Traditions of London
A great port of many peoples, where Trooping the Colour, pearly kings and Notting Hill Carnival all belong to the year.
London has been a capital for two thousand years, and its ceremonies range from royal pageantry to the markets of the East End. The calendar is full of events held in the same way for centuries, such as the Lord Mayor's Show and the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower, side by side with festivals of the city's many communities.
Pageant and carnival
Trooping the Colour, in June, marks the monarch's official birthday with a parade of guards in red and bearskin hats. The Lord Mayor's Show, in November, is a procession of floats and carriages. In August, the Notting Hill Carnival, started by Caribbean communities, brings steel bands, costumes and food to the streets.
At the table
A full English breakfast, afternoon tea with scones and cream, Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding, and fish and chips are classics. Pie and mash, with eel and liquor, is an East End tradition. Curry, Chinese, Turkish and Caribbean dishes shape the modern city's food.
Signature traditions of London
Also part of it, and being written: Afternoon tea (The tea meal.), Sunday roast (The family meal.), Pearly Kings and Queens (The costermonger tradition.).
A trail idea for London
- Borough Market Taste cheese and street food.
- Tower of London See the Ceremony of the Keys.
- Columbia Road Flower Market Visit on Sunday.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Waitangi Day: Ryan762 ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Notting Hill Carnival: Diliff, CC BY 2.5, source
- Trooping the Colour: Carfax2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source