Chelsea Arts Festival 2026

About

Chelsea Arts Festival returns to Saatchi Gallery in September 2026 for its second edition, celebrating modern storytelling in the heart of London. Showcasing Chelsea’s rich literary heritage and its ongoing role in the capital’s cultural life, the festival brings together artists and creative practitioners working across page, stage and screen. The programme spans music, theatre, dance and film, alongside podcasting, literature and the visual arts, featuring both leading names and emerging talent from across the creative world.

Partnering with Cadogan, the festival’s main programme unfolds across Chelsea’s landmark cultural institutions: Saatchi Gallery, Cadogan Hall and Royal Court Theatre. Beyond the gallery walls, Chelsea’s streets come alive with free outdoor performances across King’s Road, Duke of York Square, Sloane Street and Sloane Square.

Further information and the full Festival schedule can be found on their website here.

Please note, all events are ticketed and must be pre-booked to attend. Events take place at the Gallery on Friday and Saturday only. 

Friday 18 September

Emma Gannon and Professor Daisy Fancourt In Conversation (10.30-11.30AM)

Join Emma Gannon and Professor Daisy Fancourt as they explore the transformative power of creativity and the arts, and how we can all bring more of them into our everyday lives. In ‘A Creative Compass: Finding Your Way to a Creative Life’, Emma Gannon offers an empowering guide for artists, writers, makers and anyone seeking to live with greater creativity, confidence, calm and joy.  

World-leading expert and award-winning scientist Professor Daisy Fancourt draws on groundbreaking evidence in her new book ‘Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health’ to reveal how engaging with the arts can improve our health, boost happiness and even help us live longer. 

Together, they will discuss why creativity matters, and how it can enrich and transform our lives. 

In Conversation with John Pawson CBE (12.30-1.30PM)

John Pawson CBE has spent over forty years making rigorously simple architecture that speaks of the fundamentals but is also modest in character. His body of work spans a broad range of scales and typologies, from private houses, sacred commissions, galleries, museums, hotels, ballet sets, yacht interiors and a bridge across a lake. 

A Night of T/Reason: Celebrating 50 Years of Punk (6-9.30PM)

Fifty years after punk exploded onto the King’s Road, we launch A Night of T/Reason – a Friday Late at Saatchi Gallery celebrating the music, fashion and cultural rebellion that changed Britain forever. The evening’s programme is curated in association with Jane Ashley and Caroline Gration. 

Named after one of the earliest legendary punk concerts, A Night of T/Reason brings together key voices from the original scene for a raw, entertaining and thought-provoking exploration of punk’s origins, the collision of fashion and music, and its enduring influence today. 

Pioneering fashion designer Lloyd Johnson and Fashion School founder Caroline Gration will examine the early emergence of punk fashion on the King’s Road and its evolution. Award-winning filmmaker and writer Celeste Bell, custodian of her mother Poly Styrene’s archive, joins Lauren Jones, who co-founded the Rock ’n’ Roll Public Library with her father Mick Jones, along with DJ, designer and Vivienne Westwood collaborator Edie Ashley to examine punk’s enduring legacy and continued influence. 

Throughout the evening, talks and discussion will be interwoven with music from the era, while intimate photographs by Jane Ashley, who documented figures including the Sex Pistols and The Clash from inside the scene itself, will be exhibited. Expect first-hand insight into the people, energy and ideas that defined the era, with more speakers to be announced soon. 

Jane Ashley’s photographs will remain on display at Saatchi Gallery throughout the festival.

Saturday 19 September

BookBar Introduces (3.45-4.45PM)

Discover some of the most exciting publications by debut authors, curated and hosted by BookBar’s founder Chrissy Ryan. BookBar is one of London’s most beloved independent bookshops, located on Chelsea Manor Street and at the original Islington location. Details of featured authors and books will be announced soon. 

* Please note: Artists listed are correct at time of going to publication; in the unlikely event that an artist needs to cancel we reserve the right to amend the line up without notice and no refunds will be due.