Meltdown festival goes nationwide in grassroots venues

Meltdown festival, whose London edition this year is being curated by FK Twigs, is debuting in grassroots venues nationwide in a new collaboration between the Southbank Centre and Music Venue Trust.

Kelly Lee Owens, Stewart Lee, Kathryn Joseph, Jamie Cullum, Pauline Black, and Rhoda Dakar have been chosen to curate their own two-day festivals in the towns and regions which shaped them.

‘Hometown Meltdown’ will be hosted in FORGE Sheffield, Beat Generator in Dundee, Peggy’s Skylight in Nottingham, Chinnerys in Southend, The Cornish Bank in Falmouth, and Neuadd Ogwen in Bethesda.

Running between December 2026 to March 2027, each will bring their own iconic twist on the programmes, featuring local, emerging, and established artists.

Taking the iconic festival beyond London for the first time, audiences are given an opportunity to experience a party which is expertly curated to feel both just like home, and entirely new.

@southbankcentre @musicvenuetrust