National Theatre’s 2025-2026 season unveiled
Paul Mescal, Punchdrunk and Stormzy feature in the new National Theatre creative director Indhu Rubasingham's inaugural season.
2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the Royal Festival Hall, the only permanent cultural building to come from the 1951 Festival of Britain, and the first chapter in the story of Britain’s biggest arts centre, Southbank Centre.
Taking place from May to September 1951, the Festival of Britain was a landmark event that kick-started the revitalisation of the South Bank into the thriving cultural centre of London that we know and love today – an exciting anniversary that definitely deserves celebrating in style!
For its 75th annual programme, the Southbank Centre has gone all out to commission brand new work and to bring some of the world’s most famous names in contemporary art and culture to the South Bank. For 2026 the Southbank Centre programming will be also going on the road to venues across the UK bringing a rich selection of art, poetry and music to communities large and small across the nation including Sheffield, Swansea, Bristol, Bangor, Great Yarmouth and even North Uist in the Outer Hebrides.
Speaking about the announcement of the landmark 2026 programme, Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, said: “1951 was the moment after the war that the UK transformed from black, white and grey into full glorious technicolour, and the vibrant, optimistic, forward-looking energy it created still radiates from the Southbank Centre.
Now, more than ever, that energy feels vital to harness and we’re doing that with a year-round programme that brings people together in a joyful communion with the art, ideas and technologies that will shape our future...the year ahead is a potent statement of how the arts can help us imagine a different, better world... It doesn’t get any better than this - there’s truly something for everyone to enjoy - so join us!”
75th anniversary highlights
Hold onto your hats, the 2026 programme at Southbank Centre is huge, packed with exciting events across an array of creative mediums that you will not want to miss! Remember, Southbank Centre Members get priority booking access, so if you want to get your hands on next year's hottest tickets, sign up and get yourself first in the queue for when members' booking opens.
Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest events to look out for:
You Are Here directed by Danny Boyle
WHEN: 3 & 4 May
The centrepiece of the 75th anniversary programme is You Are Here – a spectacular weekend celebrating British youth culture and the impact of its music, fashion and rebellious politics over the past 75 years.
Created, directed and designed by Danny Boyle, theatre director Paulette Randall and fashion powerhouse couple Gareth Pugh and Carson McColl, You Are Here is a mammoth production that will involve thousands of participants, taking over the entire Southbank Centre site for the weekend. Every individual experience of You Are Here will be different and audiences will be invited to explore hidden and public spaces, from the monochromatic 1950s to the full technicolour of the present day.
Danny Boyle, Director of You Are Here, explains: “The Southbank Centre is for everyone, like the NHS - a dose of culture, like a vitamin injection, it lifts you. Our ambition is for as many people as possible to experience the variety and vitality of this wonderful site, especially those on their first visit.”
"In You Are Here, we want to send people on an adventure, through an arts centre that is usually experienced in individual venues, but transform it in people’s minds so they can see the Southbank Centre in a completely original way."
Danny Boyle, Pierre-Alain Giraud, Gareth Pugh and Carson McColl join the Southbank Centre's Artistic Director Mark Ball to launch the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary (c) Pete Woodhead
Anish Kapoor at the Hayward Gallery
WHEN: 16 June – 18 October
The Hayward Gallery was the first public gallery in the UK to host a major exhibition of Anish Kapoor’s work back in 1998, and for summer 2026, Kapoor returns with a new landmark immersive exhibition.
Speaking about this new exhibition, Anish Kapoor said: "The Southbank Centre has over the last 75 years been central to London's cultural life and I am honoured to make an exhibition to celebrate this anniversary".
Skate Space 50
WHEN: 7 May – 21 June
A new exhibition called Skate Space 50 explores 50 years of history of the Southbank Centre’s famous undercroft Skate Space, which has iconic status in the UK’s skate community. Skate Space 50 focuses on five generations of the skating community through photography, moving image and sound.
Anish Kapoor, Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto, 2022. ©Anish Kapoor. All rights reserved, DACS, 2025. Photo: Attilio Maranzano
Steel Scenes: A Steel Pan Weekender
WHEN: 25 & 26 July
In 1951 audiences in Britain heard steel pans played live for the first time when the Trinidad All-Steel Percussion Orchestra performed at the Festival of Britain outside the Royal Festival Hall.
To mark this unique anniversary, Steel Scenes: the Steel Pan Weekender includes numerous new commissions for steel pan orchestras across the country, together with talks, films and mass performances that take over the Southbank Centre site, including the Southbank Centre’s Resident Organisation Kinetika Bloco.
TASPO Steel Pan Weekender (c) Courtesy Getty Images
Goalhanger Live Southbank Centre Takeover
WHEN: 4–6 September
Exploring the future, and what it holds, is a key theme for a new festival co-produced with podcast powerhouse Goalhanger, the UK’s largest independent podcast producer.
The Goalhanger Southbank Centre Takeover brings together live editions of their chart-topping podcasts, including The Rest Is…History, The Rest Is…Politics and The Rest Is…Entertainment, uniting on stage for the first time. According to Gary Lineker, Co-founder of Goalhanger: “bringing our many shows together for a festival of ideas promises to be a standout moment and a real milestone for us.”
Goalhanger Southbank Centre Takeover: The Rest is Entertainment
Yuja Wang: Playing with Fire
WHEN: 11 September – 13 December
The UK premiere of Playing with Fire: An Immersive Odyssey with Yuja Wang is a groundbreaking 50-minute immersive experience that transforms the traditional piano recital into a mixed-reality odyssey starring world-renowned pianist Yuja Wang.
Wearing mixed-reality headsets, visitors will be taken on a deeply personal journey through music, memory, and imagination, blending immersive visuals, spatial sound, storytelling, and virtual performance.
View of the Playing with Fire installation 3D sketch Graphics with AI Clément Deneux
Also on the lineup…
Even more highlights for 2026 include:
- a return to the Southbank Centre for the iconic contemporary composer Max Richter in honour of his 60th birthday,
- a summer celebration of the late poet Benjamin Zephaniah organised by the National Poetry Library,
- the captivating Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo performs with Southbank Centre resident orchestra Chineke!,
- as part of the 2026 Imagine Children’s Festival, Southbank Centre hosts its biggest ever sleepover with children’s author Jacqueline Wilson,
- New public artworks will be unveiled in 2026 including a parade of performers on the Riverside Terrace created by Sir Quentin Blake and a new musical outdoor staircase that visitors will be able to play!
Find out more about Southbank Centre’s 75th programme and explore the history of the Southbank Centre HERE.
