glass hall with dozens of star lanterns, Canopy Market will be running almost every day for in the month-long run-up to Christmas. You can expect live music; mulled cider & wine; and over 50 hand-picked independent businesses hawking food, drink and handmade goods. And once you’ve ticked off all your last-minute gifts, you can head into Coal Drops Yard for a round of curling.
Details: 29th November – 22nd December, Tues-Sun (plus Mon 16th Dec), 12-7pm (8pm Fri)/11-6pm weekends | West Handyside Canopy, N1C 4BH | Free entry
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The Winter Gin Garden: Sipping History | Cosy rooftop cocktails
Depending on how much you’ve ticked off your Christmas shopping list, you can either come up to this exclusive heated rooftop bar to sip hot gin cocktails, feeling incredibly smug as the masses scramble below you on Regent Street… or come here for some Dutch courage before joining them.
Details: Until 31st December | Ham Yard Hotel, 1 Ham Yard, Soho, W1D 7DT | £24
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The Big Christmas Party at the Barbican
If you’ve somehow made it this far through Whamageddon, lose the game in style at the Barbican’s iconic concert hall, which is staging a massive, super-cheesy Christmas party playing through all the anthems with a talented cast of singers and musicians.
Details: 23rd December, 2.30pm | Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS | £19.50-52
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Hot Tub Film Club
The team behind London’s hot tub boats are bringing back their Hot Tub Film Club, where you can watch a cult flick al fresco from the comfort of your own toasty jacuzzi tug boat. On the slate: Elf and Home Alone, and you don’t even have to get out of your boat to order more drinks.
Details: 22nd & 23rd December | West India Quay, Off Hertsmere Road, London E14 4AL | £39+
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Christmas at Westminster Abbey
Join Elizabeth I, Charles Dickens and Sir Isaac Newton for a festive bonanza in an iconic setting. Granted, they won’t be doing much singing, but you and the Westminster Abbey choir will probably make up for it.
Details: 23rd & 24th December | Westminster Abbey, London, SW1P 3PA | Free
Christmas Eve
Smithfield Market Meat Auction
This long-standing annual tradition has been kept going by one butcher’s stall at the famous Smithfield Market, and its days are sadly numbered with the news that the 850 year old market will close for good in 2028. So seize one of the last opportunities to join the punters gathering under the market’s colourful iron beams to bag a bargain – enormous hunks of top-quality meat, won by waving tenners and twenties in the air. Bring cash, and leave with a rack of ribs (and the relief that you can tell anyone you’re hosting for Christmas that you totally missed the supermarket delivery slots on purpose).
Details: 24th December, 10am (starts gathering from 9am) | Smithfield Market, Grand Avenue, London, EC1A 9PS | Free
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Five Go Jiving
The Southbank Centre‘s sunken ballroom will be coming to life on Christmas Eve with a free afternoon of jive, swing and lindy hop dancing. There’ll be live music from John Bayley and his band, and there are free dance lessons all afternoon if you need to brush up or, you know, learn, any moves.
Details: 24th December, 1-4pm | Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX | Free
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Feast Off Piste
The rooftop at The Berkeley is a tad chilly in the winter, so they’ve decided to set up some ski gondolas, and fill them with mulled wine raclette, tartiflette with freshly shaved truffle, a milk chocolate fondue (with edible candles) and gingerbread s’mores to finish. Not too shabby.
Details: Until 1st January 2025 | The Berkeley, SW1X 7RL | £75
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Borough Market
It’s open! So you can take a lovely crisp stroll along the Southbank past the Globe and other London icons; grab the superlative Christmas sandwich at The Black Pig and a cup of mulled wine; and explore the market’s festoon-lit alleys picking up last-minute cheese, chutneys and other delights to win the eternal affections of whoever’s hosting you the next day.
Details: Open 8am-3pm | 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL | Free entry
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The Muppet Christmas Carol Sing-Along
Watching the greatest felt-based Christmas movie of all time can only be improved by one thing: getting to sing your little heart out to ‘One More Sleep ‘Til Christmas’ and it actually being entirely accurate.
Details: 12 & 2.45pm (also showing every day until Christmas) | Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BY | £15
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Christmas Day
The Peter Pan Cup
Serpentine Swimming Club
On Christmas Day, it’s always important to remember those less fortunate – like the people who have signed up to swim a 100-yard race along the freezing cold Serpentine. The shock of the water is so potentially heart attack-inducing that the race is only open to seasoned wild swimmers, but it makes for a great spectator sport – especially when followed by a walk around the park and a slap-up brunch at The Park.
Details: 9am | Serpentine Lido, Hyde Park | Free
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Free Vintage Bus Tour
This Christmas Day, a vintage 1950s Routemaster bus will be mastering its old route once again, for free. If you’re anywhere near the ol’ 430 in south-west London (it shuttles between Roehampton and Putney Bridge), you can hop on or off any time you like.
Details: 9:30am-4pm | From Roehampton Danebury Avenue & Putney Bridge Station | Free
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Boxing Day
London Fields Lido
Don’t worry. It’s heated to 24 degrees all year round. Plus, if you do happen to take a refreshing post-Crimbo dip in the London Fields Lido, you can reward yourself with the city’s flakiest, creamiest, booziest mince pies from Pophams afterwards.
Details: 6.30am-9pm | London Fields West Side, E8 3EU | £6
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Go On A Good, Long Walk
Robert Bye/Unsplash
Well, you’re going to have to make room for those leftovers somehow. Seize Boxing Day by the horns and set off on a crisp, wintry walk – either through the city itself, when it’s still (weirdly) quiet and peaceful; along the riverside; or through one of London’s many parks and nature reserves. We’ve gathered the best of them here.
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…And End Up In A Pub with a Roaring Fire
Because nothing will get you stomping across a heath quicker than the prospect of a cosy armchair in a wood-panelled pub somewhere, with vats of mulled wine and a crackling log fire. See the best cosy pubs here
Friday 27th December
La Clique
A dazzling patchwork of cabaret, burlesque, circus and vaudeville, La Clique’s a raucous, risqué and fun-filled night featuring, amongst others, an acrobatics act (performed entirely on roller skates); an aerial contortionist who hangs by her hair; and the James Bond of diabolo…
Details: 7 & 9.30pm (running until 5th January) | The Spiegeltent, Leicester Square, WC2H 7NA | From £25
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In The Mood for a little old-school swing? The Barbican’s midcentury concert hall will be rippling with the strains of the Glenn Miller Orchestra just before New Year’s, as they play through Big Band classics like Moonlight Serenade and Chattanooga Choo Choo.
Details: 27th December, 2.30pm | Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS | £18+
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A Christmas Carol-ish
If you’ve not yet encountered Nick Mohammed’s berserk alter ego Mr Swallow, you’re in for a treat, and he’s accompanied here by a more than able supporting cast of character comedians – Kieran Hodgson, David Elms and Martha Howe-Douglas – who are all in fine voice (and an array of ridiculous outfits). The plot is gloriously incomprehensible (it’s Scrooge meets Santa, but that’s just the half of it…), there are rollerskates and sparkly gold tailcoats, and the musical numbers are genuinely fantastic. There’s not a ghost of a chance you won’t love it.
Details: Until 31st December | @SohoPlace theatre, 4 Soho Place, Charing Cross Road, W1D 3BG | £20+
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Mars In The Painted Hall
UK based artist Luke Jerram has made himself a small cottage industry displaying replicas of heavenly bodies in rather heavenly spaces. And now, he’s now planting our neighbour Mars into the immensely grand Painted Hall in Greenwich. Prepare yourself for a little awe time.
Details: Until 28th January 2025 | Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College, SE10 9NN | £16.50
Saturday 28th December
Catch up with London’s Exhibitions
A couple of big hitters from the last year close in January, like the Van Gogh blockbuster at the National Gallery, the Francis Bacon show at the NPG, and Monet’s London landscapes at the Courtauld. So as your blood alcohol content starts to retreat to healthy levels once more, take the opportunity to osmose some culture at the best exhibitions on in London.
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Go Ice Skating
Technically, ice skating is a water-sport. Only, everyone has knives strapped to their feet, and gravity is playing tag with everyone’s bottom.
But all of that aside, they’re also one of the best places to be on a crisp & chilly day, with a mulled drink in hand, and some festive cheer still lingering in the air. See all the best ice rinks in London here
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Dennis Severs’ Christmas Openings
For those who don’t know, Dennis Severs’ House is a bit like a historical time capsule. In fact, it’s like ten time capsules in one. Because each of the ten rooms in this Georgian-era Spitalfields townhouse have been decorated so as to evoke the sensation that the occupants just left. There’s food on the table. Embers in the fireplace. And this month, there’s a Christmas frozen in time, complete with mince pies, mulled wine, and more.
Details: Timeslots still available from 28th Dec | 18 Folgate St, Spitalfields, E1 6BX | £16, book ahead
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Glow at Wisley
Wisley’s usually quaint and peaceful botanic gardens are being set alight with fire sculptures, fountain displays, colourful lights bathing their trees and shrubs, and a display that makes their conservatory look like a horticultural nightclub. And when your retinas have been sufficiently dazzled, you can stop off at the Christmas market for roasted chestnuts, toasted marshmallows and mulled wine served from festive chalets.
Details: Until 5th January 2025 | Wisley Lane, Wisley, Woking GU23 6QB | £17.95+
Sunday 29th December
The Museum of Architecture’s Gingerbread City
Building an entire city out of gingerbread may sound like a half-baked idea…
…but when it’s constructed by over fifty architects & engineers gathered together by the Museum of Architecture, it’s actually pretty impressive. A new one is created every year (for obvious reasons) and the ideas behind it are actually pretty practical, as well as downright adorable…
Details: Until 29th December | The Gaumont, 196-222 King’s Rd, London SW3 5XP | £13
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The Magic Circle Christmas Shows
As always, London’s magicians have got something up their sleeves. The elusive Magic Circle are throwing open the doors to their HQ, where you can explore their museum (full of all kinds of fascinating, mysterious artefacts) with a drink in hand before going in to the theatre for a festive show full of tricks, illusions and slapstick performed by some of the country’s best magicians.
Details: 20th-23rd, 27th-30th December | 12 Stephenson Way, NW1 2HD | £15.40+
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Fire & Fromage
On the off-chance that you haven’t already eaten your weight in cheese by this point, you can make up for lost time at Fire & Fromage. This twinkly riverside pop-up features tables with built-in fire pits, which you’ll use to toast your own marshmallows… after an hour and a half of unlimited raclette.
Details: Until 31st December | By The Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Southbank, SE1 8XX | £35
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The Nutcracker at the Royal Albert Hall
As festive shows go, the Nutcracker is absolutely cracking. And you can see a five star adaptation at the Royal Albert Hall this Christmas courtesy of Birmingham Royal Ballet, who’ll be performing to Tchaikovsky’s live score alongside massive projections, giant baubles, and falling snow.
Details: 29th – 31st December | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AP | £75+
Monday 30th December
Circa’s Duck Pond
Pia Johnson
Witness some exhilarating stunts in this ducked-up version of Swan Lake, performed by the multi-talented artists at Circa’s. The Aussie company’s critically acclaimed show quite literally throws a bunch of acrobats into the mix, alongside clowns, dancers, contortionists and aerial artists, to reimagine the classic ballet – this time, with a lot more ducks.
Details: 19th – 30th December | Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX | £20+
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The Great Christmas Feast
What the Dickens is the best immersive Christmas feast taking place in London this festive season? Funny you should ask. Because it’s unquestionably The Great Christmas Feast: a ravishing live retelling of Dickens’ Christmas Carol, with a three-course banquet woven into the story itself, inside a lantern-lit recreation of the author’s own home, along with old fashioned cocktails, live music, and more…
Details: Until 12th January | The Lost Estate, 9 Beaumont Ave, W14 9LP | £135+
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New Year’s Eve
Reminder: New Years is coming, so we’re all going to celebrate what is, essentially, the earth’s birthday. If you’re looking for a party idea, then there are obviously hundreds going on. Here are just a few…
Details: 31st December | Everywhere
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New Year’s Day
New Year’s Day Ceilidh
Yes, we know. If you did anything other than get tucked up in bed at 8pm with a Horlicks last night, this is probably the last thing you feel like doing. But there’s nothing better than a ceilidh to blow any hangover cobwebs away – especially when it’s in the Southbank Centre‘s ballroom, it’s led by the Ceilidh Liberation Front’s rambunctious live band, and it’s free.
Details: 1st January, 1-4pm | Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX | Free, just turn up
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New Year’s Day Parade
Starting at a very respectable 12pm, London’s annual New Year’s Day parade will wend its way through 2 miles of Central London in a vibrant, becostumed display of music, dance, inflatables, and general razzle dazzle. There’ll be over 8,000 international performers in the procession, including Bhangra dancers, taiko drummers, Chinese dragons and Pearly Kings & Queens.
Details: 1st January, 12pm | Starts at Green Park tube | Free
Need somewhere to eat between doing all this? Check out the hottest restaurants in London right now