LORD MAYOR'S SHOW DAY

The Lord Mayor's Show dates back to the early 13th century, when a desperate King John granted that the City of London could appoint its own Mayor. He insisted that each newly-elected Mayor must come upriver to distant Westminster and swear loyalty to the Crown. The Mayors, and later the Lord Mayors of London have been making that journey for over 800 years. Around them grew up the noisy, colourful, joyous procession that over the centuries became known as the Lord Mayor's Show.

The Lord Mayor

The 696th Lord Mayor of London is Alderman Alastair King. He takes office in the Silent Ceremony, on the day before the Lord Mayor's Show, then on 9th November the Show will take him to Westminster to swear loyalty to the crown.

Programme

The Lord Mayor's Show programme is available on Show day from our Scout and Guide volunteers.

Roads closed

Details vary slightly from year to year but essentially the whole City area is closed for most of the day of the Show, admitting no traffic at all. Buses are diverted while the Show is on and parking spaces suspended from the Friday afternoon. Roads will reopen as early as possible; most likely around 4pm.

Getting here

Sorry: cars and buses are no help on Show day. Tubes, boats and bicycles are much better, the new Elizabeth Line station at Farringdon is ideally placed and there are many nice ways to walk into the City when it is free of traffic.

Where to go

Some suggestions for different ways to watch the Show depending on how much you like a crowd and what else you might like to do that day. The new Lord Mayor has also sponsored a Pathfinder app; a new information and navigation portal that you can use to find out more about City landmarks.

Access

Please click through for advice and suggestions that we hope will be helpful to disabled visitors to the Show. Access passes for 2024 are now available: please apply here.

Safety and Security

We work closely with the City Police and emergency services to keep everyone at the Show safe.