Free London calendar — free annual events month by month

A year-round guide to free annual events in London. These come round every year so the exact dates shift a little. All are free to attend; any catch is noted.

January

London New Year's Day Parade (1 January, Piccadilly to Parliament Square) — Marching bands, cheerleaders and vintage cars wind through the West End to kick the year off. The catch: Free from the pavement. Only the grandstand seats cost money, so just turn up early on the route.
Twelfth Night at Bankside (First Sunday of January, Bankside, by the Globe) — The Holly Man rows ashore for a wassail, with mummers, a brass band and a bit of pagan winter daftness by the river. The catch: Completely free and gloriously odd. Dress warm, it is all outdoors by the Thames.
Charles I commemoration (Last Sunday of January, The Mall to Whitehall) — The King's Army of the English Civil War Society marches to mark the execution of Charles I outside Banqueting House. The catch: Free to watch. A genuinely strange slice of history most Londoners never see.
The big museums at their quietest (All month, Citywide) — The crowds have gone home and the British Museum, the Tates and the National Gallery are at their emptiest of the year. The catch: Permanent collections are always free. The blockbuster ticketed shows are the only paid bit.

February

Lunar New Year (The Lunar New Year weekend, Chinatown, Trafalgar Square) — The biggest celebration outside Asia. Lion dances, firecrackers and a Trafalgar Square stage, with Chinatown lit end to end. The catch: All free to watch. Go early, the West End gets rammed by lunchtime.
Pancake Day races (Shrove Tuesday, Spitalfields, Guildhall, Leadenhall) — Office teams and locals leg it down the street flipping pancakes in fancy dress. The catch: Free and very silly. The date moves with Easter, so check the day.
BAFTA red carpet (A Sunday in mid February, Southbank, Royal Festival Hall) — Film stars on the carpet at the awards. Get behind the public barrier and you can watch the lot for nothing. The catch: Free from the public side. Arrive hours early and bring patience for a glimpse.
Snowdrops and first crocuses (Late February, Parks and garden squares) — The first snowdrops and crocuses carpet St James's Park and the squares before anyone else notices. The catch: Free, obviously. Nature does not charge admission.

March

St Patrick's Day Festival (Sunday nearest 17 March, Trafalgar Square to Whitehall) — A green parade through the centre and a free festival on the Square with music, food stalls and dancing. The catch: Parade and Square are free. Only the pint costs you.
Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race (Late March, Putney to Mortlake) — The two crews thrash it out along four miles of the Thames, watched from both banks. The catch: Free from the towpath. Hammersmith Bridge and Furnival Gardens get the best views.
Spring blossom begins (Throughout March, Greenwich, Regent's Park, St Paul's) — Magnolias and the first cherry blossom open up. Greenwich Park and the gardens by St Paul's lead the way. The catch: Free. Kew is glorious but ticketed, so head for the royal parks instead.
Holi colour festivals (On Holi, in March, Various) — Colour-throwing Holi events pop up across the city to mark the Hindu festival of spring. The catch: Many are free to join in. Wear clothes you do not mind ruining.

April

London Marathon (A Sunday in late April, Greenwich to The Mall) — Forty thousand runners and the best free street party in London. Bring a homemade sign and cheer total strangers. The catch: Totally free to watch. The route from Greenwich to the Mall is lined all day.
Cherry blossom peak (Early to mid April, Greenwich Park, Regent's Park, Battersea) — Peak sakura. The avenue in Greenwich Park goes full pink and so does the Isabella Plantation. The catch: Free. Go on a weekday morning before the picnic blankets land.
St George's Day on the Square (The weekend nearest 23 April, Trafalgar Square) — A free feast of English food, music and a bit of Shakespeare on the Square for England's patron saint. The catch: Free to wander in and out.
Vaisakhi (A weekend in mid April, Trafalgar Square) — The Sikh new year, marked with music, dancing and a free community meal on the Square. The catch: Free, and the langar (the shared meal) is free too. All welcome.

May

Covent Garden May Fayre & Puppet Festival (Second Sunday of May, St Paul's Church, Covent Garden) — Punch and Judy professors gather where Pepys first saw the show in 1662. A brass band procession and free puppet shows all day. The catch: Free. Brilliantly old and very London.
Chelsea & Belgravia in Bloom (Chelsea Flower Show week, late May, Chelsea, Belgravia) — While the Flower Show charges in, the streets around it go mad with giant free floral installations on every shopfront. The catch: The Flower Show is ticketed. The Bloom trails outside are completely free.
Museums at night (One weekend in mid May, Citywide) — Museums and galleries throw open after dark for one weekend with free tours, talks and torch-lit trails. The catch: Free late events across the city. Some popular slots ask you to book ahead.
Trooping rehearsals begin (The two Saturdays before Trooping, The Mall, Horse Guards) — The Major General's and Colonel's Reviews are the full Trooping rehearsal, minus the crowds and the royals. The catch: Free from the Mall. Far quieter than the main event in June.

June

Trooping the Colour (The second Saturday of June, The Mall, Horse Guards Parade) — The King's birthday parade. 1,400 soldiers, the flypast and all the pomp London does best. The catch: Free from the Mall and St James's Park. The Colonel's Review the week before is the same show with half the crowd.
Greenwich+Docklands Festival (Late June into early July, Greenwich, Woolwich, the Docks) — London's biggest free outdoor theatre festival. Aerial shows, dance and street spectacle across the river. The catch: Almost all of it is free and outdoors.
Pride in London (Late June or early July, Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall) — A million people and the loudest, brightest parade of the year through the centre of town. The catch: Free to watch and join the crowds. Some park stages are ticketed, the parade is not.
Open-air swimming season (From June, Hampstead, Brockwell, the Serpentine) — The ponds and lidos hit their stride. Hampstead's mixed pond is a fiver in the honesty box. The catch: The Hampstead ponds are donation only. The Serpentine Lido charges, the ponds barely do.

July

Swan Upping (Third week of July, The Thames, Sunbury upstream) — The King's Swan Marker rows up the Thames in scarlet to count the royal swans. Yes, really. The catch: Free to watch from the bank. Possibly the most English thing on this whole list.
Free theatre at The Scoop (July to September, More London, by Tower Bridge) — A sunken amphitheatre by the river puts on free plays, films and music all summer long. The catch: Completely free, first come first served. Bring a cushion.
Lambeth Country Show (A weekend in mid July, Brockwell Park) — A free country fair in the middle of south London, complete with the legendary vegetable-animal competition. The catch: Free to get in. Food, the funfair and a pint are the only spends.
BBC Proms begins (Opens mid July, runs to September, Royal Albert Hall and parks) — The world's biggest classical festival opens its run. The standing arena tickets are famously cheap. The catch: Not free but close. Promming spots are a few quid on the day. Proms in the Park comes in September.

August

Notting Hill Carnival (The August bank holiday weekend, Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove) — Europe's biggest street party. Two million people, sound systems, steel bands and the best jerk chicken of the year. The catch: Totally free. Sunday is family day, Monday is the big parade.
The City empties out (All month, The City, Westminster) — Londoners flee, so the City and the big museums empty right out. The best month to have the place to yourself. The catch: Free museums, no queues. The locals' August secret.
Meadows and heaths in full bloom (All month, Hampstead Heath, Richmond Park) — Wildflower meadows and long light evenings. The Heath and Richmond Park are at their best right now. The catch: Free. Bring a picnic and skip the £14 rooftop cocktail.
Free open-air film nights (All month, Parks citywide) — Some councils and venues run genuinely free outdoor film screenings through the warm weeks. The catch: Hunt out the council-run free screenings, not the ticketed rooftop ones.

September

Open House Festival (Two weekends in mid September, Citywide) — Hundreds of buildings normally shut to the public open their doors for free. Skyscrapers, town halls, private homes, the lot. The catch: All free. The famous ones need booking weeks ahead, but loads are walk-up.
Totally Thames (All month, Along the river) — A month of free riverside art, the Great River Race and mudlarking events on the foreshore. The catch: Most of it is free and strung along the water.
London Design Festival (Mid to late September, Citywide) — Installations and open studios across the city, with big public artworks landing in stations and squares. The catch: The street installations and most showrooms are free to see.
Pearly Kings & Queens Harvest Festival (The harvest weekend, late September, Guildhall Yard to St Mary-le-Bow) — The pearly kings and queens parade in their button-covered suits for the cockney harvest festival. The catch: Free, and wonderfully old London.

October

Diwali on Trafalgar Square (A weekend in mid to late October, Trafalgar Square) — London's free Diwali. Dance, food, lanterns and the festival of light done large in the heart of town. The catch: Free to wander in.
Frieze Sculpture (Early to mid October, Regent's Park, English Gardens) — The art fair charges, but its sculpture park drops world-class works across Regent's Park for nothing. The catch: The outdoor sculpture is free. The tents are the ticketed bit.
Black History Month (All month, Citywide) — Free exhibitions, talks and walking tours across the city's museums and venues all month. The catch: A huge free programme. The big institutions lead it.
Autumn colour in the parks (Late October, Richmond, Hampstead, Holland Park) — The parks turn gold. Richmond Park, the Heath and the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park put on the show. The catch: Free. Kew charges, the royal parks do not.

November

Lord Mayor's Show (Second Saturday of November, The City, Bank to the Royal Courts) — Eight hundred years old and still free. A three-mile procession of floats, bands and the gold State Coach through the City. The catch: Free from the street, with a free fireworks finale over the river to close it.
Bonfire Night (On and around 5 November, Citywide) — Fireworks light up the skyline. Many of the big displays now charge, but the sky itself is free from any high point. The catch: Catch them free from Primrose Hill, Parliament Hill or Greenwich. The organised displays are the ticketed bit.
Remembrance Sunday (Second Sunday of November, The Cenotaph, Whitehall) — The nation's act of remembrance at the Cenotaph, with the march past of veterans down Whitehall. The catch: Free to watch from Whitehall. Solemn, and worth seeing once.
Christmas lights switch-ons (Early to mid November, Regent St, Carnaby, Covent Garden, Seven Dials) — The West End flicks the switch. Regent Street's are the grandest, Carnaby always the most fun. The catch: Free to walk under all of them. The switch-on events are free too.

December

Christmas lights and window displays (All month, West End, Covent Garden, the City) — The centre glitters. Carnaby, Seven Dials, Covent Garden's giant tree and the windows at Liberty and Fortnum's. The catch: All free to wander. Skip the ticketed light trails and just walk the West End.
Trafalgar Square tree and carols (From early December, Trafalgar Square) — Norway's annual gift to London, a giant spruce, with free carol singing under it most evenings. The catch: Free. A lovely, low-key bit of Christmas.
Free carol services (Throughout December, Churches citywide) — Wren churches and cathedrals fill with free carol services and candlelight through the month. The catch: Free to attend. St Paul's and the Abbey get busy, the City churches stay quieter.
Winter Wonderland (Late Nov to early Jan, Hyde Park) — Free to get in and soak up the lights, the markets and the big wheel sparkle. The catch: Entry is free. The rides, bars and shows inside are where it gets pricey.
New Year's Eve fireworks (31 December, The river, or any high point) — The midnight fireworks off the London Eye. The official riverside is ticketed, the skyline above it is not. The catch: Watch free from Primrose Hill, Greenwich Park, Alexandra Palace or the bridges east of the action.