For this month’s Margaret newsletter, we wanted to give you a glimpse into our 2025 cultural diaries… We know it’s cold out, so let’s spend some time daydreaming about all of the things we can enjoy together. From things to read, exhibitions to see, films to watch, festivals to attend and places to stay – we’ve got you covered.

And don’t worry international friends, we’re not just focusing on London, –  we have some things for you too.

It seems everyone is aiming to read more this year, and we’re no different. We’re lovers, not fighters at Margaret and nothing speaks to us more than a book that challenges our understanding of love – so naturally, we’re eagerly anticipating Love in Exile, the second book by one of our favourite authors, Shon Faye, which is set to release on February 6th. You can pre-order a copy from Penguin here.

Another must-read on our list is We Were There, the debut book from The Guardian’s Art Correspondent, Lanre Bakare. This compelling work delves into the history of Black Britain, focusing on the stories and histories of Black communities beyond London. It sheds light on the ‘once-rich cities, now home to failing industries’ of Northern England and the British countryside, uncovering a crucial, near-forgotten part of Britain’s history. You can pre-order it here ahead of its release in April 2025.

If there’s one thing we love, it’s films about women who didn’t listen to anyone – especially when they’re Irish. Sinéad O’Shea’s Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story, depicts the literary sensation’s final testimonies at 93, revealing her extraordinary experiences across Ireland, London and New York, bringing the writer’s diaries to life.

Going back to the modernist period, Eileen Gray and The House By The Sea by directors Beatrice Minger and Christoph Schaub tells the story of the visionary architect and furniture designer. Filmed at the artist’s first home, the iconic E.1027, the film masterfully weaves historical authenticity with striking visual storytelling.

Both films are being released by our lovely client Modern Films, and we’ll be leading the UK publicity campaigns for both.

There’s plenty of International Biennales and Exhibitions to see us through the seasons this 2025. The 5th edition of the London Design Biennale returns this year, and we’re excited to collaborate once again with the Malta Arts Council, a long-term client of Margaret.

This February 2025, The National Portrait Gallery brings us The Face Magazine: Culture Shift, an exhibition that spans over 80 photographers and their works from the OG magazine’s issues from the 1980s to its close in 2004. We’re big fans of The Face here and it’s likely we’ll head to this for one of our team cultural outings.

We’ve had our eye on the non-for-profit visual arts institution Auto Italia for a while, and with their newest exhibition Safety Curtain by artist Alex Margo Arden opening this Friday, 17th January, it feels like the perfect time to mention them. From paintings, sculptures, photography and installations, the exhibition recovers evidence of recent actions by climate activists in museums and art galleries and the importance of this work.

Coming to the end of the year, The British Textile Biennial, which takes place yearly in East Lancashire, will also open from 2 October to 2 November 2025 – and if you’re in the North of England, we highly recommend attending.

For our international friends; some exhibitions we’ve had our eyes on in New York and Paris include Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers at the Guggenheim Museum, opening from 18 April 2025 – January 2026. The show will be a major solo exhibition, including over 90 of Johnson’s works engaging with themes such as Black identity, history and mysticism. In Paris, the Louvre will be hosting its first exhibition that’s entirely dedicated to the world of fashion. The retrospective will explore the relationship between museums and their collections on fashion designers, and will include archive pieces from Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Marie-Louise Carven and Yohji Yamamoto. Open from 24 January – 21 July 2025.

At Margaret we’re avid festival go-ers (and workers, as all of our below picks are festivals we’re working on), and this year we’re looking forward to many that are taking place in the UK and internationally.

Firstly we’ll be heading off to the beloved Glastonbury again with Team Love this year. No rest for the wicked.

For all of the electronic music heads who follow us (we love you), we have two festivals to tell you about. Celebrating its tenth year and 20 years since the first Garden festival, Love International Festival will take place from the 9th – 15th July in sunny Tisno, Croatia. This Croatian music experience features beach-side dancing and stages surrounded by the ocean – with boat parties, late night discos leading into sunrise sessions, the Olive Grove, the Garden Stage and the iconic open-air club, Barbarella’s. Houghton Festival is another one we’re looking forward to attending this year in Norfolk from 7 – 10 August 2025. Set amongst a range of sculptures, wildlife, a lake and many deer, this festival is a hedonist’s dream come true.

Continuing our work on FORWARDS Festival, we’re so excited to be back in Bristol again for 2025, considering how great the festival was last year – we know 2025 will be a special one, and we’ll be announcing more on why soon…

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