As a season, spring symbolises rebirth, rejuvenation and renewal. It’s when the days really get longer and the London weather becomes a little friendlier – at least in theory. So, this makes it a perfect time to expand your horizons and start saying yes to the things you passed on in January and February. With this in mind, here’s a guide to some unmissable events taking place in London this spring, from cool cultural happenings to tasty food festivals.
Watch a huge star on stage or a high-profile revival
After weathering another tricky winter, the London theatre scene is absolutely buzzing this spring with a mix of big-name debuts and feverishly anticipated revivals.
Mark Rylance reprises his Olivier and Tony-winning turn in ‘Jerusalem’, Jez Butterworth’s wickedly funny modern classic.
Jodie Comer makes her West End debut in ‘Prima Facie’, a hard-hitting monologue with music by recent Time Out cover star Self Esteem.
Photograph: Jodie Comer in ‘Prima Facie’ by Helen Murray
Amy Adams also makes her West End debut, in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ early masterpiece ‘The Glass Menagerie’.
‘Six’ director Lucy Moss steers the first major revival of ‘Legally Blonde the Musical’, taking place at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
Dubbed ‘Sexy Oklahoma’, US director Daniel Fish’s radically inclusive take on the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical ‘Oklahoma!’ finally hits London.
Tempt your tastebuds at a food fest or buzzy bar opening
Now that the weather is warming up a bit, it’s time to give your Deliveroo account a rest and sample the many vibrant flavours that London has to offer. Whether you’re into street food or red hot restaurant openings, there’s sure to be something to whet your appetite.
Try everything from a piccolo to an oat milk latte at London Coffee Festival, a four-day bean bonanza at Brick Lane’s Truman Brewery.
Toast an early summer at The Rosé Festival, an extravaganza of wine, food, live music and entertainment at Fulham Palace.
Photograph: Eat and Drink Festival by Sam Frost
Try oodles of street food and watch cooking demos from celebrity chefs at Eat and Drink Festival.
Clink glasses at East London’s coolest new cocktail bar, Seed Library – One Hundred Shoreditch.
Check out Cavita, the first solo restaurant from Mexican-born chef Adriana Cavita, which has its own basement mezcaleria.
Kick off festival season early with some amazing live music
Who says festival season doesn’t start till June? There are some absolutely brilliant live music events taking place in and around London from April onwards.
Catch performances from Shame, Self Esteem and Baxter Dury, plus loads of talks and workshops, at DIY Alive.
Enjoy live music, video installations and an open decks sesh at Dialled In, an all-dayer dedicated exclusively to South Asian artists.
Soak up everything from leftfield indie to jazz and techno at Wide Awake Festival, a two-day bash in Brockwell Park.
Photograph: Wide Awake Festival by Luke Dyson
Bop to the freshest beats at Risen, a new electronic music festival spotlighting female, trans and non-binary artists.
Head up to Hertfordshire for Flesh Queer Festival, a two-day celebration of queer dance music featuring Juliana Huxtable, Adonis and Pxssy Palace.
Catch a movie that everyone is going to be talking about
When the April showers hit – and you know they will – there’s nothing cosier than hunkering down in your favourite local cinema with some A-list acting talent.
Maggie Smith will be dishing out zingers while the aristocracy modernises very, very slowly in ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’.
Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi play war poet Siegfried Sassoon in ‘Benediction’, the latest film from revered British director Terence Davies.
Photo Credit: ‘Benediction’ by Laurence Cendrowic
The latest Marvel epic, ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness’, teams Benedict Cumberbatch with Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch.
Led by Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen, ‘Operation Mincemeat’ tells the story of a successful British deception operation during World War II.’
Alexander Skarsgård stars as a Viking warrior in ‘The Northman’, an action epic from ‘The Lighthouse’ director Robert Eggers.
Feed your imagination at a unique cultural festival
Whatever you’re into, London has plenty to do in March and beyond.
BFI Flare Festival shines a spotlight on the best LGBTQ+ cinema from around the world.
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour showcases the most daredevil and action-packed short films around.
Photograph: Still from a short film at Banff Mountain Film Festival by Cira Cowell
The Podcast Show brings together some of the best audio creators out there, including Fearne Cotton and the ‘My Dad Wrote A Porno’ gang.
Fragments is a six-day celebration of T.S. Eliot featuring talks, readings and musical performances held in the City of London’s 22 churches.
Feed your brain at a landmark museum opening
London has some genuinely game-changing museums opening this spring, so you can banish memories of boring school trips for good.
The Vagina Museum – the first of its kind in the world – has found a permanent home: on Victoria Park Square in Bethnal Green.
Photograph: The Vagina Museum
Queer Britain, the UK’s first museum focused on LGBTQ+ history, opens on Granary Square in Kings Cross this spring.
Pick up a statement piece that isn’t too spenny
Art needn’t be out of reach this spring as a smattering of accessible and utterly unpretentious art fairs roll into town.
London Art Fair finally returns a little later in the year than usual, with over 100 galleries exhibiting at it this April.
Aiming to democratise art collection, The Affordable Art Fair has originals on sale for as little as £50 at its Hampstead edition in May.
Photograph: The Affordable Art Fair by Guy Bell
London Craft Week brings together more than 250 established makers, creators, designers and brands from around the world.
Check out an exhibition dedicated to everything from superheroes to news coverage
Whatever you’re into, London’s museums and galleries can offer an instant culture fix this spring with a genuinely varied range of openings.
Delve into five centuries of UK news coverage at the British Library’s Breaking the News exhibition.
Photograph: ‘Breaking the News’ by Sarah Lee
Geek out at Superheroes, Orphans & Origins: 125 years in comics, a major exhibition about foundlings, orphans, adoptees and foster kids in comics.
Luxuriate in Tate Britain’s retrospective dedicated to Cornelia Parker, one of the most mesmerising British artists working today.
Explore the works of the master of torment at Edvard Munch: Masterpieces from Bergen.
Pay your respects at Falklands 40, the Imperial War Museum’s display marking the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War.
Get in some exercise ahead of summer
But only if you feel it, of course.
Hackney Moves is a three-day outdoor fitness festival with plenty of classes for exercise newbies and dedicated sweat lovers alike.
Photograph: Hackney Moves Festival by Stefania Curto
Exercise your mind at Now Play This, London’s leading festival of experimental games.
https://www.timeout.com/london/news/36-things-seriously-worth-doing-this-spring-032122
