{"id":790630,"date":"2026-02-26T16:38:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/790630\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T16:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:38:29","slug":"london-festivals-2026-whats-coming-up-and-what-to-book-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/790630\/","title":{"rendered":"London Festivals 2026: what\u2019s coming up and what to book now"},"content":{"rendered":"

When summer rolls around, London<\/a> becomes a festival city. Truly, is there anything better than sipping on a lukewarm can of beer in a park as some of your favourite artists play their biggest hits to a roaring crowd?<\/p>\n

Just as well festival season is on the horizon, then. With multiple events across the city \u2013 including the much-fought-over Brockwell Park<\/a> \u2013 getting the green light in the last few weeks, it\u2019s time to start planning for which ones to book.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s our pick of the top options.<\/p>\n

Gala Festival\"<\/p>\n

(Jordan Page)<\/p>\n

Kicking off the season is Gala. Back once more in Peckham Rye Park, this is a three-day celebration of all things electronic music, with DJs spinning the decks across three main stages. The vibe is relaxed, and this year\u2019s artists include Seth Troxler, Todd Terje, Logic1000 and Palms Trax.<\/p>\n

Peckham Rye Park, May 22-24; thisisgala.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Field Day\"<\/p>\n

(Luke Dyson)<\/p>\n

The electronic arm of All Points East<\/a> celebrates underground sounds, as well as cutting-edge beats from London\u2019s best DJs. Now located in south London\u2019s Brockwell Park (as are many of this year\u2019s festivals), Field Day<\/a> always comes prepared with a great line up, and this year\u2019s features Floating Points, KI\/KI, Joy Orbison and Anish Kumar among others.<\/p>\n

Brockwell Park, May 23; fielddayfestivals.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Cross The Tracks\"<\/p>\n

(Luke Dyson)<\/p>\n

For those tired of pop or techno, Cross The Tracks is the perfect palate cleanser. This is the ultimate destination for everything jazz, funk, soul and hip-hop, with artists like Little Simz, Joy Crookes, Obongjayar and Fabio & Grooverider making appearances over the course of the day.<\/p>\n

Brockwell Park, May 24; xthetracks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

City Splash\"[object<\/p>\n

[object Object] (Press Handout)<\/p>\n

London\u2019s biggest independent festival also happens to be the world\u2019s biggest one-day celebration of reggae, Afrobeats and dancehall music \u2013 as well as of Caribbean and African culture. It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s colourful, and it\u2019s also raising money for the Caribbean Hurricane Fund \u2013 as well as nurturing new artists from the Caribbean \u2013 so come along to watch Beres Hammond, Aidonia, Gyptian and Jada Kingdom in the knowledge that a proceed of ticket sales will go to a worthy cause.<\/p>\n

Brockwell Park, May 25; city-splash.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Mighty Hoopla\"<\/p>\n

(Mighty Hoopla)<\/p>\n

Come to Mighty Hoopla for an event celebrating all things queer joy. It bills itself as the \u201cworld\u2019s best pop festival,\u201d and there\u2019s no arguing with a festival that\u2019s hosted artists like Kesha and Nelly Furtado in previous years. This year, the headliners are a knockout combination of Lily Allen and Scissor Sisters; get tickets for both days if you can and prepare to be doused in glitter.<\/p>\n

Brockwell Park, May 30 and 31; mightyhoopla.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Lido Festival\"<\/p>\n

(@bufola)<\/p>\n

The challenger to All Points East. Lido made its splashy debut last year with a headliner performance from none other than Charli xcx; now it\u2019s back. This time, Maribou State will be taking the top slot, with performances from Kelis and Folamour, as well as a host of emerging London names. Here\u2019s hoping the crowds will be a little thinner this time around (read last year\u2019s review here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Lido Fields, June 13; lidofestival.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

BST Hyde Park\"Sabrina<\/p>\n

Sabrina Carpenter brought her signature sleek white stage and runway, that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in a New York nightclub, to London on Saturday night \u2013 for the first of two sell-out shows at BST Hyde Park. The Espresso star donned a glittery red leotard, with her name emblazoned across the chest, and calf-high white boots as she launched into Busy Woman. An illuminated \u2018SC\u2019 dazzled at the top centre of the stage. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

One of the biggest festivals in London\u2019s summer calendar, BST Hyde Park<\/a> regularly pulls in some of the most famous artists in the world to perform in the picturesque surrounds of Hyde Park. Expect multiple stages, throngs of people and big gigs taking place from the end of June into July. And who\u2019d want to miss the chance to see a sea of waving bald caps when Pitbull takes to the stage in July?<\/p>\n

Hyde Park, June-July; bst-hydepark.com<\/a><\/p>\n

All Points East\"<\/p>\n

(Bethan Miller Co)<\/p>\n

The grande dame of London festivals<\/a>. Located once more in Victoria Park, All Points East delivers some of the world\u2019s biggest acts to its east London audience over the course of two weeks in August. You can\u2019t argue with a line up that includes Lorde, Tyler: The Creator, and Deftones. Basically, there\u2019s something for everyone, and the numerous smaller stages around the festival are always hopping.<\/p>\n

Victoria Park, August 22-23, and 28-30; allpointseastfestival.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Body Movements\"<\/p>\n

(Sienna Lorraine Gray)<\/p>\n

Founded by DJ Saoirse and Clayton of club collective Little Gay Brother, Body Movements was envisioned as a space for London\u2019s queer dance community to come together. A few years (and a change of venue) later, it\u2019s now flourishing, with big-name queer acts on the billing as well as underground faves. The festival is also more accessible than most: there\u2019s a pay-in-deposits scheme, as well as the option for wealthier festivalgoers to \u2018sponsor\u2019 a ticket for somebody else (read last year\u2019s review here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Southwark Park, August 30; bodymovements.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When summer rolls around, London becomes a festival city. Truly, is there anything better than sipping on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[62437,748,23074,393,229956,229958,4884,257,229955,229957,229959,16,15],"class_list":["post-790630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-all-points-east","tag-britain","tag-brockwell-park","tag-england","tag-festival-city","tag-festival-season","tag-great-britain","tag-london","tag-peckham-rye-park","tag-points-east","tag-seth-troxler","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116137919279633069","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}