Editorial

Welcome to the Town Hall Cultural Programme

For nearly ninety years, Town Hall has been more than a venue; it’s been a living stage for ideas, creativity, and change. From the first Caribbean Carnival in 1959 to civil rights rallies, from forgotten operas to fierce debates that bent the arc of politics, its walls have shaken with punk, protest, and possibility. This is a building that knows what it means to make history.

An introduction

by Michael J Harris, Director of Programming

After an almost 10 year restoration, Town Hall stands once more at the heart of London’s creative and technological renaissance. In the heart of King’s Cross, a global Knowledge Quarter where science, art, and ideas collide, we reopen as a forum for the unlike-minded: a meeting place for artists and activists, technologists and philosophers, dreamers and doers who know how to turn the impossible into the concrete.

As Director of Programming it’s my privilege to help introduce a new chapter in the life of this extraordinary building. Our cultural programme is built on five pillars: Culture, Innovation, Impact, Community and Big Ideas. These are not silos but crossing points — a space where art meets activism, where technology sparks imagination, where performance and philosophy share the same stage. A place where ideas can shape our shared future.

What’s coming? A programme of curated cross-disciplinary conversations, performances, and experiences that range from the deeply local to the globally significant — touching art, fashion, tech, philosophy, music, and more. Some will feel intimate and surprising; others will fill our halls with energy and debate. Each encounter is designed to collapse boundaries and cultivate connection.
We are working with some of the most exciting institutions, organisations and individuals to help deliver our vision: from flagship festivals that animate the area, summits that help define the conversation through to salons that gather the most curious minds around the table.

This is more than a programme, think of this as an invitation: to explore, to co-create, to participate, and to shape the future with us, together – in a building that knows exactly what that means.

Welcome to Town Hall.

What’s Coming: A First Look at Our Programming Pillars

Our Cultural Programme is curated, cross-disciplined and deeply rooted in dialogue. We bring together leading voices in art, music, performance, technology, philosophy, and social change. It’s more than a programme; it’s a community, a conversation and a space for exchange.

The Town Hall Presents Programme is guided by five interconnected pillars:

Culture — Art, fashion, music, and performance in all their forms. From one off concerts to disruptive runway shows, from our Town Hall Art Programme to immersive installations, a place where creativity leads the conversation.

Innovation — A home for the ideas reshaping our future. AI, quantum, creative research and beyond — a testing ground where technology meets imagination.

Impact — Inspiration, sustainability and social change explored not as afterthoughts, but as the beating heart of culture’s role in society.

Community — This where connection and belonging take centre stage. From self-development to health, wellbeing workshops to mentoring, we create space for reflection, joy, and togetherness.

Big Ideas — The conversations that matter. Philosophy, politics, identity, ethics — debated on stage and in salons, with thinkers who refuse to settle for easy answers.

Each Pillar has a range of programming that continues conversations (both intimately and at scale) and explores themes throughout the year; from annual flagship festivals, summits that convene industries, talks, performances or intimate salons that connect the unlike-minded around a single table.

Town Hall Presents: The Best of Contemporary Art

We invite you to experience a vibrant series of curated exhibitions each year, led by in-house curator Virginia Damtsa. Every three months, our thematic exhibitions unveil fresh discoveries — from unseen works by emerging talents to bold creations by established artists.

Hosted across the Library and Network spaces, each exhibition goes beyond display: it becomes an encounter. New voices and renowned ones come together around topical themes, interwoven with Town Hall’s wider cultural programme.

Expect more than exhibitions — with previews, artist walk-throughs, talks, immersive workshops, performance nights, and installations, our programme transforms into a cycle of art, dialogue, and exchange.

Town Hall is a living forum where ideas, art, people, and action converge. Whether you’re an artist, a creative, an innovator, a neighbour, or simply a curious guest, we can’t wait to welcome you.