A new celebration of black music to launch in London next month

The Music Is Black festival will be a free-to-attend event at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Date published: 29th May 2026

After the recent launch of the '‘The Music is Black: A British Story’ exhibition at V&A East, which looks at 125 years of Black music-making in Britain, revealing how Black British music has shaped our culture, a new project has been announced. Set to launch next month, on Saturday 13th June, Music Is Black Festival will be a celebration of black music taking place in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Organised by the Mayor of London-backed East Bank, the festival will have four weekends of free-to-attend music programming from June to September. With each weekend taking part in a different theme, the first will be 'The Music is Ours' on Saturday 13th to Sunday 14th June. This will feature a lineup curated by Footsie and The King Original Soundsystem,  YolanDa Brown, Soul Mama, My Runway Group and Kloé Dean.

The second weekend, the theme will be 'Power Is Respect', curated by Jamz Supernova, BORN N BREAD, Yazmin Lacey, TYSON and Jade Hackett, taking place on Saturday 11th to Sunday 12th July.

Followed by the third theme on Saturday 22nd to Sunday 23rd August, named 'Queer Frequencies', curated by Shy One, Donnie Sunshine, Mark-Ashley Dupé, Joel Mignott and Zinzi Minott.

Then finally, 'Black to the Future' with curation from FLOHIO, The Blues Project and Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe, which will commense on Saturday 12th to Sunday 13th September. 

There will be two stages, which will be located in East London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, while the third stage (The Dancefloor is Black) will be set within Sadler’s Wells East. 

East Bank Director Tamsin Ace spoke about the upcoming launch, saying, "This year, East Bank truly comes alive," says East Bank Director Tamsin Ace. "After more than 25 years working in the arts, I remain continually inspired by the spirit of collaboration that defines our sector and especially by the scale and ambition of what East Bank has achieved." 

"The result is the launch of the new festival from East Bank. In its inaugural year, the festival celebrates Black British music, marking not only a landmark cultural moment but also a powerful statement of East Bank’s commitment to collaboration, representation, and shared storytelling." 

For more information on the Music Is Black Festival, click here.

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Header image credit: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park / Facebook.com