The Barbican Centre's Lakeside Terrace on a sunny day, with people at benches and tables beside the fountains and the long balconied block of Barbican flats behind

Things to do

What's On at the Barbican: Concerts, Theatre, Film and How to Visit

Every upcoming concert, play, film event and talk at the Barbican, updated daily, plus the £4 booking fee you avoid by buying at the desk, the £6 tickets for 16 to 29s, the bag rule, and where to eat before a show.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: The Barbican is the City of London’s arts centre: home of the London Symphony Orchestra and a London base of the Royal Shakespeare Company, with a concert hall, two theatres, three cinemas and an art gallery under one roof. Its full programme is below and updates daily. Come to the Silk Street entrance, four minutes from Barbican station or seven from Moorgate on the Elizabeth line. Buy at the desk on Level G and you skip the £4 online booking fee. If you’re 16 to 29, sign up free to Young Barbican first: tickets start at £6. Bring one small bag, or leave the rest in the free cloakroom on Level -1.

What’s on at the Barbican

264 shows and 578 dates on sale or announced, updated 12 November 2026. The next 40 are below; search and filter all of them on the What's On page.

Thursday12 November

Friday13 November

Saturday14 November

Sunday15 November

Monday16 November

Tuesday17 November

Wednesday18 November

Thursday19 November

Tickets: the fee, and how to skip it

Booking online or by phone costs £4 per transaction, or £1.50 for cinema, the Art Gallery and The Pit, a studio theatre. It’s charged once per booking however many tickets are in it; a basket with several events pays the highest single fee. In person there’s no fee at all: the Ticket and Information Desk on Level G is open 10:00 to 19:30 every day (12:00 to 19:30 on bank holidays).

  • Young Barbican. Free for anyone aged 16 to 29, and signing up takes a minute. It gives discounted tickets from £6 for films, exhibitions, concerts and shows, for you and one friend in the same age range, 20% off at Barbican Kitchen and 10% off in the shop. Sign up on the Barbican’s site.
  • Can’t go? Tickets can be exchanged for Barbican credit, valid for a year, up to 24 hours before the event, for a £3 per ticket admin fee. There are no refunds unless the event is cancelled.
  • Resale. Tickets bought from resale or auction sites aren’t valid for entry. Buy from the Barbican or one of its approved agents.

The Barbican Hall from the stalls before a concert: an audience taking its seats, empty chairs and music stands set out for an orchestra, and the LSO logo projected on the wooden wall behind the stage

The Barbican Hall before an LSO concert.

Getting there

All the Barbican’s recommended routes lead to the main entrance on Silk Street:

StationWalkLines
Barbican4 minCircle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan
Moorgate7 minNorthern, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Elizabeth line
Farringdon8 minElizabeth line, Thameslink
St Paul’s11 minCentral
Liverpool Street11 minElizabeth line, Central, national rail

The 153 bus stops on Silk Street itself; the 4 and 56 stop at Barbican station. On the Elizabeth line, use the Moorgate exit of Liverpool Street station.

Driving. The Barbican’s car parks are open 24 hours. Evenings after 4pm on weekdays (leaving before 6am) and all weekend are a fixed £13; weekdays before 4pm are charged by the hour. A limited number of spaces can be booked ahead through SABA, and Blue Badge holders park free if they book. Drop-offs for any venue on Level G or above use the Silk Street entrance.

The Barbican Centre's Lakeside Terrace on a sunny day, with people at benches and tables beside the fountains and the long balconied block of Barbican flats behind

The Lakeside Terrace.

Finding your way inside

The Centre is spread over many levels, and it helps to know three of them. Level G is the ticket desk and Barbican Kitchen. Level -1 is the Stalls floor, with the main cloakroom. Level 3 has the Art Gallery and the Conservatory entrance. Cinemas 2 and 3 are in a separate building across Beech Street, where the Urban Baristas café is. The Barbican publishes venue maps and step-free wayfinding videos from Farringdon and Moorgate.

An exhibition in the Barbican Art Gallery: a long illustrated textile hung along curved timber steps, framed textiles on a white wall opposite, and a concrete balcony running round the upper level

The Art Gallery.

Bags and the cloakroom

Only one reasonably sized handbag per person goes into the auditoria, and all bags may be searched. The Barbican suggests nothing larger than 32 x 18 x 22cm. Anything bigger goes in the free cloakroom on Level -1, open from 90 minutes before a performance until 30 minutes after; a £2 donation is asked for but voluntary. In the galleries, small backpacks have to be worn on the front.

Eating before a show

In the building:

  • Barbican Kitchen (Level G) serves 9am to 8pm every day: toasted sandwiches and salads by day, hand-stretched pizza and small plates in the evening. Under-10s eat free from the kids’ menu with every adult meal over £10.
  • Barbican Bar & Grill (level 1, run by Searcys) has a pre-theatre menu and a terrace over the lake from April to September. Last orders are 9pm Monday to Saturday and 7pm on Sunday. Its page on the Barbican’s site has the menus and table booking.
  • The Martini Bar on the first floor looks over the foyers and the lake, for a drink before curtain up.

Barbican Kitchen: long wooden tables and stools under trailing plants and racks of glass-jar lights, with diners by the windows

Barbican Kitchen, Level G.

A short walk away, around Smithfield, St John Street and Old Street:

  • St John on St John Street: Fergus Henderson’s whole-animal cooking.
  • Luca, further up St John Street: Italian cooking through British produce, from the Clove Club team.
  • Ibai on Bartholomew Close: Basque cooking over fire. It books up weeks ahead, so reserve when you buy the tickets.
  • Kennedy’s on Goswell Road: pies baked on the premises and fish and chips, walk-in.
  • Monohon Ramen on Old Street: no reservations, so walk in and wait. More in The Best Ramen in London.

Staying nearby

Shoreditch is about 15 minutes’ walk north-east. Four hotels there:

  • The Z Hotel Shoreditchad on City Road: compact rooms from about £110, the nearest of these. The cheapest rooms have no window, so pay up a grade unless you don’t mind.
  • nhow Londonad: from about £150, with a punk-meets-high-tech interior that includes a Big Ben rocket in the lobby.
  • The Hoxton, Shoreditchad on Great Eastern Street: from about £200, with breakfast included as a bag hung on your door.
  • Aethos London Shoreditchad on Willow Street: from about £250, the former Nobu Hotel, with an underground spa.

For other ways to split a trip between the City and the West End, see where to stay in Shoreditch.

Free at the Barbican

  • The Conservatory. A tropical garden inside the Centre, which the Barbican bills as the second biggest conservatory in London. It opens on listed dates only, which run from Friday 13 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, with a waiting list for new dates. Entry is free but ticketed, and a limited number of day tickets go on sale online at 9.30am each open day. The final plant adoption event, where the Barbican gives away Conservatory plants, is on Wednesday 2 December: free, one ticket per person, by a ballot that closes on Thursday 19 November on the plant adoption page. Large bags, prams and buggies aren’t allowed. See dates and book.
  • Concrete and Clay: Archiving the Barbican, a free display in the foyers about the building’s history, runs until 1 January 2027.
  • The Barbican Library, a public lending library inside the Centre.

Inside the Barbican Conservatory: palms, monstera and trailing plants spilling over tiers of concrete balconies under a steel and glass roof

The Conservatory.

Access

The Barbican runs captioned, BSL-interpreted, audio-described and relaxed performances; the listings above mark captioned and relaxed ones. Visual stories are available for the Hall, the Theatre, the cinemas, the Art Gallery and The Curve gallery. For BSL performances, stalls seats near the interpreter are held for BSL users; book early and ask for them.

Continue planning your London trip

Prices and opening hours as of November 2026. The listings are read from the Barbican’s box office and refresh daily.

Common questions

What's the nearest station to the Barbican?

Barbican station, four minutes' walk, on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. Moorgate is seven minutes and adds the Northern line and the Elizabeth line; Farringdon, eight minutes, has the Elizabeth line and Thameslink. Every route the Barbican recommends leads to its main entrance on Silk Street.

Is there a booking fee at the Barbican?

£4 per transaction online or by phone, or £1.50 for cinema, the Art Gallery and The Pit. It's per booking, not per ticket, and there's no fee at all if you buy in person at the Ticket and Information Desk on Level G, open 10:00 to 19:30 every day. Members pay no booking fees.

Are there cheap tickets at the Barbican?

If you're 16 to 29, Young Barbican is free to join and gives discounted tickets from £6 for films, exhibitions, concerts and shows, for you and a friend of the same age range, plus 20% off at Barbican Kitchen.

Can I take a bag into the Barbican?

One reasonably sized handbag per person into the auditoria, and bags are searched. The Barbican suggests nothing bigger than 32 x 18 x 22cm. Anything larger goes in the free cloakroom on the Stalls floor (Level -1), open from 90 minutes before a performance; a £2 donation is asked for but voluntary.

Is the Barbican Conservatory free?

Yes, but it's ticketed and only open on listed dates; a waiting list on the Barbican site gives notice of new dates. The current dates run from 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, and a limited number of day tickets go on sale at 9.30am each day it's open. Large bags, luggage, prams and buggies are not allowed inside.

Where can I eat at the Barbican before a show?

Barbican Kitchen on the ground floor serves all day, 9am to 8pm, with pizza, salads and small plates in the evening. The Barbican Bar & Grill on level 1 has a pre-theatre menu, with last orders at 9pm Monday to Saturday and 7pm on Sunday.

Keep planning

The lead-clad dome of St Paul's Cathedral, its stone lantern and gilded ball and cross against a pale blue sky, seen from below

Things to do

St Paul's Cathedral: Tickets, Opening Times, the Dome Climb and Free Evensong

St Paul's Cathedral tickets at £27, opening hours, the 528-step dome climb, the crypt, the Treasures tour and free Evensong, with bag, photography and step-free rules.

  • St Paul's Cathedral
  • City of London
  • Churches
  • Views
Read article →
Inside the Sky Garden: planted terraces in the foreground, café tables and visitors on the main floor, and a curved glass roof opening onto the City

Things to do

Sky Garden London: Free Tickets, Booking and Opening Hours

Sky Garden is free, but its timed tickets come out every Monday, three weeks ahead. How to book, the ways in once they have gone, the hours, the terrace, sunset times and the free viewpoints nearby.

  • Sky Garden
  • City of London
  • Views
  • Free things to do
Read article →
The red-brick Royal Albert Hall with a BBC Proms banner across its entrance arch and a red London bus passing in front

Things to do

Last Night of the Proms Tickets: Ballot, Day Tickets and Dates

Most Last Night of the Proms tickets are allocated by ballot, and the cheapest way in is not a ballot. The open ballot, the five-concert ballot, leftover sales and £8 day tickets, with the 2026 dates and prices.

  • Proms
  • Last Night of the Proms
  • Royal Albert Hall
  • Classical music
Read article →