You may be back at work, crawling your way through grey booze-free, meat-free January, but it's not all bad ahead. Here are some highlights of London's cultural calander for 2023.

Theatre, Performance & Stand up 

KURIOUS by Cirque Du Soliel

Royal Albert Hall, January 13-March 5; royalalberthall.com

Peter Kay

The 02, January 21, February 18, March 22, April 22, May 20, June 3, July 29, August 30, September 9, October 7, November 18, December 16 with more dates in 2024; axs.com

Strictly Come Dancing The Live Tour 2023

The 02 February 3-5; strictlycomedancinglive.com

Trevor Noah

The 02, November 23; theo2.co.uk  

Russell Howard

The Palladum, April 25-29; lwtheatres.co.uk

Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial

Ambassadors Theatre, April 6-May 20; wagathaplay.com

The Wife of Willesden by Zadie Smith

Kiln Theatre, January 3-February 11 

Dawn French is a Huge Twat! 

The Palladium, September 21-24; lwtheatres.co.uk

Read More: Editor's Pick: London's Best New Best Restaurants, Bars & Pubs Of 2022 

Exhibitions 

Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance

V&A Museum from February 11; vam.ac.uk

NHM Titanosur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur

Natural History Museum, from March 31; nhm.ac.uk

Ai Weiwei: Making Sense

The Design Museum, April 7-July 30; designmuseum.org 

Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian 

Tate Modern, April 20-September 3; tate.org.uk

Photo London

Somerset House, May 10-14; photolondon.org

RA’s Summer Exhibition 2023

Royal Academy, June 13-August 20; royalacademy.org.uk

Herzog & de Meuron

Royal Academy, July 14-October 15; royalacademy.org.uk

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto

V&A Museum, from September 16; vam.ac.uk

Marina Abramovic

Royal Academy, September 23-December 1; royalacademy.org.uk

Philip Guston

Tate Modern, October 5-February 25, 2024; tate.org.uk 

Impressionists on Paper: Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec

Royal Academy, November 25-March 10, 2024; royalacademy.org.uk 

Gigs & Music 

Lizzo’s The Special Tour

The 02, March 15-16; theo2.co.uk

Fatboy Slim

02 Academy Brixton, Saturday March 17-18; academymusicgroup.com

Celine Dion

The 02, April 21-22; theo2.co.uk

Billy Ocean

The Palladium, Monday April 17; lwtheatres.co.uk 

John Eton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road

The 02, May 30; theo2.co.uk

Ed Sheeran’s + - = / x Tour

Wembley Stadium, June 24-July 1; wembleystadium.com 

Harry Styles: Love on Tour

Wembley Stadium, June 13-17; wembleystadium.com

Pulp

Finsbury Park, Saturday July 1; festivalrepublic.com

Blur

Wembley Stadium, July 8-9; wembleystadium.com

Sugababes

The 02, Friday September 15; axs.com

Festivals & Culture 

Ru Paul’s DragCon UK 

XCeL London at Royal Docks, January 6-8; uk.rupaulsdragcon.com  

Pub in the Park

Wimbledon Park, Dulwich Park & Chiswick House & Gardens, May 12-14, June 9-11 & September 1-3; pubintheparkuk.com 

RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Royal Hospital Chelsea, May 23-27; rhs.org.uk 

Hampton Court Palace Festival

June dates TBC hamptoncourtpalacefestival.com 

London Design Biennale 2023

Somerset House June 1-25; londondesignbiennale.com

Mighty Hoopla

Brockwell Park, June 3-4; mightyhoopla.com

BST Hyde Park 

June 24-July 6; bst-hydepark.com 

RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival

Hampton Court Palace, July 4-9; rhs.org.uk 

All Points East

Victoria Park, August 18-21; allpointseastfestival.com

Notting Hill Carnival

Around W10 and W11, August 27-28 nhcarnival.org 

London Design Festival

London-wide, September 16-24; londondesignfestival.com

Meatopia

Tobacco Dock, Wapping, around September dates TBC; meatopia.co.uk 

Totally Thames

Along the Thames, South Bank and Bankside, around September dates TBC; thamesfestivaltrust.org 

Greenwich Comedy Festival

National Maritime Museum, around September dates TBC; greenwichcomedyfestival.co.uk

BFI London Film Festival

BFI & various cinemas, around October dates TBC; whatson.bfi.org.uk

Bonfire Night

London-wide, November 5 

Sports 

Six Nations

February 4–March 18; sixnationsrugby.com

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Sunday, March 26, River Thames between Putney and Mortlake (best viewing spots include Putney Bridge, Craven Cottage, Hammersmith, Barnes and Chiswick Bridge); theboatrace.org 

Women’s Six Nations

March 25-April 29; womens.sixnationsrugby.com

London Marathon

Sunday, April 23; tcslondonmarathon.com 

Henley Rowing Regatta

June 27-July 2; hrr.co.uk

Tour de France

July 1-23; letour.fr

The 136th Wimbledon Championships

The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, July 3-16; wimbledon.com 

The Strongman Classic 2023

Royal Albert Hall, Saturday, July 8; giants-live.com

Women’s Tour de France

July 23-30; letourfemmes.fr

The LGBT HERO & Royal Vauxhall Tavern Sports Day

August (date TBC but usually bank holiday Monday) 
Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (behind Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Vauxhall); lgbthero.org.uk