Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Things to do in London in January 2020

The ianVisits guide to January's unusual events, tours, lectures and exhibitions happening around London.


Wednesday 1st January

Spend New Year's Day riding a steam train on the Epping to Ongar railway.
2020-01-01
All Day
 
Probably the largest New Year’s Day Classic Vehicle Gathering in the UK.
2020-01-01
9am to 4pm
 
Weybridge
Weybridge
A weekly opening of the richly decorated former hospital chapel, this time on New Years Day.
2020-01-01
11am to 4pm
 
Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road
Annual USA-style parade through the centre of London.
2020-01-01
Starts at 12pm
 
A New Year's Day walk around Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park
2020-01-01
2pm to 3:30pm
 
Bow
Bow

More London events on Wednesday 1st January

Thursday 2nd January

It's quiet over Christmas, so if you've never been, it's a good time to visit Parliament for a tour.
2020-01-02
All Day
 
Whitehall
Whitehall

More London events on Thursday 2nd January

Friday 3rd January

It's quiet over Christmas, so if you've never been, it's a good time to visit Parliament for a tour.
2020-01-03
All Day
 
Whitehall
Whitehall
xplore Hogarth: Place and Progress after normal opening hours, accompanied with a Gin & Tonic.
2020-01-03
Starts at 6pm
 
Holborn
Holborn

More London events on Friday 3rd January

Saturday 4th January

Free
Fire, noise and celebration will scare off the bad spirits ensuring a good harvest in the coming year as we bless the apple trees in our orchard with this old English tradition.
2020-01-04
4pm to 7pm
 
Waltham Abbey
Waltham Abbey

More London events on Saturday 4th January

Sunday 5th January

Monthly opening of the organ collection, with many playing music through the day.
2020-01-05
11am to 5pm
 
Amersham
Amersham
A monthly opening of the Victorian museum of industrial testing equipment.
2020-01-05
11am to 5pm
 
Southwark
Southwark
A celebration of the New Year, mixing ancient seasonal customs with contemporary festivity. It is free, accessible to all and happens whatever the weather.
2020-01-05
Starts at 2pm
 
Southwark
Southwark

More London events on Sunday 5th January

Monday 6th January

No events are listed for today. Sorry.

More London events on Monday 6th January

Tuesday 7th January

Saving the whales and curing cancer are two of the great challenges of the present day, and mathematics has a part to play in addressing them.
2020-01-07
1pm to 2pm
 
Barbican
Barbican
Stephen Tomkins tells this fascinating story - one that is rarely told as an important piece of English, as well as American, history - that is full of contemporary relevance: religious violence, the threat to national security, freedom of religion and tolerance of dangerous opinions.
2020-01-07
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Southwark
Southwark

More London events on Tuesday 7th January

Wednesday 8th January

A lecture by Ursula von der Leyen, LSE alumna and President of the European Commission.
2020-01-08
11:15am to 12:15pm
 
Holborn
Holborn
This lecture asks what clinicians can learn from the world of jazz - and vice versa.
2020-01-08
6pm to 7pm
 
Barbican
Barbican

More London events on Wednesday 8th January

Thursday 9th January

The fair features some forty distinguished specialist exhibitors, drawn primarily from BADA and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers.
2020-01-09
12pm to 9pm
 
Mayfair
Mayfair
A talk about how the myth of Troy travelled to Roman Britain and influenced its inhabitants.
2020-01-09
1:30pm to 2:30pm
 
Russell Square
Russell Square
This panel brings together leading scholars and practitioners in the field of climate litigation to discuss the potential and challenges for the law in addressing climate change.
2020-01-09
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Holborn
Holborn
In this illustrated lecture based on his new book, historian David Welch, delves into The Central Office of Information Archive at the British Library.
2020-01-09
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Camden
Camden

More London events on Thursday 9th January

Friday 10th January

The fair features some forty distinguished specialist exhibitors, drawn primarily from BADA and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers.
2020-01-10
11am to 6pm
 
Mayfair
Mayfair
Dr Andrew Lownie explores the unique marriage between Louis Mountbatten, former Chief of the Defence Staff, and heiress turned humanitarian Edwina.
2020-01-10
Starts at 11:30am
 
Chelsea
Chelsea
Watch, or join in, as Welsh Londoners tour Central London pubs with the Mari Lwyd -- a decorated horse's skull.
2020-01-10
Starts at 7pm
 
Come to Pushkin House to taste and compare some styles of vodka and gin. Some cheese, chocolate and “zakuski” on bread will also be served at the tasting.
2020-01-10
7pm to 9pm
 
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury

More London events on Friday 10th January

Saturday 11th January

The fair features some forty distinguished specialist exhibitors, drawn primarily from BADA and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers.
2020-01-11
11am to 6pm
 
Mayfair
Mayfair
This afternoon of talks and tours explores soldiers' stories from the past two decades.
2020-01-11
Starts at 2:30pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

More London events on Saturday 11th January

Sunday 12th January

The fair features some forty distinguished specialist exhibitors, drawn primarily from BADA and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers.
2020-01-12
11am to 5pm
 
Mayfair
Mayfair
How much more do we drink than we should? Why do immigrants come here? How have house prices changed in the past decade? What do we spend our money on?
2020-01-12
3pm to 4:30pm
 
Holborn
Holborn

More London events on Sunday 12th January

Monday 13th January

Times journalist David Aaronovitch talks to leading journalists and scientists to find out how we can shift the narrative around AMR in order to affect real change.
2020-01-13
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Paddington
Paddington
In this talk, explore how nanoscale machines can target individual cancer cells and deliver drugs more effectively, as well as how nano-antibiotics can fight resistant bacteria,
2020-01-13
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Hanover Square
Hanover Square
A talk about the history of Soviet atheism, the evolution of Marxist-Leninist graphics, the ethics of cartooning, and modern-day cartoon controversies.
2020-01-13
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
A talk about how to deal with the many issues of climate change posed by the plastics invention.
2020-01-13
7:30pm to 9:30pm
 
Holborn
Holborn

More London events on Monday 13th January

Tuesday 14th January

How can we end our intense consumer addiction and change our habits and values to be more sustainable?
2020-01-14
6pm to 7pm
 
Barbican
Barbican
A talk about how the geography of 10 Downing Street has affected the politics carried out there.
2020-01-14
6:30pm to 8:30pm
 
Euston
Euston
A panel discusses the spirit of rebellion found in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and what it is to be a child.
2020-01-14
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Camden
Camden
Jim Al-Khalili and some of his most inventive guests explore the secret of their success and how their inventions are changing our world.
2020-01-14
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Hanover Square
Hanover Square

More London events on Tuesday 14th January

Wednesday 15th January

James Cheshire, Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography, UCL Department of Geography, delivers his Inaugural Lecture: 'The Power of Maps'
2020-01-15
6:30pm to 7:30pm
 
Euston
Euston
A lecture about how people died in a fire because the ladders were too short.
2020-01-15
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell

More London events on Wednesday 15th January

Thursday 16th January

MSc Anne Kathrine Kalager will present the challenges, experiences and possible solutions for urban tunnelling in Oslo.
2020-01-16
6pm to 7:30pm
 
Pimlico
Pimlico
A film screening about a Dutchman who saved hundreds of imprisoned Jews in southern France.
2020-01-16
7pm to 8:45pm
 
Camden
Camden
April 1870: Fanny and Stella were no ordinary Victorian women. They were in fact young men who liked to dress as women.
2020-01-16
Starts at 7:30pm
 
Highgate
Highgate

More London events on Thursday 16th January

Friday 17th January

Over 50 clubs and societies will be present displaying their members work. In total, nearly 2,000 models will be on display.
2020-01-17
10am to 5pm
 
Wood Green
Wood Green
Sir Nicholas Young discusses the colourful exploits of his father, Major Leslie Young, from Dunkirk to D-Day and beyond.
2020-01-17
Starts at 11:30am
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

More London events on Friday 17th January

Saturday 18th January

Over 50 clubs and societies will be present displaying their members work. In total, nearly 2,000 models will be on display.
2020-01-18
10am to 5pm
 
Wood Green
Wood Green

More London events on Saturday 18th January

Sunday 19th January

Over 50 clubs and societies will be present displaying their members work. In total, nearly 2,000 models will be on display.
2020-01-19
10am to 4:30pm
 
Wood Green
Wood Green

More London events on Sunday 19th January

Monday 20th January

Speakers will present their ideas on the future of technology and its impact on the built environment.
2020-01-20
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Pimlico
Pimlico
A series of lectures exploring the imaginative conservation and reuse of historic buildings
2020-01-20
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell

More London events on Monday 20th January

Tuesday 21st January

Take you on a behind the scenes tour of the museum, giving you insights into the Palace's approach to conservation, what it takes to interpret a historic room and the future of Bishop Porteus’s library.
2020-01-21
12pm to 1pm
 
Fulham
Fulham
Originally from Kurdistan province, Iran, Professor Caucher Birkar FRS will speak about his life and his journey to becoming one of the world’s leading mathematicians
2020-01-21
6:30pm to 8:30pm
 
St James
St James
The implications are mind-bending and not yet fully understood, but it stands as the best explanation of the fundamental nature of our world. Welcome to the world of quantum theory.
2020-01-21
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Holborn
Holborn
How have Britain and Russia dealt with loss of empire and what impact has it had on their self-understanding and politics?
2020-01-21
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Holborn
Holborn
One of the murkiest mysteries of December’s general election campaign was the contents of the report on Russian interference in British democracy that Boris Johnson decided to suppress.
2020-01-21
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Paddington
Paddington
Kit Yates will explore the true stories of life-changing events in which the application, or misapplication, of mathematics has played a critical role.
2020-01-21
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Hanover Square
Hanover Square
An evening where museum workers take to the stage to talk about their work.
2020-01-21
Starts at 7:30pm
 
Harley Street
Harley Street

More London events on Tuesday 21st January

Wednesday 22nd January

A debate about the future of the power supply system in urban areas.
2020-01-22
6pm to 8pm
 
Euston
Euston
This talk will provide practical tips that everyone can employ, regardless of their experience, to improve their public speaking.
2020-01-22
6pm to 7pm
 
Barbican
Barbican
This talk will explore the almost two centuries of confusion surrounding first aid for burns and scalds.
2020-01-22
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
This event will launch a report from a research project at the International Inequalities Institute supported by the Sutton Trust to investigate whether British elites are pulling ahead, not just economically but also socially.
2020-01-22
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Holborn
Holborn
A talk about Benjamin Leigh Smith, Britain's "forgotten" Arctic explorer.
2020-01-22
7pm to 9pm
 
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
£7.00
Gareth E. Rees believes that the retail car park has as much mystery, magic and terror as any mountain, meadow or wood.
2020-01-22
7:30pm to 9:30pm
 
Holborn
Holborn

More London events on Wednesday 22nd January

Thursday 23rd January

Iain Borden relates the history of skateboarding from the 1960s surf beaches of California through the swimming pools and skateparks of the 1970s through to the later episodes of street-skating.
2020-01-23
1pm to 2pm
 
This presentation will delve the plan, governance, process, operation and maintenance of the Electrified Standard Gauge Railway projects implemented in Ethiopia.
2020-01-23
6pm to 8pm
 
Pimlico
Pimlico
This panel discussion invites contributors to reflect on the installation and how it might speak to current debates around identity, childhood and belonging.
2020-01-23
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Pimlico
Pimlico
A series of lectures exploring the imaginative conservation and reuse of historic buildings
2020-01-23
6:30pm to 8:30pm
 

More London events on Thursday 23rd January

Friday 24th January

Members of the London Military Museums Network discuss the impact of the First World War on London through the stories of soldiers and civilians.
2020-01-24
Starts at 11:30am
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

More London events on Friday 24th January

Saturday 25th January

Professor Ian Beckett tells the story of the Battle of Isandlwana and the subsequent defence of Rorke’s Drift, looking at the impact of the two events from both British and Zulu perspectives.
2020-01-25
2:30pm to 3:30pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

More London events on Saturday 25th January

Sunday 26th January

Annual parades, festivals and displays in Chinatown.
2020-01-26
Starts at 10am
 
A monthly open day at a quirky transport museum housed in an old water pumping building.
2020-01-26
10am to 4pm
 
Enfield Town
Enfield Town
Grand parade by around 500 members of the King's Army of the English Civil War Society in memory of the execution of King Charles I.
2020-01-26
Starts at 11am
 
Whitehall
Whitehall
Annual show and fair for all things small and dollhouse related.
2020-01-26
11am to 5pm
 
Wapping
Wapping
Discover the history of the building and climb the 135 stairs for the best view of Hackney.
2020-01-26
2pm to 4:30pm
 
Hackney
Hackney
To mark 75 years since the end of the Second World War, this immersive archives course revisits life on the home front during the conflict.
2020-01-26
Starts at 2pm
 
City of London
City of London

More London events on Sunday 26th January

Monday 27th January

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, Jack Fairweather tells the true story of a Polish resistance fighter, who infiltrated Auschwitz and drew the world’s attention to its atrocities.
2020-01-27
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea
Toby Green discusses his groundbreaking history, A Fistful of Shells, in conversation with Zeinab Badawi.
2020-01-27
6:30pm to 7:45pm
 
St James
St James
This panel discussion will focus on assessing the likely impacts of any Brexit outcome on the UK economy, across sectors and regions.
2020-01-27
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Holborn
Holborn
A talk about "wordless books" - such as Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman.
2020-01-27
7pm to 8:30pm
 
City of London
City of London

More London events on Monday 27th January

Tuesday 28th January

Come tour the printing workshop, historic rooms, and famous library.
2020-01-28
11am to 1pm
 
City of London
City of London
The lecture will show how Prohibition animated combatants on both sides, generating two Americas that were barely comprehensible to each other, and how the truce declared during depression and war would not last.
2020-01-28
6pm to 7pm
 
Barbican
Barbican
Adam Richards shares the cultural and design inspirations for the award winning Nithurst Farm, Sussex.
2020-01-28
6:30pm to 8:30pm
 
Euston
Euston
What do the results of the British general election mean for Labour and the left? A panel of leading analysts and activists discuss.
2020-01-28
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Holborn
Holborn

More London events on Tuesday 28th January

Wednesday 29th January

A talk by historian and author, Sarah Wise, on life in the Victorian slums in Shoreditch.
2020-01-29
2pm to 3pm
 
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
A panel of historians, nurses and social scientists explore why nursing remains undervalued in terms of status and pay.
2020-01-29
5pm to 7pm
 
Harley Street
Harley Street
This talk will explore the history behind the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, paying particular attention to issues of building safety and the culture of risk.
2020-01-29
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
A series of lectures exploring the imaginative conservation and reuse of historic buildings
2020-01-29
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
To celebrate the recent opening of the world’s largest medical galleries, January’s Lates will explore how medical innovations have shaped our world.
2020-01-29
6:45pm to 10pm
 
South Kensington
South Kensington
Hear Professor Clive Bloom as he tells the story of a lost world of immigrant politics and anarchists.
2020-01-29
Starts at 7:30pm
 
Tottenham
Tottenham

More London events on Wednesday 29th January

Thursday 30th January

This event brings together international speakers to explore how ceramic innovations, developed during research workshops, are translated into live architectural projects.
2020-01-30
6:30pm to 8:30pm
 
Euston
Euston
The Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL transforms into a human-scale immersive game of Snakes & Ladders amongst the specimens of London’s last remaining university zoology museum.
2020-01-30
6:30pm to 9pm
 
Euston
Euston
Monthly architecture tour of the National Theatre, with drinks included.
2020-01-30
Starts at 7pm
 
Southwark
Southwark

More London events on Thursday 30th January

Friday 31st January

Rory Lewis, winner of Portrait of Britain 2017-19, discusses his Soldiery project, a contemporary reflection of the modern British military.
2020-01-31
Starts at 11:30am
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

More London events on Friday 31st January

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