The Best Things To Do in London in May: Events, Exhibitions & Restaurants
Last updated: May 2026
Looking for the best things to do in London in May? This is the month where the city shifts — terraces reopen, major exhibitions land, and the cultural calendar starts to feel properly international again.
May sits in that rare sweet spot: everything is happening, but nothing feels overrun. It’s when you can still get a table, still see an exhibition without queuing, and still pretend you discovered it first.
Here’s what actually matters this month.
Art & Exhibitions in London
May is one of the strongest months in London’s cultural calendar, with major museum exhibitions, institutional shows and large-scale installations defining the season ahead.
NIGO: From Japan with Love - Design Museum
A major moment for contemporary fashion and culture, this exhibition explores the world of Nigo, from streetwear influence to global creative legacy. Tickets are now available to purchase.
Photo credit Elliot James Kennedy
Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art - V&A
At the Victoria and Albert Museum, Schiaparelli is presented through its surrealist codes, couture history, and its continued influence on modern design. Tickets are now available to purchase.
Photo credit Giovanni Giannoni. Photo courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum
Visit V&A East
The newer cultural outpost of the V&A introduces a more experimental approach to design and exhibition-making. You can explore their program on their website.
Henry Moore: Monumental Nature - Kew Gardens
9 May - 31 January
The largest-ever open-air display of works by Henry Moore is installed across Kew Gardens, combining landscape and sculpture at scale. You can get tickets on their website.
James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain
21 May – 27 September
A major retrospective of James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain exploring tone, atmosphere, and influence. You can find tickets on their website.
Beatriz González at the Barbican
9 - 10 May
At the Barbican Centre, this exhibition showcases the work of Beatriz González, known for her politically charged visual language. You can find tickets on their website.
Ceramic Art London
8 – 10 May
A key date for collectors, designers, and craft-focused audiences. You can book tickets here.
Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep
Opens 22 May 2026
At the Natural History Museum, this immersive exhibition explores prehistoric marine life at cinematic scale. You can find tickets here.
Events & Festivals in London
City Splash – Brockwell Park
25 May
A major celebration of Caribbean music and culture in South London. You can get tickets here.
Dialled In
30 May
A culturally focused festival spotlighting South Asian music and creativity. You can get a ticket here.
Boa Nova – Leyton Park
22 May
A more underground, community-led music and culture event. Tickets are available here.
Mighty Hoopla
30 - 31 May
One of London’s most iconic pop festivals — high energy, high camp, and fully unapologetic. Tickets are available here.
Chelsea Flower Show
19 - 23 May
The Chelsea Flower Show transforms West London into a world of landscape design and seasonal spectacle. You can find more information about the event on the official website.
GALA Festival
22 May
GALA Festival returns to Peckham with a strong electronic and house-focused lineup. You can buy tickets here.
London Craft Week
A citywide programme celebrating craftsmanship, design, and material culture. You can find more information about the programme here.
Theatre productions in London in May
May is when London’s theatre scene shifts outdoors and into its summer stride, with a mix of major star-led productions, returning West End favourites and open-air staging that feels uniquely tied to the season. It’s a month where you can move from candlelit drama in the Globe to big-budget musical theatre in the West End within the same week — and both feel equally essential.
Dracula (starring Cynthia Erivo)
One of the most anticipated theatrical reinterpretations of the season, this production sees Cynthia Erivo take on a role that reframes Bram Stoker’s gothic world through a more contemporary, psychologically charged lens. Rather than leaning into tradition alone, the production is expected to foreground performance and atmosphere, using Erivo’s presence to anchor a darker, more emotionally complex reading of the story. It’s the kind of casting that immediately shifts a familiar text into something more unpredictable. You can buy tickets here.
Sherlock Holmes – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
13 May – 6 June
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre returns to its most atmospheric form in May, with Sherlock Holmes bringing Victorian London into a fully immersive outdoor setting. As daylight fades and the production unfolds under open sky, the experience becomes as much about environment as performance.
This staging leans into the detective’s world of fog, gaslight and tension, using the natural surroundings of the park to heighten the sense of mystery. It’s classic London storytelling reimagined for summer theatre-going — informal in setting, but meticulously crafted in execution. You can buy tickets here.
Beetlejuice: The Musical
Previews from 20 May
Arriving at the Prince Edward Theatre, Beetlejuice brings a very different energy to the West End — loud, irreverent and deliberately chaotic. Based on the cult Tim Burton film, the musical has developed a reputation for high-concept staging, dark humour and an audience that knows exactly what it’s coming for.
The London production is expected to amplify the spectacle, leaning into bold visual design and fast-paced comedic structure. It’s a reminder that contemporary musical theatre doesn’t always aim for polish — sometimes it thrives on controlled disorder.
You can book your tickets on their website, hurry up, availability is limited.
Mother Courage and Her Children
7 May – 27 June
At Shakespeare’s Globe, Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children returns in a production that feels especially resonant in an open-air setting. The Globe’s staging strips theatre back to its essentials — audience, performer, language — which suits Brecht’s direct, politically charged writing.
The play follows Mother Courage as she navigates war, survival and commerce, balancing maternal instinct with economic necessity. In the context of the Globe, the proximity between actor and audience sharpens the work’s emotional and moral tension, making it feel less like historical theatre and more like immediate commentary. You can find tickets here.
Food & Restaurant Openings in London – May
Jung Festival
1 - 4 May
Jung Festival brings together food, culture and fermentation-led thinking in a way that sits somewhere between culinary event and creative laboratory. Expect a focus on flavour as process: preservation, transformation and the role of time in cooking. Alongside tastings and chef collaborations, the festival leans into conversations around food systems and modern Asian culinary influence in London, making it as much about ideas as it is about eating. You can find tickets here.
The Wild Table
15 - 17 May
The Wild Table is centred around a more elemental approach to dining — seasonal produce, open-fire cooking and communal tables that prioritise shared experience over formal structure. Set in a natural or semi-rural-feeling environment within the city, it strips back the restaurant format into something more immediate and atmospheric. The emphasis is on instinctive cooking and an unpolished sense of occasion. Website is available here.
Hot Sauce Society Festival
9 - 10 May
A niche but fast-growing fixture in London’s food calendar, the Hot Sauce Society Festival is dedicated entirely to heat. Independent producers from across the UK and beyond showcase chilli oils, fermented sauces, small-batch condiments and experimental spice blends. Beyond tasting, the event often includes workshops and competitions, turning heat tolerance into something of a sport. It’s playful, slightly chaotic, and unexpectedly serious about flavour development. You can buy tickets here.
Bloomtown Coffee Festival
16 May
Bloomtown Coffee Festival sits at the intersection of coffee culture and independent craft production, bringing together small roasters, cafes and sustainability-focused brands. It’s a more intimate counterpart to larger coffee events, with an emphasis on traceability, sourcing and design-led coffee culture. Expect limited-edition brews, collaborative drinks and a strong visual identity across exhibitors. You can get tickets here.
London Coffee Festival
14 - 17 May
The London Coffee Festival is the city’s most established coffee event, transforming a large-scale venue into a fully immersive coffee ecosystem. From latte art competitions and sensory tastings to talks on sustainability and global supply chains, it reflects just how far coffee culture has evolved in London. Alongside industry programming, there’s a strong consumer focus — making it as much a lifestyle event as a trade one. Tickets are available to purchase.
Restaurant Experiences In London In May
Oudh 1722
A three-storey Indian dining concept from Aktar Islam, inspired by royal Mughal feasts. For reservations, visit their website.
Tavern
From the team behind Michelin-starred Restaurant St Barts, a modern British bistro rooted in seasonal cooking.
Brad & Dills
A new bagel and coffee house bringing Hertfordshire-born energy to London brunch culture.
Doghouse Distillery Bar
A new hyper-local spirits bar focused on craft distilling and one of London’s most extensive Old Fashioned menus. Visit their website here.
MA/NA
A Japanese-inspired dining and drinking destination from the team behind Los Mochis and Viajante87. You can find a link to the website here.
Concerts in London in May
May is one of the strongest months of the year for live music in London, with arena tours, cult artists and global headliners passing through the city in quick succession. The scale ranges from intimate club shows to full stadium productions, meaning the month is defined as much by atmosphere as it is by size.
What makes May particularly notable is how quickly genres overlap — pop, electronic, R&B and experimental music all sit on the same calendar, turning the city into a continuous live soundtrack.
Olivia Dean – The O2 (1–2 May)
ROSALÍA – The O2 (6–7 May)
Tame Impala – The O2 (7 May)
Ne-Yo & Akon – The O2 (8–14 May)
Pete Bjorn and John – Electric Ballroom (8 May)
Incognito – Royal Albert Hall (8 May)
bbno$ – Brixton Academy (13 May)
Paul Simon – Royal Albert Hall & London Palladium (13–18 May)
The Lemon Twigs – Shepherd’s Bush Empire (20 May)
Mitski – Royal Albert Hall (21 May)
Rizzle Kicks – Alexandra Palace (22 May)
Goose – Electric Brixton (22–23 May)
Flea – KOKO (26 May)
MUNA – Heaven (26–28 May)
Pixies – Royal Albert Hall (28–29 May)
PinkPantheress – Alexandra Palace (29 May)
Black Label Society – Kentish Town Forum (29 May)
Five (Actually Worth Doing) Things in London This May
Beyond exhibitions and headline events, May is when London becomes most enjoyable at street level. The weather is finally cooperative, outdoor spaces reopen in full, and the city starts to feel designed for wandering again.
Walk the South Bank at sunset
Start around Somerset House and move along the Thames toward Tate Modern. It’s one of the simplest ways to experience the city’s architectural contrast — historic façades against modern skyline silhouettes.
Spend an afternoon in Kew Gardens
With seasonal installations and the Henry Moore sculpture exhibition, Kew becomes less a botanical garden and more an open-air museum in May.
Take a gallery loop through Mayfair and Fitzrovia
Many major exhibitions open in this period, making it ideal for a slow, unplanned route through commercial galleries and institutional spaces.
Book a late lunch that turns into early evening drinks
May is the month of long restaurant bookings — the kind that start at 2pm and drift into golden hour without anyone noticing.
Go to the theatre outdoors at Regent’s Park
Even if you don’t know the production, the setting alone makes it worth it — a fully open stage surrounded by trees and dusk light.