Chelsea History Festival runs 1 to 4 October and the free Freddie Mercury display opens at the V&A on 24 October, with 36 dated listings to 8 November.

Chelsea’s biggest week of the autumn starts on Thursday. The Chelsea History Festival runs from 1 to 4 October with sessions priced from free to £40, and the same Saturday brings Chelsea Dog Day and the Botanical Market on Phillimore Walk. After that the dates to plan around are Friday 16 October, when Wildlife Photographer of the Year opens at the Natural History Museum, and Saturday 24 October, when the V&A opens its free Freddie Mercury display. Half term ends with a free Halloween evening in Holland Park on the 31st.

Every listing below was read from the organiser’s own page on 28 September 2026 and links back to it. Prices are the ones the organiser publishes; where no price is shown, the organiser did not give one on its listing. For places that are open whatever the month, see our guide to things to do in Kensington.

This week

  • 5x15: Live at The Tabernacle, Monday 28 September, 7pm to 9pm, The Tabernacle, 35 Powis Square, W11 2AY. Five speakers with 15 minutes each: Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Louise Doughty, Emma-Lee Moss, Ben Okri and Lani Watson (The Tabernacle).
  • Man to Man, to Saturday 24 October, 7.30pm most evenings, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS. Tilda Swinton in Manfred Karge’s play. Tickets are £15 to £74.50 and the run is sold out in advance. The theatre sells £15 Monday tickets online from 9am on the day and releases returns at midday (Royal Court Theatre).
  • What The Animals Say, Tuesday 29 September to Saturday 24 October, Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, SW10 9ED. David Ireland’s first play, 70 minutes with no interval. Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Previews on 29 and 30 September are £15; first-week tickets are £20. Residents of Kensington and Chelsea pay £15 on Saturday 3 October at 7.30pm when booking online (Finborough Theatre).
  • Scala & Kolacny Brothers: Scala 30, Wednesday 30 September, 7pm, Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, SW1X 9DQ. From £35.50. The Belgian girls’ choir on its 30th anniversary tour (Cadogan Hall). Our preview of the concert has more.
  • Chelsea History Festival, Thursday 1 to Sunday 4 October, from 10am, at the National Army Museum, the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Chelsea Physic Garden and four other venues off Royal Hospital Road. Sessions cost from nothing to £40, and BBC world affairs editor John Simpson is guest curator (Chelsea Heritage Quarter). Our festival guide counts the free sessions.
  • Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Mozart Revealed, Thursday 1 October, 6pm and 8.30pm, Cadogan Hall. £24.50 in the gallery, £39.50 in the stalls, under 18s £9. Vasily Petrenko and Leah Broad explain the Jupiter symphony, then the orchestra plays it. One hour, no interval (Cadogan Hall).
  • Blood of my Blood, Thursday 1 October to Saturday 7 November, Royal Court Theatre, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. Joy Nesbitt’s play is set on a South Carolina plantation in 1862. Tickets £15 to £30 (Royal Court Theatre).
  • Berliner Ensemble: De Profundis, Friday 2 to Wednesday 7 October, 7.30pm, The Coronet Theatre, 103 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3LB. Jens Harzer performs Oscar Wilde’s prison letter in German with English surtitles. Tickets £20 to £100, age 14 and over, and there is no performance on Monday 5 October (The Coronet Theatre).
  • Kensington Botanical Market, Saturday 3 October, Phillimore Walk, W8 7RG. Rare plants, handmade planters and botanical art beside the library (High Street Kensington). Our Phillimore Walk markets page covers the road closure.
  • Chelsea Dog Day, Saturday 3 October, Duke of York Square and the King’s Road. A dog-themed market, with more than 75 shops, hotels and restaurants taking part. Pet Pavilion’s talent competition runs from 12pm to 5pm at 163 King’s Road (In Chelsea).
  • Song Academy Young Songwriter 2026 Showcase, Saturday 3 October, 7pm to 9.45pm, The Tabernacle. Finalists aged 8 to 18 perform their own songs and the winners are announced live (The Tabernacle).
  • NIGO: From Japan with Love, final day Sunday 4 October, Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street, W8 6AG. The ticketed exhibition on the Japanese designer closes this weekend (Design Museum).

Next week

  • Silver Sunday Warm and Welcome Space, Monday 5 October, 10am to 3pm, Clore Learning Centre, Kensington Palace, W8 4PX. Free, no booking. A drop-in for older residents with tea, board games, art materials and an optional fitness class (Kensington and Chelsea Council). The rest of the programme is in our Silver Sunday guide.
  • The Tallis Scholars: Rachmaninov Vespers and Arvo Pärt, Wednesday 7 October, 7.30pm, Cadogan Hall. From £21.50 (Cadogan Hall).
  • Silver Sunday tours of the National Army Museum, Thursday 8 October, 11am to 12.30pm and 1pm to 2.30pm, Royal Hospital Road. Free, booked on 020 3713 8737, saying which tour you want (Kensington and Chelsea Council).
  • Glass Door Sleep Out, Friday 9 to Saturday 10 October, Duke of York Square, SW3 4LY. The homelessness charity’s 14th annual sponsored sleep out. There is no registration fee and sleepers are asked to raise funds (Glass Door).
  • Open Art Market, Saturday 10 October, 10am to 5pm, Phillimore Walk, W8 7RG. The Open Art Sketch Club meets there at 12pm for a guided sketch walk to 2.45pm (High Street Kensington).
  • Voices of Soul, Saturday 10 October, 7pm, Cadogan Hall. £34.50 to £59.50, limited availability. Soul and Motown from the 35-piece Down for the Count Orchestra (Cadogan Hall).

One closure to note: the Natural History Museum lists itself as closed on Friday 9 October (Natural History Museum).

Later in October

  • Justin Hayward: The Story in Your Eyes Tour, Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 October, 7.30pm, Cadogan Hall. £49.50 to £64.50, limited availability (Cadogan Hall).
  • Movana Chen: Questioning the Line, Wednesday 14 to Saturday 17 October, 7.30pm, with a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday, The Coronet Theatre studio. £25. Dancers perform inside wearable sculptures for an audience of 60. Contains nudity (The Coronet Theatre).
  • Wildlife Photographer of the Year, opens Friday 16 October and runs to 11 July 2027, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD. Adult off-peak tickets from £17, members free (Natural History Museum).
  • London Gay Symphony Orchestra: 30th Anniversary Concert, Sunday 18 October, 6.30pm, Cadogan Hall. £24.50 to £34.50. Includes a world premiere by Mark Bowden (Cadogan Hall).
  • Boram Kim: Gwantong 18, Thursday 22 to Saturday 24 October, 7.30pm, The Coronet Theatre. £20 to £40, age 8 and over. A 70-minute dance solo (The Coronet Theatre).
  • The Simon & Garfunkel Story, Friday 23 October, 7.30pm, Cadogan Hall. £37.50 to £50.50, limited availability (Cadogan Hall).
  • Freddie Mercury: Splendid Things, opens Saturday 24 October, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL. Free, no booking. Eight looks from his career on a trail across the museum (V&A). The talk the night before is sold out; see our guide to the display.
  • High Street Kensington Halloween trail, Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October. A mapped trail through the shops and attractions across half term (Opportunity Kensington). More in our October half term guide.
  • Bellows Across Borders, Sunday 25 October, 2pm to 3.30pm, The Tabernacle. London Accordion Orchestra hosts the Akkordeon-Studio-Orchester Bielefeld (The Tabernacle). Our story on the concert.
  • The Moth, Tuesday 27 October to Saturday 21 November, Finborough Theatre. The London premiere of Paul Herzberg’s play after a Northern tour (Finborough Theatre).
  • The Big Kensington Flea Market, Halloween edition, Saturday 31 October, 10am to 4.30pm, Phillimore Walk, W8 7RG (Opportunity Kensington).
  • Playful Park of Peculiar, Saturday 31 October, 4pm to 7pm, Holland Park. Free to enter. The organiser has not yet published the full programme (Opportunity Kensington). Our Halloween page is updated as detail lands.

November

  • The Longest Yarn 2: Britain at War, Monday 2 to Thursday 12 November, Royal Hospital Chelsea, SW3 4SR. An 80-metre knitted and crocheted exhibition of wartime Britain, ticketed (Royal Hospital Chelsea). Our Royal Hospital page has the rest of its November programme.
  • Kensington Botanical Market, Saturday 7 November, Phillimore Walk, W8 7RG (High Street Kensington).
  • The Last Princesses of Punjab, final day Sunday 8 November, Kensington Palace. The exhibition on Sophia Duleep Singh is included in palace admission (Historic Royal Palaces).

The council had not published its Remembrance Sunday arrangements for 8 November when this page was written. We will add them when it does.

Regular events

  • Palace in the Park walking tour, every Wednesday and Sunday until 20 December, 11am to 12.15pm and 2pm to 3.15pm, Kensington Palace. The next is Wednesday 30 September. It needs a separate ticket and palace admission is not included (Historic Royal Palaces).
  • Duke of York Square Food Market, every Saturday, 11am to 4pm, Duke of York Square. The next is Saturday 3 October (In Chelsea).
  • Kensington Farmers Market, every Sunday until 20 December, 10am to 2pm, Phillimore Walk, W8 7RX. The next is Sunday 4 October (High Street Kensington).

Getting there

Cadogan Hall and the Royal Court are both a short walk from Sloane Square station. The museums are reached from South Kensington, Phillimore Walk from High Street Kensington, and the Coronet from Notting Hill Gate. Our tube and travel page has the lines, roadworks and travel lists what is closed, and parking in Kensington sets out the borough’s charges.

This page is rewritten as organisers confirm new dates. Dates can still change, so use the links before you travel. More in our What’s On section.

Send us your event

Running something in Kensington, Chelsea or Notting Hill? Email hello@thekensingtonpost.co.uk with the date, time, venue, price and a photo. Listings are free of charge, and yours goes on this page and in the diary on our What’s On section.

Sources

Image: “Cadogan Hall, London 01” by Paul the Archivist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cadogan_Hall,_London_01.jpg).