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Welcome to Wandsworth's London Borough of Culture Programme

The first events in our London Borough of Culture programme have been released today - with lots more to be announced in the coming weeks and months.

Programme Highlights

Strictly Wandsworth

26 April 2025 – Battersea Park

The biggest dance spectacle the borough has ever seen, bringing together 200 dancers from 22 local organisations. Created by world-renowned choreographer Jeanefer Jean-Charles, the event will feature groups including Tavaziva Dance and London Children’s Ballet, culminating in a mass dance finale led by Patience J, where everyone can join in. 

Wandsworth Arts Fringe

6 – 22 June 2025 – Borough-wide

Leap into a world of brand-new theatre, experimental dance and music, heart-racing cabaret and works-in-progress from the next big names in comedy. For 2025, Wandsworth Arts Fringe will continue a 16-year tradition of shaking up SW London with its most ambitious festival programme to date, popping up in surprising spaces all over the borough and boasting over 180 events across 17 days.

The Wandsworth Way

July 2025 – March 2026 – On Air

A brand-new radio drama series, produced by Theatre 503 and Riverside Radio. Imagine The Archers, but set in South West London. A brilliant chance for local people to get involved in storytelling, performance, and production.

Battersea Park in Concert

23 – 25 August – Battersea Park

Battersea Park in Concert is a three-day open-air picnic concert series spanning over August Bank Holiday, showcasing the best in classical and jazz music. Battersea Park Concert is about incredible food, spine-tingling music and enjoying cherished magical moments with family and friends, with three brand-new days curated for 2025.

Wandsworth Heritage Festival

13 June – 13 July 2025 – Borough-wide

The annual Wandsworth Heritage Festival celebrates Wandsworth’s rich history through a programme of heritage walks, talks, exhibitions, and performances. Highlights include encounters with the dead in cemetery walks, finding folklore in the borough’s flora and fauna, storytelling sessions, and craft workshops. The 2025 Wandsworth Heritage Festival is themed ‘Wandsworth and the Arts’ to mark Wandsworth’s year as London Borough of Culture.

Urban Flow

13 September 2025 – Roehampton

A stunning silk banner procession, animated by 100 performers and digital art, blending movement, martial arts, and dance to explore our relationship with the city. Developed with India's Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, UK arts charity and silk co-creators Kinetika, and Wandsworth’s Tavaziva Dance, this promises to be a breath-taking visual experience. 

Liberty Festival

24 – 28 September 2025 – Battersea Arts Centre & other Battersea venues

London’s flagship festival celebrating D/deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent artists. Working in collaboration with CRIPtic Arts the festival will offer a bold platform of work from some of the most exciting disabled creatives and embed them in the heart of Wandsworth community.

Portrait of a National Treasure

A powerful tribute to Dame Carmen Munroe, a national and local icon whose trailblazing career has shaped British cultural life. Venice Biennale Golden Lion-winner artist Dame Sonia Boyce will create a new film honouring Carmen’s legacy, celebrating her landmark roles in Desmond’s and Doctor Who as well as her ground-breaking work in theatre, including as a founding member of Talawa Theatre company. Alongside the film screening, the project will connect with Wandsworth’s health and wellbeing initiatives, engaging young people in heritage, identity, and the power of representation in the arts.

Tooting Food Festival

Tooting Food Festival will bring people together through the shared joy of food, culture, and community. More than just a festival, it’s a feast of togetherness, sustainability, and the rich diversity of Tooting. Locals grow, cook, and share homegrown produce, connecting through flavours, stories, and traditions. The Food Festival builds on a beloved local legacy while adding new dimensions- beyond food stalls, storytellers will share not just the tastes of their homelands but also the journeys that brought them or their ancestors to Wandsworth.

Our Music Our Freedom

A deep dive into the last 50 years of Wandsworth’s rich and diverse musical heritage – from 1970s reggae, 1980s hip hop, Bhangra and 1990s grime, to jazz, folk, classical and South Asian musical heritage, 21st Century indie, rock and electronica – BBC presenter, radio producer and co-founder of Oily Cart, Max Reinhardt will curate a series of podcasts sharing the stories and memories of the borough’s vibrant and influential music scene.

Palace Of Varieties

26 November 2025 – The Clapham Grand

The Clapham Grand celebrates its 125th anniversary and they are marking the occasion with a dazzling birthday extravaganza at Wandsworth’s iconic ‘Palace of Varieties’. Honouring the venue’s history, the night promises to celebrate 125 years of variety and entertainment, from a diverse range of artists. The Grand will also play its part in offering up its archives to be part of an exploration of the history of Queer Culture in the borough, culminating in an exhibition as part of LBGT History Month in February 2026.

Culturally Mindful: Diversity In Creative Health

A pioneering project using arts and culture in social prescribing to boost mental well-being. Working with the NHS, it brings together Global Majority artists and lived experience groups to co-design inclusive creative health interventions, ensuring Wandsworth’s diverse communities benefit from culturally relevant artistic experiences.

There's lots of ways to be part of our London Borough Of Culture year.

Follow us @welcometowandsworth on Instagram, @wtowandsworth on X, and check out our Get Involved page regularly to stay up to date.

If you're a creative based in the borough, make a profile on our Creative Directory and add your events to our new What's On calendar.