The London Christmas Guide 2025: shows, skating and sparkling nights

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Christmas in London begins long before the first snow falls – if it falls at all. By early autumn the theatres are unveiling their premieres, the shops are rolling out their festive departments, and tickets for the season’s most magical shows are disappearing faster than marzipan biscuits at a Christmas market. So, if you want to enjoy the holiday without the mid-December panic, with good seats and well-planned days out, the time to book is now. Londoners are nothing if not practical: as the saying goes, we prepare our sleighs as soon as the first leaves hit the pavement.

To help you navigate the festive whirlwind, we at Afisha.London have put together our essential winter guide — a sparkling collection of plays, lights, markets, skating rinks and other seasonal wonders. Here you’ll find everything worth experiencing before the New Year: The Nutcracker, the great switch-ons, parks transformed into Christmas villages, shows for children and grown-ups whose eyes still light up at the thought of fairy tales. We’ll be updating the list, so check back often — and don’t leave it too late to secure your tickets. Let your December calendar feature not only school fairs and presents to tick off, but also the real, vibrant, festive London.

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Theatre

A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic

A London Christmas tradition. Dickens’s tale comes to life with music, a choir and staging that blurs the line between stage and audience. It’s the longest-running adaptation of A Christmas Carol in the city, and each year a different star steps into the role of Scrooge. This season it’s Paul Hilton — acclaimed on both Broadway and the West End for The Inheritance, Mosquitoes at the National Theatre, Peter Pan and Doctor Faustus at Shakespeare’s Globe, as well as films (Lady Macbeth, Eternal Beauty) and TV (The Crown, Slow Horses).
Details and tickets

: Photo: The Old Vic

: Photo: The Old Vic

The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde’s immortal comedy, fresh from its triumphant run, now in the West End — with none other than Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell. Directed by Max Webster, the production is a riot of disguises, misunderstandings and whirlwind romance. Audiences are raving. Recommended for ages 12+.
Details and tickets

The Importance of Being Earnest (with Stephen Fry)

The Snowman

The beloved story of a boy and his snowman friend, based on Raymond Briggs’s classic book and Dianne Jackson’s animated film. Expect enchanting choreography, a live orchestra and Howard Blake’s unforgettable score — including Walking in the Air.

Details and tickets

Ballet Shoes

Noël Streatfeild’s much-loved novel returns after last year’s smash hit. The touching tale of three adopted sisters, raised by an eccentric palaeontologist, explores ambition, friendship and female independence in the 1930s — perfect for the festive season.
Details and tickets

Frieze London: значение арт-ярмарок в мире искусства

Christmas Carol Goes Wrong

At the Apollo Theatre, Dickens’s classic is gleefully sabotaged by the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong. Sets collapse, actors squabble over roles, and the story of Scrooge turns into riotous parody.
Details and tickets

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Slava’s Snowshow

Slava Polunin’s legendary creation returns to Britain. A poetic clown piece that mixes absurdity and enchantment, it’s a snowstorm of giant balloons, flying confetti and childlike wonder. Even the most serious adults leave grinning.
Details and tickets

Read also: What to do in London this month: a guide to the main events

Cirque du Soleil: OVO

From January, the Royal Albert Hall becomes home to Cirque du Soleil once more. OVO is a dazzling fantasia of insects, Brazilian rhythms, acrobatics and love stories — a ladybird, a fly and a mysterious egg. It’s family-friendly, dazzling, and a welcome burst of summer in the depths of winter.
Details and tickets

Cirque du Soleil с шоу OVO

Lovers Actually

A cheeky musical spoof of Love Actually, full of comedy, mishaps and big musical numbers from Jodie Prenger and Neil Hurst. Note: strictly for ages 16+.
Details and tickets

Read also: Great British Contemporaries: David Attenborough

Still from the film Love Actually (2003). Photo: Universal Pictures / UIP

Top Hat

A sparkling new stage version of the 1935 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film. Expect mistaken identities, romance from London to Venice, and Irving Berlin classics (Cheek to Cheek, Puttin’ on the Ritz). Directed and choreographed by Tony and Olivier winner Kathleen Marshall.
Details and tickets

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The Red Shoes

Matthew Bourne’s legendary ballet returns. The story of dancer Victoria Page — caught between passion, art and destructive obsession — unfolds in a production as visually mesmerising as it is emotionally devastating.
Details and tickets

Disney’s Hercules

Not strictly Christmas, but magical all the same. At Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the Disney film becomes a full-scale musical: Alan Menken’s music, David Zippel’s witty lyrics and Tanisha Scott’s choreography turn the Greek myth into a joyful, spectacular show. Suitable for ages 6+.
Details and tickets

Мюзикл Top Hat

Also worth seeing

Witness for the Prosecution — Agatha Christie’s gripping courtroom thriller. Great for teens.
Starlight Express — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s roller-skating extravaganza, high-octane and family-friendly.
Paddington the Musical — the long-awaited premiere of Britain’s favourite bear.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold — tense Cold War intrigue, betrayal and moral conflict.

Matilda — the magical story of a girl with extraordinary powers, now a modern West End classic.

Read also: Skyscrapers and the City: London’s vertical future balances on historic foundations

Photo: Johan Persson © Disney

Ballet

The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House

The Royal Ballet’s timeless Christmas centrepiece. Peter Wright’s production transports audiences from a cosy German Christmas Eve into a world of magic, with Tchaikovsky’s score and dazzling sets and costumes.
Details and tickets

The Nutcracker — English National Ballet

At the London Coliseum, over 100 dancers and musicians, lavish sets and costumes, and Tchaikovsky’s score played live by the ENB Philharmonic.
Details and tickets

Поездка в старинный город Кентербери

The Nutcracker — Mergaliyev Classical Ballet

И ещё «Щелкунчик» — на этот раз от международной британско-казахской труппы Mergaliyev Classical Ballet под руководством Яссауи и Софи Мергалиевых. Постановка подойдёт и для заядлых поклонников балета, и для тех, кто только открывает для себя мир классической сцены.

Details and tickets

Nutcracker in Havana

Carlos Acosta relocates the classic to Cuba. At Richmond Theatre, his Acosta Danza troupe reinvents the choreography, with Tchaikovsky’s music reimagined by Cuban composer Pepe Gavilondo.
Details and tickets

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Parks and outdoor magic

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

London’s most famous Christmas fairground. Rides, installations, food stalls and a skating rink — it’s packed, but enchanting. Best visited on weekdays or early mornings.
Details and tickets

Read also: Charles Dickens Museum: a journey into the heart of Victorian London

Photo @hydeparkwinterwonderland

Christmas at Kew

Each year brings new world-class light installations across the Royal Botanic Gardens. Expect glowing tunnels, music, Santa encounters, and festive treats from hot chocolate to mulled wine. Book well in advance: tickets sell out early.
Details and tickets

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

Skate at Somerset House

Perhaps the most picture-perfect rink in London, Somerset House transforms its 18th-century courtyard into a festive wonderland. Skaters circle beneath a soaring 40-foot Christmas tree, with the sound of seasonal music in the air and stalls serving mulled wine and winter treats. It’s the definition of a London Christmas postcard.

Details and tickets

Glide at Battersea Power Station

London’s newest skating spot comes with unbeatable views: the transformed Battersea Power Station looms as a backdrop while you follow the winding ice trail. From 7 November 2025 to 4 January 2026, the rink also offers cosy private igloos, perfect for warming up after a turn on the ice.

Details and tickets

: Photo: Glide Ice Rink | Battersea Power Station

: Photo: Glide Ice Rink | Battersea Power Station

Ashridge House: Illuminated

The historic estate outside London becomes a shimmering maze of lights and installations. Perfect for a family outing (dogs welcome on certain evenings).
Details and tickets

Read also: 25 years of artistic experimentation: Tate Modern marks a landmark anniversary

And then there are the streets: from 6 November Carnaby Street lights up, Covent Garden follows on 12 November with its 17-metre tree, Somerset House reopens its rink, and Leicester Square debuts a new open-air one from 1 November.

полунин снежное шоу

This is only the beginning — we’ll be updating our guide as the season approaches. So bookmark it, check back often, and don’t delay on tickets. Whether you choose the eternal Nutcracker, Slava’s snowstorm, Hyde Park’s fairground or a quiet wander through Kew’s glowing avenues, Christmas in London promises joy every single day.

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