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

💡 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

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 before a London Symphony Orchestra concert, the orchestra’s logo lit on the wall behind the stage.

Getting there

All the Barbican’s recommended routes lead to the main entrance on Silk Street. Walk times are the Barbican’s own:

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 Lakeside Terrace, with the Centre on the left and the lake and fountains on the right.

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.

The Art Gallery on Level 3, with its upper gallery looking down over the lower floor.

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 5pm on Sunday, so on a Sunday eat early or eat elsewhere. 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 on Level G: long shared tables under trailing plants.

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

• St John on St John Street: Fergus Henderson’s whole-animal cooking, open since 1994.
• 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.

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. London’s second-largest conservatory, a tropical garden inside the Centre, open on listed dates only. Entry is free but ticketed: tickets are released online a month ahead, and a few day tickets go on sale at 9.30am each open day. 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.

The Conservatory, planted over the Centre’s concrete balconies under a glass roof.

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

• 🗓️ What’s On in London: every gig, show and concert we list, searchable by date and price
• 🎟️ Tickets Going On Sale Soon
• 🏙️ City of London Area Guide
• 🎤 Best Live Music Venues in London
• 🎬 Best Cinemas in London
• 🖼️ Best Galleries in London
• ☔ London in the Rain

Prices, opening hours and policies from the Barbican’s own website, checked 22 September 2026. The listings are read from the Barbican’s box office and refresh daily.