Your definitive guide to the best events and things to do happening in London throughout July 2025
With June’s scorching temperatures climbing past 30 degrees, we’re crossing our fingers for a gloriously sunny July filled with poolside lounging, rooftop cocktails, pub gardens, and outdoor dining adventures. That perfect golden hour Aperol Spritz is practically calling our name.
July’s event calendar is absolutely packed with unmissable happenings. Drake takes over Wireless festival for three incredible nights, delivering completely unique performances each evening, while Rosamund Pike graces West End theaters in Inter Alia. BST Hyde Park continues its stellar summer lineup, featuring headliners Noah Kahan and Sabrina Carpenter lighting up July nights.
The capital’s music scene will be buzzing with festivals throughout the month, plus it’s prime time to explore London’s stunning lavender fields and sunflower meadows in their full summer glory. Here’s your essential roundup of July 2025’s hottest exhibitions, performances, and activities across London.
1. Keep an eye out for a colourful fleet of hot air balloons
After six years of being halted by a pandemic and poor weather conditions, could the 2025 edition of the Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta take off without a hitch? The fleet wasn’t able to fly on the day it had planned to back in May, so will be giving it another go on July 20 and, if necessary, July 27. Should they be able to take off, you’ll be able to spot them soaring past some of the city’s most iconic landmarks, from Buckingham Palace and the London Eye to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. The regatta isn’t just an excuse to brighten up London’s skyline, but part of a charity initiative that has raised more than £250,000 since 2015.
2. See the Drake triple-header at Wireless
Wireless returns to Finsbury Park for 205 with a line-up of Drake, Drake and more Drake. No, we’re serious.
Join Champagne Papi for London’s biggest hip-hop, R&B and grime festival as he headlines the long weekend with three different setlists to reflect the show’s 20th anniversary. The line-up is very much TBC but it currently includes a few special guests (Drake’s pals) and teases ‘many more acts still to be announced’.
From the look of things, the days have been grouped by vibe/genre, with Summer Walker and PARTYNEXTDOOR suggesting that Friday will lean into R&B and Sunday having slightly more of a reggae, dancehall and Afrobeats vibe with Burna Boy and Vybz Kartel.
Saturday? Well, when Drake first announced ‘The Mandem’ we were all taking wild guesses. Turns out it’s the return of Boy Better Know – who are making their first live appearance in eight years.
Tickets are pretty much gone (it was the fastest-selling Wireless in history) but we’d recommend keeping an eye out in case of resells.
3. Explore lavender fields around London
It may be known for its sleepy scent and soothing properties, but there’s nothing dozy about the explosion of colour that happens around London’s lavender fields each summer. There are several farms dedicated to the mauve blooms just outside the capital, in Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire. Immerse yourself in a purple haze this summer by visiting one of London’s fragrant lavender gardens, or head out of town on a day trip to find sweeping fields of the stuff.
4. Dance to all the genres at Kaleidoscope Festival
Up at the top of Ally Pally this summer, you’ll find a multifaceted web of genres. Where else can you while away the day with renowned DJs like Eats Everything, Sara Cox and DJ Spoony, drum and bass legend Goldie and the familiar hits of Faithless? There’s also comedy on the books from ShappiKhorsandi, the Beatles Dub Club, hip hop karaoke and high-energy Shakespear. This is one festival that truly lives up to its name.
Line-up includes: Faithless, Goldie, Eats Everything, Sara Cox, Sleeper, DJ Spoony.
5. Discover new one-man show ‘Get Happy’ at Omnibus Theatre’s 96 Festival
Omnibus Theatre’s 96 Festival has proven to be rich territory for coming across new LGBTQ+ writing, and its headline one-man show ‘Get Happy’ is very much worth discovering. This intriguing debut from Joseph Aldous, sees the writer-actor play Adam, who is fully embedded in a hot gay summer of partying, sex and directionless, but enjoyable, hedonism. That’s until his best friend and housemate, Ryan, gets engaged to his boyfriend. Suddenly, about to turn 30, Adam starts to reassess his life. Can he be just as seemingly happy, settled and secure as Ryan? Written with the Soho Writers’ Lab and packed with a playlist of queer bangers, this debut show navigates the thorny question: how do we ‘get happy’ when we don’t actually know what it looks like?
6. Catch Lightroom’s latest, dinosaur-themed immersive experience
Projection-based performance space The Lightroom goes back to the Cretaceous with its latest show, which is a collaboration with Apple TV and its spectacular CGI dinosaur documentary series Prehistoric Planet. There’s no mention of David Attenborough serving as narrator on this one – which strongly suggests he isn’t, let’s be honest – but there should be considerable recompense from the wonder of being surrounded by gargatuan lifesized dinosaurs. The 50-minute film is a mash-up of the highlights of the show’s two seasons, plus a few new and extended scenes.
7. Celebrate the return of one of London’s best restaurants
After 25 years of trading, the legendary, family-run Thai canteen shut down its Leytonstone location in autumn 2024. But last month it made a momentous return and now calls Shoreditch it’s home. Singburi gained semi-mythical status due to its famous blackboard specials menu, and dishes such as their phenomenally good crispy fried pork belly moo krob. Chef-patron Sirichai Kularbwong will be joined by chef Nick Molyviatis (previously at Oma, Agora, Speedboat Bar, Plaza and Kiln) for Singburi 2.0, with Kularbwong’s parents – who ran the original Singburi – retiring from the kitchen.