Free musical theatre festival West End Live returns to Trafalgar Square in June 2025.
The annual event brings together stars from 50 West End musicals and shows for free performances on a stage in Trafalgar Square. Cast members from Back To The Future, Cabaret, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Disney's Hercules, Disney's The Lion King, Fiddler On The Roof, Hamilton, Les Misérables, Mamma Mia!, Matilda The Musical, Wicked and many, many more shows will serve up bitesized chunks of their productions performed in the open air.
Divina De Campo and Hannah Lowther (Saturday) and Zoe Birkett and Oliver Tompsett (Sunday) have been announced as the presenters for West End Live 2025. As this year is the 20th anniversary of West End Live, a special concert takes place on Sunday afternoon, featuring an array of theatre stars including Madalena Alberto, Aimie Atkinson, Cassidy Janson, Jenna Lee-James, Kayleigh McKnight, Lee Mead, Johndeep More, Natalie Paris, Tobias Turley and Marisha Wallace.
Never been before? Take a look at this clip for an idea of what to expect:
While many of the performers are usually cast members of long-running West End shows — some dashing over to Trafalgar Square between their Saturday matinee and evening performances — it's a chance to get a look at upcoming or very recently opened musical theatre treats too.
The fast-paced scheduling means the snappy sets are brief enough to maintain the attention of even the youngest audience members, and you can drop by to catch your favourite shows — but it gets busy, and once you've given up your front row space, there's no getting it back.
We'll repeat that: the event gets very busy. So busy, in fact, that there were reports of people starting to queue at 6am in previous years, ahead of the gates opening at 10am, with queues reaching all the way to Holborn, resulting in thespian blog Theatre & Tonic questioning whether the event has now grown too big to be enjoyable. By 12.36pm on the Saturday of the 2023 event, the official West End Live Twitter account said that anyone not in the queue at that point would unlikely make it inside, as a one-in, one-out policy operates when the square reaches capacity. So. Get there early and be prepared to queue.
As a result of these issues, there have been calls to make the event ticketed in future, but at time of writing, there are no plans to introduce such a system for 2025. However, an additional viewing area on Pall Mall East was added in 2024, where the event was livestreamed on a large screen, and that will be kept for 2025.
Changes to West End Live for 2025
There is an accessible viewing area for wheelchair users and people with other accessibility requirements. It's located along the North Terrace of Trafalgar Square, offering a view of the stage and BSL interpreters. Unlike previous years, when the accessible viewing area was managed on a first come first served basis, it is ticketed for 2025. Unfortunately the ballot for tickets closed in March 2025, BUT additional space will be available on the day on a first come first served basis, subject to capacity on the day. To access this space, you will need a Nimbus Card or West End LIVE Digital Access Pass to get in. We're expecting further details of how this will work to be announced in advance of the event.
Away from the accessible viewing area, the rest of West End Live remains first come first served, with no ticketing.
Keep an eye on the West End Live website and social media for updates. If you can't make it in-person (or can't face the queue), highlights will be shared on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube throughout the weekend.
West End Live 2025 takes place 11am-5pm on Saturday 21 June and 12pm-5pm on Sunday 22 June. It's free to attend, and there's no need to book tickets. The full schedule will be available on the website. If the event gets your toes a-tapping, browse offers for tickets to current and upcoming musicals in London.
