The South London music festival, Wide Awake, will not be going ahead in 2026.
The festival has been an ever-present fixture in the London summer season since beginning in 2021, shining a light on emerging talents and indie favourites.
Last year’s event included sets by Kneecap, CMAT, English Teacher, Daniel Avery and Nadine Shah. In the past, it has also welcomed Primal Scream, Caroline Polachek, Young Fathers, Caribou, Bicep, Shame, Self Esteem, and Amyl and the Sniffers.
However, it will not be returning to Brockwell Park in 2026, but a spokesperson for the event stressed to MyLondon that “Wide Awake is just taking a break for 2026”, suggesting it will return in the future.
Before the 2025 event, Wide Awake, along with other festivals Mighty Hoopla, Field Day, Cross The Tracks and City Splash, which use the same site, was shrouded in uncertainty due to Brockwell Park facing licensing issues following noise complaints by local residents.
The fallout came when local resident and Protect Brockwell Park member, Rebekah Shaman, successfully brought legal action against Lambeth Council regarding the use of Brockwell Park by Brockwell Live, which only has a license to use the area for 28 days per year.
Although Lambeth Council planned to lodge an appeal, they later chose to cancel the Lambeth Country Show to free up space in the live events calendar. With Wide Awake also shelved for 2026, Brockwell Live have more of the 28 days available for other events.
This year’s summer series will be opened by Field Day on May 23rd, and closed with Mighty Hoopla, headlined by Lily Allen and Scissor Sisters, taking place on May 30th and May 31st.
Additionally, last year, days before Wide Awake took place, the festival launched a reduced ticket scheme, allowing those already with tickets to purchase another for £34.
In an email, festival booker and co-founder Keith Miller honestly shared of their situation: “It’s been an incredibly tough month our end with the various issues melting our brains surrounding Brockwell Park, our events permit and all the Kneecap hyperbole.”
He also said that if one in four ticket holders manages to persuade a friend to take up the offer, Wide Awake will “be well on our way to where we need to be to stabilise the event so we can look at things in the summer and not have to be named after a bitcoin next year or just wrap the whole thing.”
