Southbank Centre Will Present MULTITUDES Festival in Spring 2026
The multi-arts festival will run April 16–May 1, 2026, as part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary celebrations.
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 28, 2025
London’s Southbank Centre will present the return of its multi-arts festival Multitudes from April 16 to May 1, 2026, as part of its newly announced Spring 2026 Classical Music programme. Powered by orchestral music, the festival will feature collaborations between the Southbank Centre’s Resident Orchestras and artists across theatre, dance, and visual art, offering new approaches to classical performance.
At the centre of Multitudes will be a fully memorised production of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring performed by Aurora Orchestra. Directed by Nicholas Collon, the production will include a dramatised introduction featuring the words of Stravinsky and his contemporaries, combining acted dialogue, lighting design, and orchestral performance. The concert follows Aurora’s acclaimed debut of the project at the 2023 BBC Proms.
The festival will also include a new collaboration between dance-theatre duo Thick & Tight and the Southbank Centre’s Resident Artist ensemble Manchester Collective, performing Saariaho’s 7 Papillons for cello alongside the world premiere of a new work by electronic artist CHAINES. The BBC Concert Orchestra will partner with visual artist Mat Collishaw on a new project inspired by Dante’s Inferno, blending live orchestral sound with digital imagery.
Multitudes debuted in 2025, attracting 59% of first-time bookers to the Southbank Centre’s classical music programme. For its 2026 edition, the festival will continue to explore new intersections of orchestral music and contemporary performance, alongside large-scale concerts celebrating classical tradition.
“As we mark our 75th anniversary, the Southbank Centre continues to look firmly to the future with a classical music programme where the great classical canon is re-imagined through thrilling encounters with dance, circus, visual art, technology and new ideas,” said Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre. “The Spring/Summer 2026 programme embodies the creative experimentation and collaboration that have come to define the Southbank Centre and continue to make it one of the most dynamic cultural spaces in the world today.”
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