August belongs to Notting Hill Carnival at the end of the month, and everything else is building towards it. But the weeks in between are far from quiet: outdoor cinema runs through to the end of the season, the summer festival calendar is still going strong, and the city empties out just enough to make the things that are always worth doing a little easier to get into.
It’s also the month when London surprises you. The tourists are here in force, yes, but so is a quieter, more local version of the city that retreats to parks and lidos and neighbourhood events that never make the big listings. Some of the best things happening in August are the ones that have been running on the same green every year for decades.
16 Apr – 19 Sep 2026
The free Barbican exhibition that takes you back to the year Britain lost its mind
18 Jun – 30 Sep 2026
You can now step aboard the International Space Station without leaving Camden
13 Jul – 30 Sep 2026
The Science Museum just opened a free-roam VR journey to the edge of a black hole
27 Jul – 13 Sep 2026
What happens when Horrible Histories meets 3,000-year-old Egyptian artefacts? This.
