London's Best Free Events this Spring

Chinese New Year 2014 – Year of the Horse
Trafalgar Square and Chinatown
Sun 2nd Feb 2014
The celebrations will transform Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Shaftesbury Avenue and London Chinatown. Visitors will be able to welcome in the Year of the Horse in spectacular style - with Chinese arts and entertainment from international and home-grown artists, plus food firecrackers and fireworks.

Imagine Children's Festival
Southbank Centre
Mon 10th Feb 2014 to Sun 23rd Feb 2014
Southbank Centre is being transformed BY children FOR children, as well as hosting the top names in children’s literature, dance, theatre and art. Enjoy free activities throughout the festival or just take in the atmosphere as children run the show!

Great Spitalfields Pancake Race
Old Truman Brewery
Tue 4th Mar 2014
Get in training for Shrove Tuesday and join in the Great Spitalfields Pancake Race. All you need to get together is a team of four people suitably dressed up (or down) to enter in the relay race. Bring your own frying pan and we'll provide the pancakes. The race will be run along Dray Walk at The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane and all you have to do is toss the pancake a couple of times en route.

The Head of the River Race
Along the river from Mortlake to Putney
Sat 29th Mar 2014
The Head of the River Race is rowed annually in March from Mortlake to Putney on the Tideway in London. Over 400 crews of eights take part, making it one of the highest participation events in London.

Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race (160th)
River Thames between Mortlake and Putney
Sun 6th Apr 2014
The world famous sporting event between Oxford and Cambridge was first held in 1829. The 4¼ mile Thames course from Putney to Mortlake is over three times as long as the Olympic course.

Virgin Money London Marathon
Blackheath Park/ Greenwich Common to The Mall
Sun 13th Apr 2014
The UK's most famous road race returns for 2014 promising to beat even last year's amazing event! Crowds of half a million line the 26.2 mile course offering shouts of encouragement and congratulations.

A World to Win: Posters of Protest and Revolution
Victoria And Albert Museum
Thu 1st May 2014 to Sun 2nd Nov 2014
From the ‘Votes for Women’ campaigns of the early 20th century to the recent Occupy movements, political activists around the world have used posters to mobilise, educate and organise. Making or displaying a poster is in itself a means of taking political action, while for many social and political movements posters have represented an important form of cultural output.

See all the free (or part-free) events taking place in London in our comprehensive list...

Free Events in London >>>