St Osyth Summer Sounds has revealed the full programme for this summer’s festival, bringing together live music, food, family activities, art installations and community experiences across two days at St Osyth Priory.
Returning on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July, the festival is now completely free to attend and secured for the next three years thanks to support from The National Lottery Community Fund and Arts Council England, cementing its place as Essex’s largest free music and food festival.
After a successful first year in 2025, up to 10,000 people are expected across the weekend as the festival returns to the historic surroundings of St Osyth Priory. More than 40 traders, local organisations, charities and community groups will also take part, helping to ensure the festival remains firmly rooted in Tendring.
Live music
The live music programme brings together national names, emerging artists and well-loved local performers across two days of music.
Leading this year’s line-up is Brass Rascals, the UK’s leading brass band for drum and bass, garage, house and pop, alongside Mista Trick Collective, whose drum and bass-fuelled sets have built a loyal following across the UK and Europe, and singer-songwriter Aiden Grimshaw.
Saturday also features indie-pop from Grace Calver, Balkan and ska sounds from Band of Fools, acoustic rock from Codi Rox, blues-rock from Mr B & The Wolf, sharp songwriting from David Woodcock & The Fixtures and Barry Payne and The Long Shadows, experimental new wave from Sugar Darling, and ska, bluebeat and reggae from The Ska Town Syndicate.
Sunday moves through folk, acoustic, soul and gospel with performances from Ceilidh Tree, Sisters of Mersea, David Angus, Sun Cutter, Motown Gospel Choir, Gabriela Eva, A Light Left On, Fishclaw and Sophie Nash, alongside local groups including Harwich Sing Tendring Voices.
Award-winning international drumming organisation Inspire-Works will bring interactive rhythm experiences to the South Lawn across both days.
Food
The Chef Stage welcomes some of the UK’s most exciting culinary talent, led by Amber Francis, recently crowned Great British Menu Champion of Champions 2025.
Joining Amber are internationally renowned chef, cookbook author and television personality Tony Alberti, Great British Bake Off stars Andy Ryan and Christiaan de Vries, BBC MasterChef quarter-finalist and author Yui Miles, MasterChef finalist and author Anurag Aggarwal, chef and writer Hulya Erdal, and MasterChef finalist and food creator Madeeha Qureshi.
Hosting the Chef Stage across the weekend is TV chef Joe Hurd, while Adam Windsor in the Deer Park Kitchen will be serving up workshops and demonstrations.
Beyond the Chef Stage, visitors can enjoy street food, local producers and independent traders, reflecting one of this year’s themes: celebrating where food comes from and the people behind it.
Family activities
Families will find plenty happening across the weekend, with opportunities to create, play, explore and take part.
Walk of the Dandelion brings eight-foot puppet Daniel to the festival grounds, alongside a day-long craft workshop where visitors can create woollen dandelions and share positive messages.
Children can try Circus Skills workshops led by local artist Victoria-Anne Gunfield, while Right to Play by Pif Paf creates spaces centred around creativity, play and community.
Elsewhere, Everywhere’s a Beach brings family theatre staged on a giant revolving beach parasol, while Caspian’s Storm follows the adventures of a curious little crab learning about the changing world around him.
As part of the National Year of Reading 2026, the festival has partnered with Essex Libraries to bring a pop-up library space to the site, alongside themed storytelling sessions and family reading activities across the weekend. Author Iqbal Hussein will be doing readings from his book The Night I Borrowed Time. Audiences will hear about Iqbal’s journey as an author, meet Zubair and his six older brothers, and help build a time-travelling adventure featuring dinosaurs, Ancient Egypt, Vikings, dragons and more.
Art & installations
Arborialis, the walk-through Luminarium created by internationally renowned Architects of Air, will be at St Osyth Priory across both days of the festival.
Filled with colour, light and sound, the installation invites people of all ages to explore winding pathways and soaring domes inspired by the natural world. Designed around the theme of trees, Arborialis features radiant canopies and vibrant trunks, accompanied by Song of Danu, a specially created soundscape by Irish composer Dr Michael Morris.
Two BookBench sculptures from global art producer Wild in Art will also be on site across the weekend, painted live by local artist Helen Whiddett. Inspired by Tendring, the designs are currently being developed and visitors will be able to watch the artworks take shape throughout the festival. A sponsor and permanent home is being sought for the benches after the event, so they can continue to be enjoyed by the community.
Community
Local groups, organisations and volunteers continue to play an important role throughout the festival, alongside nationally recognised artists, chefs and performers.
More than 40 traders will take part in the festival’s Eat, Shop & Discover area, with around 70 per cent coming from Tendring businesses, charities and community organisations. Participants include CVST, RAMA, AFiUK, Essex Fire & Rescue Service, Kennedy Way Community Gardens, Men’s Shed, Perky Plans and Driftwood Designs, alongside food traders including Bay Tree Pizza, Zizi Lebanese, St Osyth Priory, The Raclette Truck, Viking Coffee and The Spudbox.
Arts Trust has worked closely with CVST to recruit more than 30 local volunteers, who will support sustainability initiatives, site management, accessibility and visitor information across the festival site.
Day trip transport will be available from across Tendring through a partnership with Tendring Community Transport, helping people from around the district enjoy a day out at St Osyth Summer Sounds. The organisation supports residents to access social, leisure and cultural opportunities throughout the year.
Accessibility remains a major priority, with British Sign Language interpretation available across the entire Chef Stage programme on both days.
Martin Collins, Founder & CEO at Arts Trust, says: “The first thing we talked about when planning this year was making sure there was something for everyone. Some people will come for the music, others for the food, others because they’re looking for something to do with the family during the summer holidays.
“What we’ve ended up with is a weekend full of different experiences. There are some brilliant names involved, but just as importantly there are plenty of opportunities to discover something new.
“Being able to make the festival free and secure its future for the next three years is hugely important to us because it means more people can take part and more people can feel that this event belongs to them.”
This is an exciting time for the region following the recent announcement of Creative Tendring, a bold new cultural programme for the Tendring district, made possible thanks to an award from Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme, supported by National Lottery players.
Hosted by Arts Trust Productions in partnership with Tendring District Council, Community Voluntary Services Tendring (CVST), and the Harwich Festival, Creative Tendring will bring together artists, local organisations, and residents to celebrate what makes Tendring unique.
St Osyth Summer Sounds: Music & Food Festival takes place at St Osyth Priory, Essex, on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July 2026. Entry and parking is free, with one or two activities requiring a nominal fee to take part.
Visit stosythsummersounds.co.uk for free tickets and further information.
Follow @stosythsummersounds and @arts_trust.
Day trip information can be found at dial-a-ride.org/day-trips/
