We might be biased, but there aren’t many cities that can stake a greater claim to being design capital of the world than London. With its internationally-renowned museums, art galleries both large and small, and plethora of public art installations, London is a hub of creativity.
Showcasing the best of the capital’s talents are a roster of art fairs and festivals that take place throughout the year, giving the opportunity to discover works by emerging and established artists. Whether you’re interested in British craft, affordable art, or thought-provoking installations, these are the upcoming art fairs in London to have on your radar.
London Art Fair
Kicking off the 2024 art calendar in the capital is London Art Fair, which returns to Islington’s Business Design Centre with a line-up of modern and contemporary art galleries from around the world. Thousands of contemporary British artworks will be presented by some of the UK’s leading galleries, bringing a breath of fresh air to customers’ art collections. There will also be an exciting events programme, including a consideration of 20th century queer British artists, a talk on how AI is impacting the art market, and experts’ forecasts for the industry in 2024.
17-21 January 2024, Business Design Centre, Islington, londonartfair.co.uk
The Decorative Fair
The Decorative Fair is now London’s largest vetted prestige fair for antiques, design and art in the capital. It has been running since 1985 and takes place three times a year at Evolution London, an events venue within Battersea Park. The Decorative Fair is the preferred hunting ground of leading UK and international designers, decorators and collectors, and is popular with younger buyers in particular. Some 130 exhibitors will be showing traditional and decorative antiques, fine examples of 20th-century design, and textiles, glass and ceramics dating from the 1700s to the 1970s.
Winter Fair: 23-28 January 2024, Spring Fair: 7-12 May 2024, Autumn Fair: 1-6 October 2024, decorativefair.com
The Other Art Fair
The Other Art Fair has an unexpected take on the traditional art fair experience, claiming, ‘When the art world as you knew it went one way, we went the other’. The platform gathers game-changing artists and creative thinkers to celebrate the experiential aspect of art and rails against elitism in the industry. In terms of what you can find here, The Other Art Fair combines boundary-pushing yet affordable artworks from over 120 emerging talents, as well as interactive theatre, taxidermy classes and guest artist talks.
7-10 March 2024, The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, theotherartfair.com
The Affordable Art Fair
The Affordable Art Fair returns to London for three events this year, showcasing the best in contemporary art from over 100 leading galleries from around the world, with cities including London, Hong Kong, New York and Barcelona represented. Discover the joy of collecting with artworks for sale ranging from £50 to £7,500, with expert advice on hand to make finding your dream piece a breeze. Kicking things off in Battersea Park for spring, the fair will also visit Hampstead Heath two months later before returning south in the autumn.
6-10 March 2024, Battersea Park; 8-12 May 2024, Hampstead; October 2024, Battersea Park, affordableartfair.com
London Craft Week
London Craft Week returns for its tenth edition with a new programme of events taking place at museums, galleries and boutiques across the capital; since its inception in 2015, it has grown in scale and prominence to welcome nearly a quarter of a million visitors. The festival celebrates craftsmanship across multiple sectors and disciplines, shining a light on the creative talent behind some of the world’s most beautiful objects. Discover enlightening workshops, inspiring makers and craftsmen, and magical shops alongside luxury houses and stores, famous artists and designers, and national museums and galleries.
13-19 May 2024, across London, londoncraftweek.com
London Original Print Fair
Founded in 1985, LOPF is London’s longest-running art fair and returns to Somerset House for its 39th edition in March. It celebrates printmaking in all forms, bringing together the work of around 40 exhibitors. Discover renowned classics alongside modern works from the likes of Hockney, Auerbach, Rego, Picasso and Matisse, as well as lesser-known gems and a new generation of artists – there’s something for everyone, whether you’re looking for affordable works or to build on an established collection. The London Original Print Fair also offered access to artists at the fair and a programme of talks and activities including live printmaking demonstrations.
21-24 March 2024, Somerset House, Strand, londonoriginalprintfair.com
Photo London
‘The leading art fair for celebrating the past, present, and future of photography’, Photo London returns to Somerset House for 2024. The fair presents historic and vintage works from the world’s leading photography dealers, while also spotlighting emerging galleries in the Discovery section, and the fresh perspectives that come with them. Each edition also puts on a Public Programme, which includes special exhibitions and installations as well as an awards programme headlined by the Photo London Master of Photography Award.
16-19 May 2024, Somerset House, Strand, photolondon.org
London Design Festival
IntoSight by Sony Design. Image by Ed Reeve
Swivel by Sabine Marcelis. Image by Ed Reeve
The London Design Festival returns to the capital this September, marking its 22nd year celebrating and promoting design with an extensive line-up of installations, events and exhibitions. At its inception in 2003, the festival’s concept was to promote London as a creative hub, drawing in the country’s greatest thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators. 20 years later, this vision remains strong; in 2019, the London Design Festival welcomed a record-breaking 600,000 visitors from over 75 countries, and 2024 is expected to be bigger and better than ever.
14-20 September 2024, across London, londondesignfestival.com
British Art Fair
The Fair for Modern and Contemporary British Art, otherwise known as the British Art Fair, brings together top dealers from London and across the UK. Galleries are installed over all three storeys of the Saatchi Gallery, creating a museum-like ambience; the experience is collaborative and interactive, with dealers engaging with the public, telling them about the artists and providing specialist advice on collecting. The 2024 edition of the British Art Fair is set to showcase artists including David Hockney, Frank Auerbach, L.S. Lowry, Paula Rego, Grayson Perry, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Banksy, and many more.
26-29 September 2024, Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s, britishartfair.co.uk
Frieze London, Frieze Masters and Frieze Sculpture
Arguably the capital’s most-hyped art fair, Frieze London (which exhibits only contemporary art and living artists) and Frieze Masters (whose focus is on historical art) are set to take over Regent’s Park again this October, alongside Frieze Sculpture. Details of this year’s event are still under wraps as applications are still open for exhibitors, but last year saw art from emerging stars and iconic names, spanning thousands of years of art history and hundreds of major international galleries.
9-13 October 2024, Regent’s Park, frieze.com
The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair
The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair (WCPF), together with its online edition, forms Europe’s largest art fair dedicated to highly collectible print works. Each year, WCPF showcases the very best of contemporary print in a unique hybrid exhibition which features a curated selection of independent artists chosen through an international open call, well-known names, and specialist gallery booths at London’s historic Royal Arsenal.
21-24 November 2024, Woolwich Works, The Royal Arsenal, woolwichprintfair.com
Read more: The best London exhibitions to visit in 2024
