London's open-air cinema has shrunk to one reliable operator with two sites, Rooftop Cinema Club in Peckham and Stratford, and its season runs well past September: it was still screening in October 2026. Most of the other names people remember have either stopped or no longer have a working website, and a good many screenings are 18 only.
That is a less cheerful answer than the summer pictures suggest, and it is worth stating plainly because it saves you searching for operators that are no longer there. What does exist is good: a rooftop, a big screen, a bar, several screenings a day at weekends, and films chosen to be watched with a crowd rather than in silence.
Our guide to London in summer covers the rest of the outdoor season, and the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is the equivalent for live performance, with a far longer history and a published weather policy.
Open-air cinema in London, September 2026
- Who is running
- Rooftop Cinema Club, at Peckham and Stratford
- Season
- Longer than most guides say: screenings were still listed for October 2026
- Age limit
- Many screenings are 18+, including most evening shows. Some afternoons are all ages
- Times
- Weekday screenings usually from 19:00; at weekends from early afternoon, with three or four a day
- Booking
- Online in advance. Popular screenings sell out and run a waitlist
- Weather
- Open-air. Check each operator's own policy before booking
- Not currently running
- No summer courtyard season was listed at Somerset House when we checked
Rooftop Cinema Club, and the name change
The operator most Londoners know as Rooftop Film Club now trades as Rooftop Cinema Club, and the old web address redirects to the new one. It runs two London sites, in Peckham and in Stratford, and nothing else in the capital.
The programme is repertory rather than new releases: in the first days of October 2026 the Peckham listings ran from Notting Hill and Good Will Hunting through Mean Girls and The Breakfast Club to Interstellar and a Supernatural mini-marathon. That tells you what these evenings are for. You are not going to see something you have not seen; you are going to watch something you love on a roof with a few hundred other people.
Weekends carry three or four screenings, starting in the early afternoon and running into the evening, so the last film of a Saturday finishes late. Midweek there is usually one, at 19:00.
Check the age rating on the listing, not the film. A large proportion of Rooftop Cinema Club's screenings are marked 18+ regardless of the film's certificate, because the venue is licensed and the screening is treated as an adult event. Notting Hill and The Wolf of Wall Street were both 18+ in the October 2026 listings. Afternoon screenings are more often open to all ages.
What happened to the others
This is the part no listings site will tell you, and it matters because the old names still come up in searches.
- The Nomad Cinema. Its former web address no longer belongs to the cinema at all: in September 2026 it served an unrelated overseas gaming site. Do not trust an old bookmark for this one. Do not use it, and treat any search result pointing there as dead.
- The Luna Cinema. Its website did not respond when we tried it repeatedly in September 2026: the address failed to connect, and the www version returned an error page. We could not confirm whether it is programming a London season.
- Pop Up Screens now presents itself as a festive pop-up cinema showing Christmas films, which is a winter operation rather than a summer one.
- Somerset House. Its courtyard summer film season is the one most people mean by open-air cinema in central London. No such season appeared in the venue's programme when we checked in September 2026, and the courtyard's confirmed seasonal use is the winter ice rink.
The practical conclusion is that if you want open-air cinema in London on a specific date, check Rooftop Cinema Club first and treat everything else as a possible bonus.
Rain, and what you are actually promised
Rooftop screenings go ahead in most weather and the seating is open to the sky, so the decision is yours rather than the venue's. Before booking, find the operator's stated policy on cancellation and exchange, because they differ: some allow a transfer to another date, some do not refund at all, and some cancel only for high wind rather than for rain. The Regent's Park Open Air Theatre publishes its policy in full and completes 94% of performances a season, which is a useful benchmark for what "open air" means in a London summer.
Take a waterproof rather than an umbrella. An umbrella in a seated rooftop audience blocks the screen for the row behind and you will be asked to put it down. A hood works; so does a cheap poncho. Our notes on what to pack for London make the case for carrying one in any month.
What to bring, and what the evening is like
Rooftop venues provide seating, and unlike a park screening you are not sitting on grass. What you do need is warmth. A rooftop in September is several degrees colder than the street, there is nothing between you and the wind, and a film finishing at 22:30 ends in genuine cold. Bring a jumper and a coat even after a hot day.
Otherwise: arrive at least twenty minutes before the listed time, because rooftops are reached by lifts or stairs and there is a queue at the top; expect to buy food and drink there rather than bring it; and plan the journey home before you sit down, since Peckham has no Underground station and the last trains go earlier than the films finish. Getting home late in London covers the night buses, and our guide to the venues of south London has the Peckham night bus routes.
The indoor alternatives that still feel like an event
If the whole appeal is watching a film with a crowd rather than being outdoors, London does that better indoors. The repertory and independent cinemas, covered in our guide to cinemas in London worth visiting, run singalongs, all-nighters and seasons that no rooftop can match, and they do it in October and February as well as July.
In October the city's film calendar belongs to the BFI London Film Festival, which runs from 7 to 18 October 2026 and fills venues across London. And if you like the idea of seeing London on screen and then standing in the place itself, London on screen maps the locations.
Rooftop bars, which are the same idea without the film
A large part of the pleasure of rooftop cinema is simply being on a roof in London at dusk, and you can have that without a ticket and without a film. Our guide to rooftop bars in London covers where, including which ones are free to enter and which close for the winter. In Peckham specifically, the rooftop bar season ends earlier than the cinema season does.
For a free version, the outdoor terraces and viewpoints in our guide to roof gardens and free terraces cost nothing at all, though none of them shows films.
When to look for the 2027 season
Summer programmes are usually announced between February and April, and tickets for the best-known titles go within days of release. If an outdoor screening matters to your trip, join the operator's mailing list in January rather than searching in June, and hold the date loosely: line-ups change and venues move.
The two months that reliably have something outdoors are July and August, covered in London in August, and the surprise is September and early October, when the rooftops are still running, the queues are shorter and the evenings are dark enough for the picture to look right.
Frequently asked questions
Is open-air cinema in London only a summer thing?
No. Rooftop Cinema Club was still listing screenings in Peckham through October 2026, which is later than most guides suggest. The darker evenings actually improve the picture. What does stop in September is the rooftop bar season at several venues, so the drink beforehand may not be available.
Where can you watch an open-air film in London?
Rooftop Cinema Club runs the two reliable London sites, in Peckham and Stratford. Other operators that used to programme summer seasons either now run winter events or no longer have a working website, and Somerset House had no summer courtyard season in its programme when we checked in September 2026.
Are open-air cinema screenings suitable for children?
Often not. Many Rooftop Cinema Club screenings are marked 18+ whatever the film's certificate, because the rooftop is a licensed venue. Afternoon screenings at weekends are more likely to be open to all ages. Check the individual listing rather than assuming from the title.
What happens if it rains at an open-air cinema?
The screening normally goes ahead and you get wet. Policies on refunds and exchanges differ between operators and some offer neither, so read the terms before booking. Bring a waterproof with a hood rather than an umbrella, which blocks the view for the people behind you.
How much does open-air cinema cost in London?
We could not read current ticket prices: Rooftop Cinema Club's prices appear only inside its booking system, which we were unable to load, and no operator publishes a rate card. Expect to pay more than an ordinary cinema ticket and to book in advance, and check the price on the listing for your date.
Sources
- Rooftop Cinema Club - UK locations and upcoming London screenings (checked September 2026)
- Rooftop Cinema Club - Peckham listings and age restrictions (checked September 2026)
- Somerset House - What's On, no summer film season listed (checked September 2026)
- Pop Up Screens - festive programme (checked September 2026)
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - weather policy, used as a benchmark for outdoor cancellation terms (checked September 2026)
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - ticket prices, for comparison with rooftop pricing (checked September 2026)