Top things to do in London this July

July in London is proving to be sun-soaked and full of brilliant happenings. It's a great time to enjoy hot weather, London's parks while they're at their finest, outdoor cinemas and gigs.

Check out our top picks below to make this month utterly unforgettable.


City Events

London Pride Parade

When: July 1

Visit UK's biggest, most diverse Pride. A home for every part of London's LGBT+ community, celebrate alongside other members of the LGBT+ community whilst the diverse and vibrant parade passes by.

Lavender Fields

When: season runs from June to September, peaking in August

Immerse yourself in a purple haze this summer by visiting one of London’s fragrant lavender gardens, or head out of town to find sweeping fields of the stuff. Top London destinations are Kennington Park, Kew Gardens and Vauxhall Park. If you're willing to travel outside of London, Mayfield Lavendar and Castle Farm provide the most dramatic views. 

Somerset House Summer Series

When: 06–16 Jul 2023

Tickets: £28 per night

Somerset House Summer Series returns in July 2023 with eleven nights of unmissable gigs in the intimate and immersive setting of our spectacular courtyard. A staple summer experience, this series presents a trailblazing line-up of breakthrough music artists and established acts from across the globe.



Plays & musicals

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe

When: 27 April – 12 August 2023

Tickets: from £10

Join the revellers this summer as mother nature envelops the Globe Theatre for Shakespeare’s deliciously disruptive and intoxicating comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Macbeth

When: 21 July – 28 October

Tickets: from £10

One couple's ruthless quest for power turns nature upside down in Shakespeare’s epic tragedy of Macbeth at the Globe Theatre this summer. Following 2022’s ‘mesmerising’ The Merchant of Venice in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Director Abigail Graham debuts in the Globe Theatre.

A Strange Loop, Barbican

When: 17 Jun – 9 Sep 2023

Tickets: from £25

A ground-breaking and critically acclaimed winner of every ‘Best Musical’ award on Broadway, the Pulitzer-Prize winning show bursts onto the stage this summer for a limited season.

Hell-bent on breaking free of his own self-perception, Usher, a young, gay, Black writer who hates his day job, writes a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who’s writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer...a strange loop. Usher grapples with desires, identity and instincts he both loves and loathes, all brought to life on stage by a hilarious, straight-talking ensemble.

Groundhog Day

When: 20 May – 12 August 2023

Tickets: from £13

A comic parable of love, hope, and transformation from the creatives behind Matilda The Musical and The Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol, this Olivier Award-winning (Best New Musical, Best Actor) musical sensation based on the 1993 hit film returns to The Old Vic this summer.

The Burnt City

When: until 24 September

Tickets: from £55

Immersive theatre legends Punchdrunk return with a jaw-dropping riff on the Greek myth. A beautifully wrought tribute to the savage, doomy mysticism of Greek mythology, it is definitely worth visiting.


Art & Exhibitions

The Offbeat Sari at Design Museum

When: 19 May – 17 September

Tickets: Adult ticket £14


A major exhibition celebrating the contemporary sari. Curated by the Head of Curatorial, Priya Khanchandani, this exhibition will unravel its numerous forms, demonstrating the sari to be a metaphor for the layered and complex definitions of India today. It will bring together dozens of the finest saris of our time from designers, wearers and craftspeople in India.

Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian Forms of Life

When: 20 April – 3 September 2023

Tickets: £20

Explore the powerful work of two groundbreaking modern artists. This is a unique chance to discover the visionary work of Swedish painter Hilma af Klint and experience Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s influential art in a new light. Both artists shared an interest in new ideas surrounding spirituality, scientific discovery and philosophy. Af Klint was also a medium, and this exhibition showcases the large-scale, otherworldly masterpieces she believed were commissioned by higher powers. Visitors will be immersed in these ideas through the vibrant signs, shapes, and colours in both artists’ beautiful, complex work.

CIVILIZATION: the way we live now at Saatchi Gallery

When: 2 June- 17 September 2023

Tickets: from £16


An international exhibition offering an unprecedented look at 150 contemporary photographers tracking the visual threads of humankind’s ever-changing, extraordinarily complex life across the globe. Featuring many previously unseen images, this landmark exhibition acknowledges the diverse material and spiritual cultures that make up global “civilization” today. Exploring a wide range of subjects, from our great collective achievements to our ruinous collective failings, Civilization: The Way We Live Now highlights the complexity and contradictions of contemporary civilization.

Ai Weiwei: Making Sense

When: 7 April – 30 July 2023

Tickets: £16.5

Ai Weiwei's first exhibition focusing on design will mix recent works with commissioned pieces, inviting us into a meditation on value and humanity, art, and activism. This major exhibition, developed in collaboration with the artist, will be the first to present his work as a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values. Through his engagement with material culture, Ai explores the tension between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction.

Re: Imagining Musicals

When: until 27 November 2023

Tickets: Free

This display celebrates the glittering world of musical theatre, exploring the evolution and craftmanship of iconic musicals, from Miss Saigon and My Fair Lady to modern classics SIX the Musical, and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

DIVA at V&A Museum

When: Opens Saturday, 24 June 2023

Tickets: £20

DIVA will celebrate the power and creativity of iconic performers, exploring and redefining the role of 'diva' and how this has been subverted or embraced over time across opera, stage, popular music, and film.

Outdoor Cinemas

London is home to some brilliant alfresco movie spots, which will be popping up all over the city in 2023. Here are our three top picks:

Luna Cinema Park
Its 13 London locations include sites as resplendent as Kenwood House, the Old Royal Naval College, Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey and Kew Gardens. From the latest Oscar-winning blockbusters to the feel-good classics, they have something for date night, a night out with friends or a child-free night all playing under the stars at the most scenic locations around the UK. ​

Barbican outdoor cinema
Positioned among the stunning Brutalist surroundings of the Sculpture Court, there’ll be plenty of atmosphere, even beyond the screen. 

Rooftop Film Club
This alfresco staple has been going on for over a decade now. Expect new releases like ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’, as well as evergreen favourites like ‘Notting Hill’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’, all served with a side order of wood-fired pizza, gourmet burgers and cocktails delivered direct to your deckchair.


Concerts

BST Hyde Park

When: June 24, 25, 30 and July 1, 2, 6, 7, 8

Tickets: from £115

Watch legendary headliners perform their top hits, with Bruce Springsteen, Pink, and Guns&Roses already confirmed for the 2023 line-up.

We hope you enjoy summer in London! 💛

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