Photo by Albert Stoynov on Unsplash

What's Happening in January 2025


There’s no such thing as the January blues in London. It may seem a quiet time amidst the previous season’s chaos and you’re possibly committing to a new exercise regime, but don’t let the frozen temperatures deter you from enjoying the month. Arts is something that is worth enjoying and finding the time to indulge in this January. With so many new exhibitions, it’s a wonderful indoor activity to explore. One thing you’re guaranteed is The Mandeville is an ideal choice to rest your head in the centre of the magic of London, cosy, style and warmth at our core. 

Brie Larson in Elektra
The Ancient Greeks are definitely having one of their periodic ‘moments’ in London theatres: shortly after the NT’s ‘Antigone’ rewrite ‘The Other Place’  and Robert Icke’s ‘Oedipus’ wrap up and running concurrently with the Old Vic’s, uh, ‘Oedipus’, here’s a fresh take on Sophocles’s ‘Elektra’ from Canadian poet Anne Carson, with Brie Larson, who’ll be playing the title role of Elektra, the daughter of Agamemnon who vows revenge upon her mother Clytamnestra for his death. She’ll be supported by a cast that includes fellow US star Stockard Channing, plus Greg Hicks, Patrick Vaill and Marième Diouf.  A stellar cast for whats sure to be a standout show. 
24 January to 12 April 2025
Duke of York’s Theatre, Covent Garden

New Contemporaries ICA
Hitting its 75th year, this annual exhibition returns to the ICA, having had a regular presence here in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and more recently in the 2010s. New Contemporaries is a platform which provides emerging and early UK career artists with a wider audience to their work. This edition features 35 artists who have been selected through an open call by artists Liz Johnson Artur, Permindar Kaur and Amalia Pica, and it covers themes including the cycles of the natural world, sustainability and decay; boundaries, borders and fragmented memories; and the commodification of mindfulness, self-care, pop culture and consumerism.
15 January to 23 March 2025
The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH

London Shorts Festival 
Calling all cinephiles. This fantastic festival is back showcasing a whole bunch of bringing together the best of independent, boundary-pushing short films and new voices in cinema from around the globe. This year’s festival includes an eclectic line-up of 30+ programmes showing over 200 new short films from the UK and across the world, plus 30 more cutting-edge Special Events, a full Industry offer, and more. Taking over London’s cinemas this January over ten days, this year’s festival theme, Spaces, will explore the creative, social, and political landscapes of the spaces we inhabit and the cost of their loss.
17 to 26 January 2025

London Art Fair
Returning to the Business Design Centre for its 37th year, the London Art Fair will be exhibiting works from "over 120 galleries from around the world… including over 40 London-based galleries”. Promising an inspiring showcase of modern and contemporary art from leading UK and international galleries, a highlight this year is the return of the Prints & Editions section, introduced last year. This section features accessible works from emerging talents and established names. New participants, like Henry Miller Fine Art and Narrative Gallery, will debut alongside established names like Osborne Samuel Gallery and Galerie Olivier Waltman. The Fair will spotlight iconic works by legends like Barbara Hepworth and Francis Bacon and everything from sculpture to prints, textiles, and paintings.
22 to 26 January 2025
Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London, N1 0QH

Chinese New Year
London hosts some of the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside of Asia, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to its vibrant festivities. Organised by the London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA), the 2025 celebrations promise a rich program of cultural displays, traditional performances, and culinary delights. The date changes every year, but this year, it falls on Wednesday, January 29 and is the year of the Serpent - said to bring fertility and riches.
29 January