--- title: "London Calling: The Week Starting 9th November 2026" description: Christmas lights, the Lord Mayor's Show, the London Jazz Festival and Christmas at Kew. Eight things to do in London in the week starting 9th November 2026. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-08T11:32:12.721Z updated: 2026-11-08T11:34:41.710Z canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/london-calling-the-week-starting-9th-november-2026 image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-6118303.webp categories: Lifestyle content_type: Guide publication: Rich Woman Magazine schema_type: Article --- This is the week London starts its countdown to Christmas. Lights switch on across the West End, [the City welcomes a new Lord Mayor](https://richwoman.co/article/london-calling-business-and-networking-events-for-the-week-starting-9th-november-2026) with a parade that is more than 800 years old, and the London Jazz Festival fills the capital with music. In between, there are moments to fall silent, to listen to a great storyteller and to watch young musicians take the stage at the Royal Albert Hall. Here are eight ways to spend it. ## The West End Switches On Its Christmas Lights Christmas really arrives this week. Oxford Street's lights are due to switch on on Monday 9th November, with a Harry Potter theme alongside its classic stars. Knightsbridge follows on Tuesday 10th November and Old Spitalfields Market on Wednesday 11th November. On Thursday 12th November, it is the turn of Marylebone Village, Covent Garden and Bond Street, where the switch-on launches a seven-week festive programme. Most displays are free to see. **Make it a walk:** start at Marble Arch at dusk and walk east along Oxford Street, then south down Regent Street and into Covent Garden. It is one of the loveliest free evenings in the city. ## Michael Morpurgo at St Martin-in-the-Fields On Monday 9th November at 7pm, the much-loved children's author Michael Morpurgo speaks at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Trafalgar Square. Fifty years ago, he and his wife, Clare, founded the charity Farms for City Children. He will tell its story and talk about transformation, opportunity and the power of nature. Tickets cost £10. **Why go:** few evenings could suit this edition better. It is a reminder that every child carries extraordinary potential, and that a single opportunity can unlock it. ## Music for Youth Proms at the Royal Albert Hall On Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th November, young musicians from across the country perform at the Music for Youth Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, starting at 7pm. These are concerts where the performers may be at the start of extraordinary lives. **Why go:** watching children and teenagers play on one of the world's great stages is one of the most uplifting things you can do in London this autumn. ## Falling Silent on Armistice Day On Wednesday 11th November, the country falls silent for two minutes at 11am to remember those who died in war. Wherever you are in London, in an office, on a platform or in a park, you can stop and join in. **Make it count:** use the two minutes to think of one person whose sacrifice, large or small, made your own life possible. ## A Christmas Market at the Business Design Centre From Wednesday 11th to Saturday 14th November, Good Housekeeping Live with the Country Living Christmas Market fills the Business Design Centre in Islington with independent makers, food producers and festive ideas. It is a ticketed show. **Make it count:** buy your gifts from small makers this year, and write down who made them. The story behind a present is part of the gift. ## The EFG London Jazz Festival Opens [The EFG London Jazz Festival](https://richwoman.co/article/efg-london-jazz-festival-2026), now in its 34th year, opens on Friday 13th November and runs until Sunday 22nd November across more than 60 venues. The opening night includes Jazz Voice at the Royal Festival Hall, a gala of singers with Guy Barker and the festival orchestra, and Coltrane 100 at the Barbican, marking a century since John Coltrane's birth. Some concerts start from as little as £5. **Insider tip:** the big names sell out first, but the smaller clubs, such as the Vortex in Dalston, are where you may discover your new favourite musician. ## Christmas at Kew Opens Kew's famous light trail opens on Friday 13th November and runs on selected dates until 3rd January 2027, from 4.20pm to 10pm. Expect illuminated trees, tunnels of light and the Palm House glowing in the dark. It is ticketed separately from general admission, and it is closed on 16th, 23rd and 28th November and on Christmas Day. **Book now:** dates sell out fast, especially at weekends and in December. ## The Lord Mayor's Show and the Return of the River Pageant On Saturday 14th November, [the Lord Mayor's Show](https://richwoman.co/article/lord-mayors-show-2026) sets off from Mansion House at 11am, with around 6,500 participants, 250 horses and more than 50 decorated floats. Alderman Bronek Masojada becomes the 698th Lord Mayor of the City of London. This year, for the first time since 2017, the celebrations also return to the Thames, with a flotilla passing through Tower Bridge. The parade is free to watch, and it marks a hundred years since the BBC first broadcast the Show live on radio in 1926. **Make a day of it:** the Bank of England Museum opens for a rare Saturday visit from 11am to 4pm, with last entry at 3.30pm. ## Your Week in One Line Light a little, listen a lot, and fall silent once. London is reminding you this week that the countdown to a new year is also a countdown to the people and moments that matter.