East and Southeast Asian Events in London August 2026 - What's On Guide by NOVA ESEA

Updated 06/08/2026

Looking for East and Southeast Asian events in London this month? This is your hub for ESEA gigs, food markets, supperclubs, exhibitions and theatre across the city. We spotlight everything from underground nights to big festival moments, with new listings added throughout the month. You will also find the occasional ESEA highlight from other UK cities when something special is happening.

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3 - 9 August

Pop Music Showcase | 4 August | London

Four independent female pop artists — Averlie, Meera Blackburn, Monica Wat, and Marianne Leigh — perform original songs and bold storytelling in a night celebrating fresh London talent.

Murmurs Devoured by the Sea | 5–6 August | London

A movement-driven physical theatre piece inspired by a real-life tragedy and a childhood song, following a woman who becomes cursed after pulling a dead fish from the sea and holds a funeral for it as the community mourns alongside her.

Marina Yozora UK Tour 2026 | 5 August – 15 October | London & Bristol

Japan-born dream pop and shoegaze singer-songwriter Marina Yozora, who relocated from Tokyo to London, brings her reverb-soaked, introspective sound to venues across London and Bristol.

KAWAN! KAWAN! Exhibition | 6 August – 5 September | London

A group exhibition taking its name from the Malay and Indonesian word for 'friend', bringing together artists whose work explores community, connection and diaspora identity.

Bon-Uta: A Song from Home Film Screening | 6 August | London

A Japanese short film screened alongside the Kyotographie photography exhibition, exploring how traditional bon-uta folk songs carry memories of home across generations.

The Paper Path 紙の道 — Journeys in Japanese Washi | 6–23 August | London

An exhibition tracing the centuries-old craft of Japanese washi paper-making, exploring the material's history, techniques and enduring role in art and everyday life.

Red Flagged+Queer East Film Club: Girlfriends | 6 August | London

A screening of Tracy Choi's Cantonese-language drama Girlfriends, which traces one woman's queer coming-of-age through three love stories at ages 17, 22 and 34, told in reverse chronological order.

Take Your Time (2/2) | 6 August | London

A science-fiction play that uses time travel as a lens to explore grief and human connection, following a woman confronting the people and moments that shaped her as she learns to value the present.

City Pop Waves presents Masayoshi Takanaka | 7 August | London

Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, a pioneering figure in city pop and jazz fusion known for his 1979 hit 'Blue Lagoon' and his famed surfboard guitar, brings his first-ever world tour to London.

Aunty Mei is Looking for a Wife | 7–22 August | London

A one-woman comedy following Aunty Mei as she tries to matchmake her daughter with London's finest lesbians, navigating culture shock between generations with humour and heart.

OfficialKEvents | LONDON: KPOP & KHIPHOP Night in August | 7–8 August | London

A club night dedicated to K-pop and K-hip-hop, with DJs spinning across both genres for a night of dancing.

Market Root Vol.7: Korean Creatives Market | 8–9 August | London

The seventh edition of London's Korean creatives market, bringing together independent Korean and international brands across fashion, art, beauty and vintage finds, alongside Korean street food and workshops.

Sound Strokes | 8–15 August | Edinburgh

A concert blending the Chinese guzheng with Scottish musical traditions, inspired by a photographic scroll of Chinese calligraphy, revealing resonances between Eastern and Western artistic traditions.

East Asian Market @ Canada Water (Urban Garden Fair) | 8–9 August | London

A weekend market at Canada Water celebrating East Asian food, craft and culture, with traders from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand offering handmade crafts, lifestyle goods and street food.

Formosa Viva | 8–22 August | Edinburgh

A fusion of contemporary dance and physical theatre performed by young dancers from Taiwan, tracing 500 years of the island's history from its Indigenous roots through colonial rule to modern democracy.

ESEA Cooks Greatest Hits Supper Club | 8 August | London

A supper club bringing back fan-favourite dishes from past ESEA Cooks events, cooked and shared family-style for guests to enjoy together.

Salsa & Mahjong | 9 August | London

A social afternoon at Battersea Park's Peace Pagoda combining salsa dancing with rounds of mahjong, mixing two very different traditions of rhythm and strategy.

Stunted (Play) | 9–17 August | London

A two-hander by New York-based playwright Christine Fang, following two housemates in a codependent bond as they navigate friendship, queerness, womanhood and the shift from their twenties into their thirties.

10 - 16 August

Where Light is Stored Exhibition | 11–17 August | London

An exhibition exploring how light, memory and place are held and stored across time.

Your Favo(u)rite American Woman | 11–16 August | London

A dark, offbeat historical comedy by Cole Escola following Mary Todd Lincoln — wife to Abraham Lincoln — as a feisty, thorny and utterly unforgettable woman.

Mountains and Seas: A Rock Musical | 13–22 August | Edinburgh

A rock musical inspired by the Shan Hai Jing, the ancient Chinese 'Classic of Mountains and Seas', reimagining its myths of gods, monsters and wanderers through electric guitars and song.

Shōtengai Pan Asian Market at King's Cross | 13–16 August | London

A monthly East Asian artisan market at Coal Drops Yard, King's Cross, showcasing independent ESEA makers, artists and street food vendors with handmade goods, ceramics, prints and diaspora flavours.

BBC Proms: Yeol Eum Son — Gershwin's Piano Concerto | 13 August | London

South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son performs Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, its Charleston rhythms and songful slow movement capturing the energy of 1920s New York.

LUN8: Beyond the Moon Europe 2026 Tour — London | 14 August | London

Seven-member K-pop boy group LUN8 bring their 'Beyond the Moon' world tour to London as part of a European run building on their growing international fanbase.

Anni Hung: a piece of peace — London Show | 14 August | London

Taiwanese singer-songwriter Anni Hung performs songs from her introspective album 'a piece of peace', exploring everyday emotion and quiet resilience.

tinyumbrellas Live | 14 August | Manchester

Leeds-based indie pop artist tinyumbrellas performs gentle, melodic songs inspired by the transportive worldbuilding of Studio Ghibli.

Akira Film Screening | 14–19 August | London

A screening of Katsuhiro Otomo's landmark 1988 anime Akira, the cyberpunk classic following a biker gang caught up in a secret government experiment that unleashes psychic destruction on Neo-Tokyo.

BIG BANG & YG BADDIES KPOP PARTY London with DJ EMKAY | 14–15 August | London

A K-pop club night dedicated to BIGBANG and other YG Entertainment artists, with a set from DJ EMKAY.

Limehouse: London's Lost Chinatown Walking Tour | 15 August | London

A walking tour of London's original Docklands Chinatown, bringing the 1920s-30s Chinese East End back to life through urban archaeology and community stories.

Half East Records 3rd Birthday | 15 August | London

A birthday party from Half East Records, the London and Bristol-based collective platforming ESEA DJs and musicians, blending traditional sounds with contemporary beats.

Beyond Belonging: Community Potluck, Book Launch & Discussion | 15 August | London

A community potluck paired with a book launch and discussion exploring themes of belonging, identity and diaspora, bringing food and conversation together.

Just Another Gig in the Summer Salty Chick (Hong Kong / UK) with Xu Shaoyang (Hong Kong / UK) | 15 August | London

A summer gig pairing two Hong Kong-and-UK-based acts: Xu Shaoyang, a singer-composer known for intimate songs about the fragmented beauty of everyday life, alongside fellow Hong Kong/UK artist Salty Chick.

Canto Club × Silk Table: Cantonese Disco on the Thames | 15–16 August | London

A Cantonese-music disco boat party on the Thames, mixing classic Cantopop with dance tracks for a night on the water.

Sungka x Congklak: Filipino x Indonesian Social Afternoon | 15 August | London

An afternoon of Sungka and Congklak — the Filipino and Indonesian shell-and-board game — with live music, storytelling and traditional snacks, run by Congklak Social Club and Filipinos in London.

Herstory in History (Musical) | 15–16 August | London

A solo musical starring Chinese musical theatre actress Fiona Zhu, drawing on 15 years on stage to ask whether its protagonist is the author of her own story or a pawn in someone else's.

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17 - 23 August

Chicken Dropping (Play) | 17–18 August | London

An absurdist comedy set in a Qingdao beachfront apartment, where a couple's ordered life unravels as they begin profiting from their neighbour's warring chickens, until the consequences crash back through their own window.

Between Strands (Play) | 18–22 August | Edinburgh

A performance by Selina Hsung-Chih Tseng and Abhisikta Dasgupta that opens with a ritual of prayer and remembrance for Tseng's grandmother, who died 15 months earlier.

You & It — Korean Musical, London Premiere | 20 August – 26 September | London

An award-winning South Korean musical following a grieving widower who encounters an AI recreation of his late wife, forcing him to confront memory, grief and the meaning of love.

Meet the Winners: International Booker Prize 2026 – Taiwan Travelogue | 20 August | Edinburgh

A discussion with Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King, winners of the 2026 International Booker Prize for Taiwan Travelogue — the first Mandarin-language novel to win the award — a story of love between two women set against Taiwan's history.

Sailor Honeymoon: Stripped Back + Signing | 20 August | London

Seoul punk rock band Sailor Honeymoon, known for tackling patriarchy and everyday frustrations with humour, play London around the release of their debut album.

Streets on Screen: Re-imagining Hong Kong and Sheffield Through Cinema | 20 August – 18 September | Sheffield

A film programme exploring parallels between Hong Kong and Sheffield through cinema, tracing how each city's streets have been imagined and reimagined on screen.

Jalan Jalan - Celebrating Indonesian Culture | 21–22 August | London

A late-night event blending Southeast Asian music and culture at Nico's Bar, Hackney Bridge, celebrating Indonesian sounds and community.

GANG PARADE in the UK Tour — London | 21 August | London

Japanese alt-idol group GANG PARADE, part of the WACK agency, play London as part of their first and final overseas tour ahead of the group's planned disbandment.

Miss Grit + Mui Zyu | 21 August | London

Korean-American indie rock artist Miss Grit (Margaret Sohn) and Hong Kong-British musician mui zyu, who previously collaborated on the single 'please be ok', share a bill blending sculptural guitar textures with dreamy songcraft.

SPIRITED AGAY: A Ghibli Cabaret | 21 August | London

A cabaret night inspired by the worlds and music of Studio Ghibli.

24 - 30 August

K-Pop Demon Hunters: Women, Spirits, and Korea's Occult Traditions | 24 August | London

An illustrated talk using the animated film KPop Demon Hunters as a gateway into Korea's shamanic traditions, exploring the mudang — the women who work with spirits through ritual music and dance — behind the film's vision of song as sorcery.

The Runaway Effect (WIP) | 24–25 August | London

A work-in-progress theatre piece testing new material in front of a live audience ahead of further development.

Musquiqui Chihying: A Life of Navigation (Exhibition) | 25 August – 18 October | London

A multimedia exhibition by Taiwanese artist Musquiqui Chihying, juxtaposing early and recent works across installation, video and photography to explore how modern technology shapes society and the human condition.

The Fourth London International Chinese Music Festival: Sound of the East in the West Gala Concert | 27 August | London

The gala concert of the Fourth London International Chinese Music Festival, pairing traditional Chinese instruments with newly commissioned contemporary works exploring the dialogue between East and West.

Mieko Kawakami: Sisters in Yellow — London | 28 August | London

Japanese novelist Mieko Kawakami discusses her first crime novel, Sisters in Yellow, a psychological drama set in late-1990s Tokyo centred on two women whose lives are shaped by hardship and a secret that resurfaces years later.

London Kpop Market 2026 | 29 August | London

A market dedicated to K-pop merchandise and fan culture, with stalls selling albums, photocards and collectibles across genres and groups.

Hovvdy + Esme Emerson — EU/UK Tour | 29 August | London

American indie rock duo Hovvdy bring their tour to Hackney's MOTH Club, with support from singer-songwriter Esme Emerson.

The Great British Husband Hunt (Play) | 29 August | Harrow

A comedy play following the hunt for the ideal British husband, playing with very English social expectations and manners.

Yu Ching — EU/UK Tour 2026 | 30 August – 4 September | Glasgow / Oxford / London

Taiwanese artist Yu Ching tours the UK behind her debut album The Crystal Hum, a hazy blend of spectral vocals, spring-reverb guitar, vintage drum machines and cheap keyboards.

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