Eid and Vaisakhi in London

Published 28 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

Both festivals have a free public celebration in Trafalgar Square, organised by the Mayor of London and running from midday to 18:00. Vaisakhi on the Square is already fixed for Saturday 17 April 2027. Eid on the Square moves with the lunar calendar: in 2026 it was held on Saturday 30 May, and the 2027 date had not been published when we checked.

The two festivals work differently. Vaisakhi falls on the same few days of April every year, so the Trafalgar Square event is reliably a Saturday in the middle of the month. Eid depends on the Islamic lunar calendar, which shifts about eleven days earlier each Gregorian year and is confirmed only shortly before by the sighting of the new moon, so the London event is announced a matter of weeks ahead rather than a year.

Both are free, both include a great deal of food, and neither expects you to be a Muslim or a Sikh. Our guides to halal food in London and London for Muslim visitors cover the rest of the year; this page is about the two days.

How the Eid date is set, and why nobody can tell you 2028's

There are two Eids. Eid al-Fitr ends the fasting month of Ramadan; Eid al-Adha falls about ten weeks later, at the end of the Hajj season. Both are set by the Islamic lunar calendar, which is shorter than the Gregorian year, so both move earlier by roughly eleven days annually. The exact day depends on the sighting of the new moon, which is why mosques often confirm it only a day or two in advance and why two mosques in the same city can mark it on different days.

The Mayor's Trafalgar Square event is therefore not on Eid itself. It is on a nearby Saturday, and it is not always tied to the same Eid: the 2026 event, on Saturday 30 May, celebrated Eid al-Adha, and the Mayor's page noted that it was the twentieth year Eid had been marked in Trafalgar Square.

For a visitor this has one practical consequence. If Eid matters to your trip, do not build the trip around it more than a few months ahead. Fix the dates for other reasons, then check the Mayor's events listing and your nearest mosque's announcements in the weeks before you travel.

What is actually on at Eid on the Square

The 2026 programme gives a fair picture of the format. A main stage with an opening recitation and then a mix of music and comedy: the London Arab Orchestra, a Turkish folk dance group, a qawwali group, and performers aimed squarely at children. Around the square, an immersive installation on Muslim life in London, fencing workshops, art and craft workshops in a family zone, and a row of food stalls.

It is a genuinely mixed crowd and a genuinely mixed programme, drawing Turkish, Middle Eastern, Palestinian, Malaysian, Indonesian, North African and South Asian communities alongside everyone else. The food is the reason many people come, and it is the one part you pay for.

Vaisakhi, and what you are watching

Vaisakhi is one of the most important dates in the Sikh calendar. It marks the founding of the Khalsa Panth by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, in 1699, and the principle behind it, as the Mayor's own page puts it, recognises the whole human race as one regardless of faith or background.

The Trafalgar Square day runs from midday to 18:00 and has a recognisable shape: an opening Ardaas recital, then kavishri and dhadi vaaran, forms of sung and spoken history; talks through the afternoon; devotional music; and a Zafarnama recital. Around the square there are Gatka demonstrations, the Sikh martial art, which is the thing children remember; turban tying, where anyone can have one tied; children's craft workshops; and an arts marquee.

Then there is the langar. Free vegetarian food and tea are served to anyone who turns up, cooked and given away as a matter of religious principle rather than as hospitality for guests, and there are cooking demonstrations explaining why. It is one of the very few places in central London where a family of four can eat well for nothing, which puts it firmly on our list of free things to do in London.

Southall on Vaisakhi, which is the bigger event

Trafalgar Square is the official version. The larger and older celebration is in Southall, where the processions, the nagar kirtan, move through the streets between the gurdwaras, with free food handed out from stalls along the route and thousands of people walking. It happens on the weekend nearest Vaisakhi itself rather than on the Mayor's date, and the two are usually on different days.

Southall is under half an hour from Paddington on the Elizabeth line, and the Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara on Havelock Road is one of the largest Sikh places of worship outside India. Our guide to Southall covers how to visit it properly, including covering your head and removing your shoes, and Ealing and west London sets the area in context.

Be clear about the difference in atmosphere. Trafalgar Square is a curated festival with a stage and a programme. Southall on procession day is a religious event that a whole neighbourhood turns out for, it is crowded, and nothing is laid on for tourists. It is the more memorable of the two, and it asks more of you.

Where to eat around either festival

At Eid, the food stalls on the square are fine and the streets behind it are not the point. For the real thing, the Muslim food quarters are elsewhere: Edgware Road for Lebanese and Egyptian food, and Whitechapel for Bangladeshi cooking. Both are busy and cheerful on Eid itself, and our guide to Indian food in London explains how the regional cooking divides across the city.

At Vaisakhi, eat the langar and then go to Southall on a different day for the sweet shops and the Punjabi restaurants. London's festival food calendar more generally is covered in London's food festivals.

Practical notes for both days

• Arrive around 13:00. The square fills through the early afternoon and thins from about 17:00. Midday is quiet, and the best of the stage programme is in the middle.
• There is no ticket and no bag check on entry to the square, but police and stewards manage the crowd and bags may be searched at the entrances.
• Dress normally. Neither event has a dress code. If you plan to go into a mosque or a gurdwara afterwards, you will need to cover your head and remove your shoes there.
• Photography is normal on the square. Ask before photographing individuals, and treat any act of worship as you would in a church.
• With small children, both events have family zones and craft workshops away from the stage, which are far better than standing in a crowd watching something they cannot see.

The square itself is a large open space on several levels with steps between them, and the surrounding stations are not all step-free; our guide to Trafalgar Square has the detail on the space and how to reach it.

The rest of London's faith festivals

The Mayor runs the same format for several communities through the year, and they are the best free days out in central London. Diwali on Trafalgar Square is in the autumn, Chinese New Year takes over Chinatown and the square in late winter, and April carries both Vaisakhi and, in some years, Easter and Eid. Our month guide to London in April sets out what else is on.

Frequently asked questions

When is Eid in London in 2027?

The date of Eid itself depends on the sighting of the new moon and moves about eleven days earlier each year, so it is confirmed shortly beforehand by mosques. The Mayor of London's Eid on the Square festival had no 2027 date published when we checked in September 2026; the 2026 event was held on Saturday 30 May.

When is Vaisakhi in London in 2027?

Vaisakhi on the Square is on Saturday 17 April 2027, from 12:00 to 18:00 in Trafalgar Square, free of charge. The processions in Southall happen on the weekend nearest Vaisakhi itself, which is usually a different day, so check locally if you want to see both.

Do you have to be Muslim or Sikh to attend?

No. Both events are organised as public festivals for all Londoners and visitors, with no ticket and no restriction, and the programmes are explicitly designed to bring different communities together. At Vaisakhi the free vegetarian langar is served to everyone who turns up.

Is the food at these festivals free?

At Vaisakhi on the Square, yes: the langar and tea tents serve free vegetarian food and tea to anybody. At Eid on the Square the food comes from stalls and is paid for. Neither event charges for entry.

What is Gatka?

A Sikh martial art, demonstrated with sticks and traditional weapons at high speed, and a fixture of Vaisakhi celebrations. At Trafalgar Square it is performed away from the main stage by specialist groups, and it is usually the part that holds children's attention longest.

Sources

• Mayor of London - Vaisakhi on the Square 2027, date, times and programme (checked September 2026)
• Mayor of London - Vaisakhi on the Square 2026 (checked September 2026)
• Mayor of London - Eid on the Square 2026, date, times and programme (checked September 2026)
• Mayor of London - Upcoming events listing, where new dates are published (checked September 2026)