Harry Styles to headline Meltdown festival with orchestral performance
By Casey Cooper-Fiske, Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter
Former One Direction star Harry Styles is to perform with an orchestra as he headlines London’s Meltdown festival, which has been curated by him for 2026.
The one-off performance will take place on June 16 at the Royal Festival Hall at London’s Southbank Centre where the festival is held yearly, and see him perform with the Jules Buckley Orchestra, whose leader will create new arrangements of Styles’ songs.
The 32-year-old Watermelon Sugar singer said: “Coming Up Roses (from his latest album Kiss All The Time, Disco, Occasionally, released earlier this year) was my first time working with Jules, he’s now helping us with the string arrangements for the Together, Together tour.
“He’s incredibly talented, and is such a generous collaborator. He’s become someone I love working with. It was obvious as soon as Southbank asked me to curate Meltdown, it was the perfect opportunity to do something really beautiful with him.”
The event will be a fundraiser for the Southbank Centre’s charitable work to support young people in the arts, with fans able to enter a prize draw, which opens on Wednesday, to win tickets.
Fans are able to purchase up to three entries for the prize draw, which are priced at £20 each and are for a pair of tickets at the 1,900 capacity venue.
Mark Ball, artistic director at the Southbank Centre, said: “Meltdown has always been about the greatest artists of our time taking creative control of the Southbank Centre’s venues and shaping something that feels of its moment.
“This year, that spirit is matched by a clear charitable intent from its curator, to help sustain access to creativity for young people where it is needed most.
“Entries into this prize draw support the Southbank Centre’s artistic and community programmes at a time when access to the arts, creative health and well-being for young people matter more than ever.
“It’s a simple idea with real impact – an extraordinary cultural moment helping to sustain access to culture in the long-term.”
The line-up curated by Styles includes performances from indie band Warpaint, Belgian electroclash band Soulwax and British singer-songwriter Nilufer Yanya.
Styles follows artists including Little Simz, David Bowie and Patti Smith in curating the festival.
The singer will begin his Together, Together tour this month in support of his latest album, which will include 12 nights at Wembley Stadium that would see him break the record for most performances at the venue in a single year.
