The Jewish festival a visitor is most likely to notice in London is Chanukah, when a giant menorah stands in Trafalgar Square for the eight days of the festival and a free public celebration is held beneath it. The festival that matters most for practical planning is Yom Kippur in September or October, when kosher shops, bakeries and restaurants in Golders Green, Hendon and Stamford Hill close for the day.
London has the largest Jewish population in Britain, concentrated in north-west London (Golders Green, Hendon, Edgware, Finchley) and in Stamford Hill in the north-east. The Jewish calendar is lunar, adjusted to keep the festivals in their seasons, so the dates move against the ordinary calendar by up to a month from one year to the next, and every festival begins at sunset on the evening before its first day. This page explains each of the main festivals as a visitor meets them: what you can see, and what closes. For Jewish food and the bakeries themselves, the shops themselves are described in our guide to Jewish food in London, from salt beef to bagels.
The Jewish year in London, by season
- Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
- Two days, between early September and early October
- Yom Kippur
- Ten days after Rosh Hashanah; one day of fasting, from sunset to nightfall the next day
- Sukkot
- Begins five days after Yom Kippur and lasts a week, followed by Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
- Chanukah
- Eight days, between late November and late December
- Purim
- One day, in February or March
- Passover (Pesach)
- Eight days in Britain, between late March and late April
- Shavuot
- Two days in Britain, in May or June
- Where the dates are published
- The United Synagogue's London Shabbat and festival times; the Mayor of London's events page for the Trafalgar Square menorah
Chanukah in Trafalgar Square
Chanukah, also spelled Hanukkah, is the eight-day festival of lights. It remembers the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BCE, and its central custom is lighting one more candle on a nine-branched candlestick, the menorah or chanukiah, on each night of the festival. It falls in late November or December, sometimes overlapping Christmas.
In Trafalgar Square, a very large menorah is put up for the eight days of the festival, near the Christmas tree from Norway. The Mayor of London has supported the celebration in partnership with the Jewish community since 2007, and describes it as a symbol of unity and welcome for people of all backgrounds. Its organisers, the Jewish Leadership Council, call it the tallest menorah in Europe. You can see it at any time while it stands, at no cost, and it is lit after dark.
On one evening during the festival there is a public event. In 2025 it was called ChanukahLIVE!, run by the Jewish Leadership Council with the London Jewish Forum, from 5pm to 6.30pm on a Tuesday, with live music, dancing and doughnuts. Fried food is traditional at Chanukah because of the oil in the festival story, which is why doughnuts and potato pancakes, called latkes, are handed round. Entry was free and needed no ticket. The format and the evening change from year to year, so check the Mayor's events page in November.
Expect security checks at the menorah event. Public Jewish events in London are held with visible security, and bag searches at the entrances to the square are normal. Bring a small bag, allow a few extra minutes, and do not take it as a sign of a specific threat.
Trafalgar Square in December is also the site of carol singing around the Christmas tree. Our page on events in Trafalgar Square lists the square's whole calendar, and London in December has the rest of the month. Many London synagogues, and some local councils, hold their own public candle-lightings during the festival; they are usually announced locally a week or two before.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: the High Holy Days
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a two-day festival in September or early October. It opens a ten-day period of reflection that ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur is a fast of about 25 hours, from before sunset to after nightfall the following day, and many Jews who rarely go to synagogue at other times attend services on it.
For a visitor, the High Holy Days show up in three ways. Synagogues are full, and in Jewish areas you will see families walking to and from services in their best clothes. Jewish-owned businesses close, because work is not done on the festival days, just as on the Sabbath. And on Yom Kippur itself the main streets of Jewish north-west London become unusually quiet.
Rosh Hashanah has one tradition you may notice: apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year, and round, sweet challah loaves in the bakeries in the days before. The sound of the shofar, a ram's horn blown in synagogue, is heard during the services.
What closes on Yom Kippur, and where
This is the practical part. On Yom Kippur, on the first two days of Rosh Hashanah, and on the main days of the other festivals, the kosher shops, bakeries, butchers and restaurants of London's Jewish areas close, in most cases from the afternoon of the day before until after nightfall on the last day. Certified kosher premises do the same every week for the Sabbath, which runs from sunset on Friday to nightfall on Saturday.
| Area | What to expect on Yom Kippur and the festival days |
|---|---|
| Golders Green Road | Kosher bakeries, butchers, restaurants and supermarkets closed. Non-Jewish shops, chains and the Northern line run normally |
| Hendon, Brent Street and Edgware | The same pattern: kosher businesses closed, the rest open |
| Stamford Hill | A large Orthodox community, where most Jewish businesses close and the streets fill with people walking to synagogue |
| Central London | Almost no visible change. Museums, theatres and transport run as normal |
If you planned a bagel run or a visit to a particular bakery, check the date first. Some independent kosher shops shut for several days at a stretch in the festival season, so a phone call the day before can save a wasted journey. Our neighbourhood guide to Golders Green and Hendon explains the area itself, and notes that because Saturday is the Sabbath, Sunday is the best shopping day there.
Do not photograph people on a Sabbath or festival walk. In Stamford Hill in particular, families walking to synagogue on Yom Kippur or on the Sabbath are going to worship, not taking part in a street event. Photographing them, especially children, is unwelcome. Many Orthodox Jews do not use cameras or phones on these days themselves, so a request for a picture will be refused.
Sukkot: the booths in the front gardens
Five days after Yom Kippur comes Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, which lasts seven days. Families build a sukkah, a temporary hut with a roof of branches or leaves through which the sky should be visible, and eat their meals in it during the festival, remembering the shelters of the Israelites in the desert. Sukkot ends with Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, when the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll is completed and begun again, often with singing and dancing in the synagogue.
This is the festival you are most likely to see by accident. Walk through the side streets of Golders Green, Hendon or Stamford Hill in late September or October and you will see wooden or canvas sukkahs in front gardens, on balconies and on flat roofs, many hung with fruit and paper decorations. Synagogues and some kosher restaurants build their own. They are private: look from the pavement, and do not go in uninvited.
The first two days and the last two days of Sukkot are full festival days, when businesses close as on Yom Kippur. The days in between, called Chol Hamoed, are intermediate days when most shops reopen.
Passover on the shelves
Passover, or Pesach, falls in spring, between late March and late April, and lasts eight days outside Israel. It remembers the Exodus from Egypt. The first two evenings are marked with the Seder, a family meal with set readings, foods and songs, and for the whole week observant Jews do not eat bread or anything made with leavened grain. Unleavened bread, matzah, replaces it.
Visitors notice Passover mainly in the shops. In the weeks beforehand, supermarkets in north-west and north-east London commonly set up special Passover aisles with matzah, kosher-for-Passover wine and other products, and the kosher bakeries stop baking bread altogether during the festival. A bagel shop that is open during Passover is not following the rules of the festival, and most observant customers will stay away. The first two and last two days are full festival days, when kosher businesses close.
If you are in London around Easter, the two festivals often overlap. Our guide to Easter in London covers what closes over the Easter bank holiday weekend, which affects the whole city rather than one community.
Purim and Shavuot
Purim, in February or March, is the most cheerful day of the Jewish year. It remembers the story in the Book of Esther, and it is celebrated with fancy dress, especially for children, gifts of food, charity and a festive meal. In Stamford Hill and Golders Green, children and adults in costume on the streets are a common sight on Purim, and the atmosphere is closer to a carnival than to a religious service. Purim is not a day of rest, so shops stay open.
Shavuot, in May or June, celebrates the giving of the Torah and is associated with dairy food, especially cheesecake. It is two full festival days in Britain, so kosher shops close; there is little for a visitor to see.
Jewish heritage you can visit at any time of year
None of these festivals is a show for visitors, and most of the observance happens in homes and synagogues. If you want to understand the history of Jewish London rather than its calendar, the place to start is the East End, where most of the community lived until the twentieth century. Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City, opened in 1701, has been in use as a synagogue since the start of the eighteenth century; check its page for the current visiting position, as it was open for services only in late 2026.
Our guide to Whitechapel and the East End covers the streets where the Jewish immigrants of the nineteenth century settled, and our page on dress codes in London explains what to wear when visiting a synagogue, a mosque or a gurdwara.
The site's other festival pages follow the same pattern: Diwali in London, Eid and Vaisakhi and Chinese New Year each explain what you can see in public and what changes for the communities that celebrate them.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Chanukah menorah in Trafalgar Square every year?
The Mayor of London has supported the Trafalgar Square celebration in partnership with the Jewish community since 2007, and the menorah has become a fixture of the square in December. It stands for the eight days of Chanukah, in late November or December. A public evening event with music has also been held under it; check the Mayor's events page for the current year's date.
Are shops in Golders Green open on Yom Kippur?
Kosher shops, bakeries, butchers and restaurants close for Yom Kippur, usually from the afternoon before until after nightfall. Chain stores and non-Jewish businesses stay open, and the Northern line runs normally. The same applies on Rosh Hashanah and the main days of Sukkot and Passover.
When is Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur falls ten days after Rosh Hashanah, in September or early October. Because the Jewish calendar is lunar, the date changes every year. The United Synagogue publishes the London start and end times for every festival and Sabbath on its website.
Can non-Jewish visitors attend the Chanukah celebration in Trafalgar Square?
Yes. The celebration is public, free and open to everyone, and the Mayor of London describes it as a symbol of welcome for people of all backgrounds. Expect security checks at the square's entrances on the evening of the main event.
What is a sukkah?
A sukkah is a temporary hut with a roof of branches or leaves, built for the festival of Sukkot in September or October. Families eat their meals in it for a week. In Jewish areas of London you can see them in front gardens and on balconies, but they are private and should be viewed from the street.
Sources
- London City Hall - Chanukah on the Square 2025 (checked November 2026)
- Jewish Leadership Council - ChanukahLIVE! in Trafalgar Square (checked November 2026)
- United Synagogue - Shabbat and festival times for London (checked November 2026)
- United Synagogue - Festivals (checked November 2026)
- Hebcal - Jewish holidays 2026-2027 (checked November 2026)