Hyde Park Winter Wonderland opens 19 November, the Palladium panto 5 December and Covent Garden's snowfall 4 December. 38 dated listings, all sourced.

Westminster’s next six weeks run from the opening of the Christmas season to the carol services on Christmas Eve. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland opens on Thursday 19 November, the Palladium pantomime on 5 December, and Covent Garden’s free snowfall starts on 4 December. All the West End Christmas lights are now on: see our Christmas lights page.

Westminster Abbey’s free tickets for Lessons and Carols on 23 and 24 December are released at 9.30am and 2.30pm on Monday 16 and Wednesday 18 November (our carol services page has them all). The second batch of New Year’s Eve fireworks tickets goes on sale at noon on Friday 20 November: see our New Year fireworks page.

Everything below comes from the organisers’ own listings, rechecked on 13 November 2026, and every entry links back to its source so you can check before you set off.

On now

  • Skate at Somerset House, on now until 10 January. Fountain Court, Somerset House, Strand. Adults £13 to £28.50, children £11 to £15, plus £1.50 a ticket (Somerset House). Sessions and concessions are on our Somerset House rink page.
  • Skate Leicester Square and Christmas market on now until 3 January, 10am to 10pm, with noon openings on weekdays until 26 November. Leicester Square, WC2H 7LU. Skating £10 to £18 a session plus a £3 fee (Underbelly). Prices by date are on our Leicester Square page.
  • Field of Remembrance, on now until Sunday 15 November, daily 8.30am to 6pm. North Green, Westminster Abbey. Free. The Poppy Factory’s field of poppies and tributes in the Abbey grounds (Westminster Abbey).
  • White Christmas at Seven Dials Market, on now until 31 December. Seven Dials Market, Covent Garden. Daily indoor snowfall at 3pm and 8pm, seasonal food specials, and live music on Friday and Saturday evenings (Covent Garden).

This week

  • BBC Singers: Songs of Farewell, Friday 13 November, 7.30pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. £10 to £30. Krista Audere conducts Parry’s Songs of Farewell (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Santa’s Grotto at Hamleys, opens Saturday 14 November and runs to 24 December, 15-minute sessions between 10.15am and 8pm. Hamleys, 188-196 Regent Street, W1B 5BT. From £75 for three people, booking required (Hamleys). Prices by week are on our Santa’s grotto page.

Next week

  • Here I Stand: Janine di Giovanni, Monday 16 November, 7pm, doors 6.30pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. Suggested £10, free tickets available. The war reporter, author of The Morning They Came for Us, chaired by Peter Florence (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Lunchtime Concert: Orpheus Britannicus, a celebration of Henry Purcell, Wednesday 18 November, 1pm to 2pm. St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey. £0 to £10. Choral music by the Abbey’s most famous organist (Westminster Abbey).
  • Hyde Park Winter Wonderland opens Thursday 19 November and runs to 3 January, every day except Christmas Day. Hyde Park. £1 off-peak entry Monday to Thursday through November (Hyde Park Winter Wonderland). Gates, prices and shows are on our Winter Wonderland page.
  • Talk: Caxton and the printing press in Westminster, Thursday 19 November, 6.30pm to 7.30pm. St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey. £9.38 including the booking fee. Why Westminster became the home of England’s first printing press, with a Q&A (Westminster Abbey).
  • The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists: Handel’s Theodora, Thursday 19 November, 7pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. £10 to £80. A concert staging with Iestyn Davies (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • I Fagiolini: Monteverdi L’Orfeo, Friday 20 November, 7.30pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. £10 to £65. Robert Hollingworth and I Fagiolini perform Monteverdi’s opera (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Christmas Craft Fair, Saturday 21, Sunday 22, Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November. St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 4JJ. SoLo Craft Fair returns with its Christmas market at the church; opening times are not on the listing yet (St Martin-in-the-Fields).

Later in November

  • Here I Stand: Michael Heseltine, Monday 23 November, 7pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. £10, also livestreamed. The lecture is titled From Acorns to Oaks (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • One People Oration: Democracy in a changing world, Wednesday 25 November, 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The Nave, Westminster Abbey. Free, booking required. Theresa May reflects on the state of democracy (Westminster Abbey).
  • Great Sacred Music: American Thanksgiving, Thursday 26 November, 1pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. A 35-minute lunchtime programme of Thanksgiving music and readings by St Martin’s Voices, also livestreamed (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Concert: Handel Messiah, Friday 27 November, 7pm to 9.30pm. Westminster Abbey. £17.28 to £65.34. The Choir of Westminster Abbey with the period orchestra The English Concert, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha (Westminster Abbey).
  • Nathaniel Mander, harpsichord, Friday 27 November, 1pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. £10. Bach’s Preludes and Fugues on the instrument they were written for, with Handel and Mozart (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Young Voices Come and Sing: A Choral Christmas, Saturday 28 November, 10am to 1.30pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. For students in Years 9 to 13, pay what you can from £1, booking required; the informal performance from 1pm to 1.30pm is free and open to the public (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • An Advent Liturgy, Sunday 29 November, 4pm to 5pm. Westminster Abbey. Free, booking required; tickets are released on 16 and 18 November at 9.30am and 2.30pm. A service on the Advent themes of judgement and joyful expectation (Westminster Abbey).
  • Advent Carols, Sunday 29 November, 5pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 4JJ. The church’s carol service for the first Sunday of Advent (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Sacred Space x The Living Room, Sunday 29 November, 7pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. An hour of silence, reflection, sung worship and prayer for the first Sunday of Advent (St Martin-in-the-Fields).

December

  • Carols by Candlelight, Tuesday 1, Sunday 6, Saturday 12, Sunday 13 and Wednesday 16 December, 7.30pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. £10 to £39.50. The church’s own candlelit carol concert (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Talk: Serving His Majesty in the Holy See, Thursday 3 December, 6.30pm to 8pm. Westminster Cathedral Hall, Ambrosden Avenue, SW1P 1QW. £10 including refreshments. Chris Trott, the former ambassador to the Holy See, on five years in Rome (Westminster Cathedral).
  • The Nutcracker, The Royal Ballet, opens Thursday 3 December at 7.30pm and runs to Wednesday 13 January. Royal Opera House, Bow Street, WC2E 9DD. £10 to £238. Peter Wright’s production, about 2 hours 10 minutes, ages 5 and over (Royal Ballet and Opera). English National Ballet’s version at the Coliseum from 17 December is on our Nutcracker page.
  • Snowfall in Covent Garden, daily from Friday 4 to Thursday 31 December, on the hour every hour from midday to 9pm. The Piazza, next to the Christmas tree. Free (Covent Garden). See our Covent Garden lights page.
  • Family day: Christmas crafts and carols, Saturday 5 December, 10am to 1pm. Chapter House, Westminster Abbey. Free, booking required; tickets are released on Friday 13 November. Carols with the Abbey choristers, crafts and stories (Westminster Abbey).
  • Concert: A Seasonal Celebration of Benjamin Britten, Saturday 5 December, 6.30pm to 7.30pm. St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey. £0 to £20. A candlelit concert including A Ceremony of Carols, with the St Margaret’s Choristers and Consort (Westminster Abbey). More carols are on our carol services page.
  • Cinderella at the London Palladium opens Saturday 5 December and runs to Sunday 10 January. The London Palladium, Argyll Street. From £25 booked direct. Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Julian Clary star in the annual pantomime (LW Theatres). Times and access performances are on our Palladium panto page.
  • Blessing of the Crib on Trafalgar Square, Sunday 6 December, 5pm. Trafalgar Square. All welcome. St Martin-in-the-Fields blesses the Christmas crib in the square (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Friends’ Carols by Candlelight, Monday 7 December, 6.30pm to 9pm. Westminster Cathedral Hall and Lady Chapel, Ambrosden Avenue, SW1P 1QW. £30. Carols in the Lady Chapel, then refreshments in Cathedral Hall (Westminster Cathedral).
  • Christmas with St Martin’s Voices, Monday 7 December, 7.30pm, two hours including an interval. St Martin-in-the-Fields. £10 to £39.50. The church’s own choir in its Christmas concert (St Martin-in-the-Fields).
  • Lunchtime talk: The origins of carols, Wednesday 9 December, 1pm to 1.50pm, doors 12.45pm. Westminster Abbey. £6.13 including the booking fee (Westminster Abbey).
  • Nine Lessons and Carols, Sunday 13 December, 3pm and 5pm. St Martin-in-the-Fields. No tickets; all welcome. The church’s traditional carol service with its choir (St Martin-in-the-Fields). The Abbey’s Lessons and Carols dates are on our carol services page.
  • A Christmas Celebration, Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 December, 7.30pm. Westminster Cathedral, SW1P 1LT. Ticketed, no price on the Cathedral’s page. Festive music and readings with the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra (Westminster Cathedral).
  • Nutcracker, English National Ballet, opens Thursday 17 December at 7.30pm and runs to 10 January. London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4ES. From £27.25 including booking fees (London Coliseum). Both Nutcrackers are compared on our Nutcracker page.
  • Concert: Christmas at Westminster Abbey, Saturday 19 December, 7pm to 8.30pm. Westminster Abbey. Nave seats £29 to £51 plus booking fee; a limited number of unreserved no-view seats at £17.28 (Westminster Abbey).
  • Service of Lessons and Carols, Wednesday 23 December at 6pm and Thursday 24 December at 4pm. Westminster Abbey. Free, booking required; a 6pm service in St Margaret’s Church on 24 December needs no booking (Westminster Abbey).

Regular events

  • Pimlico Road Farmers’ Market, every Saturday, 9am to 2pm. Orange Square, at the corner of Pimlico Road and Ebury Street, SW1W 8UT (London Farmers’ Markets).
  • Marylebone Farmers’ Market, every Sunday, 10am to 2pm. St Vincent Street and Aybrook Street, W1U 4DF (London Farmers’ Markets).
  • Wigmore Hall Sunday Morning Concerts, every Sunday at 11.30am, about an hour, £18 (concessions £16), with coffee, sherry or juice included in the ticket (Wigmore Hall).
  • Here I Stand lectures at St Martin-in-the-Fields, most Monday evenings at 7pm through November, suggested £10 or online; each one is listed above by date (St Martin-in-the-Fields).

Send us your event

Running something in Westminster? Email hello@westminsterpost.co.uk with the date, time, venue, price and a photo. Listings are free, and we add them to this page and to the diary on our What’s On page.