There is a particular point in September when London starts to feel different. Evenings draw in, roof terraces across the capital need heaters and menus shift towards more comforting fare — richer distilled spirits served with slow-cooked and preserved dishes. The city’s cultural calendar suddenly fills up again, with fashion, design, art and food all competing for attention.

It is the time of year for trying something new. And, this autumn, the all-new Olympia has plenty to discover.

Following its transformation into a destination for culture, entertainment, food and hospitality, the 140-year-old west London landmark is putting craftsmanship at the centre of its latest seasonal programme: The Makers Edition.

Bringing together food and drink, design, architecture and entertainment, The Makers Edition explores craftsmanship in its broadest sense — the expertise, dedication and thoughtful decision-making behind the things we eat, drink, see and experience.

Spanning seasonal menus, creative partnerships, exhibitions and live programming, The Makers Edition shines a light on how experiences throughout Olympia are conceived, created and brought to life, while heroing the makers and creatives behind them. In practice, that means everything from special dining events and cocktail-making masterclasses to exhibitions showcasing emerging talent and design-led products, creative collaborations and live music.

This focus on creativity and thoughtful decision making also shapes The Makers Edition’s seasonal experiences, with food and drink offerings carefully curated to reflect the time of year.

Across Olympia’s restaurants and bars, seasonal menus embrace the darker, richer flavours of the months ahead. Techniques such as fermentation, preserving and smoking bring depth to well-chosen ingredients, while autumnal cocktails help make the longer nights a little more inviting. This considered approach forms part of Olympia’s partnership with London Restaurant Festival, joining a city-wide celebration of food, drink and culinary creativity.

As part of the collaboration, Olympia will host exclusive events and set menus at the super-sleek Wolves of Tokyo and energetic Bar Arriba on 8 October, followed by an event inside the sumptuous Idalia at Pillar Hall on 21 October. On 22 October, visitors can harness their inner mixologist at a cocktail-making masterclass at Pepperbird, the intimate speakeasy downstairs.

The Makers Edition also marks the beginning of a 12-month partnership with The Design Museum, collaborating on its exciting calendar of exhibitions. The first is NIGO: From Japan with Love, for which Olympia has created bespoke content for the Canvas showcasing his work. A Japanese fashion designer, music producer and artist, Nigo brings together expertise across these different creative fields, reflecting the breadth of craft and creative practice that The Makers Edition celebrates.

It’s a timely reminder that the Olympia story has never simply been about what happens inside the halls. Its “inside out” approach champions the creative energy of exhibitions and events to feed into the wider estate, connecting what happens inside with the beautifully landscaped public spaces beyond.

That makes all-new Olympia an interesting place to be during London's busiest cultural months. Following on from London Fashion Week and London Design Festival in September, October sees the launch of art fair Frieze and the London Restaurant Festival, creating a city-wide backdrop of fashion, design, culture and food. Olympia's Makers Edition taps into that same appetite for discovering the people, ideas and ingenuity behind the things we see.

Then there is Olympia itself. The original exhibition halls remain central to the site’s enduring character, now sitting alongside restored buildings, swooping contemporary architecture, connected public spaces and landscaped routes. As part of Open House Festival this September, Olympia offered guided tours of the development, including tours led by Heatherwick Studio and SPPARC, the architecture practices behind its transformation, as well as AEG-led tours of British Airways ARC.

Together, these gave visitors a closer look at the expertise and thinking behind a place where old and new come together. It’s another interpretation of The Makers Edition’s central idea: craftsmanship is not only something you can hold in your hands. It can be found in the engineering of a building, the restoration of a historic detail or the design of a new space around the people who will use it.

The same is true of entertainment, long synonymous with the site. Olympia has a glittering history of hosting major events and live music, but the new destination is designed to make culture part of the experience from the moment you arrive. The Square has become a public space for free live music events held regularly throughout the year, while British Airways ARC brings headline performances to the estate whilst remaining uniquely intimate.

Behind every performance is another kind of craftsmanship: musicians rehearsing; designers creating sets; technicians working with light and sound; and skilled producers coordinating hundreds of moving parts to put on unforgettable shows.

Culture doesn't just happen — someone makes it. That’s perhaps the most interesting thing about The Makers Edition. It connects the sheer brilliance behind a great dish, a perfectly balanced cocktail, a carefully considered design and a major live performance: a craft-centric community.

At the all-new Olympia, one experience can easily lead to another. Come for an exhibition and stay for dinner. Meet friends for drinks, then head to a gig. Explore the architecture, listen to live music in The Square or simply wander through its public spaces to see what’s new.

That is the bigger idea behind Olympia’s seasonal Editions, which sit beneath its overarching Do What’s New invitation: giving Londoners fresh reasons to explore the destination while bringing together the most interesting things happening across its different spaces. This autumn, that means finding out more about how the things we enjoy are made and celebrating the creativity and skill behind them. At the all-new Olympia, there is plenty of this to discover.

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