Harry Styles takes a new career step as he prepares to follow in the footsteps of David Bowie and Nile Rodgers to curate a music festival

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Harry Styles will be curating the Meltdown festival at London’s Southbank Centre in the summer of 2026, marking a significant new role for the artist.

The 32-year-old musician is continuing a tradition started by previous curators like David Bowie, Nile Rodgers, Grace Jones, and Yoko Ono.

This June, Harry will be in charge of programming art and music at the famous venue for eleven days. He’ll even be performing himself, just a few days before his shows at Wembley Stadium as part of his ‘Together, Together’ tour.

Meltdown is a renowned music festival, famous for being curated by artists, and this year it’s part of the celebrations for the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary.

After the announcement, Harry expressed his excitement about curating the Meltdown festival, particularly as the Southbank Centre celebrates its 75th anniversary. He explained that he wants to share the music and art he enjoys and highlight the venue’s impressive legacy.

Both of us strongly believe that music is essential to life, and it connects people. For 75 years, the Southbank Centre has been a key part of that, making fantastic music accessible to everyone. I’m so thankful to the Southbank Centre for this opportunity – it’s incredibly exciting to perform at such a legendary venue.

Harry Styles’ Meltdown festival will be held from June 11th to 21st, 2026. The complete list of performers and ticket sale dates will be revealed in Spring 2026.

The festival will host a variety of free, hands-on events open to everyone. These events are created to appeal to young people throughout the UK and match how they now enjoy cultural experiences.

According to Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, Harry Styles is a hugely influential British artist whose work resonates worldwide and across different art forms and generations.

We’re delighted that Harry Styles’ Meltdown is a central part of our 75th anniversary, a year dedicated to celebrating young people and their creativity. For 75 years, the Southbank Centre has been committed to providing a space for artists to experiment, take risks, and create work that shapes modern culture in innovative ways.

Harry Styles’ recent performance felt perfectly suited to the Southbank Centre’s purpose, and we’re thrilled he chose our venue as a space for his creativity during our anniversary year.

Meltdown, the Southbank Centre’s celebrated festival, has taken place every year since 1993, making it the world’s longest-running festival where artists choose the lineup. Each year, a different prominent figure from the arts world curates the festival, selecting the musicians and events to be featured.

Harry has added two extra shows at Wembley Stadium to his tour following criticism from fans who felt his ticket prices were too high and unfair.

The singer originally planned 10 concerts at the famous venue, but will now perform a record-breaking 12 times this summer.

Harry Styles will perform at Wembley Stadium more times than any other artist during a single tour. He’s set to exceed Coldplay’s record of 10 shows from their summer 2022 Music of the Spheres tour.

Taylor Swift recently broke Michael Jackson’s record for the most performances by a solo artist at Wembley Stadium. She played eight shows during her Eras Tour, surpassing Jackson’s seven.

I’m so excited! Harry Styles has announced a bunch more dates at Madison Square Garden! He’ll be there on June 12th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 26th, and 27th, and then again on June 29th, July 1st, 3rd, and 4th. It’s going to be incredible!

When tickets for Harry’s tour went on sale, many fans reacted negatively to the high prices, calling him ‘greedy’ and accusing him of being out of touch.

The singer is planning a tour with stops in seven cities. However, fans quickly expressed their disappointment with the ticket prices after pre-sales started on Monday, noting they were significantly higher than those for his previous Love On Tour, which ended last year.

Ticket prices for the London portion of the event vary widely. Seats are available from £44 ($60.80) up to £466.24 ($642.76), while standing-room tickets range from £144 ($199.45) to £279 ($385.34). For a VIP experience, prices start at £468.85 ($646.50) and go up to £725 ($1,000).

Tickets for this pre-sale range in price from £44.10 to £466.25, and all orders include a £2.95 handling fee.

Please note that VIP ticket prices are separate. The prices for standard tickets will remain the same throughout both the presale and general sale.

Harry Styles’ Meltdown festival will be held from June 11th to 21st, 2026. The complete list of performers and when tickets go on sale will be revealed in Spring 2026.

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2026-02-16 12:54