It’s been some year, right? I’ve spent 2024 heading up Time Out’s features desk, covering the essential culture and lifestyle stories and answering the vital questions about city life and going out in the UK. We’ve covered everything from the driving test black market to the rise of ‘nu-donk’ – it’s certainly not been boring, put it that way.
From nightlife scenes to transport trends, pop stars to chefs, our team has written a lot this year – so we thought we’d get all of the best bits together for you in one place (holiday reading, anyone?). This is by no means an exhaustive list, but we hope it provides something of a taster of what we have to offer, and what we’ll continue to cover in the year ahead. We hope you enjoy.
All of the best features Time Out published in 2024
In January, we kicked off the year by rounding up eight musicians to look out for in 2024. Our art editor Eddy Frankel investigated the spate of London gallery closures and we explored the eruption of new online communities helping women combat loneliness in the city, and asked the vital question: have we all fallen out of love with veganism? London’s iconic queer venue, The Glory, announced it was closing its doors, so we waved it off by tracing its sexy, shambolic history accompanied by a photoshoot with its queer community.
February marked the 40th anniversary of London Fashion Week, so we celebrated the capital’s most exciting designers by catching up with them in their studios. We also explored the strange resurgence of metal detecting, traced the exciting new wave of restaurants making their mark three years after the introduction of a visa scheme welcomed thousands of Hong Kong migrants to the UK, global film editor Phil de Semlyen spoke to Kingsley Ben-Adir about playing Bob Marley and met Gen Z musical sensation Laufey (and her twin).
In March, we put British nightlife under the microscope. Our staff writer India Lawrence argued that superclubs aren’t the answer to 24-hour cities and met queer wrestling collective Fist Club, and commercial editor Georgia Evans explored the unstoppable rise of ‘nu-donk’, the dance floor equivalent of sped-up TikTok remixes invading our clubs. We also took a look inside Britain’s expansive, enduring Abba nightlife economy and went full indie sleaze with this oral history of the Old Blue Last pub.
April was an eclectic month, to say the least. We wrote about how country music went from being a guilty pleasure to taking over the mainstream, explored the future of funerals, from VR clones to hydrocremations, peered inside the weird rural renaissance breathing life into Britain’s countryside customs and captured the nostalgic world of London’s hyper-niche gaming venues. Oh, and we also welcomed pop punk poster boy Yungblud into the office for one of our iconic cover shoots.
In May, contributing writer Amy Houghton asked what everyone was thinking: with dwindling school numbers and impossible living costs, is London at risk of becoming ‘just a phase’? We also investigated the UK’s driving test ‘black market’ and looked at the decline of the fake ID (it turns out young people really aren’t going out anymore). Pre I’m a Celeb fame, GK Barry headed up our festival cover, and Stefflon Don posed with a python in Fitzrovia Chapel (cue: ‘Is it strangling me?’).
June marked the first month of Taylor Swift mania, so we sent our photographer out into the wild to capture elated fans on the first night of the Eras tour in London. Things to do Editor Rosie Hewitson and news editor Ed Cunningham headed to Glastonbury to report from the ground, meanwhile guides editor Ella Doyle asked the question on everyone’s minds: who killed craft beer? We also looked inside the mysterious world of seat fillers, and curated a list of the most picturesque restaurants in the UK – which don’t compromise on food.
In July, we focused on spotlighting London’s diaspora communities, with these features about the venues at the centre of London’s Little Lagos, Little Korea and Little Portugal. And how could we forget the Euros madness? These pictures, summing up a night of highs and lows for England fans, will take you right back to that time.
When ‘Brat’ summer was at its peak, India Lawrence looked at how London turned green, tracing the relentless rise of matcha. Contributing writer Kyle Macneill investigated how fried chicken culture invaded high art, and as tradition, theatre editor Andrzej Lukowski headed north to cover the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We also got together 26 legends of London’s underground music scene on a rooftop to celebrate 30 years of Rinse FM, including Maya Jama, Flowdan, Katy B and D Double E (that’s not something you do every day).
September marked the end of festival season, and with its overcrowding, cancelled sets and sky-high ticket prices, we asked: was 2024 the worst festival season ever? We also made a case for Mexican food in London beyond the tortilla, spoke to the faces spearheading the UK’s strip club renaissance and traced the heart-warming story of how one chain coffee shop became a vital space for London’s gay community. Yes, you could say we have range.
In October, things started to get a little bit weird. Our editor-in-chief Joe Mackertich went trick-or-treating with Jamie Laing, we rounded up 19 zeitgeisty 2024 Halloween costumes (who remembers ‘The Unknown?’), flicked through the UK’s fetish archives and dressed up Confidence Man as an alien autopsy. We got to the bottom of the all-important question: ‘Why are so many fireworks displays being cancelled?’, met the Londoners who refuse to age gracefully (proper heart-warming stuff) and spoke to star-studded St. John alumni Max Rocha, Gizzi Erskine, James Lowe, Lee Tiernan about the trailblazing restaurant’s 30th birthday. We also explored how listening bars took over the UK and launched our inaugural list of the 12 most underrated city breaks in the UK. Busy month.
November was pub month. Our food and drinks editor Leonie Cooper spoke to Jamali Maddix for our fantastic 2024 best pubs list. We also examined the tricky reinvention of the working men’s club, explored how Britain got hooked on nicotine pouches, dissected London’s out-of-control tipping culture and came up with this very useful list of all the central London bars and pubs open past 1am (you’re welcome).
As the year came to a close, we asked our editors to share their best of the year: including the best dishes, the best exhibitions and best theatre. We also went in on transport content, with this gorgeous ranking of London's most beautiful stations and musing on the rise and fall of Megabus. It wouldn’t be December without the darts at Ally Pally, so we sent darts mega-fan Leonie Cooper down with our photographer Orlando Gili to capture all of the fancy dress madness. Finally, we rounded up the 25 best new things to do in the UK in 2025 – for you to start planning now and crowned our 2024 Londoner of the year: the one and only DJ AG. Phew!
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