The Lord Mayor's Show Returns to the Thames on 14th November as Bronek Masojada Becomes the City's 698th Lord Mayor

On Saturday 14th November, the Lord Mayor's Show fills the streets of the City of London with around 6,500 participants, 250 horses and more than 50 decorated floats. It is free to watch, it is one of the oldest civic processions in the world, and this year it begins on the river where it started.

A charter from 1215 still shapes the morning

The City of London, the Square Mile at the heart of the capital, has its own Lord Mayor, separate from the Mayor of London who runs the wider city. In 1215, the year of Magna Carta, King John granted the City a charter allowing it to elect its own mayor every year. The condition was that each new mayor travel to Westminster to swear loyalty to the Crown, and that journey grew into the Show.

The Lord Mayor is elected each autumn and takes office the day before the Show at the Silent Ceremony in Guildhall, where the outgoing and incoming Lord Mayors exchange the symbols of office with almost no words spoken. This year that ceremony falls on Friday 13th November.

This year the Lord Mayor travels by water first

For centuries the Lord Mayor made part of the journey to Westminster by boat. In recent years a few boats have revived the river pageant on a small scale, and in 2017 the incoming Lord Mayor, Charles Bowman, joined them. This year Alderman Bronek Masojada, the City's 698th Lord Mayor and a former chief executive of the insurer Hiscox, brings it back as part of the day.

On the morning of Saturday 14th November he leaves Westminster aboard the Royal Shallop Jubilant with the Sheriffs of the City of London and a flotilla of livery company boats. The fleet passes under Tower Bridge and comes ashore at HMS President, the old naval ship moored on the Thames, before he heads to Mansion House to join the procession through the streets.

The golden coach rolls through the Square Mile

The procession runs for almost three miles through the City, taking the new Lord Mayor from Mansion House to the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, where he swears loyalty to the Crown before the judges, and back again. On the way out, the procession stops at St Paul's Cathedral, where the Lord Mayor receives a blessing.

The Lord Mayor rides in the State Coach, a gilded carriage built in 1757 and still in use for this one day each year. Around it march military bands, the pikemen of the Honourable Artillery Company, livery companies, charities, schools and community groups, along with floats that range from City businesses to Chinese dragons and Indian drummers. The procession starts at around 10.30am and usually clears the streets by early afternoon.

A hundred years on the BBC

This year's Show also marks 100 years since the BBC first broadcast it live on radio in 1926. In 1937 it became one of the first events ever shown on live television, and the BBC still carries it today, so if the weather turns you can watch from home.

Where to stand and when to arrive

The streets around St Paul's Cathedral, Cheapside, Mansion House and Fleet Street give the best views, and they fill fast. Arrive before 10am for a place at the front, wrap up warm and bring a flask. The nearest stations are Bank, St Paul's and Mansion House, and the official Lord Mayor's Show website publishes the full route map. If you want to see the river pageant, the banks around Tower Bridge give you a clear view of the flotilla passing underneath.

The Show falls on the opening weekend of the EFG London Jazz Festival, so you can spend the morning in the City and the evening at a concert.

The Lord Mayor's Show at a glance

• When: Saturday 14th November 2026, from around 10.30am
• River pageant: Westminster to HMS President, passing under Tower Bridge
• Procession: Mansion House to the Royal Courts of Justice and back, almost three miles
• Cost: free
• On television: BBC