Coming up at Southbank Centre in 2027

This week the Southbank Centre officially unveiled a huge lineup of exciting acts coming to the Southbank Centre during 2027. 

From classical music to contemporary pop, fine art, theatre and dance, the 2027 programme promises to celebrate the incredible power of live experiences. The programme also seeks to champion the important role played by civic spaces such as Southbank Centre in contributing to bringing communities together to create a healthier and happier society in a world of increasing polarisation.

The 2027 programme launch is absolutely packed with exciting names from all corners of the arts world, and features the welcome return of some of the Southbank Centre's most exceptional new festivals. Here's a look at some of the biggest highlights...

2027 music highlights

FKA twigs curates Meltdown, the Southbank Centre’s annual contemporary music festival. One of the most singular and boundary-pushing artists of her generation, FKA twigs has forged an experimental style spanning music, dance, performance, and visual art. In addition to curating a festival programme featuring acts from across musical genres and a wider creative landscape, she will also be performing a headline concert at the Royal Festival Hall. 
Meltdown Festival takes place 10 - 20 June 2027

The legendary composer Philip Glass, one of the founding fathers of American minimalism, turns 90 and Southbank Centre will celebrate with a rare performance of the epic Music in 12 Parts, as well as the UK premiere of Glass’s Symphony No. 15. Performances on 30 and 31 January 2027.

Acclaimed pianist Lang Lang returns to the Royal Festival Hall for a solo performance on 2 December 2027, marking his first classical concert at the venue since 2015. The evening’s programme will masterfully explore music from the canonical piano repertoire, including works by Mozart and Beethoven.

The inimitable Patti Smith, will take to the Royal Festival Hall stage on 4 February 2027 for a one-off show led by decade-long collaborator Soundwalk Collective – a performance blurring the boundaries between gig, poetry and cinematic experience.

Multitudes, the Southbank Centre’s multi art form festival powered by orchestral music returns for its third edition from 22 April - 2 May. Festival highlights include a visionary new take on Beethoven’s 9th Symphony by Philharmonia Orchestra, Resident Artists Manchester Collective performing Night Works, which includes Steve Reich’s Double Sextet alongside Hannah Peel’s Neon, and a new concert-theatre production exploring the extraordinary life and legacy of Nadia Boulanger featuring music by Lili Boulanger, Monteverdi, Bach and Philip Glass

Art exhibition highlights

In Spring 2027, the Hayward Gallery presents the largest UK solo exhibition to date by the internationally celebrated Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei: Your Future is Not a Dream (20 Apr - 25 Jul). Distinctively experiential, her exhibitions transform spaces into immersive, often-surreal environments - from recreated industrial warehouses to video arcades and vintage cinema foyers - that invite us to walk the line between the real and the virtual.

In the autumn, the Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili is celebrated in a major solo exhibition at the Hayward Gallery (7 Sep 2027 – 9 Jan 2028). Spanning three decades of his practice, Chris Ofili’s largest solo exhibition in London since 2010 brings together seminal works from the 1990s alongside his latest creations.

Also in autumn 2027 Southbank Centre presents Small Revolutions, a new free-roaming virtual reality experience that explores the history of skate culture in the UK

Dance and performance highlights

The 2027 programme presents a phenomenal lineup of works by modern and contemporary dance companies, choreographers and dance-theatre collectives.The newly announced programme boasts a host of exciting names, including:

Titan of European Theatre, Romeo Castellucci, presenting the K premiere of Bros (24 - 27 Nov).

Geoff Sobelle’s Clown Show (1-4 Jul)  shows a troupe of clowns and their ‘beautiful big top’ in the wreckage of America.

Dead Centre’s Illness as Metaphor (17-18 Mar) explores Susan Sontag’s book that examines the problems with the way we think about illness, presented as part of this year's Unlimited festival celebrating disabled artists.

Holly Blakey presents the world premiere of her new work Cry, Heart (23-26 Mar). Commissioned by the Southbank Centre, with set design by Turner prize winner Tai Shani, Cry, Heart is a meditation on grief.

(LA)HORDE’s Crossover (14-17 Jul), comes to the Queen Elizabeth Hall for its UK premiere, reimagining the stage as a space for dialogue and coexistence.

Stephanie Lake returns to the Southbank Centre (14-15 Apr) following her critically-acclaimed production of COLOSSUS with the UK premiere of Manifesto. 

Jakop Ahlbom’s A Fine Mess (7-11 Apr), inspired by the films of Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and iconic 1980s action classics like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, receives its UK premiere on the Queen Elizabeth Hall stage.

Faye Driscoll’s flesh chariot, chariot of flesh (29-30 Sep), presented in collaboration with Dance Umbrella, is her first collaboration with Swedish contemporary dance company Cullberg.

And contemporary Australian circus performers Circa return with Peepshow (Club Remix) from 27 July-7 August for one hour of big beats, playful acts and thrilling acrobatics.