FKA Twigs to curate and headline Southbank Centre’s 2027 Meltdown festival
The singer will shape the London festival’s programme from June 10 to 20 and perform on one of its days. The full lineup and ticket details will follow.
FKA Twigs will curate Southbank Centre’s 2027 Meltdown festival in London and headline one of its days, the Evening Standard and NME reported on October 20. The programme is scheduled for June 10–20, 2027, giving the singer a role in shaping performances across the arts centre’s venues as well as a place on stage.
Twigs said she wanted the festival to reflect the London arts scene that shaped her. Her statement traced that experience from Croydon College through underground cabaret clubs and nights dancing in warehouses on the docks. She said she intended to celebrate the city’s diversity, freedom and creative energy in the programme.
What FKA Twigs will bring to Meltdown
NME reported that Twigs plans to bring together performers across musical genres, with a lineup reflecting the influences on her own work. She will headline one day, but the other Meltdown artists and ticket details have yet to be announced. Her appointment establishes who will guide the festival; audiences will have to wait for the programme to see how those influences take shape on stage.
Twigs, whose full name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, released the albums Eusexua and Eusexua Afterglow in 2025, according to the Evening Standard. Her account of London’s role in her career connects the curatorship to places where she studied, performed and encountered music before taking on one of the Southbank Centre’s most prominent annual programmes.
Meltdown’s history at the Southbank Centre
Meltdown began in 1993 and appoints a different cultural figure to curate concerts and performances each year, the Evening Standard reported. Twigs will be its 32nd curator. Previous curators include David Bowie, Patti Smith, Grace Jones, Yoko Ono, Nile Rodgers, Little Simz and Harry Styles, placing her in a succession of artists invited to bring their own perspective to the London festival.
The 2027 Southbank Centre season already includes scheduled performances by pianist Lang Lang, Patti Smith and composer Philip Glass, NME reported. Those shows are part of the wider season; NME said details of Twigs’s Meltdown lineup and tickets would be announced later.
Read in depth: Culture
Chase & Status and Bryan Adams announced for two Dunedin shows in March 2027
Chase & Status are booked for Forsyth Barr Stadium on 5 March, followed by Bryan Adams at Dunedin Town Hall on 13 March. The stadium show would end a gap in major international...
Louvre advances security work as repair costs loom a year after jewel theft
The Paris museum has appointed a security coordinator and pledged annual investment, while its director warns that aging infrastructure needs wider repairs.
Sources and context
- FKA Twigs to curate and headline Southbank Centre’s Meltdown FestivalEvening Standard (Sean O’Grady; PA Archive credit appears in the article, but no agency byline is shown)
- FKA Twigs announced as Southbank's Meltdown 2027 curator, with special guests announced for 'Hometown' grassroots events across the UKNME
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.