Bishopsgate's swing winter: a Christmas Ball in the Great Hall on 19 December
Swing Patrol and Bishopsgate Institute have posted their winter swing season in the City of London: beginner Fridays, live-band nights and a six-hour Christmas Ball. Here is what is on and how to go.
The City of London has a Victorian hall that turns into a ballroom most Fridays, and this winter it is pulling out the tinsel. Bishopsgate Institute and Swing Patrol, who run the building's swing nights together, have posted a full season of dances running into the new year, capped by a Christmas Ball on Saturday 19 December. The Gazette has been through the listings so you need not.
Saturday 19 December: the Christmas Ball
Swing Live! Christmas Ball takes over the Institute's Grade II* listed Great Hall from 7pm until 1am, with a live band and vintage DJs keeping the floor busy for six hours. The Institute bills it as a social dance "for dancers of all levels", and it means it: the night opens with a beginner taster class, so a first-timer can arrive at seven and be swinging out well before the band's last number. No band name had been posted when we looked.
Tickets are £25 in advance, or £22 for concessions with proof such as a student card, and £30 on the door. Online sales close two hours before the start and door tickets are limited, so booking ahead is the safer bet. The night is for over-18s, there is a licensed bar, and coats and bags go to the cloakroom. No dress code is set, though a little festive sparkle rarely goes amiss at a swing dance.
Warm up by day: the Heart Beat of Lindy Hop
Earlier the same day, Swing Patrol is running a pair of workshops at the Institute called Heart Beat of Lindy Hop, taught by Leigh Richards and Scott Cupit. A beginner and intermediate session runs from 11.30am to 1.30pm, then a higher-level class from 2pm to 4pm, with lunch in between. You can book one or both.
The standard price is £35 for one workshop or £60 for the pair, plus a booking fee. Early birds who book by 1 December pay £25 for one or £45 for both. Put the workshops and the ball together and you have a whole Saturday of Lindy Hop under one roof.
Before Christmas: Swing Den and Swing Live!
You need not wait until December. Swing Den, the Institute's Friday night aimed squarely at newcomers, returns this Friday, 6 November, from 7pm to 11pm. A listing for the night promises a taster lesson at the start and two teachers on hand all evening; you do not need a partner and can wear what you like. Tickets were listed at £12, or £9 for concessions, in advance, and £15 on the door. Note that the venue is cashless and asks you to bring your own water bottle.
Swing Den's season runs until early March, and the bigger Swing Live! nights, with live music, have a run listed from Friday 20 November into February. For dates further ahead, our what's on guide collects socials across the country.
Why it matters
Swing Patrol has been teaching across London since 2009, and its partnership with Bishopsgate gives the capital something rare: a handsome central hall where beginners and seasoned dancers share the same floor every week. A Christmas ball in that setting is about as close to a 1930s ballroom as the City gets.
How to join in
If the ball has caught your eye, a Swing Den Friday is the gentlest way to try your first steps beforehand. You can also browse Lindy Hop classes in London, read our guide to your first swing class, or find a class near you with the swing classes near me search.
Find it on Swing Out UK
Sources
- Bishopsgate Institute – Swing Live! Christmas Ball (opens in a new tab)
- Bishopsgate Institute – Heart Beat of Lindy Hop Workshop (opens in a new tab)
- Bishopsgate Institute – What's on, 19 December 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- allevents – Swing Den at Bishopsgate Institute: November 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Part of the Gazette's daily front page. See every edition or November 2026.