What’s On in Cambridge

Live Events Calendar from a Cambridge Photographer’s Perspective

Cambridge runs on its calendar. The exhibitions, museum openings, college events, evensong services, Botanic Garden walks and chamber concerts that fill the city week to week aren’t just things to do — they’re the moments that turn an ordinary visit into something memorable, and the moments worth photographing.

This page lists what’s happening in Cambridge right now, drawn directly from the official University of Cambridge events calendar and refreshed every six hours. Below the live listings you’ll find a Cambridge-based photographer’s perspective on which events are worth your camera time, and how to book a private guided photography tour to make the most of them.

Capture What’s On — Privately Guided Photography Tours from £160 / hour Whatever’s happening in Cambridge this week, the right local guide turns it into the photographs you’ll keep. Tours are private (just you, your party and your guide), photography-led, and bookable for any time of day or year. From £160 per hour — minimum two-hour booking. See all tour options →


This Week’s Events in Cambridge

Showing events from 14 Sep 2026 to 28 Sep 2026.

  1. Museum of Cambridge

    Cambridge Folklore, Poetry, Dark Music, etc - Book Tour! In the rich black soil of Cambridgeshire, nothing is truly forgotten. Dead ideas permeate the colleges, romantic fantasies float…

  2. Corpus Christi College

    Singers from Cambridge University Schola Cantorum sing the ancient office of Compline

  3. Murray Edwards College

    In 2026, Murray Edwards College celebrates the 60th anniversary of its unique modernist home, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon; the Barbican’s beautiful Cambridge cousin. To mark this…

  4. Alison Richard Building

    Please join us for this open conversation to explore the stories and thoughts that underpin the Alison Richard Building’s current exhibition 'Attention is the Rarest and Purest Form…

  5. Bodies in the Bookshop

    Adam Simcox is a writer, director and filmmaker, and the author of the Dying Squad series of books. Remi Kone is an Emmy-nominated producer, TV writer and the…

  6. Department of Engineering

    The Future of UK Landscape Regeneration

  7. Storey’s Field Centre

    Following on from the critical and commercial success of the previous record, In My Mind There’s a Room album, Colin MacIntyre aka Mull Historical Society will return this…

  8. David Parr House

    In this workshop, you will: Learn the fundamentals of woven darning and visible mending for knitted garments Practise your stitches on knitted swatches before repairing your own items…

  9. St John's College

    Join the Choristers of St John's Choir for a Free Family Concert. The Choristers of the Choir present a free, family-friendly concert designed for a younger audience. The…

  10. Kettle's Yard House and Gallery

    Intimate, subversive and often beautiful, Gupta’s work has been instrumental in raising awareness around the fight for queer rights internationally, particularly in India and the UK, laying bare…

  11. Storey’s Field Centre

    Step into the art of sushi with this hands-on workshop designed for adults who love great food and want to learn something new. Guided by a qualified chef…

  12. Wolfson College

    This panel will examine how breakthroughs in precision medicine, artificial intelligence, genomics, immunology and digital health could prevent or better manage age-related disease, improve quality of life and…

  13. Great St.Mary's Church

    Wonderful programme with Walton, Crown Imperial, Elgar the Wand of Youth and Pounds 2nd Symphony

  14. King's College

    Engaged in an ongoing dialogue with six centuries of representational painting, Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955) is known for his expansive body of work, which also includes drawings…

  15. Storey’s Field Centre

    Join BBC Radio 2 favourite Mark Kingswood for an elegant, soul stirring evening of music, accompanied by a live pianist and orchestral tracks, as he brings his velvet…

  16. Clare Hall

    Introduction by Jerry Scott, the artist: My earliest conscious memories are all to do with colour. As a very small child I would gather colourful things that caught…

  17. David Parr House

    Led by artist Caroline Wendling, this eco-friendly session introduces you to an ancient form of printing used by botanists in the past. The technique is considered to be…

Listings courtesy of the University of Cambridge What's On calendar.


A Cambridge Guide’s Pick of the Best Recurring Events

Live listings change weekly. These don’t — they come around every year, and they’re consistently the dates that produce the best photographs in Cambridge.

Evensong at King’s College Chapel (term-time only)

The single most photographed interior in Cambridge, lit during evensong by candles and stained-glass evening light. Free to attend. Photography rules vary depending on the service and the time of year — every cambridge.tours client is briefed in advance, and tours are planned around the best light. Evensong runs during University term only; check the King’s College website for the current term schedule before you travel.

Cambridge University Botanic Garden — through the seasons

A year-round programme of guided walks, family events and seasonal openings on a 40-acre site that most visitors never see. The systematic beds in late spring, the autumn glasshouses and the winter snowdrop walks are three of the most photogenic moments in the Cambridge calendar — and the Garden is one of our most-requested tour destinations for visitors who want photographs that go beyond the standard college frontage.

Open Cambridge — second weekend in September

A free annual weekend of behind-the-scenes access to colleges, archives, libraries and buildings normally closed to visitors. cambridge.tours runs private photography tours timed to Open Cambridge weekend every year. Weekend slots fill from July onwards — book early.

Mill Road Winter Fair — early December

The neighbourhood Cambridge that tourists rarely see. Street food, music, parade floats, lanterns and a community that turns out in force. A different Cambridge from the colleges, and a brilliant brief for a documentary-style photography walk.

May Bumps — June (despite the name)

College rowing crews racing on the Cam — fast, dramatic, deeply Cambridge. Best photographed from the towpath on the second or third day of racing, when the racing has settled into its rhythm and the action is at its peak. Long lenses help. Guided photography tours timed to May Bumps include access advice and the best vantage points along the river.

Cambridge Folk Festival — late July / early August

A four-day festival on the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall, three miles south-east of the centre. Not part of our standard tour route — but worth a mention if you’re combining a Cambridge photography trip with the festival weekend. We can build a Cambridge-centre tour around your festival days.

Cambridge Literary Festival — November and April

Two annual programmes of author talks, panel events and readings across multiple Cambridge venues. Strong for portrait photography opportunities and atmospheric venue interiors.

Plan a Photography Tour Around What’s On

Cambridge.tours runs private guided photography tours led by Jean-Luc Benazet, a Cambridge-based photographer with years of experience finding the angles, the light and the access that most visitors never see. Tours are designed around what you want to photograph and when you can travel — including event-led tours timed to evensong, exhibitions, festival weekends or seasonal moments at the Botanic Garden.

Tour rates start at £160 per hour with a minimum booking of two hours. All tours are private — just you, your party and your guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

The live events listings refresh from the official University of Cambridge calendar every six hours. The Photographer’s Pick section of recurring events is reviewed and updated quarterly.

The live feed pulls directly from the University of Cambridge’s official What’s On calendar — the same source the colleges, museums and the University Botanic Garden use to publish their public events.

There is overlap, but the University of Cambridge feed includes many events that general tourist information channels don’t surface — including academic talks, smaller museum openings, and college-specific events.

Yes. Private guided photography tours are available any day of the year and can be timed around events, exhibitions, evensong services or seasonal moments at the Botanic Garden. Tours start at £160 per hour with a minimum booking of two hours.

Photography rules vary by college and by event. Some events allow personal photography freely, others restrict it, and a few prohibit it entirely. Every cambridge.tours client is briefed before their tour on what’s permitted where, based on current college access policies.

Cambridge.tours runs private guided photography tours where you do the photography with expert guidance. For event coverage where you want a photographer to shoot for you, see our sister site Cambridge Photographers.