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With its 30th edition taking place this summer, the Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival has long since established itself as a key date in London’s cultural calendar.
Each year, the Southbank invites one celebrated artist to curate the festival, getting them to select a range of established and emerging musical talents and nightlife promoters to star across a two-week programme of gigs, participatory events and after-hours parties at the prestigious venue. Such luminaries as David Bowie, Yoko Ono, Grace Jones, David Byrne, Nick Cave, Anohni and Chaka Khan have previously stepped into the role, so news of who will curate each summer’s edition is always hotly anticipated.
This year, Mercury Prize-winning rapper, Top Boy actor and previous Time Out cover star Little Simz joins that list of legendary names, promising a boundary-pushing line-up that will feature plenty of local organisations and grassroots collectives, plus the one-of-a-kind performances that have characterised Meltdown over the years, culminating in a headline gig from the artist herself.
It seems like the Brit Award winner has a taste for curation, having shut down the Tate Modern back in August last year when she curated a free Tate Late featuring appearances from author Open Water author Caleb Azumah Nelson and renowned skateboarder and artist Slawn.
Speaking about the festival, the Islington-born musician said: ‘I'm super excited to be the 2025 Meltdown festival curator! My team and I are preparing eleven days of art, music, workshops and more. So many incredible artists have curated this festival so it's a true honour to be a part of it. Thank you to the Southbank Centre for having me. Meltdown 2025 the Simz way is going to be epic. I'll see you there.’
Meltdown 2025 will take place on June 12-22, with further line-up announcements due in the spring.
Start planning a great summer with our roundup of London’s best festivals.
And check out the best gigs happening in London this month.
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