Danny Boyle to curate celebration of youth culture at Southbank Centre

Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle is to take over London’s Southbank Centre for a celebration of British youth culture and the impact of its music, fashion and rebellious politics over the past 75 years.

The event is one of many taking place during the major arts venue’s 2026 season, which was announced on Thursday and will coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Festival of Britain.

Visitors can look forward to a landmark exhibition from sculptor Anish Kapoor, while Goalhanger, the podcast production company co-founded by Gary Lineker, will record live editions at the site.

The Goalhanger Southbank Centre Takeover will feature live recordings of podcasts including The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is Entertainment.

Lineker said: “It’s incredible to see how far Goalhanger has come – from those early recordings around a table to now taking over the entire Southbank Centre.

“Bringing our many shows together for a festival of ideas promises to be a standout moment and a real milestone for us.”

Boyle is working with long-time collaborators Gareth Pugh, Carson McColl and Paulette Randall to create You Are Here, which will take place over the May Day bank holiday weekend.

Featuring thousands of participants, the takeover will see audience members invited to explore well-known and hidden spaces across the site.

Boyle said:  “The Southbank Centre is for everyone, like the NHS – a dose of culture, like a vitamin injection, it lifts you.

“Our ambition is for as many people as possible to experience the variety and vitality of this wonderful site, especially those on their first visit.

“In You Are Here, we want to send people on an adventure, through an arts centre that is usually experienced in individual venues, but transform it in people’s minds so they can see the Southbank Centre in a completely original way.”

The Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery was the first public gallery in the UK to host a major exhibition of Kapoor’s work in 1998.

Kapoor said: “I am thrilled to be making an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery with Ralph Rugoff and to be returning to the Hayward after 28 years.

“The Southbank Centre has over the last 75 years been central to London’s cultural life and I am honoured to make an exhibition to celebrate this anniversary.”

Other highlights of the programme include a celebration of singer Dame Shirley Bassey, pianist Yuja Wang’s immersive mixed reality experience Playing with Fire, and the centre’s biggest ever sleepover with children’s author Jacqueline Wilson.

Renowned poet Lemn Sissay will lead Imagine the Future, a national project for more than 3,500 schoolchildren who will be invited to share their hopes and dreams for the future through poetry and creative writing, while young dancers from the London School of Contemporary Dance will perform Colossus.

A national programme of art, literature and music will also aim to reach one million people in more than 40 towns and cities across the UK.

The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition to promote the country’s art, design, technology and science and uplift the public after the Second World War.

Taking place from May to September 1951, the festival kickstarted the regeneration of the South Bank, with the Southbank Centre the only permanent cultural building to come from it.

The Southbank Centre is now the UK’s fifth most visited attraction, welcoming more than 3.7 million people through its doors last year.

Elaine Bedell, chief executive of the Southbank Centre, said: “Over the past 75 years, the Southbank Centre has grown from a single concert hall into the UK’s largest arts centre.

“Our 75th anniversary season keeps the spirit of the Festival of Britain alive: hopeful, outward-looking and driven by the belief that culture belongs to everyone.

“From showstopping classical music, to world-class contemporary art, and unexpected immersive performances – it’s all happening at the Southbank Centre next year.”

Mark Ball, artistic director of the Southbank Centre, said: “1951 was the moment after the war that the UK transformed from black, white and grey into full glorious technicolour, and the vibrant, optimistic, forward-looking energy it created still radiates from the Southbank Centre.

“Now, more than ever, that energy feels vital to harness and we’re doing that with a year-round programme that brings people together in a joyful communion with the art, ideas and technologies that will shape our future.”