Rosie Hewitson

If the only thing you want to hear going bump in the night is a thudding soundsystem, then Halloween in London won’t disappoint. This year the day of spooks and scares falls on Tuesday October 31 2023. And while mid-week shindigs aren’t known for being the best nights out, that hasn’t stopped London’s party starters from throwing massive events, many of which are taking place over the ‘Halloweekend’ prior to the big night itself. There are scary club nights aplenty, but also gothic cabaret shows, frightful live music, spooky museum lates and scary movie screenings. If you go out on actual Halloween, be prepared to spend the following days like a zombie at work. It’ll be so worth it, though... RECOMMENDED: Our complete guide to Halloween in London.

We know what you’re thinking, but November isn’t just a non-month sandwiched in between Halloween and Christmas. Despite the long dark evenings now the clocks have gone back, November is sparkling, and not just because of all the Diwali celebrations, Bonfire Night antics and Christmas light switch-ons that happen around the city at this time of year.  There’s some long-awaited theatre on the cards like the stage adaption of ‘Stranger Things’ and Alice Birch’s adaption of ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’. There’s also the London Jazz Festival to look forward to and we can also rejoice in the return of many of the major events in London’s Christmas calendar, including Winter Wonderland, Christmas at Kew, the ice-skating rinks, winter markets and seasonal pop-ups.  And that’s just some of the exciting stuff happening throughout November 2023 in London. For more ideas on how to spend the early part of the festive season, check out our full roundup of the best events and things to do in London this November.  RECOMMENDED: The definitive London events calendar.

These days as soon as autumn arrives in London, the city is illuminated with colourful light trails and installations. But one festival of light has been around for a lot longer than all of them.  With a Hindu and Sikh population of over half a million, Diwali is a major celebration in London. Symbolising the spiritual victory of light over darkness, it takes place over five days in October or November, depending on when the new moon falls. In 2023, this is on Sunday November 12, with plenty of celebrations around the city leading up to and during the festival. From family-friendly events to foodie celebrations, including the traditional centrepiece in Trafalgar Square, here are our favourite Diwali celebrations in London. RECOMMENDED: London’s best Indian restaurants

Some people like to watch scary movies from the safety of their sofa with a cushion in front of their eyes. We prefer the communal experience: sitting in a huge, dark space with loads of fellow thrillseekers, all reacting to every collective gasp and shriek. If you’re with us, then you need to get your brave self to one of these Halloween film screenings. And when we say scary movies, we don’t just mean genuinely terrifying horror classics like ‘The Shining’ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. Many classics of the Halloween movie season range from camp as Christmas (‘Hocus Pocus’ and ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’) to...actually low-key Christmassy (‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’).  Whether you like to be chilled to the bone or raucously entertained while wearing drag, London has a Halloween movie screening for you. Recommended: 🎃 Our guide to Halloween in London👹 The 66 greatest movie monsters of all time

It’s that time of year when we all gaze at the calendar in disbelief. Somehow our damp squib of a summer has well and truly vanished, and the chilly Autumn nights are here to stay. Orange orbs are popping up thick and fast for Halloween and ice rinks are evening opening up their frosty floors, which means Christmas is officially on the horizon (gulp).  Before we all start to have an existential crisis in the face of the fast, cruel onslaught of time, look to London for a welcome diversion. As ever, the city is brimming with wonderful cultural offerings to get you out of bed in the morning.   Don’t miss Jamie Lloyd’s much buzzed-about production of ‘Sunset Boulevard’ starring erstwhile Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. According to our Theatre critic, it’s a ‘wonderfully weird and audacious take on the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit’ and a landmark production from one of the UK’s best directors.   The Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall has had another makeover, this time courtesy of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui who has draped the cavernous space in vast reams of fabric in a shimmering, gorgeous, powerful elegy of colonial exploitation. Annual favourite London Literature Festival is back with an excellent-looking line-up and the London East Asian Film Festival is in town again to show us rich cinematic spoils being made in that part of the world right now. Still got gaps in your diary? Embrace the beginning of the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness at London’s best parks and green spaces

The unceasing passing of time marches on. Yep, September slipped by and now we’re well and truly into October. Orange orbs are popping up thick and fast for Halloween and ice rinks are evening opening up their frosty floors, which means Christmas is officially on the horizon (gulp).  Before we all start to have an existential crisis in the face of the fast, cruel onslaught of time, look to London for a welcome diversion. As ever, the city is brimming with wonderful cultural offerings to get you out of bed in the morning.   Don’t miss Jamie Lloyd’s much buzzed-about production of ‘Sunset Boulevard’ starring erstwhile Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. According to our Theatre critic, it’s a ‘wonderfully weird and audacious take on the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit’ and a landmark production from one of the UK’s best directors.   The Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall has had another makeover, this time courtesy of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui who has draped the cavernous space in vast reams of fabric in a shimmering, gorgeous, powerful elegy of colonial exploitation. Annual favourite London Literature Festival is back with an excellent-looking line-up and the London East Asian Film Festival is in town again to show us rich cinematic spoils being made in that part of the world right now. Still got gaps in your diary? Embrace the beginning of the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness at London’s best parks and green spaces or by treating yourself to a perfect autumnal day out in the city. If y

Many of us love a good old-fashioned Christmas complete with trips to festive markets, ice skating, carol services and all the trimmings. But it’s not everyone’s glass of eggnog. Thankfully, London is abuzz with unusual Christmas events come winter. Whether you fancy switching up your usual gift-shopping with a trip to the Satanic Flea Market’s Antichristmas Fayre, making the Yuletide gayer than ever at a camp as Christmas drag show, or watching hardy swimmers go for an icy plunge on December 25 in the Serpentine’s famous Peter Pan Cup race, have yourself a quirky little Christmas with our round-up of the ultimate alt festive events in London. We’ll be updating this page with alternative events for Christmas 2023 as they are announced. RECOMMENDED: Find more festive fun with our guide to Christmas in London.

Halloween falls on Tuesday October 31 2023, and while Tuesday nights don’t always lend themselves to spooky, spine-chilling fun, you can always count on the capital to provide you with the biggest, baddest events for the occasion.  There’s plenty of fright-filled fun to be had throughout October, whether you want to watch horror films on the big screen, join a lantern-lit ghost tour, learn about London’s graveyards, carve pumpkins, or let your synthetic wigs down over themed cocktails. So when you’re after something strange in your neighbourhood, who ya gonna call? Time Out London, that’s who! We might not be so great at ghost-busting, but we’ve got everything else covered this ‘scary szn’ with our whopper list of the very best Halloween events in London for 2023. RECOMMENDED: Your ultimate guide to Halloween in London

Guess what: it’s somehow half-term again. It might seem like mere days since the start of the new school year, but the kids are getting a whole week off, which means it’s only a matter of time before somebody complains that they’re bored and you’re racking your brains for something to do besides plonk them in front of the telly.  Luckily, London has plenty of brilliant kid-friendly museums and galleries that really come into their own when school is out. And October half-term is a particularly good ’un because it’s Halloween season with its many events and acitivies.  When is October half-term this year?  This year, half-term falls from Saturday October 21 to Sunday October 29 2023.  Whether you’re after some rainy day fun, outdoor play or some budget-friendly free activities for families, London absolutely has you covered. Here’s our roundup of all the best things to do with your children this May half-term. 

The nights are getting darker, you’re just about resisting the urge to turn on that exorbitantly expensive central heating, and everything has the sickly sweet taste of pumpkin spice... it must be October!With every passing autumn, London’s Halloween celebrations seem to get bigger, better and spookier, with all sorts of family-friendly frights, movie screenings, pumpkin-picking fun and scary nightlife to check out over the month. And it’s also a bumper season when it comes to London culture, with the return of the BFI London Film Festival, the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre and the Bloomsbury Festival across (you guessed it!) Bloomsbury. October is also Black History Month in the UK, with many of London’s major institutions staging special events to mark the occasion.  Art-wise, you’ve got Tate Britain’s big new exhibition about Young British Artist Sarah Lucas, and the long-awaited Marina Abramović retrospective at the RA. On the stage there’s Penelope Skinner’s new play ‘Lyonesse’, which stars Lily James and Kristen Scott Thomas and a big new adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel ‘Hamnet’.  And for those not embarking on Sober October, there are Oktoberfest celebrations galore, plus London Cocktail Week is also on the cards. And there’s plenty more too! Check out our list of the best cultural happenings and things to do throughout October 2023. RECOMMENDED: The definitive London events calendar

October 2023: We don’t want to shock and upset you, but somehow it’s October already. While we were all still reeling from the unceremonious departure of the most tepid and anticlimactic August we can remember, a whole month passed us by in a flash. Now we’re bracing ourselves for darker nights, colder temperatures, and the alarming appearance of ‘pumpkin spice’ in places where it’s neither expected nor particularly welcome (pumpkin-spiced anti-bac anyone?)  But its not all bad news! Autumn is an excellent time of year for London culture, with loads of cracking new theatre, major art and museum exhibitions opening this month, not to mention a plethora of culture-forward festivals like the London Literature Festival, the Bloomsbury Festival and the BFI London Film Festival, plus loads going on in celebration of Black History Month. It’s also ‘spooky season’ (yes, people really do seem to call it that) which means that there’s all sorts of Halloween-themed fun to be had, from pumpkin-picking and scary film screenings to family-friendly frights and spooky nightlife. And for those not embarking on Sober October, there are Oktoberfest celebrations galore, plus London Cocktail Week is also on the cards. So resist the urge to go into hibernation and get yourself out there!  No matter what your vibe, tastes or interests, there is always something to do in London. When the sun’s out, London’s parks turn into leafy social clubs, restaurants dust off their outdoor seating and fountains

October isn’t just the time of year when the leaves turn brown, the clocks go back and sugary pumpkin syrup suddenly starts appearing in absolutely everything. It’s also Black History Month, and as usual there’s plenty going on around the capital to mark the occasion. Here’s everything you need to know about Black History Month in London. What is Black History Month? Black History Month is an annual month of observance honouring the history, traditions, arts and culture of Black people both in the UK and across the globe. Founded in the United States in 1970, it was first celebrated in the UK in 1987.  When is Black History Month 2023? In the UK and Ireland, Black History Month takes place in October, with talks, exhibitions, screenings and plenty more events taking place nationwide throughout the month. Don’t get it mixed up with the US and Canadian version, which is celebrated in February. Yes, it’s another one of those needlessly confusing disparities between our calendars, just like Mother’s Day.

Housed inside a (possibly haunted) Victorian theatre, south London’s modern variety palace The Clapham Grand is known for its camp-as-Christmas programming, so it’s no surprise that it’s once again pulling out all the stops for its epic Halloween party this weekend. Head down early doors for a drag show starring Black Peppa, Elektra Fence, Miss Leighding and host Ginger Johnson and warble along to some spooky bangers at a secret karaoke bar before track monster mash-ing the night away to tunes from DJ TeTe Bang and headline selector Rylan (off the telly!) You can also expect ‘horrifying confetti, blood-curdling balloon drops and ghostly cocktails’. Fancy dress is of course mandatory!

Around 35,000 revellers are expected to attend this massive annual celebration of the Hindu, Sikh and Jain Festival of Light in Trafalgar Square, making it the largest Diwali event in the city. Head into central London nice and early to catch the colourful Opening Ceremony, which features over two hundred festively-attired dancers performing in the main square. There’ll be live music, dance performances, puppet shows and cooking demonstrations on the main stage throughout the day, plus plenty of vegetarian food stalls, henna tattooing and workshops on everything from yoga to sari and turban tying. Sounds pretty...lit! Sorry.

London nightlife big hitter The Cause has gone from strength to strength since moving into its new home in the Docklands earlier this year, and this mega day-to-night Halloween party is its biggest production yet. Its cavernous warehouse spaces will be transformed into a twisted carnival featuring funfair rides, food stalls, games and circus performers, with the likes of Babara Boeing, Lagoon Femshayma, Scarlett O’Malley, Nicolas Lutz and many, many more on the decks. With loads of spooky new rooms and rave spaces to explore this year, it promises to be one hell of a party. Scream if you want to go faster. 

Nomadic party starters Cirque du Soul are back in town for the ‘Halloweekend’, and they’re throwing a massive Friday night shindig at Canning Town megaclub The Cause. Expect haunted circus decor, food stalls, confetti canons, costume prizes and a genuinely terrifying house of horrors featuring ‘killer clowns, rabid bats and marauding zombies’. DJs will be spinning jackin’ house, breaks, techno and club bangers across four rooms until 5am, and they’re also promising some big name surprise headliners. Get on eBay and start putting together the perfect evil clown lewk stat. You might want to run away with the circus after this one...

If we’re being honest with ourselves, once you’re past the age when trick or treating is socially acceptable, Halloween is basically just a convenient excuse for a big old piss-up. Which is exactly what Tottenham-based craft brewery Beavertown has organised for its spooky season celebrations this year. Taking place in the cavernous railway arches of Kachette in Shoreditch, the Saturday night knees-up promises ‘immersive’ journey ‘into the unknown’, featuring loads of great beers on tap, a stellar line-up of DJs including Artwork and Tash LC spinning tunes across a variety of different rooms and a host of spooky surprises throughout the night. Tickets include a pint of Neck Oil on arrival. 

If you’re looking for just a classic, massive Halloween knees-up, this long-running spook-tastic affair should definitely be on your hit list. Pulled together by Matt’s BBQ who started out running literally BBQs for his mates back in 2006 and has since put on massive raves in Jamaica and Ibiza, it’s taking over the O2’s 2,800-capacity venue indigo with an immersive haunted-house experience filled with ghouls, ghosts and zombies, plus DJs spinning rnb, dancehall, house and garage tunes. Fancy dress isn’t mandatory, but there will be a cash prize for the best dressed. Usually feel like a zombie the day after a rave? You may as well get into the spirit a day early. 

The sport of curling – the one you watch on telly during the Winter Olympics and find curiously engaging – has arrived in King’s Cross, with a pop-up outdoor arena set among the restaurants and bars of Coal Drops Yard. Curl the night away on one of six synthetic curling lanes in groups of up to six, and then once you’ve finished your 45-minute session, warm up with a toasty cocktail at the Curling Club bar. This year it's back with a '90s twist, so the fun and games will be soundtracked by a programme of DJs curated thanks to Voices Radio. 

Kensington’s grand Italianate music hall is quite possibly the most iconic place in London to enjoy a Christmassy concert, and as usual it’s got a huge variety of them on this year, from camped up festivities hosted by queen of pop herself, Kylie Minogue (‘An Audience with Kylie’ on Dec 1) to a wholesome evening with Jamie Cullum, (‘The Pianoman at Christmas’ on Dec 8). Family-friendly festive fun comes in the form of the Cinematic Sinfonia’s ‘Home Alone in Concert’ from Dec 2, while ‘My Orchestral Christmas Adventure’ on Dec 10 is a perfect way to introduce little ones to classical music.  And then there’s the big one, ‘Carols at the Royal Albert Hall’, from Dec 16-24. Can you really say you’ve ‘done’ Christmas in London if you’ve not experienced the full majesty and power of ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’ belted out by over 5,000 carollers at the Royal Albert Hall? Not in our view, you can’t. 

Banging tunes will abound in a music doc feast that starts in London before piling into a metaphorical minibus and heading off on a UK-wide tour. There are films covering everything from the Aussie punk scene to the origins of Detroit techno. Plenty of the capital’s best-loved indie cinemas are hosting screenings, including the Barbican, the Rio, the Ritzy and various branches of Picturehouse and Curzon. Look out for the wonderfully joyful yet emotional doc on the rollercoaster on the careers of TLC, and a screening of the charming 1980s blockbuster comedy, 9 to 5. 

Worship at the altar of Cassavetes? Think Tarantino went downhill after ‘Reservoir Dogs’? Get along to another bumper celebration of indie filmmaking courtesy of Raindance. Setting up home in some of London’s finest cinemas – Genesis, Curzon Soho et al – there’ll be a host of buzzy new independent films to discover across eleven jam-packed days, alongside special events including a masterclass with ‘Alcarràs’ director Carla Simón and a two-day VR Summit. Check out the full programme here.    

South Asian cinema is huge in the UK – and this is its Glastonbury. Get along to Ciné Lumière, Ealing Project, Rich Mix and other excellent London venues (alongside cinemas in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bradford) for the autumn programme of Europe’s largest South Asian film festival. The eclectic line-up features everything from savour road-trip capers to feminist dramas, zombie comedies, filmmaker biopics and other Indian gems, new and old. If you’re an ‘RRR’ fan, an October 30 screening of director SS Rajamouli’s 2012 housefly revenge romance (yes, you read that correctly!) ‘Eega’ has your name on it. Check out the full programme here. 

Korean film is way more than just Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook, supreme though they are. In fact, Korea arguably has one of the world’s most exciting and mercurial film cultures, as proved by this splashy annual festival. Showcased at the BFI, the Rio, the Garden Cinema and various other prestigious London picture houses, the line-up features 40 films screened across a fortnight, kicking off with Hur Jin-ho’s knotty morality tale ‘A Normal Family’ and wrapping up with mystery thriller ‘Dr Cheon And The Lost Talisman’. Have a butchers at the full programme here. 

Twenty-first century London is saturated with low-level smut. Its streets house three separate penis waffle purveyors and you can hardly walk into a gift shop without your eyes being assaulted by boob or bum-shaped novelty vases. But in times of yore, Londoners had to go to extreme lengths for a glimpse of tantalising nudity. They had to seek out statues with intriguing curves, modelled in fleshy marble, and discreetly ogle them until the nearest policeman moved them on with a swift jab of his truncheon. Here are some of the most outrageously sexy statues of yesteryear: seek them out, but bring the smelling salts in case it all gets too much. Achilles, Hyde Park Photograph: Claire Ward / Wikimedia Commons The body part that the Greek warrior Achilles was classically best known for was his heel. But that all changed when a scandalous statue of the hero was placed in Hyde Park in 1822. It was funded by Ladies of England, a patriotic women’s group who were presumably quite embarrassed by the scandal his lovingly chiselled anatomy provoked. A fig leaf was attached soon after. But it still attracted undue attention from Londoners including, allegedly, the storied actor Laurence Olivier, who once opined that the statue had ‘the best arse in London’. Time to see for yourself? Michelangelo’s David, The V&A Photograph: Shutterstock The V&A Museum’s magnificent replica of Michelangelo’s David was given to Queen Victoria as a birthday present in 1857... but only after a tasteful l

Be strong. You too can fight the seasonal siren song of pumpkin spice! The sugary blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger – there is, in a wild plot twist, no actual pumpkin in the ubiquitous autumnal flavour – has hijacked hot drinks for the past few years and we remain annoyed by it. But rather than flipping over every pumpkin spice latte we see, we’ve decided to celebrate the humble pumpkin instead, and point you in the direction of the best savoury squash dishes available in London this autumn. ‌Steamed Delica Pumpkin at Poon’s Wontoneria, Fitzrovia Photograph: Courtesy of Poon’s Wontoneria Herald the extension of Chinese restaurant royalty Amy Poon’s wonton-tastic pop-up (now running until February 2024) with this steamed pumpkin dish. Served alongside dried tofu skin also known as fǔzhú, as well as Chinese mushrooms and black bean sauce, these perfect hunks of soft pumpy are just what you need to cosy up to as the nights draw in. Yes, we did just call in ‘pumpy’. Get on board.  23 Charlotte St, W1T 1RW. £11.50. Pumpkin Arancina at Norma, Fitzrovia Photograph: Norma An oozy nugget of carb-based gold, this is pumpkin done the Sicilian way. The godfather of seasonal rice balls, this Delica delicacy comes topped with shavings of scamorza cheese and sage, and makes for the perfect edible autumn accessory. And if you really, really need that tawdry pumpkin spice hit, then scroll down to Norma’s dessert menu, and check out the pumpkin spiced tiramisu they’ll be offe

London’s LGBTQ+ scene has faced its fair share of challenges – among them: gentrification, a pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. But somehow, the city’s vibrant and defiant queer community always bounces back. In addition to some awesome LGBTQ+ clubs and bars, London has a pretty dazzling array of LGBTQ+ club nights. Here are 15 of the very best, from radical queer raves to ridiculously fun pop parties. 1. Feel It Held every Friday at London Bridge venue Omeara, this self-styled ‘queer super-party’ lives up to its billing. The genuinely diverse crowd includes plenty who like to dress up, and plenty who like to undress as the night progresses, especially in the sweaty main room. Banging house is the soundtrack there, while two other rooms are dedicated to chilled disco and pop. Brilliantly produced by London club legend Jodie Harsh and the Little Gay Brother crew, Feel It brings Berlin-style thrills and spills to south London. @feelitparty Photograph: Henri TButch, Please! 2. Butch, Please! Launched by Tabs Benjamin in 2016, this monthly club night at south London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern celebrates the butch identity and its place in queer culture. Each party has a different theme – from ‘kinky butch’ to ‘muscle butch’ – and prides itself on being fully ‘dyke-centric’ from the performers to the door policy. It’s a space for lesbian and bi women, as well as trans and non-binary people, so don’t bring your cis male mates. @butchpleaselondon 3. Horse Meat Disco Ther

If you’ve ever tried nabbing an hour-long slot at London Fields Lido on a hot July afternoon, you’ll already know that it’s somewhat akin to trying to secure tickets to Glastonbury.  The destination of choice for east London’s outdoor swimming fanatics, London Fields’ 50-metre heated pool has become progressively more popular in recent years, welcoming more than 340,000 visitors in 2022. Now Hackney Council has proposed planned improvements to the facilities that will allow even more locals to feel the wind in their hair as they consistently fail to overtake an octogenarian in the slow lane (just me?) via the addition of a new training pool where beginners will be able to learn to swim. Photograph: Hackney Council Designed by architects FaulknerBrowns – who previously worked with Hackney Council on the nearby Britannia Leisure Centre – the proposed plans feature a 13m x 7m indoor training pool in place of the previously decommissioned paddling pool, as well as accessible toilets, a moveable floor and a viewing gallery.  The proposal for the pool extension is currently in a six-week consultation stage in which local residents are invited to have their say on the project, at the end of which a planning application will be submitted. Should this be successful, construction will begin at the end of the year and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2024.  If you’re a Hackney resident and fancy weighing in (or maybe diving in?) on the plans, you can access the online sur

Remember that historic burial site in Euston that had to be excavated to make way for the new HS2 station? Archaeologists found all sorts of cool stuff during the four-year works, and it’s all on display now as part of a new exhibition at St James’s Church in Piccadilly.  Headland Archaeology and the Museum of London Archaeology worked on the project between 2017 and 2021, sensitively exhuming and documenting more than 30,000 bodies from the St James’s Burial Ground in the largest archaeological excavation of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century burials ever undertaken in the UK. The site’s clay-based soil means that the coffins interred there between 1789 and 1853 have been much better preserved than at other sites of a similar age. The project has proved to be unusually rich in discoveries as a result, with organic items including clothing articles and wooden coffins uncovered intact during the dig.   Photograph: Courtesy of HS2 Personal items ranging from clay pipes and pocket watches to hair combs and slippers can now be viewed as part of the ‘Stories of St James’s Burial Ground’ exhibition on display at the Sir Christopher Wren-designed church which conducted the majority of the graveyard’s burials. The exhibition also features these only-slightly-sinister cardboard models (above), scattered around the church’s pews, all of which depict real people who were buried at the site, from dressmaker and amputee Elizabeth Mercer, to businessman Charles Fortnum, a member of the

It might not seem like it given the miserable weather across the UK this week, but spring is officially just days away. The impending change of season is especially good news if you happen to live in London, because a new report has just named the capital as the most picturesque city in the world during springtime.  It’s not all that surprising, really. Sure, London might have a reputation for being a bit grey during the colder months, but its world-famous landmarks, gorgeous works of architecture and leafy green spaces really come into their own when the temperature starts to climb. From World Heritage sites like Kew Gardens and The Tower of London to the plethora of springtime flowers that bloom across the city each year, there are a shit ton of picture-perfect London scenes to post on socials. And plenty of people are doing exactly that according to the study conducted by Travelbag, who compiled data for over 170 destinations across the world based on hashtag usage on Instagram. The tourism website found that users of the photo and video-sharing site used the hashtag #springinlondon for over 100,000 posts, beating out every other major city for hashtag usage. Second on the list was Paris, with Instagram users posting 78,981 times using #springinparis, while Seattle came in at number three on the list thanks to the 24,220 posts made using #springinseattle. Here’s the top ten in full: London - 100,832 Paris - 78,981 Seattle - 24,220 Melbourne - 23,549 Chicago - 23,536 Sydne

Catherine Cohen loves a photoshoot. New York City’s favourite ‘one-woman cabaret chanteuse’ is extremely jet-lagged when she turns up at Time Out’s office less than 24 hours after landing in the city ahead of her first UK tour. Barely ten minutes later, she’s got a conspiratorial glint in her eye and a fake Martini in hand as she reclines on the leather banquettes of our local old-man boozer – shout out The Cross Keys in Covent Garden – looking for all the world like she’s just taken huge pleasure in telling an over-refreshed patron to sling their hook.  This impressively gung-ho approach to self-promotion is pretty much exactly what you’d expect if you’ve watched Cohen’s 2022 Netflix special ‘The Twist?… She’s Gorgeous’, a recording of her monthly show at NYC cabaret venue Joe’s Pub that begins with a jazz-hands-heavy musical number called ‘Look at Me’.  It also comes in quite handy when you’ve got a brand-new show to promote. After we’ve finished alarming the pub regulars, we head back to the Time Out photo studio to chat about it. Photograph: Jess Hand Hey, Catherine, welcome back to London. Let’s start with a quickfire round of London v New York.  ‘Ugh, impossible! Impossible to choose!’ And yet… subway or tube? ‘The tube is better.’ Salt-beef bagel or pie and mash? ‘What’s a salt-beef bagel?’ Is that not a really New York thing?  ‘I guess it would be more like bagel and lox.’  Right. ‘It’s okay, we can help each other. And I don’t know about pie, but I’ve had, like, ba

It’s a crisp, sunny Monday lunchtime in late October and a spontaneous round of applause has erupted from the astroturf pitches above Hoxton’s Britannia Leisure Centre.  For the past hour or so, a low hum of excitable chatter has been punctuated only by the periodic thwack of footballs against walls. Forty-odd amateur players, from a host of local women’s teams, stand around doing keep-ups and taking turns to fire off shots at a goalkeeper on the far end of the pitch. But now Lioness Chloe Kelly is here, giving a meek wave as she steps onto the turf, and everyone is cheering like it’s July 31 all over again.   Five months earlier, the reaction of even the most ardent of women’s football fans to the arrival of the England forward might have been a little more muted. But that was before 23 million Brits tuned in to watch her punt the ball over the line in the 110th minute of extra time at this summer’s Women’s Euros Final, securing the Lionesses’ first ever major trophy in front of a record-breaking Wembley crowd.  That was before her instantly iconic celebration – pausing just long enough to check that the goal would stand before whipping off her shirt and helicoptering it overhead, sports bra on full display – or an equally memorable post-match interview where she ran off with the microphone mid-sentence to join her teammates in an ecstatic rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’.  In short, that was before the 24-year-old from Ealing became a household name literally overnight.   Comi

Transport for London is fast becoming one of English football’s most sought-after signings. First, north London club Arsenal collabed with TfL on that tasty little Piccadilly line training kit. Then there was the bus route named after Euros-winning west Londoner Chloe Kelly. And now, England and Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling has gone and released a pair of London bus-inspired football boots. The Brent-raised footballer collaborated with his boot sponsor New Balance on the signature ‘Route to Success’ design, which features a pattern based on a fabric moquette found on London buses in the 1990s. The recently revived design is one that Sterling knows well from the countless hours he spent travelling across London with his older sister to attend training at QPR’s academy five times a week during his youth.  Photograph: New Balance ‘Three buses to get to training: 18, 182 and 140. I’ll never forget those numbers,’ the four-time Premier League winner tweeted about his journey. ‘No matter what, my big sister Lakima with me every single day. My latest boot is dedicated to her and all those moments we shared together.’ The 79-cap England star debuted the design in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, and the Furon 7 boots are on sale now for £220. We’d suggest pairing them with some Elizabeth Line socks. Stunning. Everything you need to know about October’s London train and Overground strikes. Tube cleaners and other low-paid workers will get free travel on TfL.

After 70 years on the throne, the sad announcement was made on Thursday September 8 that Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, had died at the age of 96.  The announcement has set off a series of carefully planned official events, marches and memorials. Plans are currently being put in place for her state funeral, which will take place on Monday September 19. She will be the first British monarch to have her funeral at Westminster Abbey since 1760 and her coffin will lie in state for five days beforehand (Wednesday September 14 to Monday September 19) in Westminster Hall where the general public will be able to walk past the coffin to pay their respects.  As well as changes to strike action and transport services, many major events will be postponed and landmarks closed as a mark of respect on Monday September 19. Here’s a list of all the major London events and landmarks that will be closing and cancelled on the day of the Queen’s funeral. Museums and galleries  Alfred Waterhouse’s Romanesque cathedral of nature, the Natural History Museum, will be closed all day on Monday September 19, as will its neighbour the Science Museum. The art world also pays its respects on Monday, The National Gallery, Tate Modern and Tate Britain all closed too.  Tourist attractions Queen Elizabeth II was a patron of London Zoo. As a mark of respect, the London landmark and its Whipsnade sister site announced that both will close on Monday. ZSL said in a statement: ‘Her passion f

Craft brewing monolith BrewDog announced yesterday that it is closing three of its 24 London bars as a result of rising energy costs, with another further three locations closing nationally.  The brewery’s Dalston, Farringdon and Old Street branches are the London locations that will shut down permanently, with BrewDog chief executive James Watt explaining that ‘It was going to be simply impossible to get these bars even close to financial viability in the foreseeable future. We had no choice but to close them.’ ‘Costs are rising to such a degree... that these very difficult decisions have to be made,’ the multinational’s founder said in a scathing LinkedIn post criticising ‘zombie government still intent on this bizarre leadership farce instead of getting to grips with the kind of challenges that will result in more business casualties than the pandemic’. The BrewDog closures come just days after executives from six of the UK’s biggest pub chains and breweries – Greene King, JW Lees, Carlsberg Marston’s, Admiral Taverns, Drake & Morgan and St Austell Brewery – signed an open letter to the government warning of the catastrophic effect that the energy crisis will have on the industry and calling for financial support to help businesses and venues survive after energy bills have risen more than 300 percent in some cases.  Watt confirmed that BrewDog employees affected by the closures have been offered roles at nearby locations, which the company was able to do ‘due to the stre

We’re always wanging on about Yard Sale Pizza at Time Out. And they’re not even bribing us with free slices or anything (although if you’re reading this, Yard Sale, it wouldn’t hurt to send a couple of 18 inch-ers to the Time Out office one lunchtime, just sayin’.) The East London gang just happen to be really flipping good at making pizza pies – good enough that you, the London public, crowned them the winner of our inaugural Clash of the Slices competition a few months back – and keep launching dream #collabs (YSP x Dom’s Subs, YSP x Off Menu, YSP x Four Legs) that make even us jaded journos think ‘that sounds quite sick to be fair.’ Now, hot on the heels of a restaurant pop-up with Top Cuvée, they’ve only gone and launched a competition with beloved Vicky Park music festival Field Day, which celebrates its fifteenth anniversary in August with a banging line-up that includes the likes of Daniel Avery, Peggy Gou, Floating Points, Kraftwerk 3D, Heléna Star, Erol Alkan and The Chemical Brothers. Here’s the deal: over the course of June, ten golden stickers will be affixed at random to the bottom of ten Yard Sale pizza boxes. Anyone who finds them will bag some serious swag, including a pair of VIP tickets to the festival, a £100 festival bar tab, £50 to spend on pizzas and loads of swanky merch from both brands.  All you’ve gotta do to be in with a chance of winning all this is order a takeaway pizza between now and 6 July (or when stocks last… so the sooner the better.) Obvio