The best festivals events in London right now: what’s actually worth your weekend

London’s festivals events scene is very much awake right now – and not just on your Instagram Stories. This week alone, 5,820 people are either eyeing up or already committed to the city’s latest happenings, which tells you everything you need to know about how feral the group chat has become. If you’re trying to work out the best festivals in London this month without accidentally booking a three-day mud bath in a field off the M25, stay put: the good stuff is hiding in theatres, car parks, folk houses and on top of hills.

The names doing the rounds in London right now are… eclectic, to put it politely. You’ve got Plant Based Food Fest London for the oat-milk-and-Margaret-Howell crowd; Retribution Alive: Dark Clouds Over Camden bringing the riff merchants back to NW1; Psychobilly Kicks Back London for people whose hair has higher structural integrity than most South London flats; and the Indoor Festival of Folk 2026 at Cecil Sharp House, which is basically a pilgrimage for folk nerds who know their jigs from their reels. Add in Imbolc – Candlemas on Primrose Hill (for anyone who likes their seasonal rituals with a side of skyline) and Souldrops for those in a house-and-disco headspace, and you’ve got a very London bingo card.

The beauty of festivals events in London is that you don’t actually need a field or a tent. The Hen & Chickens Theatre Bar up in Islington is quietly becoming one of those spots where you end up staying far longer than planned, thanks to tiny but mighty lineups and dangerously easy proximity to the bar. Over in Colindale, the staff car park at St James Catholic High School is doing that classic North London thing of transforming everyday space into a hyper-local festival moment – more ‘I know a guy’ than all-out production, but that’s half the charm. And Conway Hall in WC1, with its creaky floors and serious acoustics, continues to host the kind of nights people still bang on about months later.

So how do you choose? Go Plant Based Food Fest London if you’re the person who actually reads ingredient lists and secretly enjoys it. Retribution Alive and Psychobilly Kicks Back are your big-night-out options: loud, sweaty, very Camden, very not-for-the-timid. The Indoor Festival of Folk at Cecil Sharp House is one for purists and curious newbies who like the idea of a ‘festival’ but also like chairs and central heating. Imbolc on Primrose Hill is more mystical, more candles-and-seasonal-energy – ideal if your idea of a good time is watching the city glow while someone explains the cross-quarter days. Souldrops sits in that sweet spot between club night and spiritual reset: think uplifting tunes, friendly crowd, and less ‘scene-y’ than your usual East London warehouse.

If you’re looking to actually do something this month rather than just scroll past everyone else’s plans, these are the festivals events in London that feel alive right now – intimate enough to feel special, busy enough that you won’t be the only one there at doors. This is what discovery looks like in London: a folk festival in a heritage hall, a metal night under Camden’s railway arches, a ritual on Primrose Hill, a car park that thinks it’s a venue. Pick one that matches your current personality, book it, and let the algorithm catch up later.