Forget the muddy field: London does festivals better

London's summer festivals are free or close to it, a Tube ride away and over by bedtime if you want them to be: far easier with children than a weekend in a tent, though the weather still needs planning for.

July and August are the warmest months, with highs around 22 degrees, but August is wetter than people expect and rains on nine or ten days in a typical year. Every plan needs an indoor fallback, and the museums in South Kensington are the obvious one.

Pride and Carnival

Pride takes over the West End on a Saturday in early July, with a parade through the centre and stages in the squares. It's busy, loud and good-natured, and with children it's best to find a calmer stretch of the route and head home before the evening crowds build.

Notting Hill Carnival runs over the August bank holiday weekend. Sunday is traditionally family day, with the children's parade, and Monday is the main event. It's one of the biggest street festivals in Europe and it is crowded, so agree a meeting point, keep phones charged and check TfL's carnival travel page, because several stations close or go exit-only. If you're staying in Notting Hill itself, expect road closures, and sound systems right by the front door.

Concerts, pavilions and open doors

The BBC Proms run all summer at the Royal Albert Hall, with concerts almost every night and some aimed squarely at families. Standing tickets in the arena go on sale on the day for very little, and that's how a lot of Londoners first hear an orchestra. From Kensington or South Kensington it's a short walk up Exhibition Road.

Every summer the Serpentine commissions a temporary pavilion in Kensington Gardens, free to walk through and a good excuse for a picnic in the park. Then in September, Open City's Open House Festival opens hundreds of buildings that are normally shut to the public, many with family trails.

Festival days mean late finishes and tired children. An apartment with separate bedrooms lets one adult take the youngest home while the rest stay on, and on the days the roads are shut it helps to be within a short walk of a station, as nearly every central residence is.

London weather by month

July is the warmest month, averaging 23°C by day. July has the fewest wet days (9) and October the most rain (80 mm). For sightseeing on foot, June scores best on our combined warmth-and-dryness measure.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain	Wet days	Chance a 7-day stay sees a washout	Record high / low
January	8°C	2°C	74 mm	13	53%	16°C / -12°C
February	8°C	2°C	51 mm	10	43%	18°C / -8°C
March	11°C	4°C	45 mm	9	44%	23°C / -7°C
April	14°C	5°C	54 mm	10	44%	26°C / -3°C
May	17°C	8°C	54 mm	9	39%	30°C / -1°C
June	20°C	11°C	58 mm	9	35%	34°C / 2°C
July	23°C	13°C	52 mm	9	34%	34°C / 4°C
August	22°C	13°C	68 mm	9	37%	37°C / 4°C
September	19°C	11°C	62 mm	9	39%	29°C / 2°C
October	15°C	8°C	80 mm	11	47%	27°C / -2°C
November	11°C	5°C	76 mm	12	52%	18°C / -6°C
December	8°C	2°C	69 mm	12	50%	16°C / -8°C

Calculated NOAA GHCN-Daily observations at the Hampstead weather station, north London (records 1960–2015; averages from about 25 years per month). A wet day has 1 mm of rain or more.