THEGANDER.LONDON · OPEN TO EVERYONE
A year in London · open edition
The Gander
SAT 17 OCTOBER 2026
WEEKEND OF FRI 16 OCT – SUN 18 OCT
ONE PAGE · NO ACCOUNT NEEDED
FRI 16 OCT · 17° · 100% rain
SAT 17 OCT · 13°
SUN 18 OCT · 11° · 59% rain
SUNSET 18:05
The one thing · book by TUE 20 OCT
MCM Comic Con London
The big one for a comics household: ExCeL, three days, artist alley, cosplay, voice actors, panels. Under-10s are about GBP 7 and under-4s free, so this is cheap for what it is. Falls the weekend immediately before October half term.
Day passes from ~GBP 27; under-10s ~GBP 7 · ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock, E16
Book now or wait a year
Musical Con
A musical-theatre fan convention at ExCeL — a comic-con format applied to West End shows, with performers and panels, which is a cheaper way to taste theatre than four stalls seats.
ArcelorMittal Orbit Descender
For one week only you can abseil-descend the UK's tallest sculpture rather than just slide it — exactly the kind of thing a 13-year-old brags about, and it's only on for eight days.
The Children's Bookshow: Katherine Rundell
One of the best children's novelists writing in Britain, live, in a small-hall format aimed squarely at a 10- and 13-year-old — exactly the thing they'd never find themselves.
This weekend in London
3 picks · the same 3 for everyone reading today
BOOK AHEAD · BOOK BY SUN 1 NOV
My Neighbour Totoro
Gillian Lynne Theatre, Drury Lane, WC2
The Studio Ghibli stage adaptation that won six Oliviers — puppetry, a live score, and a Catbus. It is the best family show in London and it ENDS ITS RUN ON 10 JANUARY 2027 for good. Works for a 10-year-old and does not condescend to a 13-year-old.
BOOK AHEAD
The Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum
British Museum, WC1
The 70-metre embroidery of the 1066 conquest, in Britain for the first time in over 900 years and running autumn 2026 to summer 2027. This is a once-in-several-lifetimes loan and it will be the hardest ticket in London -- book the moment you see a date.
BOOK AHEAD
The Lives of Others
Adelphi Theatre, Strand, WC2
Keira Knightley's first West End appearance in fifteen years, with Stephen Dillane and Luke Thompson, in Robert Icke's adaptation of the Stasi surveillance film. Icke is the most interesting director working in London and this is the grown-up ticket of the autumn.
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