EVENTS · FAMILY
London Sheep Drive 2026: Southwark Bridge & free fair
On Sunday 27 September, the Woolmen’s Sheep Drive crosses Southwark Bridge. The free Livery Fair runs 10:00–16:00 on Queen Street and Queen Street Place. Watching and driving are different plans: the drive is restricted to eligible people with prebooked places.
The essentials, in one place
Choose your date, check your ticket and plan the journey.
- Date
- 27 Sept 2026
- Venue
- Queen Street Place, Southwark Bridge City of London
- What time does it start?
- 10:00 London local time. A door opening time is not a stage time.
- Tickets
- Free fair; sheep drive by eligible reservation Availability and prices can change.
Access, line-up and the journey home
- Access
- Confirm viewing and TfL step-free access
- Finish and running time
- A finish time has not been confirmed here. Check the venue programme before arranging your journey home.
- Return journey
- Use your actual departure date and time in the journey planner, especially if you expect to leave after midnight.
- Date
- Sunday 27 September 2026
- Public fair
- 10:00–16:00 · free admission
- Location
- Queen Street and Queen Street Place, north of Southwark Bridge
- Sheep crossing
- Southwark Bridge · participant drives by reservation only
- Nearest useful Tube
- Mansion House · Circle and District lines
- Check again
- Viewing arrangements and live TfL service before leaving
First, choose the right experience
The Livery Fair is a free, public street event. You can browse the wool and livery displays without booking a sheep-driving place.
Walking sheep across the bridge is a separate, restricted participant activity: the organiser requires eligible Freemen or their invited guests to register for a specific slot. Booking currently offers waitlists, not walk-up crossing places.
Which bridge?
The 2026 crossing is on Southwark Bridge. Older accounts use London Bridge; follow that name on a map in 2026 and you reach the wrong crossing.
Head for the north end of Southwark Bridge and Queen Street Place. This illustrated cover is a planning graphic, not a geographical map.
What you will see
The organiser advertises sheep, wool and cloth crafts, shearing and rare breeds. Traders and demonstrations may change; do not count on a specific stall or showtime.
04A simple 60–90 minute visitREAD ↓
Arrive near Mansion House, walk toward Queen Street and start at the fair. Browse first, then ask the event marshals where public viewing is permitted before approaching the bridge.
Allow extra time if you want to watch a crossing: participant slots run across the day and the organiser does not promise a public timetable for a particular sheep group. Finish with a Thames-side walk if weather and crowd arrangements permit.
The 60–90 minutes is a suggested visitor budget, not an official event duration.
05Families and accessREAD ↓
The fair is public and the organiser describes it as free. The booking rule that children under nine cannot drive sheep concerns participation in the crossing, not admission to the street fair.
Dogs are not allowed in drives. This is an outdoor street and bridge visit with possible crowd controls; contact the organiser about a specific viewing or access need, and check TfL’s live step-free information for the route you actually choose.
06Getting there without a wrong turnREAD ↓
Mansion House is served by the Circle and District lines; TfL lists its station on Cannon Street. From there, use a current map to approach Queen Street Place, north of Southwark Bridge.
This suggested approach is not a guaranteed step-free route. Use TfL Journey Planner for your origin and check temporary road, bus and station changes on the day.
07Why sheep cross a City bridgeREAD ↓
The Woolmen connect the crossing to the historical rights of Freemen and the City’s wool trade. Their charity event began in 2013 and now supports the Woolmen’s charitable work and the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.
The heritage is the reason for the sheep, while the fair is the accessible public part of the day.
08Tickets, timing and the final checkREAD ↓
The official Livery Fair page gives Sunday 27 September, 10:00–16:00 and free admission. Sheep-driving requires a separately confirmed reservation and eligibility; the public should use the organiser’s viewing instructions.
Check the direct links immediately before travelling because marshals, weather and demand can change the experience. LONNOW checked these official pages on 24 September 2026; this dated guide leaves active discovery when the fair ends.
Continue exploring
More than 90 lines of poetry created with school pupils appear across the Southbank Centre from Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September. The installation is free and needs no ticket.
Open guide ↗
Four works by Taiwanese artist Musquiqui Chihying use video, installation and humour to examine urban stress, AI, gaming, labour and automation.
Open guide ↗Quentin Blake’s characters animate the Southbank Centre in a free, site-wide installation. The organiser’s detailed times section lists the run from 17 February to 8 November 2026.
Open guide ↗