by Anyone returning to work on this cold January day may have been forgiven for not feeling the glow of optimism as a new year approaches. And indeed, there is a lot to despair about in 2024.
However, as Londoners, we can always rely on our city’s world-class array of cultural delights to cheer us up all year round, from music and theater to comedy, dance, opera and so much more.
Last summer, The Social Hub, a hospitality company, put together a table of the best cultural cities in Europe. The 50 best-rated places in Europe were analyzed, classifying them using various categories, from the number of museums to theater shows and cultural and historical activities offered, etc. London came out on top, beating Berlin, Paris, Barcelona and Rome.
It doesn’t look like London will lose its crown anytime soon. Our city has more than 850 art galleries, 300 music venues, almost 200 museums (and a similar number of festivals each year) and about 240 theaters that offer thousands of shows a year.
That world-famous theater has plenty to keep audiences salivating in 2024. In the first weeks of the year alone, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick will be hitting the West End in Plaza Suite, while Catherine Tate will terrify punters in Chiller. The haunting Enfield.
Other delights include a new play by Jerusalem writer Jez Butterworth, Sarah Snook (aka Succession’s Shiv) playing all the characters in a one-woman version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the Live Aid musical Just for One Day, Ralf Fiennes like Macbeth, Matt Smith, Michael Sheen and Keeley Hawes return to the stage (in separate shows) and that’s before March!
Then there’s the new musical opening night with Sheridan Smith and the welcome return of such brilliant shows as Red Pitch and For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy.
This spring we will also see the extraordinary and indefatigable Ian McKellen, one of the greatest actors this country has produced, return to the West End to delight audiences with his performance as Falstaff.
Is dancing more your thing? Well, the beginning of the year offers Matthew Bourne and Alina Cojocaru, while later the Mark Bruce company will perform Frankenstein and much-lauded choreographer Crystal Pite will bring new work to the capital.
Opera fans have the opportunity to see stellar works, from a new staging of Richard Strauss’ Elektra to the classic La Bohème with Angela Gheorghiu in Covent Garden. The English National Opera will bring back The Handmaid’s Tale and the Regent’s Opera will present the Ring Cycle at the Freemason’s Hall.
But of course, it’s not just live shows on offer for culture lovers, we’re also looking forward to a stellar year for exhibitions.
Just a few of the many to look forward to are Legion at the British Museum (a look at life in the Roman Army), a solo exhibition by Yinka Shonibare at the Serpentine South and an exhibition dedicated to one of THE supermodels, Naomi Campbell. , which will bring that catwalk glamor to the V&A and is likely to sell out within 10 minutes.
I also can’t wait to see Expressionists at the Tate Modern, while on the more ‘outside’ side, Somerset House is hosting an exhibition exploring the irresistible force of tenderness in contemporary culture. Awww.
Tate Britain’s Women Artists in Britain 1520 to 1920 heralds what looks set to be an incredible year for women artists with major solo exhibitions for figures from Yoko One (Tate Modern) and Angelica Kauffman (Royal Academy) to Judy Chicago (Serpentine) and Korean artists. superstar Haegue Yang (Hayward), as well as the joint exhibition Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron (National Portrait Gallery).
In the music world, some real heavyweights are heading in this direction. Liam Gallagher performs Definitely Maybe in London and there’s the small matter of Taylor Swift also arriving in the capital. Other notable artists include Foo Fighters, Girls Aloud, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo and Bruce Springsteen.
For those in the know, leading Afrobeats star Davido is coming to the O2 and there’s a chance to see lively band The Last Dinner Party at the Roundhouse.
As Justine Simons, deputy mayor for culture and creative industries, told me this week, 2024 looks incredibly exciting even beyond the concerts, shows and exhibitions, for other reasons too, including the opening of Sadler’s Wells East in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park .
The 550-seat theater is a landmark moment in the creation of another cultural hub for the capital, the £1.1bn East Bank project (the London College of Fashion and UCL East have already opened there).
It will be followed in 2025 by the V&A East, a new museum to showcase more of the V&A’s collection and its new warehouse, which will be open to the public, as well as the new BBC Music Studios facilities for performances, broadcasts and recordings.
If that’s not enough for you, this year also brings a new commission for one of London’s most visible works of public art: the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, and we’ll also meet the winners of the London Borough of Culture 2025 awards and 2027. . As Simons said, she and Mayor Sadiq Khan “hope to see arts and culture thrive and unite the capital.”
I haven’t even mentioned the brilliant movies and TV shows hitting the big and small screens, many of which are filmed in the capital’s modern facilities, as well as a host of other art forms and artists.
So whether your favorite stars are coming to town or you’re keen to explore the wealth of extraordinary talent that hasn’t yet crossed your radar, whatever the future holds for you elsewhere, 2024 in London promises to be a very rich cultural, so come and dive. right in.
Nick Clark is deputy culture editor
