Bloomsbury Festival will return to London from 17–19 October 2025 with a vibrant weekend of theatre, music, literature, art and science, under the theme The Paths We Tread.
The 2025 edition will serve as a prelude to the festival’s 20th anniversary in 2026, which will be marked with a month-long celebration—the largest in the festival’s history.
This year’s theme draws inspiration from the streets of St Giles, Seven Dials and Bloomsbury, connecting contemporary creativity with the area’s rich heritage.
The festival opens on 16 October with Songs And Ballads Singing Showcase, a free event celebrating the musical traditions of Bloomsbury and its diverse communities.
The New Wave theatre programme includes:
- Up In The Mango Trees (17–18 October), a play about a young disabled woman in Saint Lucia vying for the title of Carnival Queen.
- Cancelling Patji (17–18 October), a one-act play exploring cancel culture and Korean folklore.
- See It. Say It. Sorted. The Musical! (17–18 October), a new musical set in a train station full of secrets.
- 8-Bit Dream (19 October), a time-travelling absurdist comedy by Macready Theatre Young Actors Company.
- Facility 111: A Government Experiment (19 October), a surreal audio play performed in complete darkness.
In dance, An Evening With Okan-Maya & Toussaint (18 October) at The Place features Ella Mesma and Akeim Toussaint Buck in a dynamic evening of performance and conversation.
The New Wave music programme includes Tuning Dimensions (18 October), J.A.M. String Collective (19 October), and Dùthchas (19 October), showcasing emerging talent across genres.
Visual art highlights include an outdoor sculpture exhibition by Michael Craig-Martin, and Quicken by Dryden Goodwin, which reanimates figures from St Giles’ past through etched metal plates.
The Strange Doings in London heritage project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, features The Streets of Bloomsbury and St Giles, a contemporary response to historic artworks and songs.
Family-friendly events include Meet Maisie Chan (18 October) at Holborn Library, and Crossing The Alps With An Elephant (18 October), exploring the life of William Brockedon through art and science.
Festival Director Rosemary Richards said, “2025’s weekend festival is a busy programme with around 50 events over three days Celebrating Creativity in Bloomsbury. We are delighted to be presenting some of London’s brightest new talent alongside local partner events and the culmination of our year long heritage project Strange Doings in London, and we must thank all our partners, venues, artists and local businesses for enabling yet another great collection of culture and events.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here
