Christmas 2026

Handel Hendrix House - the Mayfair museum once home to composer G.F. Handel and rock legend Jimi Hendrix at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair – will be starting its Christmas festivities from Thursday, November 19, 2026, continuing until Sunday, January 3, 2027. It will stay open between Christmas and New Year on Monday 28, Tuesday 29, Wednesday 30, and Thursday 31 December (last entry at 2pm on the 31st).

The House will sparkle with timeless festive decorations, and visitors can immerse themselves in the beautifully restored rooms where both Handel and Hendrix once lived, now dressed for the season with Christmas trees, twinkling lights, and decorations themed around music and festive feasting.

There will be live cooking demonstrations in Handel’s kitchen on the weekend of November 21–22, in which food historians Marc Meltonville and Robert Hoare will be preparing seasonal delights in London’s only early 18th-century townhouse kitchen open to the public (included in general admission).

On the evening of Saturday, November 21, Marc and Robert will host a special event to mark the beginning of the preparations for Christmas, exploring 18th-century seasonal food and traditions. The event includes a glass of 18th-century seasonal punch. (Tickets: £25)

https://handelhendrix.org/events/feasting-for-christmas

This will be followed by Deck the Halls! on Thursday, December 10 at 5pm and 7pm. Sopranos Rachel Allen, Gwen Martin and Kristiina Watt, accompanied by harpist Emilia Agajew, present carols from across the centuries, from the Renaissance to traditional 18th-century ditties that Handel would have known. (Tickets: £25)

https://handelhendrix.org/events/deck-the-halls-with-boughs-ofhandel

This will be followed by joyful carolling over a special Baroque & Roll weekend on December 12 & 13, 2026, which will fill the house with warmth.

https://handelhendrix.org/events/live-music

For anyone looking for something a little different gift-wise this Christmas, the museum shop will feature a delightful selection of gifts sure to charm any music lover.

As Simon Daniels, Director of Handel Hendrix House, added:

“Many people associate Messiah with Christmas, so it is a perfect time to visit the house where Handel lived and composed this iconic work in just 24 days. Only a few minutes’ walk from Oxford Street, Handel Hendrix House is the perfect place to take a break from the bustling streets and get back into the festive spirit.”

Christmas Events / Events in December:

Exhibitions

Hallelujah House: Inside Handel’s HQ

New exhibition offers fresh insights into the music that Handel composed and performed whilst calling 25 Brook Street home. Runs until Sunday, March 14, 2027.

Ronnie Wood: The Jimi Hendrix Portraits

Featuring two new, unseen original portraits of Jimi Hendrix in his flat on Brook Street by Ronnie Wood, alongside prints of much-loved paintings inspired by photographs of Jimi. On show until Sunday, April 11, 2027.

Hendrix in London

Step into Jimi Hendrix’s London and discover the story behind the music in this exhibition at Handel Hendrix House. Drawing on a remarkable archive of previously unseen material, the display offers a rare glimpse into Hendrix’s life, work and the world that surrounded him during his time at 23 Brook Street.

Entry to all these exhibitions is included in the admission price.

Thursday, December 3

Messiah 2026 | London Handel Festival

https://www.london-handel-festival.com/whats-on/Jj-messiah-2026/

Saturday, December 5

Guitar Saturday

Join resident guitarist Nigel Jones to learn the inside track on Hendrix’s legendary techniques and sounds. Bring your guitar along, or borrow one from the house, and jam in the place that Hendrix called home.

Tickets: £22, including general admission

https://handelhendrix.org/events/saturday-guitar-days

Sunday, December 6 at 6pm

Handel Youth Ensemble: Rising Notes

Handel Youth Ensemble, which launched in September, is an exciting new chamber ensemble exploring early music at Baroque pitch for under-18s.

Tickets include entry to Handel’s House from 10am–5pm on the day (please note that the house will close at 5pm in preparation for the concert, with doors opening again at 5.45pm).

Tickets: £15

https://handelhendrix.org/events/rising-notes

Tuesday, December 15

Christmas Party Chez Handel

Tickets: £55

https://www.london-handel-festival.com/seats/66001/

This special evening of Christmas joy invites audiences to explore the whole of Handel’s House by candlelight, exquisitely adorned with festive decorations. With a mince pie and a glass in hand, immerse yourself in a richly atmospheric and elegant celebration while being serenaded by musicians and carol singers presenting pop-up performances of seasonal music inspired by the sounds Handel himself would have known.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The house is open Wednesday – Sunday 10.00 – 17.00 (last entry at 16:00). Tickets are £14.50 for adults, £10.50 for students and free for the under 12s. Tickets can be purchased in advance on the website www.handelhendrix.org but it is possible to buy

a ticket on the day at the museum. Nearest Tube: Bond Street

PRESS INFORMATION

Please contact Rachel Aked

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 07790 732448

The live music at Handel Hendrix House is generously supported by The Thistle Trust, The Garrick Charitable Trust, and Chapman Charitable Trust.

Handel Hendrix House cares for and presents to the public the homes of two of the greatest musicians ever to have lived in London. George Frideric Handel lived at 25 Brook Street from 1723 until his death in 1759. It was here that Handel wrote and rehearsed his greatest works, including Messiah and its ever popular ‘Hallelujah chorus’ – perhaps the most famous piece of classical music ever written. His stirring anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’, was also written in Brook Street and has accompanied the coronation of every British monarch since George II (for whom it was written in 1727), including HM King Charles III.

In 1968, Jimi Hendrix moved into an adjoining flat at number 23. Here, in the only place he said he felt truly at home, Hendrix entertained, inspired, and collaborated with other icons of British 60s rock music.

Handel Hendrix House has completed a £3million project to open all of Handel’s house to the public for the first time by restoring the basement and ground floor by faithfully recreated Handel’s basement kitchen with all its fixtures and fittings, carefully detailed on research and an inventory made shortly after the composer’s death.

Also

· Restored the ground floor parlours in which Handel would receive his guests and aristocratic patrons and in which his assistant, J.C. Smith, would sell tickets and subscriptions to new works.

· Restored the front façade of 25 Brook Street so that visitors can finally enter Handel’s home through his front door.

New things to see in Handel’s house include:

• Historic rooms presented as they might have been in the 1740s, when the composer was in a new burst of creative energy and commercial success writing dramatic oratorios.

• Recently acquired works of art, creating a collection representative of the more than 100 works of art Handel owned in Brook Street.

• New exhibitions about Handel’s music and the musicians he worked with and a mixed reality audio-visual display about the writing of Messiah in the very room in which it was composed.

In 2016, Jimi Hendrix’s flat in 23 Brook Street was brilliantly restored and opened to the public. To be enjoyed as a contrasting and complementary part to a visit to Handel’s home,

the Hendrix experience at Handel Hendrix House has been expanded as part of the Hallelujah Project:

• For the first time, visitors can walk up and down the stairs to his flat, where George Harrison famously had to step over one of Jimi’s other visitors who had passed out en route to the exit.

• A new exhibition features a film showing visitors exploring Hendrix’s legendary guitar technique and his influence on musicians and creatives, with high quality sound supported by Bang & Olufsen

• The film includes material uncovered by Handel Hendrix House through their national ‘Your Experience’ appeal for memories, images and stories of people’s encounters with Jimi Hendrix across the country.

A guide to Handel Hendrix House is now available on Bloomberg Connects, which can be translated into 12 different languages including French, German, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Italian, Russian, Korean, Hindi, Japanese and Chinese. Details of the house can be found https://guides.bloombergconnects.org/en-US/guide/handelHendrixHouse