Tickets start at £15 plus a £2.50 booking fee, the season runs from late spring to late September, and the show goes on in the rain. The theatre completes 94% of its performances in an average season, never cancels before the advertised start time, and gives no refunds if the weather beats it: you get an exchange into another date instead.
The Open Air Theatre sits inside the Inner Circle in Regent's Park, reached through Queen Mary's Garden. The stage, the lawn and the whole auditorium are uncovered, which is the appeal and the risk in one sentence. Plays and musicals run through the summer and the season ends with a week of concerts and comedy.
Our guide to Regent's Park and Primrose Hill covers the theatre's history and the park around it. This page is about the evening itself: what a ticket costs, which row to choose, what happens when it rains, and the two gates that catch people out.
An evening at the Open Air Theatre
- Address
- Inner Circle, The Regent's Park, London NW1 4NU
- Tickets, 2026 season
- From £15, plus £2.50 booking fee per transaction
- Nearest station
- Baker Street, about 10 minutes on foot. Not step-free
- Entry
- Via the box office in Queen Mary's Garden. Exit afterwards by the Theatre Exit Gate onto the Inner Circle
- Rain
- Performances continue. They may stop and restart. No refunds; exchange only
- Extreme heat
- Above 40 degrees during a performance, the show is abandoned
- Food
- Grill, pizza oven, picnic lawn and a long bar. Food may not be taken into the auditorium
- 2027 season
- Not announced when we checked in late September 2026
What happens when it rains, in the theatre's own words
This is the question everyone asks, and the answer is clearer than at most venues. The theatre states that it will never cancel a performance before the advertised start time. You turn up, whatever the forecast says. Once the show has begun it may be stopped and restarted, sometimes more than once, and the cast come back on.
If a performance does not go ahead, or is abandoned part way through because of the weather, your ticket can be exchanged for another date in the same main summer season. No refunds are given. Exchanges are handled through an online form or by post to the Weather Exchange at the theatre's stage door address, quoting the original order number.
Two exceptions worth holding on to. Festival days, one-off events, live music and comedy shows are never cancelled for weather at all, so a concert ticket carries no exchange right. And there is an upper limit in the other direction: if the temperature during a performance exceeds 40 degrees, the show is abandoned and the exchange policy applies. Our notes on London in a heatwave explain how often that is realistic.
An exchange is not a refund, and it has to be into the same season. If your washed-out performance is in the last week of September, there may be nothing left to exchange into. Book the middle of the run rather than the end if the weather worries you, and do not buy a ticket you could not use on a different night.
Prices, and every discount the theatre offers
The 2026 season started at £15 with a £2.50 booking fee per transaction rather than per ticket, which makes a group booking proportionally cheaper. Prices move with demand, and one-off events are priced separately. The concessions are unusually generous and most people never look for them:
| Who | What you get | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone | From £15 | Plus £2.50 per transaction |
| Monday bookers | £35, £25 and £15 on selected Mondays | No other concessions apply |
| Under 18s | 50% off | Tuesday to Thursday evenings and the Thursday matinee; excludes Bands AA, A and F |
| Senior citizens | Best available seats at £45 | Midweek matinees, bookable online |
| Access bookings | Lowest-price seat rate for you and a companion | No telephone booking fee. Not on flat-price shows |
| Groups of 10 or more | £5 off Bands A, B and C | Not Monday or Saturday evenings; group leader free at 20+ |
Discounts cannot be combined unless the theatre says so, and none can be applied after you have booked. For a family of four on a Wednesday evening the under-18 rate is the one that matters: two adults and two children in the same mid-priced band costs noticeably less than the same seats on a Saturday. Our guide to cheap theatre tickets in London compares this with the West End equivalents.
Grass Banks: the cheap seats that are not seats
When the theatre thinks the weather will hold, it releases Grass Bank tickets on the day for the banks at the far sides of the auditorium. You sit on the ground. The theatre says the grass may not be dry, recommends bringing a blanket, and does not permit raised seating such as deckchairs.
They go on sale at 11:00 for matinees and 17:00 for evening performances, in person at the box office only, maximum two per customer. So it is a genuine same-day gamble that requires a trip to Regent's Park to make. If you are staying in Marylebone and the sun is out, it is a good one. If you are coming from Croydon, it is not.
Which row to book, and where the shade is
The auditorium is banked, and the rows behave very differently. Row J is the level-access row and has wheelchair spaces. Rows K to T above it are reached by steep steps with handrails only at the row ends, and the theatre states plainly that those seats are not suitable for anyone with limited mobility. Rows A to I in the lower tier are reached by steps on a gentler incline.
For an afternoon performance, the seats on the far left of the auditorium, the highest seat numbers, are the ones most likely to be in shade. That is a real consideration in July: an unshaded seat facing a bright sky for two and a half hours is uncomfortable regardless of how good the play is. Seats are 17 inches between the armrests and 16.5 inches deep.
Book row J or lower if steps are a problem, and ask for shade in writing. Access bookings are charged at the lowest seat price for you and a companion with no telephone fee, and the theatre picks the most suitable seat rather than making you guess from the plan. Our guide to step-free transport in London covers the journey, which is the harder half.
Getting there, and the step-free problem
Baker Street is about ten minutes on foot: out onto Marylebone Road, left past Madame Tussauds, left again at the lights into York Gate, across and over York Bridge to the Inner Circle, through the park gates and the theatre is on your left.
The complication is that Baker Street has no step-free access from platform to street. The theatre's own advice is that the nearest step-free Tube station is Euston and that customers needing step-free access should travel by bus instead. That is worth planning around rather than discovering at Baker Street with a lift-free staircase in front of you.
Cyclists should bring bicycles into the theatre grounds, where there is a rack; cycling is not allowed inside Queen Mary's Garden, and the park gates are locked during the performance so a bike left outside is stuck there. There is a Santander Cycles docking station by the tennis courts on York Bridge, and our guide to hiring a Santander bike explains the charges.
The two gates, and why latecomers get caught
You go in through the box office in Queen Mary's Garden. You come out, after the show, through the Theatre Exit Gate onto the Inner Circle. These are different gates, and the reason matters: Queen Mary's Garden is locked after dark, so a latecomer arriving once it is shut may not be able to get in by the box office entrance at all.
For an evening performance in September, when it is dark by the interval, that turns "we'll be a few minutes late" into a serious problem. Allow for the ten-minute walk from Baker Street plus the walk through the garden, and aim to be at the gate half an hour before the curtain. Bikes and picnic baskets must not be left in the gardens during the performance either.
Eating there, and the one rule about food
The site has a grill, a pizza oven, a picnic lawn, a barbecue and a bar the theatre describes as the longest in the West End. You can eat before the show on the lawn, which is the pleasant way to do it: arrive an hour and a half early, eat outside, then go in.
What you cannot do is take food into the auditorium. Drinks are a different matter, but a picnic has to be finished on the lawn. If you would rather assemble your own, picnic supplies and self-catering in London covers where to buy it on the way, and Marylebone High Street is ten minutes from the park gate.
When the season runs, and what to do the rest of the year
The 2026 season ran into late September and finished with a Live Music Week. When we checked at the end of September 2026 the 2027 programme had not been published, and the theatre's mailing list is the first place it appears. Tickets for a popular musical sell through the spring, so a June or July date for 2027 is worth watching for from about January.
In the meantime, the outdoor summer alternatives are Shakespeare's Globe, which is roofless over the yard and runs a £5 standing rush, open-air cinema, and the park concert series covered in summer concerts in London's parks.
Our month guides London in summer and London in August set out what else is on outdoors, and the West End theatre guide covers the indoor option when the forecast is hopeless. Whatever you book, take a layer and a light waterproof even in July: what to pack for London explains why.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre cancel performances when it rains?
Rarely. The theatre says it will never cancel before the advertised start time and completes 94% of its performances in an average season. A show may be stopped and restarted during heavy rain. If it is abandoned you can exchange your ticket for another date in the same summer season, but no refunds are given.
How much are tickets at the Open Air Theatre?
The 2026 season started at £15, plus a £2.50 booking fee per transaction rather than per ticket. Selected Monday performances are priced at £35, £25 and £15. Under-18s get 50% off on Tuesday to Thursday evenings and the Thursday matinee, and senior citizens can book best available midweek matinee seats at £45.
What should I bring to the Open Air Theatre?
A jumper for the second half, a light waterproof, and sun cream, a hat and your own shade for an afternoon performance. If you have a Grass Bank ticket, bring a blanket to sit on, because you will be on the ground and it may be damp. Deckchairs and other raised seating are not allowed.
Is the Open Air Theatre wheelchair accessible?
The auditorium has level access at row J with wheelchair spaces, and access bookings are charged at the lowest seat price for you and a companion. The journey is the harder part: Baker Street station is not step-free, and the theatre advises that the nearest step-free Tube station is Euston and recommends travelling by bus.
Can you take a picnic into the Open Air Theatre?
You can eat on the picnic lawn before the performance, and the site has a grill, a pizza oven and a bar. Food may not be taken into the auditorium itself, so finish it outside. Picnic baskets must not be left in Queen Mary's Garden during the show.
Sources
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - Weather and exchange policy (checked September 2026)
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - Ticket prices and concessions (checked September 2026)
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - Seating plan, rows and access (checked September 2026)
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - Getting here (checked September 2026)
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - Food and drink (checked September 2026)
- Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - What's on (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Step-free access (checked September 2026)