Cadogan's festival runs Wednesday 16 to Sunday 20 September across six venues. Here is every 2026 event with its time and price, and the free outdoor programme.
The Chelsea Arts Festival runs from Wednesday 16 to Sunday 20 September 2026, and the first thing to get right is the start day. The festival’s own frequently asked questions page answers the question “what are the dates” with “Thursday 16th to Sunday 20th September 2026”. The 16th is a Wednesday, and two events are already scheduled on it: Susie Cave and Bella Freud at Cadogan Hall at 7pm, and a comedy bill at Chelsea Theatre at 8pm. Cadogan’s own King’s Road site gives the run correctly as Wednesday, 16 September to Sunday, 20 September.
Counted off the festival’s programme on the evening of 3 September, there are 30 events in the 2026 line-up, and every one of them was still showing “Tickets Available”.
Before you book: half the site is last year’s festival
The festival keeps its 2025 event pages live, in the same place, in the same format. Its own event sitemap lists 73 event pages, and only 30 of them are 2026. The other 42 are last September’s, and several of them carry a SOLD OUT label that has nothing to do with this year: Elif Shafak at BookBar, Rupert Everett in conversation, the Comedy Gala, Jack Edwards’ book club and the Silk Road Slippers masterclass all sold out in 2025.
The tell is the date line at the top of each page. If it ends “2025”, you are reading history. Nothing on the site says so.
The full 2026 programme
| Day | Time | Event | Venue | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 16 | 7.00pm | Susie Cave and Bella Freud in conversation | Cadogan Hall | £33 |
| Wed 16 | 8.00pm | Nice n Spiky Comedy, with Eshaan Akbar and Sara Barron | Chelsea Theatre | £15 |
| Thu 17 | All day | Peter Jones in-store events | Sloane Square | Not priced |
| Thu 17 | 11.00am | Backstage tours of the Royal Court Theatre | Royal Court Theatre | £15 to £30 |
| Thu 17 | 1.00pm | Sense and Sensibility: cast and creators | Cadogan Hall | From £22.50 |
| Thu 17 | 3.00pm | Walls with Stories: the art and psychology of wallpaper | Cole & Son showroom | £20 |
| Thu 17 | 5.45pm | The Other Side of the Story, with Penhaligon’s | Penhaligon’s, King’s Road | £20 |
| Thu 17 | 7.15pm | An evening with Bernardine Evaristo and friends | Cadogan Hall | £22.50 to £28.50 |
| Thu 17 | 8.00pm | Always Be Comedy: Michelle de Swarte, Jordan Brookes | The Trafalgar | £18 |
| Fri 18 | 10.30am | Emma Gannon and Professor Daisy Fancourt | Saatchi Gallery | £15 |
| Fri 18 | 12.30pm | John Pawson CBE with Deyan Sudjic OBE | Saatchi Gallery | £15 |
| Fri 18 | 1.00pm | Blue Plaques Talk Back: Mishal Husain, Nish Kumar | Cadogan Hall | £22.50 to £28.50 |
| Fri 18 | 3.00pm | The Art of Travel, with Monisha Rajesh | Sloane Club | £20 |
| Fri 18 | 6.00pm | A Night of T/Reason: 50 years of punk | Saatchi Gallery | £28.50 |
| Fri 18 | 7.00pm | A Poem For Every Night Of The Year, 10th anniversary | Cadogan Hall | £22.50 to £28.50 |
| Fri 18 | 7.30pm | Pressure: All Stars | Chelsea Theatre | £20 |
| Fri 18 | 8.00pm | Always Be Comedy: Tom Davis | The Trafalgar | £14 |
| Sat 19 | All day | Outdoor entertainment | Sloane Square, Duke of York Square, roaming | Free |
| Sat 19 | 10.30am | The Secret Life of London | Saatchi Gallery | £15 |
| Sat 19 | 11.30am | Rambert: This is Rambert | Cadogan Hall | £22.50 to £28.50 |
| Sat 19 | 12.15pm | The London Theatre Review Live | Saatchi Gallery | £15 |
| Sat 19 | 2.00pm | Gavin Turk: Art History and Rubbish | Saatchi Gallery | £15 |
| Sat 19 | 2.30pm | Katherine Rundell: The Neverfear | Cadogan Hall | £15 to £22.50 |
| Sat 19 | 3.45pm | BookBar Introduces | Saatchi Gallery | £15 |
| Sat 19 | 7.30pm | Timeless Icons: Miles Davis and Nina Simone | Cadogan Hall | From £22.50 |
| Sat 19 | 8.00pm | Always Be Comedy: George Lewis | The Trafalgar | £13 |
| Sun 20 | 11.00am | Chelsea Art Market | Duke of York Square | Free |
| Sun 20 | 11.45am | The Culture Show, with Hannah MacInnes | Cadogan Hall | £22.50 to £28.50 |
| Sun 20 | 3.30pm | Diaries of Note, hosted by Shaun Usher | Cadogan Hall | £22.50 to £28.50 |
| Sun 20 | 8.00pm | Always Be Comedy: Sarah Keyworth | The Trafalgar | £13 |
All times, venues and prices are from each event’s own page on chelseaartsfestival.com, read on 3 September 2026.
What costs nothing
Three things on the bill are free and need no ticket.
- Outdoor entertainment, across Saturday and Sunday, at Sloane Square, Duke of York Square and roaming along the King’s Road. The festival promises live music, experimental theatre, puppetry and bandstand performances, and says plainly that “timings and schedules will be confirmed soon”. They had not been published as at 3 September.
- Chelsea Art Market, Duke of York Square, Sunday 20 September, 11am to 5pm. Free to browse; a tote bag can be pre-ordered.
- Peter Jones on Sloane Square is running in-store events on Thursday 17 September, listed as beauty and fashion masterclasses, stage design talks, heritage tours and evening painting sessions. No price is given on the listing.
The cheapest ticketed events are the two late Always Be Comedy bills at The Trafalgar on the Saturday and Sunday, at £13. The most expensive single ticket in the programme is £33, for Susie Cave and Bella Freud on the opening night.
The punk anniversary
This September is 50 years since punk broke on the King’s Road in 1976, and the festival marks it with A Night of T/Reason at Saatchi Gallery on Friday 18 September at 6pm. It runs about three and a half hours and costs £28.50. Cadogan’s listing names Chris Salewicz, Edie Ashley, Lloyd Johnson, Caroline Gration, Lauren Jones and Celeste Bell, with photographs by Jane Ashley.
Getting there, and the closures that weekend
Duke of York Square is the centre of it. Sloane Square is five minutes’ walk, on the District and Circle lines, and there is a bus stop on the King’s Road alongside the square. Cycle racks sit on the King’s Road and on the square itself, with Santander docking stations at Cadogan Gardens and Royal Avenue. The festival’s own advice is blunt: “Parking in the area is often very busy and we would highly recommend using public transport.” Our page on parking in Kensington and Chelsea sets out what the borough actually charges.
Two things in the council’s own works and events bulletin for 27 August land on the festival’s final weekend, and neither is mentioned by the festival.
- Shine London, the overnight charity walk for Cancer Research, closes footways from 11.00pm on Saturday 19 September until 9.00am on Sunday 20 September along Knightsbridge, Sloane Street, Sloane Square, Lower Sloane Street, Beauchamp Place, Pont Street, Royal Hospital Road, Oakley Street, Cromwell Road, Exhibition Road and Albert Bridge. That is the walk home from the Saturday evening events.
- Car Free Day closes Gloucester Road between Queensgate Terrace and Elvaston Place from 8.00am to 5.00pm on Sunday 20 September.
Both are listed in the RBKC works and events bulletin dated 27 August 2026. Check our roadworks and travel page before you drive anywhere near it.
What is still not published
The outdoor entertainment timetable is the big gap: the festival has committed to a free weekend programme across Sloane Square and Duke of York Square without saying when anything happens. Expect that in the week before the festival. We will update this page when it lands.
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