Harry Styles to curate the Southbank Centre’s 2026 Meltdown festival & play headline concert

The Southbank Centre in London has announced pop icon Harry Styles is set to curate its annual Meltdown festival 2026.

2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the Southbank Centre.

Harry Styles takes the reins of the festival for 11 days from 11 to 21 June 2026, across the Southbank Centre’s 11-acre site. He will also perform a headline concert at the event.

Harry Styles will be Meltdown’s 31st curator, and joins a long line of prestigious past curators including Little Simz (2025), Chaka Khan (2024), Grace Jones, David Byrne, Yoko Ono, Nile Rodgers, M.I.A., David Bowie and Patti Smith.

(Photo via PR)

For his curatorship of Meltdown, Styles plans to draw on his broad influences – from pop, soul, electronic and rock to underground scenes and emerging young British talent. Alongside a headline concert from Harry Styles himself, the festival will offer a public programme of interactive, participatory and free events, designed to engage young people across the UK and reflect ways younger audiences increasingly experience culture.

Harry Styles said in a statement: “I’m deeply honoured to curate the Meltdown festival, especially for the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary year. My goal as the curator is to share the music and art that I love, and to celebrate the rich history of the venue. We both share a passionate belief that music is a vital part of life. It brings us together and the Southbank Centre has been at the heart of it, providing easy access to great music for the past 75 years. I’m incredibly grateful to Southbank for having me, it’s really exciting for me to have this opportunity in such an iconic venue.”

Established in 1993, Meltdown is one of the Southbank Centre’s high-profile UK cultural events, each year inviting an artist to curate a programme that captures the creative energy of its moment and the interests of the curator.

This summer, Harry Styles is out on his new Together, Together tour, including a record-breaking 12 performances at Wembley Stadium from 12 – 29 June and 1 – 4 July 2026.

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Main photo: Harry Styles. Photo Laura Coulson