A cultural guide to London this May
May puts the city’s makers in the spotlight, from London Craft Week to Chelsea Flower Show, alongside standout exhibitions and creative mixology
Spring is in full flight across London: restaurants spill onto pavements, cherry blossom drifts through the streets, and menus highlight bright, seasonal flavours.
There is a bumper crop of exciting new exhibitions, from landmark retrospectives to intimate displays, alongside a city-wide celebration of craftsmanship. Follow our seasonal itinerary and you won’t go wrong.
Creative events in London
London Craft Week
Why we rate it: A city-wide celebration of makers and craftsmanship
When: 11–17 May
Where: Across London
Price: Varies
London Craft Week celebrates the city’s makers with a packed programme of exhibitions, workshops and talks. We’re particularly looking forward to an Earthworks Ceramics Market; a showcase of South Korean hand-craftsmanship at eba Marylebone; a panel talk by Toast at Old Sessions House to celebrate the retailer’s New Makers 2026 programme, and a terrazzo workshop at Montcalm Mayfair with Dottie + Olive founder, Laura Pack.
National Heritage Board Singapore will also host a series of workshops at Battersea Power Station, spotlighting traditional craft practices such as lacquer threading, Nyonya beading and paper-cut lantern-making.
Chelsea Flower Show
Why we rate it: A benchmark of global horticulture and joyous garden design
When: 19 May–23 May
Where: Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, UK
Price: From 55 GBP
Every May, the Royal Chelsea Hospital is transformed into a veritable Eden, as the world’s horticultural stars unveil garden designs and floral displays. Amid the familiar sea of panama hats, this year’s gardens highlight the therapeutic value of planting, climate resilience and the social impact of shared green spaces.
This year, the RHS is also lifting its Chelsea gnome ban and inviting celebrities to decorate gnomes, which will be auctioned to raise funds for the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, an initiative to inspire school children to learn through gardening.
In celebration of Chelsea Flower Show, the neighbourhood’s retailers dress up their shop fronts with vibrant displays for Chelsea in Bloom, and there are more floral-themed menus than you can shake a sunflower at. We recommend stopping by Roasting Party on Pavilion Road for coffee, or The Cadogan, a Belmond hotel, for a break from the hubbub.
Exceptional exhibitions
A Second Life by Tracey Emin at Tate Modern
Why we rate it: A powerful showcase of Tracey Emin’s expansive oeuvre
When: Until 31 August 2026
Address: Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Price: 20 GBP
A landmark Tracey Emin exhibition traces the artist’s prolific career, from her confessional quilts through video art, neon pieces, large-scale paintings and her notorious, Turner Prize-nominated My Bed. Seminal works are presented alongside new pieces, confronting love, trauma and vulnerability with disarming candour. Raw, visceral and autobiographical, Emin’s unflinching work lingers in the mind long after the exhibit ends.
Photo London
Why we rate it: A global array of contemporary photography
When: 14-17 May 2026
Where: Olympia London (National Hall), Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX
Price: From 20 GBP
Photo London debuts at its new location in 2026 at National Hall, Olympia London in Kensington. Larger exhibition spaces allow for an even greater array of photographic excellence. This year’s highlights include a selection of solo presentations by galleries representing artists of cultural significance, curated by Christian Lund. There will also be an exhibition of rare works by fashion maestro Steven Meisel, supported by a panel discussion with Bella Freud, Plum Sykes and Lauren Sherman.
In addition to the exhibitions, visitors can browse photo books and zines presented by both established and independent publishers. Look out for The Photobook Club Collective, founded by Roadbook’s senior photo editor Tom Broadbent. Thames & Hudson will also host a series of talks, including one with music photographer Jill Furmanovsky, noted for her documentation of Oasis.
Æppel / Orange by Tristan Barlow at Blue Shop Galleries
Why we rate it: Fruit, but not as you know it
When: 6th – 29th May 2026
Where: 72 Brixton Road, Oval SW9 6BH
Price: Free
Tristan Barlow first caught our eye at The Chancery Rosewood, as part of the hotel’s 800-piece art collection. A new exhibition at Blue Shop Galleries in Brixton presents Æppel / Orange, where recurring fruit-like forms appear to drift, hover and fall across the canvas. Sensual and dreamlike, the works explore ideas of nature, growth and transformation.
Dreaming in Colour, David Hockney: A Year in Normandie at Serpentine North
Why we rate it: A vivid digital display to welcome spring
When: Until 23 August 2026
Address: Kensington Gardens, West Carriage Drive, London W2 2AR
Price: Free
Yearning for colour? A new David Hockney exhibition captures the changing seasons, created at the artist’s former studio in Normandie. The exhibition presents the artist’s 90-metre frieze, A Year in Normandy, in London for the first time, composed of over 200 individual paintings created on an iPad, then printed on paper and displayed in a continuous panorama. The exhibition will also include Moon Room, an immersive installation with a specially composed soundscape, further demonstrating Hockney’s use of digital technologies and enduring fascination with light, colour and the passing of time.
Wes Anderson: The Archives at the Design Museum
Why we rate it: A tribute to the American film director’s illustrious career
When: Until 26 July 2026
Address: Design Museum, 224–238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG
Price: 19 GBP per person
Step into the dream-like world of Wes Anderson at the Design Museum in a landmark exhibition charting the American director’s legacy. Margot Tenenbaum’s Fendi mink coat, worn by Gwyneth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums, and stop motion puppets from The Fantastic Mr Fox will be on display, alongside bespoke Louis Vuitton suitcases (featured in The Darjeeling Limited) and a candy-pink model of the The Grand Budapest Hotel. In the age of AI, it is a welcome reminder of the importance and success of hands-on filmmaking, while celebrating Anderson’s innate and influential eye for colour and composition.
Culinary happenings
SlowBurn, Walthamstow
Why we rate it: Dinner in a denim factory
Address: 14b Blackhorse Lane, London E17 6AA
Price: ££
Celebrating craft in its varied forms, SlowBurn takes residency at Blackhorse Ateliers denim factory in Walthamstow. Visitors dine amongst rolls of fabric, cuttings and machinery, and during the day you can watch the seamstresses at work. Light floods through expansive industrial windows, while hanging bulbs and candlelight create an atmospheric evening setting. The vegetable-forward menu includes Hispi cabbage in beer and miso, with refried beans and hazelnuts; squid tossed in house made chill, and a smoky chicken, enjoyed quarter, half or whole. The team wears denim aprons (naturally) and the ice cream is made in-house.
Sova, Notting Hill
Why we rate it: Eastern European wine and vinyl in Notting Hill
Address: 9 Blenheim Crescent, London W11 2EE
Price: $$$
Diners mourned the closing of Zima in Notting Hill, but the team returns with Sova, a wine bar focused on bottles from central and eastern Europe. You might try a Ukrainian Brut, a Slovakian Grüner Veltliner or a Croatian Malvasia, matched with a menu of Slavic-inspired dishes such as beetroot croquettes with walnut and saffron emulsion, or a whisky and honey-roasted baby chicken with green salsa. A vinyl soundtrack supports the evening, played on Technics MK7 turntables.
Art Afternoon Tea at Rosewood London, Holborn
Why we rate it: Monet in miniature
Where: The Mirror Room, Rosewood London, 252 High Holborn, London WC1V 7EN
Price. 85 GBP per person
A new afternoon tea at Rosewood London interprets Claude Monet’s Impressionist works in diminutive, delicious form. The Water-Lily Pond (1899) becomes a pistachio feuilletine, filled with whipped ganache and topped with a matcha lilly pad; Impression, Sunrise (1872) is reimagined in almond sponge, with with vanilla mouse and yellow peach and vanilla jelly.
The afternoon tea reflects Rosewood Hotels’ ambitious art collections, which may not include a Monet, but do feature works by leading global talent across painting, sculpture and photography.
Rosewood London has also launched a new ‘‘Heroes & Villains’ cocktail menu, which pays tribute to English caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, after whom the bar is named, and his 2003 Heroes & Villains project, which depicted prominent British cultural and political figures through his distinctive satirical lens.
Bambi, Hackney
Why we rate it: Dinner and disco in London Fields
Address: Netil House, 1 Westgate Street, London E8 3RL
Price: £££
Newly reopened Bambi is everything that’s good about eating out in Hackney: a restaurant-club hybrid, dinner segues into drinks and dancing, while a DJ spins vinyl. Bambi 2.0 boasts an extended dining room, new mezzanine and outdoor seating gives Bambi 2.0 more space and variety, while a refreshed front bar allows for walk-ins. A new menu by chef Jamie Thorneycroft includes spiced prawns dipped in black garlic aioli, whipped ricotta with hot honey and trout toastadas. Snag a counter seat by the DJ decks for a front-row vinyl view.
