Talks and lectures
Talks and Lectures in London: 72 events this week (18 Aug to 22 Aug)
Talks and lectures in London this week, all in person. Author events, science and history lectures, panels and debates, with the date and venue on every listing.
Get the app As One: Suede In Conversation
In Conversation: Anna Fox with Katy Barron
Community Night
The History of Caribbean Carnival: Power, performance and play
CHOIR PARTY: join a one-night-only choir and SING!
Pints of Knowledge: a Night of Life Admin With Money Supermarket
Farm Sound Bath
London Fortean Society talks
Treasure Island (5-11 yrs)
Novella Book Club
Guided tours of Richmond Theatre
Open evenings at the Charterhouse Gardens
VERSES Poetry Night: Rooftop Special IV
Grimms' Fairy Tales (5-11 yrs)
BSL Interpreted Tours of The Coming of Age
Hidden Stories of Kensington Gardens Walking Tour
Historic Fridays : Charlton House Tours
Mosquitoes Warnings
Rollers & Racers – A celebration of Rolls-Royce & Bentley
Southwark Cathedral’s History Book Festival 2026
Rollers & Racers - A celebration of Rolls-Royce & Bentley
History Book Festival
Merton heritage discovery day
MANSIONS & MODERNITY – The Architecture of Victoria
MANSIONS & MODERNITY - The Architecture of Victoria
Occasional open day of the Coombe Conduit
A Bead for Remembering with Jannat Hussain
East End Homes: A Walking Tour
Tour of Kirkaldy’s Testing Works including machine run
Tour of Kirkaldy’s Testing Works including machine run
Never 42 – The Level 42 Tribute
Never 42 - The Level 42 Tribute
Saturday All Day Gaming!
Windmill Open Days
Young Rangers
Colson Whitehead: Cool Machine
Tales at the Tavern
Science & Technology Show + Steaming Weekend
London has long been a city built on talking things through. Its museums, universities, libraries, bookshops, and learned societies run a steady programme of public lectures, author events, panels, and debates, and on most weeks the choice of talks in London is genuinely wide. You can spend an evening with a writer, a scientist, a historian, or an economist, often for the price of a paperback.
This guide brings together talks and lectures happening across the capital, all of them in person. Every listing shows its date and venue, so you can see what fits your week and where you would need to be, whether that is a grand hall, a bookshop back room, or a university lecture theatre open to the public.
The appeal of a London lecture is the breadth. One evening might offer a deep dive into a single painting, the next a frank conversation about climate, identity, or the news cycle, and the next an author reading from a book that has just landed. The format suits the curious as much as the expert, and many events leave room for questions from the floor.
Use the list below as a way into that world rather than the final word. It refreshes as venues add new dates, so a quiet week can turn into an evening of real ideas with very little effort, which is exactly what a city this dense with institutions ought to offer.
Venues to know
- 19-21 Lee Road 2 events this week
- Wellcome Collection 2 events this week
- Brooklands Museum Brooklands Road Weybridge Surrey 2 events this week
- DEPARTS Victoria Station Wilton Road London Map 2 events this week
- Brookside Theatre, Romford 2 events this week
- The Blues Kitchen Brixton 1 event this week
How we pick
OnlyHere tracks live listings from over a hundred London venues, councils, and programmers, refreshed nightly. Picks favour events with confirmed dates, real venues you can find on a map, and editorial notes written by us, not the promoter. Prices and dates come from the listing itself; we never guess.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I find talks and lectures in London?
London talks and lectures run at museums, universities, libraries, independent bookshops, and learned societies across the city, covering everything from science and history to literature, politics, and the arts. The page above gathers events tagged as talks happening this week, with the date and venue on each one so you can plan around your week.
Are London talks and lectures open to the public?
Many are. Plenty of museum talks, bookshop author events, and public lecture series welcome anyone who books a place, and some university lectures are open to the public too. A few events are members-only or aimed at students, so it is worth checking the description and any booking detail before you set out.
How much do talks and lectures in London cost?
It varies widely. Some library and museum talks and many bookshop events are free or low-cost, while flagship lectures and ticketed series at the larger institutions charge more, and the popular author events sell out ahead. Because every OnlyHere listing shows its price, you can see at a glance which talks are free and which need a ticket.
What kinds of talks and lectures are on in London?
The range is broad: author readings and literary events, science and technology lectures, history and art talks, current affairs panels and debates, and conversations tied to exhibitions and new books. Some are single evenings, others run as series across a term. The listing above shows what is on this week so you can pick by topic and date.
How many talks and lectures in london are listed right now?
There are 72 events listed on this page right now. It updates daily.