28th May 2026.
The London: City of Languages team is thrilled to announce the results of our Summer Festival of Languages Poster Competition!
Following the success of our Logo Competition which drew nearly 400 entries from schools across London, we invited pupils from primary, secondary, sixth form, supplementary and complementary schools to design a poster for the London Festival of Languages 2026. This seemed a natural next step for us: where the logo competition gave London: City of Languages its identity, the poster competition gave that identity a voice creating a set of vibrant visuals to draw people across the capital into the summer’s celebrations. Plus, there can be many more winners!
The winning posters were always intended for being seen out ‘in the wild’.
Displayed in schools, libraries, workplaces, and community spaces across the city, they can serve as the public face of the London Festival of Languages, drawing in audiences and signalling that multilingualism is something inherent to London, that the capital celebrates, not just accommodates. We hoped the competition would also give pupils a genuine sense of contribution and that their creativity could shape how the city speaks about its own languages.
Pupils were asked to design a poster celebrating the rich diversity of languages used, studied, and loved across London. The brief was deliberately open: we wanted to see what pupils would do with creative freedom.
Choosing just 12 was no easy task!
Over 80 entries were received, and the judging panel found it genuinely difficult to get down to just 12 finalists.
The range of approaches in style, concept, and the aspects of London’s linguistic life each pupil chose to highlight made every stage of the process a pleasure and a challenge in equal measure.
Philip Harding-Esch, Vice Chair of the LCoL Steering Group, says judging the poster entries has been a real joy: “Looking through these winning posters we were so impressed by the variety of designs and the ideas pupils have come up with. They really have drawn on so many iconic visuals from London along with some very imaginative designs, while embedding a sense of energy, jubilation and colour – perfect for conveying the sense of life that the multilingualism around us in London represents.”
Support London City of Languages and put up winning posters where you are! …in your classroom, school, workplace, website or community setting!
View our 12 finalists and download their posters here: