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

Reset

Showing events from 1 Jun 2026 to 30 Jun 2026.

  1. St Botolph's Church

    Vaughan Williams The birds' song | Cecilia McDowall Nunc Dimittis (St Alban's Service) | Judith Bingham God be in my head | Durufle Tota pulchra es

  2. Woolf Institute

    The universe as a whole seems to have evolved from a simple beginning over a long period of time in accordance with physical laws. Studying and simulating that…

  3. Faculty of Divinity

    Across five years, the Fetzer Institute commissioned teams of scholars who are also practitioners of their faith tradition to retell sacred stories. The challenge was to do this…

  4. Kettle's Yard House and Gallery

    A programme full of contrasts from one of today’s most impressive pianists. Clare’s imagination and thirst for discovery have put her in a league of her own. She…

  5. The Guildhall

    The mission, if you choose to accept, is to find 9 quirky spots in the city centre and pick up clues along the way. When all the spots…

  6. The Guildhall

    A walking tour with something for everyone. You'll hear about a family that owed everything to a grasshopper, an architect who turned his hand to lamp-post design, a…

  7. The Guildhall

    The mission, if you choose to accept, is to find 9 quirky spots in the city centre and pick up clues along the way. When all the spots…

  8. The Guildhall

    A walking tour with something for everyone. You'll hear about a family that owed everything to a grasshopper, an architect who turned his hand to lamp-post design, a…

  9. St Andrew's Church, Girton

    Anthony Picton My beloved spake | Caleb Richards Magnificat | Bach Singet dem Herrn (3rd and 4th movements) | Roxanna Panufnik Salve Regina

  10. Kettle's Yard House and Gallery

    The evening will include pop-up talks and poetry readings providing insight into the exhibition, as well as special tours of the Kettle’s Yard house focused on the flower…

  11. The Guildhall

    A walking tour with something for everyone. You'll hear about a family that owed everything to a grasshopper, an architect who turned his hand to lamp-post design, a…

  12. Storey’s Field Centre

    One of the UK’s best loved folk-rock bands return from an extended hiatus for an exclusive one-off show. The band’s line-up remains an all-star cast of the UK…

  13. Murray Edwards College

    The symposium will accompany the Relative Ties exhibition that will explore the work of three generations of women artists from the illustrious Nicholson family, from the early twentieth…

  14. The Guildhall

    The mission, if you choose to accept, is to find 9 quirky spots in the city centre and pick up clues along the way. When all the spots…

  15. The Guildhall

    A walking tour with something for everyone. You'll hear about a family that owed everything to a grasshopper, an architect who turned his hand to lamp-post design, a…

  16. Saffron Hall

    Rachmaninov’s The Bells transforms Poe’s evocative verses into sweeping orchestral drama, while Kodály’s vibrant Te Deum blends sacred tradition with his distinctive, folk-inspired musical voice.

  17. The Guildhall

    The mission, if you choose to accept, is to find 9 quirky spots in the city centre and pick up clues along the way. When all the spots…

  18. The Guildhall

    A walking tour with something for everyone. You'll hear about a family that owed everything to a grasshopper, an architect who turned his hand to lamp-post design, a…

  19. Tim Watts Rosa Divina (with cello) | Gibbons Fair is the rose | Britten The evening primrose | Elgar There is sweet music

  20. Ridley Hall

    Drawing on Scripture, tradition, and the lived experience of the Church, our speakers and panellists will explore how Christians can live well, respond faithfully, and pray honestly in…

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.