The Agenda: The New-Season Cultural Reset

There’s more to see, read, eat and experience than anyone of us have time for. Here is your monthly edit of the people, places and cultural moments actually deserving of a spot in your diary.

SEE

AllBright’s Live Well Festival

We’ve never had more information about how to optimise our health, so why aren’t we feeling any better? That’s the question at the heart of AllBright’s Live Well Festival, returning to the Old Sessions House for a day of conversations about health, energy and ambition. This year’s theme, The Longevity Blueprint, brings together Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton CBE, GP and broadcaster Dr Radha Modgil, entrepreneur and scientist Poppy Jamie and author Stephanie Yeboah, alongside experts spanning health, psychology, leadership and culture. Beyond the talks, there are masterclasses, workshops, longevity diagnostics and new wellness technology to try — essentially, a chance to interrogate what “living well” actually means beyond buying another supplement.

When: 25 September 2026 Where: Old Sessions House, Farringdon, London

Vision Festival

King’s Cross is already home to some of London’s biggest cultural institutions; now, for one weekend, they’re joining forces. The inaugural Vision Festival turns the neighbourhood into a three-day playground of talks, performance, science, fashion, food and ideas. Our pick? The Guilty Feminist Live: The Road to Gilead Project, which sees Deborah Frances-White bring her signature mix of humour, feminism and collective action to Town Hall for a live show about resisting dystopia. Elsewhere, expect everything from Emily Chan exploring the unlikely overlap between fashion and food innovation to a backgammon tournament soundtracked by live vinyl DJs.

When: 25–27 September 2026 Where: King’s Cross, London

Liberty’s New Jewellery Destination

Forget saving the good jewellery for special occasions. Liberty has just opened a new Fashion Jewellery Gallery dedicated to the pieces we’re actually wearing now: expressive, design-led and made for stacking, styling and collecting. The 37-brand edit mixes familiar names including Missoma, Alighieri and Vivienne Westwood with eight newcomers to Liberty, from Copenhagen’s sculptural Kinraden to Antwerp’s surrealist Wouters & Hendrix.

When: Open now Where: First Floor, Liberty, London

TASTE

Rebellious Wine Club

If choosing a bottle from a restaurant wine list still feels unnecessarily intimidating, Rebellious Wine Club has a different proposition. Its new Supper Sessions at Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings turn the traditional tasting into something closer to a very good dinner party: four sharing courses, four paired wines and brilliant women from across the wine world moving between the tables to explain what’s being poured — without the lecture.

When: Selected dates Where: Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings, Clerkenwell, London

Dinner With a Soundtrack at Sucre

Dinner and a show, minus the West End crowds. This autumn, Argentinian-inspired Sucre is teaming up with Soho Live for Origins, a new series bringing live music to the restaurant every Thursday and Friday night. There’s some history behind the pairing: Sucre’s Great Marlborough Street home was once a concert hall for the London College of Music, and the series is intended to reconnect the building with its musical past.

When: Thursdays and Fridays throughout September and October Where: Sucre, Great Marlborough Street, Soho, London

LYLA Edinburgh

There are destination restaurants, and then there are restaurants you can quite literally sleep above. Set inside a Georgian townhouse on Edinburgh’s Royal Terrace, LYLA pairs its Michelin-starred, 28-cover restaurant with just four bedrooms upstairs. Chef Stuart Ralston’s 10-course tasting menu puts wild Scottish fish and shellfish centre stage, alongside organic produce from regional growers, while the rooms take their cues from Scotland’s coastline, with interiors inspired by edible coastal plants.

Where: LYLA, Royal Terrace, Edinburgh Stay: Four bedrooms available above the restaurant

LISTEN

The Warehouse Project Turns 20

Twenty years after its first season in the former Boddingtons brewery, The Warehouse Project has gone from an experiment in an abandoned industrial space to a fixture of Manchester’s cultural calendar. With big names like Solomun and the huge Homobloc party, its anniversary season is a reminder of why The WHP is so much more than a night clubbing

When: Throughout autumn 2026 Where: Depot Mayfield, Manchester

Ezra Collective & Friends at KOKO

Who’s joining Ezra Collective on stage at KOKO? That’s part of the fun. For one night only, the Mercury Prize-winning London five-piece are bringing together a still-secret line-up of friends and collaborators for surprise performances, one-off collaborations and tracks from their new album, Here Because Of Hope. The show, part of British Airways and American Express’ 25th anniversary celebrations, feels particularly fitting for a band that with as many friends as these. Get your £14.95 ticket before the guest list is revealed.

When: 24 September 2026 Where: KOKO, Camden, London

Jill Scott Live

More than two decades after Who Is Jill Scott? introduced one of neo-soul’s most distinctive voices, Jill Scott is taking things back to what she does best: performing live. Her To Whom This May Concern world tour arrives in Birmingham at the end of September, with a residency-style show built around a full live band, storytelling and Scott’s unmistakable vocals.

When: 29 September 2026 Where: O2 Academy Birmingham

READ

A Bigger Life by Louise O’Neill

What happens when the life you thought you wanted suddenly disappears? At 38, bestselling author Louise O’Neill found herself newly single after the end of a long-term relationship — and decided she didn’t want to simply rebuild the same future. Instead, she said yes: to risk, desire, adventure and, memorably, dating a different man every night across Paris, London and New York. But A Bigger Life isn’t really a book about men. O’Neill turns her famously sharp eye on herself, interrogating the expectations that shape women’s lives — from ageing and beauty to ambition, motherhood, masculinity and the fear of ending up alone.

Out: 24th September 2026 pre-order now

Soft Life by Toni Tone

What if the answer to an increasingly optimised life was to stop trying quite so hard? In Soft Life, bestselling author and podcaster Toni Tone makes the case for choosing ease without guilt — and, crucially, without abandoning ambition altogether. Across ten steps, she explores everything from boundaries and emotional resilience to relationships, self-worth and redefining success on your own terms.

Out: 10 September 2026 Order now

CEO Yourself by Hermione Olivia

We have career plans, performance reviews and KPIs at work — so why do so many of us leave the rest of our lives to chance? In CEO Yourself, entrepreneur and former CEO Hermione Olivia argues that the strategic thinking we apply to business can be just as useful outside the office. Drawing on her experience building businesses, leading teams and navigating leadership alongside motherhood, Olivia offers a framework for replacing aimless ambition with something altogether more intentional. Less “girlboss your life”; more decide what you actually want before optimising for it.

Out: 10 September 2026 order now

EXPERIENCE

Take a Ride in the UK’s First driverless Uber

The future of getting around London has officially arrived. Uber and Wayve have launched the UK’s first autonomous ride-hailing service, meaning your next Uber could turn up with an AI Driver behind the technology (and the wheel). You can’t order one specifically, but Londoners can opt into autonomous vehicles in their Uber settings to increase their chances of a match. Consider the destination almost beside the point.

When: Available now Where: Across London, excluding airports

Cabaret Heads to Balthazar

Not ready to leave the Kit Kat Club when the curtain comes down? For six weeks this autumn, Cabaret is spilling out of the theatre and into neighbouring Covent Garden institution Balthazar. Every Friday night, performers from the seven-time Olivier Award-winning production will make cameo appearances throughout dinner, alongside live vocals from former cast members and a three-course menu created for the residency. The takeover runs throughout the week too, with Cabaret-inspired cocktails, pre-theatre menus and dinner-and-show packages — but Friday is the night to book for the full experience.

When: 21 September–1 November 2026; live performances Friday evenings Where: Balthazar, Covent Garden, London

Makers Market at Crafted

If your idea of switching off increasingly involves doing something with your hands, head to East Sussex for Crafted at Powdermills’ first Makers Market. Across one weekend, 20 independent ceramicists, woodworkers, textile artists, jewellers and illustrators will take over the estate’s Black Barn, with the emphasis as much on how things are made as what you can buy. Watch pottery and woodwork demonstrations, try your hand at a workshop, or join conversations about natural materials, sustainability and why craft matters now.

When: 26–27 September, 10am–4pm Where: Crafted at Powdermills, Battle, East Sussex