The Best Winter Pop-Ups in London This Christmas
The Best Winter Pop-Ups in London This Christmas
Christmas is coming so cosy up with a hot cocktail and festive grub at the best winter pop-ups in London. From outdoor igloos to rooftop bars decked out with all the Christmas trimmings, London is never short of somewhere for some festive fun. Year-round venues get Christmas makeovers, with lots of twinkly lights, blankets and festive food and drink, and then a whole host of seasonal spots pop up across town too.
The US’s renowned Miracle bar is coming back to London just in time for Christmas, popping up on the Henrietta Hotel’s mezzanine with kitsch cocktails in tow. Want to indulge in a little friendly competition? Curling is the name of the game. You can show off your sweeping skills on the ice with Club Curling in Coal Drops Yard or over on the Southbank at The Curling Club.
The Southbank really is the place to be this winter as Jimmy Garcia is back in the area, serving up an alpine-inspired menu heavy on the raclette, and Between The Bridges is being transformed into a winter wonderland complete with a packed entertainment programme including Old Dirty Brasstards, Masseoke, UKG Bingo, Swiftogeddon, and Sleigh Queen Drag Brunch.
Make it a Kitsch Christmas at Miracle
The US’s renowned Miracle bar is coming back to London just in time for Christmas. Popping up on the Henrietta Hotel’s mezzanine, the Christmas-themed pop-up will be serving up their famous festive cocktails with a side of kitsch. You can also enjoy a selection of snacks whilst taking in the extravagant retro Christmas decorations and being transported back to Christmas past.
Shop for Gifts That'll Make a Difference at the Choose Love Pop-Up Shop
For the eighth year, humanitarian aid charity Choose Love will be popping up with a shop in the heart of London for the festive season. And for 2204 it’s not just going to be a shop but a ‘festive department store with a difference’. Designed by Misty Buckley and decked out with Choose Love x Wear the Walls collab wallpaper, the Choose Love shop will be stocked with essential supplies and life-saving interventions for refugees and displaced people around the world – everything from a warm coat to emergency response bundles. The ‘shoe department’ will feature the A Mile in My Shoes installation from the Empathy Museum, where visitors can connect with the stories of people who have arrived in the UK as an asylum seeker, with an illuminated tent installation by Grace Manning in the ‘shelter department, featuring projections and audio recordings from displaced people. There’ll also be a ‘toiletries department’ and a ‘clothes department’ to highlight the demand for toiletry and warm clothing supplies in the winter, and in the ‘children’s department’, kids will be able to pick a present to send to a child in need.
Indulge in a little friendly competition and sweep your way to glory this festive season at The Curling Club at the Southbank Centre (open until 6th Feb 2025) and Vinegar Yard (open from 1st Nov 2024 – 28th Feb 2025). You’ll be able to get on the curling sheets and show off your skills, using the same granite stones as top curlers worldwide do. And there’ll be winter cocktails, street food, and live entertainment to keep the party going after the games have finished.
Jimmy Garcia Is Bringing Fire & Fromage to the Southbank
Jimmy Garcia is taking over the South Bank this winter with Fire & Fromage. The alpine-inspired pop-up will feature weather-proof cabanas where you can indulge in all-you-can-eat raclette, served with new potatoes, freshly baked bread, salad and cornichons, with mini chocolate doughnuts for pud. Or you can gather round one of the fire pits and tuck into raclette burgers, pigs-in-blankets hot dogs, chicken schnitzel burgers, toasted marshmallows and mulled wine.
Shop Vintage Christmas Jumpers at This Beyond Retro Pop-Up
Every year, Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day campaign raises funds to transform the lives of children globally and in 2024, Beyond Retro is supporting the cause with a seasonal sweater pop-up in Spitalfields Market. The shop will be stocked with a range of vintage Christmas jumpers and holiday wear, including jumpers for dogs, and there’ll also be in-store events like Japanese scarf making and jazz evenings to get involved in too. Beyond Retro will also be donating 10% of all the Christmas jumper proceeds from the pop-up to Save the Children.
Curl the Night Away at Club Curling in Coal Drop's Yard
Club Curling is back at Coal Drops Yard for some winter sports action and this year, it’s nineties-themed. You can curl the night away on one of the six lanes in teams of up to six, and children under 12 play for free when accompanied by an adult. There’ll be a pop-up cocktail bar on site decked out in neon God’s Own Junkyard so you can have a festive tipple while you curl.
Hang With Santa at Humbug
What do you think Santa does after a long hard day at his workshop? He hits the bar of course, and now you can too as Humbug is popping up at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane this November and December. Santa’s a bit low on Christmas spirit so Humbug is going to town on the festive entertainment – as well as cabaret performances, live music, games, festive sing-a-longs, dazzling Christmas lights, and holiday memorabilia galore, there’s Santa’s grotto, a themed beer can bowling alley and a shrine dedicated to Christmas queen Mariah Carey to explore. It’s not a bar without cocktails and Humbug is well equipped on that front too, with a Naughty or Nice menu including serves like the Bah F*g Humbug (made with rum, chocolate liqueur, oat milk, crushed Oreos, whipped cream and topped with a mince pie).
Head Up to Rooftop Igloos at Aviary
Igloos have made their way ten floors up to the Aviary rooftop. Grey Goose has joined the party so you can sip on one of their spesh cocktails (there’s even a ‘press for martini’ button in the signature igloo) whilst tucking into festive food and soaking up those epic views.
Indulge in Après Ski at Lodge d'Argent
Courchevel has come to the City as Coq d’Argent has popped festive Lodge d’Argent chalets on the rooftop. The huts are kitted out with faux-fur blankets and fairy lights, and you can cosy up with cocktails, alpine-inspired small plates like whole baked Mont d’Or cheese, charcuterie, tartiflette, and gingerbread sponge with custard cream.
Feast Off-Piste at The Berkeley
The Berkeley’s rooftop is getting a winter makeover, transforming into an alpine winter wonderland this festive season. Cosy up inside one of the ski gondolas amongst the snow-dusted trees and twinkling lights, and tuck into a menu of raclette, tartiflette with fresh truffle, milk chocolate fondue, and gingerbread s’mores. You can toast to Christmas with winter cocktails like Black Forest Espresso Martinis and Aperol Negroni Sours, and there are even ‘ring from Champagne’ bells inside each gondola.
A Winter Gin Garden Is Popping Up at Ham Yard Hotel
Normally reserved for hotel guests, Ham Yard Hotel is opening up its rooftop terrace and garden, which has been transformed into a winter gin garden, to everyone this festive season. It’s the perfect place to get cosy with heaters, candles, blankets and hot cocktails, like Hot Buttered Gin (with Sipsmith Origin 1639 gin and berries) and Ginicillin (made with applewood smoked lemon drizzle gin) on the
drinks list. You can pair your bevs with food cooked in a wood-fired oven, such as cacio e pepe black truffle flatbread, kombu and soy glazed mushroom skewers, and toasted s’mores with toffee apple and cinnamon crackers.
Head Down to Electric Winter for Festive Fun
Between The Bridges on the South Bank is being transformed into Electric Winter, with the heated and covered areas, plus street food from the likes of Krapow, Bang Bang Burger, Bait and Lil’Watan, There’s a packed programme of entertainment too, with Old Dirty Brasstards, Masseoke, Swiftageddon, and Drag Brunch featuring queens from Drag Race all hosting events so you won’t be short of festive fun.
Deck the Halls at Pergola Brixton
After a sellout season in Paddington last year, Deck the Halls is heading south to Pergola Brixton. The venue is being transformed with twinkling lights, Christmas trees, candy canes, mistletoe and even a snow machine. There’ll be plenty of seasonal tipples on offer, including spiced cranberry margaritas, figgy pudding highballs, boozy hot chocolates and mulled wine, and with festive specials available at Brixton Market’s resident restaurants (which can be delivered straight to your table), you won’t be going hungry either.
Give Winter Sports a Go at Big Penny Social's Curling Emporium
Walthamstow’s Big Penny Social is debuting a curling experience this winter, so grab your mates, grab some stones and slide your way to winter sports glory. Stay warm in between games by hitting the bar for spiced mulled wine and boozy hot chocolates.