For Women’s History Month, Laura Sedlak explores the walks, talks and events celebrating the women who’ve shaped the city.
International Women’s Day, celebrated on 8 March, began as a call to action for women’s labour and voting rights. Today, it’s a global movement, with women around the world speaking out and pushing for much-needed change. To mark the occasion, London is hosting a packed programme of exhibitions, talks, tours and events focusing on female talent, creativity and the women who helped shape the city. Introduced in 2024, the Suffragette Overground line was the first public transport route in London to memorialise the fight for women’s rights. But when it comes to cycling, women are still underrepresented on the city’s streets, making up only a third of daily bike journeys. To help change that, TfL and Santander Cycles invited the public to nominate female cycling stars and unsung heroes, with 10 bikes renamed after inspirational female cyclists. Look out for them at selected Santander cycle stations dotted around the city.
Footsteps Through History
If you prefer to hit the pavements on two feet, Women of London offers historic walking tours celebrating those who left their mark on the city. From the factory workers of the East End to the writers of the influential Bloomsbury Group, female guides walk you through their struggles and successes.
Footprints of London’s Warrior Women tour at the National Portrait Gallery (13 Mar) tells the stories of politicians, queens and spies who reshaped history, while the Royal Opera House’s HerStory tour highlights the women who helped to create the cultural institution.
Alternatively, walk in the footsteps of Florence Nightingale through St James’s and Mayfair (8 Mar), and mark the life of the woman who revolutionised healthcare. Tour tickets include entry to the Florence Nightingale Museum in Lambeth Palace Road and its new exhibition, In Focus: Nurse Catherine Pine, exploring the life and work of the nurse to Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes (from 6 Mar).
Seen and Heard
The Royal Albert Hall hosts an International Women’s Day concert with resident organist Anna Lapwood (8 Mar). Saxophonist Jess Gillam and singer-songwriter Katie Melua will also perform, accompanied by Pembroke College Girls’ Choir.
The National Gallery launches Women’s History Month with a talk on portrait painters Angelica Kauffman and Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (2 Mar), two hugely successful artists often overlooked by their male counterparts.
Over at the National Portrait Gallery, its lunchtime lecture will feature one of its most beloved works: the portrait of the Brontë sisters painted by their brother Bramwell (5 Mar), while The British Library hosts an evening celebrating two books amplifying the voices of older Black women (6 Mar). Black Women Speak Volumes, with Bernardine Evaristo and Andi Oliver, will explore the new novel from Yvette Edwards and Joy Francis’s interviews with seven groundbreaking black women in the arts.
Women at the Table
Staffed entirely by women who cook from the heart, Darjeeling Express started as a supper club in Asma Khan’s home, celebrating the
flavours of her childhood in India. Currently in Kingly Court off Carnaby Street, it’s soon moving to a larger Soho space with an open kitchen, allowing diners to soak up the home-style cooking that has earned it rave reviews.
Another women-led institution, River Cafe champions authentic Italian cooking. Owner Ruth Rogers and her partner, the late Rose Gray, pioneers of seasonal eating and trained some of the country’s most famous chefs. Self-taught Adejoké Bakare is the first Black woman in the UK to earn a Michelin star. Her restaurant Chisuru in Fitzrovia serves West African dishes reflecting ‘heat, heart and heritage’.
For a sweeter celebration, The Chocolate Cocktail Club mixes chocolate into decadent drinks, from Rolo shots to Biscoff Martinis. It also hosts cocktail-making classes – a great way to toast International Women’s Day with a friends.
Stories in the Frame
Unbelievably, only around a third of artists represented by major London galleries are female. Gillian Jason Gallery is the UK’s first commercial gallery dedicated to women artists. Its exhibition, Enchanted Gardens (to 28 Mar), explores nature-inspired work, while Empowering Her at The Gallery at Green & Stone in Chelsea (2-14 Mar) shows Caroline de Peyrecave’s works.
Paint! Pattern! Print! at the Fashion and Textile Museum (from 27 Mar), meanwhile, focuses on designers and sisters Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell.
Also, at the end of the month, The Last Princesses of Punjab at Kensington Palace (from 26 Mar) tells the story of suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh, her godmother Queen Victoria and four other women in her family who used their royalty to become powerful changemakers.
Make It a Musical on Mother’s Day Weekend
Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular
Packed with gravity-defying acrobatics and hit songs from the blockbuster film, enjoy all the magic of the Big Top at the state-of-the-art venue in London’s Earls Court as Max, a shy circus fanatic, finds her place in the spotlight. www.comealiveshow.com.
I’m Every Woman: The Chaka Khan Musical
Telling the story of iconic singer Chaka Khan, this Sadler’s Wells show at the Peacock Theatre celebrates strength, self-belief
and female empowerment. It’s an uplifting tribute to a woman who managed to balance fame and motherhood (5-28 Mar). www.belgrade.co.uk.
MAMMA MIA!
Set to the music of ABBA, this joyful musical at the Novello Theatre centres on the bond between a free-spirited single mother and her daughter. It’s a feel-good tribute to motherhood, family and love. www.mamma-mia.com
