Leicester Square Christmas Market ★★ FREE


If you can't get to Winter Wonderland or one of the larger winter festivals, this site will give you some idea of how London tries to make the best of winter. A quick wander through and then visits to the lights of Seven Dials, Covent Garden, or maybe Regent Street will help get you in the spirit.

 Reviewed by J.C.

  Our Score:  ☆☆ 

 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Last Reviewed: November  2020

Leicester Square
Nearest tube: Leicester Square
http://www.christmasinleicestersquare.com
Map & Location: Leicester Square, London, UK

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ABBA Voyage ★★★★★ ABBA Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park | Extended Run

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When great music from the past meets mind boggling technology from the future, the result is ABBA Voyage . This is a concert like no other. In a purpose built arena designed specifically for the show, massive high resolution LED screens, advanced lighting, and surround sound are used to create a fully immersive ABBA concert experience. Although the group’s last appearance in London was at Wembley Arena in 1979, they return technologically in this extraordinary production. These are not holograms or AI generated performances. This is a meticulously animated concert based on real performances by the band themselves. To achieve this effect, the group came together and re-performed their music using motion capture technology. They partnered with top visual effects experts to digitally recreate their younger selves. While the show includes a live band and backup singers, the Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid seen on stage appear every bit as real as their original counterparts. One quick...
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Now You See Me Live ★★★★ London Coliseum | Jul 31 - Sep 6, 2026

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Now You See Me , the 2013 heist thriller about four illusionists known as the Four Horsemen, combined magic, mystery and action as its central characters staged elaborate robberies under the cover of spectacular live performances. The film has now inspired a stage show that brings together some of the world's leading magicians. They include French illusionist Enzo Weyne, who specialises in large-scale illusions, Italian escape artist Andrew Basso, inspired by Harry Houdini, Canadian magician Gabriella Lester, whose act combines sleight of hand and escapes, and British mentalist Matthew Pomeroy, known for mind reading and interactive performances. In a production showcasing the breadth of modern magic, this world-class quartet is joined by Britain's Got Talent performers Eden Choi and Rafferty Coope, alongside hypnotist Fraser Penman. Aimed at audiences aged five and above, Now You See Me makes for a thoroughly enjoyable family outing, while delivering enough skill, spectacle ...
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Summer Exhibition 2026 ★★★★ Royal Academy of Arts | Jun 16 - Aug 23, 2026

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The theme of the 258th Summer Exhibition, “Interconnectedness,” makes tracing links between the works on display both a fascinating and at times overwhelming experience. While this year’s works on view appear to contain less overt political commentary and fewer instances of humour than is often typical of such events, both are still present in striking moments. Tim Shaw’s powerful portrayal of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Pin It On Them (Associated Artwork From the Installation: Shut It Piggy) (555) can be juxtaposed with the playful absurdity of Joey Rutherford’s Pickle With a Pearl Earring (1110) , reminding viewers of the range of tones running through the exhibition. Alongside these, there are the usual charming animal representations, including our favourite, the highly realistic cat in Thus Regard Palmerston (793) , as well as the standard attempts to shock and provoke, such as Tracey Emin’s There Is An End To Everything (674) . The collection continues to move between cur...
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St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

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Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
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Cats ★★★★ Regent's Park Open Air Theatre | Jul 25 - Sep 19, 2026

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T. S. Eliot's whimsical poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats was published in 1939. More than four decades later, Andrew Lloyd Webber transformed most of its poems into Cats , which premiered in 1981 and became a theatrical phenomenon, running for 21 years in the West End and 18 on Broadway. Eliot's poems introduce an eccentric gallery of feline characters including Jennyanydots, The Rum Tum Tugger, Bustopher Jones, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Gus the Theatre Cat, Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat, Growltiger, Macavity and Mr Mistoffelees. Lloyd Webber and director Trevor Nunn fashioned a slender narrative around them, introducing the outcast Grizabella, who does not appear in Eliot's collection, and giving her the now iconic song "Memory." The story centres on the annual Jellicle Ball, where the elderly Old Deuteronomy gathers the tribe to celebrate each cat through song and dance before choosing one to be reborn into a new Jellicle life. Narr...
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Here Comes J. Edgar! A Comedy Musical ★★★★ King's Head Theatre | Jul 10 - Aug 16, 2026

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In 1994, writer Harry Shearer, best known for The Simpsons and This Is Spinal Tap , joined forces with Tom Leopold of Cheers and Seinfeld to create a radio satire about J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial director of the FBI for almost fifty years. Hoover became notorious for allegedly blackmailing successive presidents to secure his position, refusing to investigate organised crime in the United States, and relentlessly cultivating his own public image. Behind the façade of the fearless crime-fighting anti-communist crusader, however, lay a secret life, including a long-term relationship with fellow FBI agent Clyde Tolson and the enduring stories surrounding the famous photograph of Hoover in drag. Hoover was also a gambler associated with various mobsters. This is material ripe for satire, and Shearer and Leopold have the impeccable comic credentials to tackle it. For Here Comes J. Edgar! A Comedy Musical  they are joined by the award-winning composer Peter Matz, whose score pl...
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Midnight at the Never Get ★★★★ Menier Chocolate Factory | Until September 12, 2026

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Midnight at the Never Get is set in 1960s New York and tells the story of a singer and composer who fall in love and create a cabaret act together. It is a time when homosexuality is criminalised and gay bars are routinely raided by the police. When Trevor (Ben Platt) and Arthur (Gregor Milne) decide not to alter the pronouns in their love songs, they effectively consign themselves to performing in back-room venues such as Greenwich Village's The Never Get rather than pursuing mainstream success. Mark Sonnenblick has written a show that captures this dark chapter in LGBTQ+ history with sensitivity and warmth, accompanied by a score that is steeped in the traditions of the Great American Songbook. The ballads are deeply affecting; the comic numbers are clever and catchy. The melodies are memorable, and the lyrics are literate. The book is full of heart, and at its centre is a love story that feels entirely convincing. Equally compelling is the show's exploration of the politica...
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Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam ★★★★ Royal Academy of Arts | Jul 25 - Oct 25, 2026

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The story of Richard Dadd (1817–1886) is one of the most extraordinary and tragic in British art. A prodigiously talented painter whose gifts were recognised from an early age, Dadd’s promising career was shattered by a psychotic episode in which he murdered his father. He spent the remainder of his life in asylums, where, remarkably, he continued to draw and paint, producing some of the most intricate and imaginative works of the Victorian era. For too long, Dadd has been defined by the shocking act that led to his confinement. The great achievement of this exhibition, his first major survey since the 1970s, is to redirect attention to what matters most: the art itself. Dadd is best known for his intricate fairy paintings, populated by mythical creatures, spirits and fantastical landscapes. His masterpiece, The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke , the result of almost nine years' work, remains one of the most astonishing achievements of Victorian painting. Its miniature world of fairies...
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Death Note: The Musical ★★★★ Barbican Theatre | Jul 30 - Sep 12, 2026

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Calling all manga mavens and animé aficionados! Death Note returns in a full-scale production, pitting Light and L against each other on a spectacular set designed by Jon Bausor. Following successful runs in Japan and Korea, and a London concert version in 2023, the production arrives with two new numbers written especially for it. The story of a schoolboy and a super sleuth locked in a battle of wits after the former discovers a notebook that allows him to kill anyone whose name he writes in it has been streamlined from its original manga version, but the essentials remain. Questions of law versus justice, whether the ends can ever justify the means, and the corrupting influence of power are deftly woven into the cat-and-mouse game between the two protagonists. All this unfolds against the existential questions raised by the shinigami, or death gods, and their intervention in human affairs. The absorbing story moves at a brisk pace, while Frank Wildhorn’s score brings considerable de...
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Trainspotting - The Musical ★★ Theatre Royal Haymarket | Jul 15 - Sep 5, 2026

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The prevailing wisdom seems to be that anything can be turned into a musical, but the first question on hearing about Trainspotting - The Musical is whether this might be a step too far. First published in 1993, Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting is a collection of interconnected stories centred on a group of young people in Leith, Edinburgh, during the 1980s. Three years later, Danny Boyle's film adaptation, with a screenplay by John Hodge, brought those stories to the screen in a graphic and uncompromising portrayal of drug addiction. The words that best describe both the novel and the film are dark, bleak and gritty. They are not qualities one instinctively associates with musical theatre. By its very nature, the musical genre tends to elevate its subject matter. The Sharks and the Jets in West Side Story bear little resemblance to real street gangs, while the tragedy of Blood Brothers and the macabre tale of Sweeney Todd acquire an almost operatic grandeur. It is difficult t...
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