- Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, the Southbank Centre’s 2026 anniversary programme is packed year-round with events that explore the future, celebrate youth culture, embrace arts’ relationship with technology and open up the site as a joyful, welcoming space for everyone.
- The anniversary of the opening of the Festival of Britain in May is marked by You Are Here, a spectacular takeover of the Southbank Centre, created, directed and designed by Danny Boyle. Paulette Randall, Gareth Pugh and Carson McColl.
- Other highlights include: Anish Kapoor returning to the Hayward Gallery after 28 years with a landmark exhibition, pianist Yuja Wang’s groundbreaking immersive mixed reality experience Playing with Fire: An Immersive Odyssey with Yuja Wang and Goalhanger Southbank Centre Takeover – a major festival bringing together Goalhanger’s chart-topping podcasts for the first time.
- Also announced as part of the celebrations – a national programme of art, literature and music – aiming to reach 1 million people in over 40 towns and cities across all four nations of the UK.
Today, the Southbank Centre unveils its 2026 season, celebrating 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 the Southbank Centre.
The Festival of Britain galvanised the nation, using art, science, technology and design to imagine a brighter future after the trauma of World War Two. Taking place from May to September 1951, the Festival kickstarted the regeneration of the South Bank, revitalising the area into a thriving cultural hub. Seventy-five years on, the Southbank Centre is now the UK’s fifth most visited attraction, welcoming over 3.7 million people through its doors in 2024.
Elaine Bedell OBE, CEO of the Southbank Centre, said: “Our 75th anniversary season keeps the spirit of the Festival of Britain alive: hopeful, outward-looking and driven by the belief that culture belongs to everyone. From showstopping classical music, to world-class contemporary art, and unexpected immersive performances – it’s all happening at the Southbank Centre next year. Even better – we’re taking a full programme of music, poetry, spoken word and visual art around the UK – so hundreds of thousands of people across the country can experience great culture on their doorstep.”
To celebrate the anniversary, the Southbank Centre has taken inspiration from the Festival of Britain, an event that embraced the future, looking to it with optimism and hope. The Southbank Centre’s anniversary programme considers what it is to be the arts centre of the future, exploring how it can make a difference to the lives of artists, audiences and communities.
Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, said: “From celebrating 75 years of the youth cultures that have shaped and shaken Britain in an ambitious site-wide takeover, directed by the legendary Danny Boyle, to transforming the site into a cultural playground with the music of hundreds of steel pan players, and to showcasing the creative technologies that will transform entertainment in the future, the year ahead is a potent statement of how the arts can help us imagine a different, better world.”