Sizzling Summer rhythms at one of the biggest ever live steel pan performances!
Steel Scenes brings steel pan groups from across the UK to the South Bank for a landmark weekend of live performance, marking 75 years since the instrument was first heard in the UK. Expect youth ensembles, massed bands, new commissions and a meeting point for pan’s history and its next chapter.
Date & time: Friday 24 – Sunday 26 July 2026
Venue: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
Across the weekend, the programme moves from the free youth-led performances of Steel Rising to Steel Sounds with Just Vibez, the new commissions of Steel Pan Reimagined in the Royal Festival Hall, and a free day of bands in Jubilee Gardens.
Steel Rising
Fri 24 Jul, 5pm, Riverside Terrace, Free
Youth ensembles capture the power of the steel pan as a community force at a day of free performances, each bringing a fresh perspective to pan.
Steel Sounds with Just Vibez
Sat 25 Jul, 12pm, Riverside Terrace, Free
A high-energy line-up of steel pan bands from across the UK take over the Riverside Terrace, with music from traditional calypso to modern-day arrangements.
Steel Pan Reimagined
Sat 25 Jul, 5.30pm and 8.30pm, Royal Festival Hall
Seventy-five years since the sound of the steel pan arrived in the UK, a suite of dazzling new commissions celebrates its incredible heritage and bright horizons.
Steel Legacies
Sun 26 Jul, from 12pm, Jubilee Gardens, Free
In a full day of free performances on the new Jubilee Gardens stage, Southbank Centre's brings together an incredible selection of the UK’s finest steel bands.
For drummers, it is a chance to hear how a single rhythmic tradition can carry community music-making, big-ensemble arrangements and fresh compositional ideas. Most of the programme is free; the Royal Festival Hall concert is ticketed separately.
