London Culture This Weekend and Next Week: 30 October to 8 November 2026

A dated guide to ten days in London, written on 28 October from the sources listed below and the stories on this desk, each with its own sources. Where sources disagree, the linked piece says so. Dates move; check the venue before you travel. For what comes after, see London culture, November and December 2026.

Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November

• Friday 30 October: Wicker, Animol, I Love Boosters, Everest: The Other Side, Primetime and Gentle Monster open in UK cinemas, Screen Daily's release list and Flicks both show. How the box office has gone so far
• Saturday 31 October: the RSC and Factory International's Hamlet Hail to the Thief, with Thom Yorke's Hail to the Thief reworked for a live cast, opens at the Barbican Theatre and runs to 23 January 2027, the Barbican and the RSC both say. The production
• Saturday 31 October: Duran Duran play The O2 on Halloween night; the arena's listing is headed Halloween 2026, and Time Out lists the date too.
• Sunday 1 November: the last day of Frieze Sculpture in The Regent's Park, free, ArtRabbit and Wallpaper both say. The Frieze fairs, closed

Monday 2 to Sunday 8 November

• Thursday 5 November, Bonfire Night: Wimbledon Park's display, with a first show for young children, and a free display at Coram's Fields in Bloomsbury, where adults are only admitted with a child. Walthamstow's displays run 5 to 7 November. The displays
• Saturday 7 November: Harrow's Byron Park combines its display with a Diwali celebration, IanVisits and JustPark both say.
• Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November: Battersea Park and Alexandra Palace both run two nights of fireworks; the dates and the sources that disagree on times are in the Bonfire Night guide.

Open throughout

• Tarek Atoui's Hyundai Commission in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, free, to 11 April 2027. The commission
• Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography at Tate Modern, to 21 February 2027. The exhibition
• Magritte's afterlife at Gagosian, 20 Grosvenor Hill, free, Tuesday to Saturday to 12 December. The show
• Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Natural History Museum, to 11 July 2027. The exhibition
• William Eggleston: All that goes unnoticed at The Photographers' Gallery, to 21 February 2027. The show
• Cindy Sherman's Fabric Matrons at Hauser & Wirth on Savile Row, to 23 December. The show

Just after

The next fortnight brings Skate at Somerset House on 11 November, the EFG London Jazz Festival from 13 November, the Lord Mayor's Show on 14 November and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland on 19 November; the dates and sources are in the November and December guide. The switch-ons are dated in London Christmas lights 2026, the stalls in London Christmas markets 2026, and the next two Fridays' films in UK cinema releases, 6 and 13 November. Our guide to planning a content day is for the shoot you build around any of them.