Upcoming Events at City Lit
Visual Arts - Artist Talks
Next Talk: Wednesday 15 May 2024
The School of Visual Arts is pleased to launch its new artist talk series. Over the course of the year, we’ll welcome an established speaker from the world of Visual Arts to speak about a subject passionate to them. Our next talk will be taking place on Wednesday 15 May with Dr Stephen Knott.
Visual Arts Open Day
Saturday 18 May
Join us for the annual City Lit Visual Arts open day. Throughout the day, at our HQ in Covent Garden, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the full range and variety of our art and design subjects on offer.
Classics Day 2024 at the British Museum
Saturday 15 June 2024
A stimulating day of lectures presented by some of the UK’s most important classicists. Join Natalie Haynes, Ian Morris, Caroline Vout and other speakers to immerse yourself in the life and death struggles of the ancient world, understand the daily life of soldiers and their loved ones, the brutality of the battlefield, and a world were war and peace were in constant flux.
City Lit Student Bursary - giving everyone the chance to learn
We are a charity, you can make a difference
Each year, over 1000 students apply for help with course fees, materials, and assistance with travel and family care. Your gift makes sure that financial need isn’t a barrier to education.
Your gift can allow a single parent to discover a new skill, which will transform their lives. It can support our work with the deaf community, ensuring people across the UK can acquire sign language and lip reading provision. It can help us to further develop the UK’s only orchestra led by people with learning disabilities. In short, it will mean that City Lit is there for all Londoners for years to come.
Past events
Deaf Day
Saturday 13 April 2024 at City Lit
Deaf Day celebrated its 26th anniversary on Saturday 13th April, with thousands of attendees heading from all over the UK to City Lit for the occasion.
International Women's Day
City Lit
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we have a range of courses and activities happening exploring and celebrating the significant contributions made by women to life, society, and culture…
In Conversation With Dame Mary Beard
Wednesday 17 January 2024 at City Lit
Mary will be discussing her new book Emperor of Rome, where she shines the spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from the well-known Julius Caesar to the almost unknown Alexander Severus. This event will be followed by a drinks reception and book signing (Emperor of Rome) in the City Lit Gallery.
City Lit Theatre Company presents After Life
Dates: 7-9 December 2023
City Lit Theatre Company presents Vernon Thompson’s production of Jack Thorne’s After Life. A powerfully human look at how we view our lives, and a haunting meditation on what it is to live – and to die. Performances in the John Lyon’s Theatre at 7.30pm Thu 7th- Sat 9th December, with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.
Mental Wealth Festival
9-14 October 2023
The Mental Wealth Festival returns on 9-14 October at City Lit and across other venues in central London. This year's theme is connections, and we’ll be exploring ways that connection supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing and celebrate the numerous ways in which we connect with others, ourselves, and the world around us through a series of talks, panel discussions and short courses.
In Conversation with Lord David Puttnam, Thursday 6 October at City Lit
We were delighted to welcome award-winning British film producer, educator and environmentalist, Lord David Puttnam, to discuss his life and career with City Lit Principal, Mark Malcomson CBE.
Classics Week (1-8 July 2022) & Classics Day (9 July 2022)
This year we brought you 9 days packed with interesting City Lit seminars as well as the main event, Classics Day at The British Museum. We had an amazing day celebrating the Citi exhibition Feminine power: divine to demonic at the British Museum with guest speakers Dame Mary Beard, Bettany Hughes, Belinda Crerar, Chris Naunton, Rosalind Janssen and David Stuttgart.
An evening with Dame Evelyn Glennie, Thursday 26 May 2022 at City Lit
We were delighted to welcome international solo percussionist and composer, Dame Evelyn Glennie to City Lit on Thursday 26 May 2022 to discuss her life and career and celebrate her latest achievement of becoming a City Lit Lifetime Fellow.
Night Shift, Thursday 10 March 2022 at the Southbank Centre
Embark on a musical adventure with the London Sinfonietta in Night Shift by Cathy Milliken. Featuring our very own City Lit Inclusive Choir, this concert guides you through a relaxed evening of sound and play.
In conversation with City Lit Fellow Ed Balls, 11 November 2021
As part of this year’s Lifelong Learning Week, we are delighted to invite you to an in conversation event with City Lit Fellow Ed Balls and City Lit Principal Mark Malcomson CBE to discuss Ed’s life, career, politics and the importance of lifelong learning. There are three ticket options for this event; at City Lit, online and with a copy of Ed's new book Appetite.
A Mile in My Shoes, London Literature Festival, 23-31 October 2021
Empathy Museum’s unusual shoe shop invites visitors to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, literally, and hear the global stories of their owners. The collection features a selection of refugee voices collected in collaboration with Choose Love and stories from ESOL students at City Lit. The stories showcased in this installation are specially curated to tie in with Good Chance Theatre’s The Walk and London Literature Festival’s theme of friendship.
Events at City Lit
City Lit is much more than just an educational venue. Our events programme provides a wealth of cultural experience and entertainment, from showcasing the talents and achievements of those who have studied with us, to offering taster workshops for you to come along and try something new.
Throughout the year, we host a programme of art exhibitions, drama productions, musical performances, book launches, creative writing performances, festivals, talks, lectures and much more...
Our events are held both online and here in Covent Garden, and also offsite in locations all across London. Our partnerships with iconic institutes allow us to immerse ourselves in these new areas, from The National Gallery to The British Museum, and a whole host of art galleries.
Venue hire
Please note, that we are currently not taking any bookings.
For more information please email johnlyonstheatre@citylit.ac.uk