London’s Wide Awake Festival will not be taking place in 2026, organisers have announced today (February 18).
The festival, which has been a fixture in the capital since 2021, was known for championing new and emerging acts as well as independent artists.
Last year’s line up included sets from Kneecap, CMAT, English Teacher, Daniel Avery and Nadine Shah.
Previous iterations of the festival have seen artists perform including Primal Scream, Self Esteem, and Amyl and the Sniffers.
A spokesperson for the event told MyLondon that the event won’t be happening in 2026, and that the festival “is just taking a break for 2026”, hinting that it might return in the future. NME has reached out to organisers for comment.
Previously, live music events in London’s Brockwell Park, which is where events including Wide Awake, Mighty Hoopla and Field Day take place, were said to be in jeopardy after a campaigner won a High Court challenge over its use in the summer months.
A local resident, who was a member of the Protect Brockwell Park group, took legal action against the council and argued that they didn’t have correct planning permission. Last year, a judge ruled in the resident’s favour.
The court heard that under permitted development rules, a temporary change of use is allowed for 28 days per calendar year without additional planning permission. However, Mr Justice Mould found that parts of the park would be used for these events for up to 37 days. During these periods, “substantial” areas within Brockwell Park would be fenced off from the public and the events caused damage to the ground.
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said at the time: “We are currently assessing the impact of this judgment and determining next steps.”
“We are feeling elated, it’s been a long time coming. It’s regrettable we had to take Lambeth Council to court; it isn’t what we wanted to do but we felt they were not engaging with us,” the resident, Rebekah Shaman, told BBC London.
“This has been going on for years, it isn’t a one-off situation and it has been a consistent deterioration of the park, to the point where the community had to speak up to protect the park for future generations.”
She added: “We are hoping to come to an agreement where events can still continue, but on a much lower level and also much more connected to the community.”
The Protect Brockwell Park group has previously said it is “not anti-festival” and supports “well-run, inclusive events”.
The group said in a statement: “These large-scale, high-impact commercial festivals are damaging Brockwell Park’s ecology, heritage and community value. “The park is being overused and under-protected.”
This year’s summer series in Brockwell Park will be opened by Field Day on May 23, and closed with Mighty Hoopla between May 30-31.
The post London’s Wide Awake will not be going ahead in 2026 appeared first on NME.
