London cab drivers can visit Tate Britain’s Turner and Constable exhibition free with their taxi badge from November 2025 to April 2026.
Tate Britain will provide free admission to London taxi drivers for its Turner and Constable exhibition, which opens on 27 November 2025 and runs until 12 April 2026.
The exhibition marks the 250th anniversaries of the births of JMW Turner (1775-1851) and John Constable (1776-1837).
Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain, explained “London’s cab drivers have been supporting Tate since we opened in 1897 so there’s no one better placed to spread the word about this unmissable exhibition. We’re delighted to be offering them the chance to experience it.”
Licensed London taxi drivers and TfL Private Hire drivers can access the exhibition without charge by presenting their official badge or ID upon arrival.
Tate said London’s cab drivers regularly trace the routes that Turner and Constable walked, “from Turner’s birthplace in Covent Garden, to Hampstead, where Constable lived and painted”.
Tate Modern leveraged the influence of London taxi drivers to promote its opening in 2000. It invited 500 cabbies and their families for a preview, creating word-of-mouth and media coverage. The strategy was later replicated at Tate Liverpool, where cabbies received modern art appreciation courses to enhance their role as cultural ambassadors.
The Turner and Constable exhibition will display works including Constable’s The White Horse 1819 and Turner’s The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons 1835, which have not been shown in Britain for decades. The show examines how the two artists were celebrated, criticised and compared during their careers.
