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 October 2020

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


Thursday 1st October

Light projections in celebration of new life, nature and optimism will light up Marble Arch from sunset
2020-10-01
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Marylebone
Marylebone

Online events / webinars

Join Professor Robert Endres for Science Breaks: How cells perceive their environment - lessons from bacteria
12:30pm to 1:30pm
 
This lecture will focus on human rights and the wrongs of unexpected and/or sudden deaths in which the state is implicated.
6pm to 7pm
 

More London events on Thursday 1st October

Friday 2nd October

Light projections in celebration of new life, nature and optimism will light up Marble Arch from sunset
2020-10-02
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Marylebone
Marylebone

Online events / webinars

Join author and broadcaster Loyd Grossman online as he discusses his new book on the intertwined lives of Bernini and Pope Alexander VII as one of the greatest artistic double acts in history.
7pm to 8pm
 

More London events on Friday 2nd October

Saturday 3rd October

£17.00
All the fun of the classic big tent circus arrives for a few days in Peckham.
2020-10-03
All Day
 
Peckham
Peckham
London Craft Week themed tour around the history of St Paul's Cathedral
2020-10-03
All Day
 
City of London
City of London
The garden is 80ft x 23ft on three levels with an ornamental pond, patio area with shrubs and perennials, many in pots.
2020-10-03
11am to 5pm
 
Romford
Romford
Light projections in celebration of new life, nature and optimism will light up Marble Arch from sunset
2020-10-03
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Marylebone
Marylebone

More London events on Saturday 3rd October

Sunday 4th October

£17.00
All the fun of the classic big tent circus arrives for a few days in Peckham.
2020-10-04
All Day
 
Peckham
Peckham
The annual event where the Thames Barrier is closed for the whole day.
2020-10-04
9:05am to 7:05pm
 
Woolwich
Woolwich
A monthly opening of the Victorian museum of industrial testing equipment.
2020-10-04
11am to 5pm
 
Southwark
Southwark
Monthly open day at Gatton Park, the core 250 acres of the estate originally laid out by Capability Brown.
2020-10-04
1pm to 5pm
 
Reigate
Reigate
A lecture about the high mortality from disease during the Crimean War.
2020-10-04
Starts at 2pm
 
Southwark
Southwark
Light projections in celebration of new life, nature and optimism will light up Marble Arch from sunset
2020-10-04
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Marylebone
Marylebone

More London events on Sunday 4th October

Monday 5th October


Online events / webinars

This UK City Dialogue brings together Manchester, London and Birmingham for a discussion about the health of our city centres as we move through the recovery from COVID-19.
3pm to 4:30pm
 
A talk about Darwin's four enormous books on barnacles, used to earn credit in scientific circles
6pm to 7pm
 

More London events on Monday 5th October

Tuesday 6th October


Online events / webinars

An evening with Catherine Belton who will be discussing her critically acclaimed book ‘Putin’s Russia’.
6pm to 7:30pm
 
On the 200th anniversary of the birth of Friedrich Engels, his biographer Tristram Hunt looks at how both Engels and Karl Marx were deeply affected by their time in London in the second half of the 19th century.
6pm to 7pm
 
Explore with us what SpaceX has to offer and what lies ahead - is humanity to finally become a true space-faring species?
6pm to 7pm
 
Sean B Carroll tells the story of the awesome power of chance and how it is the surprising source of all the beauty and diversity in the living world.
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Joanna Ebenstein will trace the history of death in art, with a special focus on the bubonic plague epidemic
7pm to :
 

More London events on Tuesday 6th October

Wednesday 7th October


Online events / webinars

This lecture will consider how stargazing with imperfect, non-linear human eyes can accomplish important contributions to elucidating the phenomena of nova detonations in our galaxy.
1pm to 2pm
 
Alec Tritton looks at some of the occupations that employed the working man and the aspiring middle classes in the 19th century.
2pm to 3pm
 
This lecture will chart the history of patient data and statistics to monitor healthcare performance and how patients use healthcare services.
5:30pm to 6:30pm
 
This lecture draws on a ten-year collaboration with a Savile Row tailor to explore ‘bespoke’ as a metaphor for clinical practice.
6pm to 7pm
 
Dr Elma Brenner devotes attention to responses to the deadly Sweating Sickness in London, and also considers the rich material culture of death and pestilence.
7pm to :
 
Along with consideration of some of the best known buildings of the time, gain insights into some of the lesser known places and architects and some new discoveries.
7pm to :
 
Trevor Barnes gives a talk about one of the Cold War’s most notorious spy cases - the Portland Spy Ring
7:30pm to 8:30pm
 

More London events on Wednesday 7th October

Thursday 8th October


Online events / webinars

Join Professor Gareth Collins for Science Breaks: The dinosaur-dooming asteroid and how we stop the next one.
12:30pm to 1:30pm
 
This talk by Pete Smith tells the story of his close and often fraught collaboration with a range of talented artists, and points to the detailed clues in their illustrations that a modern reader might easily miss.
2pm to 3pm
 
Anna Garvey is a tattoo artist with 15 years experience. One of her specialist fields is post-mastectomy tattooing.
6pm to 7pm
 
In this talk, learn about some of the challenges faced by overhead line engineers and how a rebranding exercise could help to repair the reputational damage incurred from some more recent projects.
7pm to 9pm
 

More London events on Thursday 8th October

Friday 9th October


Online events / webinars

Periodicals have been produced by and for Black people in Britain for more than two hundred years. In this talk, S.I. Martin will introduce a handful of the more prominent titles.
2pm to 3pm
 

More London events on Friday 9th October

Saturday 10th October

This boutique art fair will show a curated selection of artists whose work celebrates the joy of plants, flowers and gardens.
2020-10-10
10am to 11am
 
Southwark
Southwark
The first ever Chelsea Physic Garden Houseplant Market, with market stalls, talks and visits to the Victorian glasshouses.
2020-10-10
10:30am to 5:30pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea
Open day at a wood and nature reserve that's next to the railway at Forest Hill.
2020-10-10
1pm to 4pm
 
Forest Hill
Forest Hill

Online events / webinars

Adele Emm tells us how gas and electric lighting affected our ancestors’ home lives.
10:30am to 11:30am
 
Online talk by the Freud Museum's Deputy Director, Ivan Ward.
3pm to 4:15pm
 

More London events on Saturday 10th October

Sunday 11th October

This boutique art fair will show a curated selection of artists whose work celebrates the joy of plants, flowers and gardens.
2020-10-11
10am to 11am
 
Southwark
Southwark
30 tables offering vintage records, next to a salvage fair with 50 dealers.
2020-10-11
11am to 5pm
 
Peckham
Peckham
100 years after the Casino and Sunray Estates were built, learn about their story and how they relate to the national picture.
2020-10-11
2:30pm to 4pm
 
Dulwich
Dulwich

More London events on Sunday 11th October

Monday 12th October


Online events / webinars

Peter Nolan shares the story of Jack, a Prisoner of War who became a mental health nurse.
5:30pm to 6:30pm
 
Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon will investigate how experience in the Soviet Union affected how African Americans understood their identity as Black people.
6pm to 7:30pm
 

More London events on Monday 12th October

Tuesday 13th October


Online events / webinars

Join Mike Ashworth and Henrietta Billings for this special live event celebrating the architecture of the Jubilee Line Extension stations.
11am to 11:45am
 
This lecture will explore the mathematics of musical symmetries, such as the “translational symmetry” of the transposition of keys, and the “rotational symmetry” of the duet “Der Spiegel”, attributed to Mozart.
1pm to 2pm
 
Was Covid-19 the ultimate wake-up call about how we live on planet earth?
6pm to 7pm
 
David Sumpter shows how a small set of formulas can provide the answers to questions ranging from the trivial to the profound.
7pm to 8:30pm
 

More London events on Tuesday 13th October

Wednesday 14th October

Mudlark Lara Maiklem and Archaeologist Mike Webber will uncover these fragments of the past which tell stories of London’s first farmers more than 5000 years ago, Roman invaders, and Medieval saints.
2020-10-14
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Southwark
Southwark

Online events / webinars

The privileges, expectations and stresses of their upbringing to prepare them for their future roles and destiny.
2pm to 3pm
 
A preview of a VR model of the City of London, with an accuracy down to 2cm.
3pm to 4pm
 
This lecture will explore the areas government is widely perceived to be responsible for, ones where government should have no role, and the areas where medical professionals provide a third dimension to a triangle of responsibility.
6pm to 7pm
 
This month, the LMA book group is reading 'The Housing Lark' by Sam Selvon "Selvon's meticulously observed narratives of displaced Londoners' lives created a template for how to write about migrant
6pm to 7pm
 
In this talk, Professor Chesnut will explain how an obscure folk saint who is regarded as heretical by the Catholic Church, has so quickly become the deity of these times of plague.
7pm to :
 

More London events on Wednesday 14th October

Thursday 15th October

Visit Strawberry Hill at twilight and experience the home of the author of the first Gothic novel.
2020-10-15
Starts at 7pm
 
Twickenham
Twickenham

Online events / webinars

Join Professor Cristina Lo Celso as she discusses her efforts in stem cell biology in the bloody battle against leukaemia.
12:30pm to 1:30pm
 
Exploring the City of London’s involvement in the festivities of the Regent's Canal.
2pm to 3pm
 
Professor Vidya Dehejia examines the divine goddesses of Tantra and the visually stunning temple complexes that were built in their honour across India.
3pm to 4pm
 
Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, the new Director of V&A East, tells the story of how that resistance came to inspire the creation of some of the most dynamic artistic practice of the modern age.
6pm to 7pm
 
Discover how type and design connect people to ideas, culture, and each other
6:30pm to 7:30pm
 
Sudhir Hazareesingh speaks to Isabelle Dupuy about his new biography of the great slave leader, military genius and revolutionary hero Toussaint Louverture.
7pm to 8pm
 

More London events on Thursday 15th October

Friday 16th October

Join Barry Renfrew as he shines a light on the experiences of West Indian soldiers who served in the British Army.
2020-10-16
Starts at 12pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

Online events / webinars

Hear the story of Oliver Twist and see the real London locations used in one of Charles Dickens' most famous books.
7pm to 8pm
 

More London events on Friday 16th October

Saturday 17th October

There will be a firework display from a barge on the Thames.
2020-10-17
8:30pm to 8:35pm
 
Greenwich
Greenwich

More London events on Saturday 17th October

Sunday 18th October

Japanese landscaped garden originally part of Coombe Wood Nursery, planted by the Veitch family in the 1860s.
2020-10-18
2pm to 5pm
 
Norbiton
Norbiton

More London events on Sunday 18th October

Monday 19th October


Online events / webinars

City Guide Jill Finch’s talk looks back at that history and at the street today. From literary lions to waxworks and a pub that crossed the road, Fleet Street still has a tale or two to tell.
2pm to 3pm
 
This lecture will examine – and celebrate – the work of lawyers who have crossed the usual lines and worked for political change.
6pm to 7pm
 

More London events on Monday 19th October

Tuesday 20th October


Online events / webinars

Join Librarian Ann Martin to learn about the history of Guildhall Library and to view some of the Library’s treasures.
10:30am to 11am
 
There are a surprising number of closed railway lines and stations in London. Join Stephen to explore some lost and forgotten railways.
3pm to 4pm
 
This paper will present findings from a ‘bottom up’ LGBT archive study (funded by the Wellcome Trust).
5:15pm to 7pm
 
Join Stephen Fry for an evening of conversation as he explores establishing trust in science and how individuals can make rational and objective decisions with Nobel Prize-winning biologist and President of the Royal Society, Venki Ramakrishnan.
6pm to 7pm
 
There are also general theories of algorithms, and those ideas are not messy at all; they are very beautiful, powerful and should be required reading for the internet age.
6pm to 7pm
 
How did the brevity of the telegram influenced Hemingway's writing style? How did a young chemist expose the use of Polaroid's cameras to create passbooks to track black citizens in apartheid South Af
7pm to 8:30pm
 
A visual tour of Stoke Newington’s past and a time when the New River ran along Church Street and detached mansions were a common sight.
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Historian and architect Benedict O'Looney discusses landmark collaborations between architects, engineers & town planners in the twilight of Beaux Arts London.
7pm to :
 
Join Librarian Ann Martin to look at how the tale has been passed down generations of adults and children through books, ballads and pantomimes in Guildhall Library’s collections.
7pm to 7:30pm
 

More London events on Tuesday 20th October

Wednesday 21st October

A talk by Nick Mayhew-Smith and Guy Hayward, authors of the new publication, Britain's Pilgrim Places.
2020-10-21
6:30pm to 8pm
 
Southwark
Southwark

Online events / webinars

Discover the rise, the fall and rise again of the remarkable career of John Singer Sargent, the leading portrait painter of his age – the age of elegance.
2pm to 3pm
 
This event, jointly hosted with the British Society for the History of Mathematics, will focus upon the relationship between mathematics and money, from coinage through to cryptocurrencies.
4pm to 7pm
 
In his talk, Dr Troyer will explore the relationship of the dead body with technology through history, from nineteenth-century embalming machines to the death-prevention technologies of today.
7pm to :
 

More London events on Wednesday 21st October

Thursday 22nd October

Open afternoon in the garden of the South London Botanical Institute
2020-10-22
11am to 4pm
 
Herne Hill
Herne Hill
Visit Strawberry Hill at twilight and experience the home of the author of the first Gothic novel.
2020-10-22
Starts at 7pm
 
Twickenham
Twickenham

Online events / webinars

Bruce Daisley joins Alan Lockey of the RSA Future Work programme for a briefing on the great remote working experiment: what we learned, and how to prepare wisely for what comes next.
1pm to 1:30pm
 
Architecture and travel writer Christopher Beanland, author of Lido, takes us on a tour around the very best outdoor swimming pools, from London and beyond in this illustrated talk.
6pm to 7pm
 
This lecture examines the centuries long presence of the African diaspora as an integral part of Britain’s history since Roman times.
6pm to 7pm
 

More London events on Thursday 22nd October

Friday 23rd October

Join Shrabani Basu as she recounts the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, who served as a British secret agent during the Second World War.
2020-10-23
Starts at 12pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea
£15.00
Jason Fox, veteran of the Special Boat Service, reflects on his military operations and explores how anyone can build the strength and resilience of an elite soldier.
2020-10-23
Starts at 6:30pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

Online events / webinars

In November 1633, a little boy telling tall tales about witches in his local community in Lancashire sparked a witch hunt so shocking that no lesser body than the Privy Council decided to investigate.
2pm to 3pm
 
Author Marie Le Conte talks Gossip Politics and Power in her latest book.
7pm to 8pm
 

More London events on Friday 23rd October

Saturday 24th October


Online events / webinars

The talk essentially takes the form of a guided tour of the house and church.
6pm to :
 

More London events on Saturday 24th October

Sunday 25th October

Open days usually feature the restored engines in operation, a light railway trip, and walks around the Victorian buildings.
2020-10-25
10:30am to 4pm
 
Abbey Wood
Abbey Wood

Online events / webinars

Join Alistair Hall, art director and author of London Street Signs, for an illustrated talk exploring some of the capital’s most beautiful and curious nameplates.
1:30pm to 2:30pm
 
Pageboy, courtier, civil servant and poet. Chose to write in English rather than Court French. A radical choice, but why?
6pm to 7pm
 

More London events on Sunday 25th October

Monday 26th October


Online events / webinars

A lecture on the Caribbean migrants who came to the UK not to work in the buses and hospitals, but as artists and writers.
6pm to 7pm
 

More London events on Monday 26th October

Tuesday 27th October


Online events / webinars

An evening with James Rodgers who will be discussing his critically acclaimed book Assignment Moscow: Reporting on Russia from Lenin to Putin.
6pm to 7:30pm
 
This illustrated talk will discuss the life and work of the Penzance-born Humphry Davy and his rise from provincial obscurity to metropolitan fame.
6:30pm to :
 
Let Ben Aaronovitch tell you about his new book in the "Rivers of London" series.
6:30pm to 7:30pm
 
Professor Tracey Hill’s illustrated talk will discuss the traces of James and George Peele in the City archives, and reveal the many parallels between their civic pageants and the Elizabethan theatre.
7pm to 8pm
 

More London events on Tuesday 27th October

Wednesday 28th October

Join a performer as they guide you on a bone-chilling journey through the past.
2020-10-28
Starts at 7pm
 
Eltham
Eltham
Audiences will be lead on an evening tour of Chelsea Physic Garden by Sir Derek Dustyreel - 1950's black and white film star.
2020-10-28
Starts at 8pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

Online events / webinars

The City is unique in having a wondrous cluster of Wren churches within its Square Mile.
11am to 1pm
 
A talk about the so-called Great Eruption of Eta Carinae which was for a time in the mid 19th century the third brightest object in the night sky.
1pm to 2pm
 
This paper examines how spouses, cultural commentators, and legal practitioners addressed the problem of unwanted sex--even rape--in marriage, from the 1700s to the 1820s.
5:15pm to 7:15pm
 
From the former director of GCHQ, learn the methodology used by the British intelligence agencies to reach judgements, establish the right level of confidence and act decisively.
6pm to :
 
This lecture will focus on the nightclub and its associated audiences and cultures, and the ways that clubs and music venues generate particular forms of social infrastructure.
6pm to 8pm
 
Professor John Mullan will explore the tradition of factuality in the English novel, ending with the novels of Kazuo Ishiguro and examples of recent auto-fiction.
6pm to 7pm
 
Film historian Pamela Hutchinson talks about the life and legacy of 1920s star Louise Brooks
6:30pm to 7:30pm
 
Join Alexandra Epps, Arts Society Lecturer and Art Guide to learn more at this online Lecture.
7pm to 8pm
 
Nick Groom’s talk will approach the coronavirus pandemic from a cultural perspective, suggesting how supernatural agents such as vampires can help us to make sense of the crisis.
7pm to :
 

More London events on Wednesday 28th October

Thursday 29th October

A talk about the property speculator and developer, Nicholas Barbon who made his fortune rebuilding after the Great Fire of London.
2020-10-29
Starts at 7pm
 
City of London
City of London
Follow a lantern-lit tour amongst the tombs of the East End's famous and infamous dead!
2020-10-29
7pm to 8pm
 
Bow
Bow
Visit Strawberry Hill at twilight and experience the home of the author of the first Gothic novel.
2020-10-29
Starts at 7pm
 
Twickenham
Twickenham
A talk by award-winning journalist and author Peter Ross on his latest publication A Tomb With a View: The Stories and Glories of Graveyards.
2020-10-29
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Southwark
Southwark
Audiences will be lead on an evening tour of Chelsea Physic Garden by Sir Derek Dustyreel - 1950's black and white film star.
2020-10-29
Starts at 8pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea

Online events / webinars

Join Joe Studman for a virtual history walk around Kentish Town.
2pm to 3pm
 
Professor David Edgerton will survey British policy for British aviation after 1945 arguing that many really did believe that the UK’s future lay in leadership in aeronautics.
6pm to :
 
Join a panel of experts as they discuss the so-called just transition and, as society emerges into the “new normal”, the opportunity we are presented with for a fair green recovery.
6pm to 7pm
 
Evelyn’s preoccupation with apparently contemporary environmental problems, and his suggested solutions, are a remarkable legacy and one to be celebrated in 2020.
6pm to 7pm
 

More London events on Thursday 29th October

Friday 30th October

Late-night opening of the museum along with the Derek Jarman exhibition and a floodlit church.
2020-10-30
5:30pm to 8pm
 
Southwark
Southwark
Why Can’t We All Just Get Along by Iain Dale is part-memoir, part-polemic about the state of public discourse in Britain and the world today
2020-10-30
7pm to 8:30pm
 
Southwark
Southwark
Join a performer as they guide you on a bone-chilling journey through the past.
2020-10-30
Starts at 7pm
 
Eltham
Eltham
£20.00
Haunting ghost stories, live music, and food and drinks available from the Painted Hall Café and the Old Brewery.
2020-10-30
Starts at 7pm
 
Greenwich
Greenwich
Audiences will be lead on an evening tour of Chelsea Physic Garden by Sir Derek Dustyreel - 1950's black and white film star.
2020-10-30
Starts at 8pm
 
Chelsea
Chelsea
Follow a lantern-lit tour amongst the tombs of the East End's famous and infamous dead!
2020-10-30
8:30pm to 9:30pm
 
Bow
Bow

Online events / webinars

For Black History Month 2020 we explore BAME leaders in nursing, past and present.
5pm to 6pm
 

More London events on Friday 30th October

Saturday 31st October

£20.00
Haunting ghost stories, live music, and food and drinks available from the Painted Hall Café and the Old Brewery.
2020-10-31
Starts at 7pm
 
Greenwich
Greenwich

Online events / webinars

In November 1633, a little boy telling tall tales about witches in his local community in Lancashire sparked a witch hunt so shocking that no lesser body than the Privy Council decided to investigate.
10:30am to 11:30am
 
Alec Tritton tells us about resurrection men - they supplied fresh corpses in the 19th century to Anatomical Schools.
2pm to 3pm
 
London- City of the Dead. City of Horror. Ghosts and horror in this Halloween Virtual Tour
8pm to 9pm
 

More London events on Saturday 31st October

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