Summer 2018 event highlights in Portsmouth and Southsea
It’s (more or less) summer — prepare your schedule with this run-down of what to expect from Portsmouth and Southsea’s event calendar during the (mostly) sunny months ☀️
Mutiny Festival 2018
📍 King George V Playing Fields
⏳ 26th/27th May
R‘n’B comeback king Craig David, Jamaican dancehall rapper Sean Paul, grime pioneer Dizzee Rascal, and renowned DJ/producer Sub Focus are the headlining acts on the billing for Mutiny Festival 2018. This year marks the fifth birthday of the festival, which in 2018, takes place at the King George V Playing Fields in Cosham on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th May.
Portsmouth Festivities
📍 All over Portsmouth
⏳ Various dates and times
From Friday 15th to Sunday 24th June 2018, Portsmouth Festivities host a ten-day programme of artistic and cultural events. This year, Portsmouth Festivities celebrates the theme of ‘FREEDOM’, marking the centenary of women’s suffrage and the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela. Events will explore ideas of creative freedom in a wide-ranging programme of music, theatre, talks, and film, and so much more.
Love Southsea Markets
📍 Cosham High Street/Palmerston Road
⏳ Every weekend/month
The Love Southsea Markets have been an established monthly staple of shopping in Palmerston Road for five years, and they continue in 2018, on the first weekend of every month. 50+ local independent traders and food stalls will be setting up shop in the high street precinct. New for 2018, however, are the Love Cosham Markets, taking place every weekend in Cosham High Street starting in April. Keep keeping the pound in Pompey!
Live at the Bandstand
📍 Southsea Seafront
⏳May 26th ‘til August 12th
As per tradition, Southsea Bandstand soon returns for the summer, offering a programme of the best free local outdoor music performances from singers, bands, and DJs. Sited in the West Battery Gardens down on Southsea’s seafront, the bandstand is a staple of Portsmouth’s annual summertime entertainment. All of the shows are free, of course!
Portsmouth Kite Festival
📍 Southsea Common
⏳ 11th and 12th August
Portsmouth International Kite Festival 2018 takes place on August 11th and August 12th on Southsea Common, and it’s free to enter! The collaborative event between Portsmouth City Council and the Kite Society of Great Britain promises to be more spectacular than ever, with over 100 kite fliers from across four continents traveling to the event, heralded one of the best kite festivals in the world. Be sure to visit the Love Southsea Market there!
Roller Discos
📍 Southsea Skatepark
⏳ All summer
Whether you’re already a keen skater or the only thing you’ve ridden with wheels is a taxi, make Southsea Skatepark one of your frequent destinations during the sunny summer months. Learn from some of the best, let loose at the monthly Roller Discos, get involved in competitions, watch the King of Concrete showdown, and celebrate the 40th anniversary of this historic, world-renowned skatepark, right on our seafront.
Victorious Festival 2018
📍 Southsea Seafront
⏳ August Bank Holiday weekend
Victorious Festival returns on the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August, bigger and better than ever. The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, and Shed Seven kick things off on Friday night, followed by Paul Weller, Paloma Faith, and The Beach Boys’ frontman Brian Wilson on Saturday and The Prodigy, Years & Years, and the Sleaford Mods on the Sunday.
Southsea Food Festival
📍 Palmerston Road, Southsea
⏳ Saturday 14th/Sunday 15th July
Running on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th July from 10:00am through 5:00pm, Southsea Food Festival will bring together the most vibrant collection of culinary traders and street market food stalls in Portsmouth and wider Hampshire. An urban family-oriented event, Southsea Food Festival features around 100 stalls, providing a fun day out with an eclectic curation of cuisines at its heart! We’re 100% ready to eat at least 20 burritos.
British Street Food Awards
📍 Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth
⏳ 26th to 28th May 2018
Gunwharf Quays’ Plaza will welcome over a dozen innovative street food vendors, giving visitors the opportunity to sample some of the finest street food on offer in the region. Shoppers will have the chance to give their feedback on the tastiest dishes, sampling competition dishes and voting for their favourite.