This weekend sees the return of the annual West End Live, the two day free festival of musical theatre that takes place in Trafalgar Square every June. It’s often referred to as ‘the Glastonbury of musical theatre’ and while it’s not in fact that much like Glasto, you can see where the comparison comes from: West End Live invariably secures performances – usually five to 10 minutes long – from every musical currently running in Theatreland and beyond.
This year, once again, the line up pretty much consists of everyone, from long running classics like Les Misérables, The Lion King and Phantom of the Opera, to brand new classics including Beetlejuice, Sinatra and Paddington.
As ever the big names are clustered around Saturday morning and early afternoon, as they can fit the WEL performance in around a matinee schedule. But there are plenty of interesting things on the Sunday, which leans more towards fringe and touring shows and previews of shows coming to London in the future. There are a couple of surprise shows on the Sunday too – we have genuinely no idea what they are but hopefully they’re worth keeping secret.
When is West End Live 2026?
West End Live will run Saturday June 20 and Sunday June 21.
Where is West End Live?
It’s in Trafalgar Square, you absolutely cannot miss it.
What is the West End Live 2026 line-up and schedule?
Ready? It’s a big one!
Saturday
- 11.00am: Disney’s Hercules
- 11.05am: High Society
- 11.10am: Avenue Q
- 11.20am: Wicked
- 11.35am: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- 11.45am: Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- 11.55am: The Devil Wears Prada
- 12.00pm: Paddington the Musical
- 12.10pm: Cabaret
- 12.20pm: Sinatra the Musical
- 12.25pm: Hadestown
- 12.40pm: Hamilton
- 12.45pm: Oliver!
- 12.55pm: Les Misérables
- 1.05pm: Phantom Of The Opera
- 1.10pm: The Producers
- 1.15pm: The Book Of Mormon
- 1.30pm: Operation Mincemeat
- 1.35pm: Beetlejuice the Musical
- 1.45pm: Mamma Mia!
- 2.00pm: Performances from English National Opera
- 2.10pm: Disney’s High School Musical
- 2.15pm: I’m Every Woman – The Chaka Khan Musical
- 2.25pm: Into the Woods
- 2.30pm: Six
- 2.45pm: The Choir of Man
- 2.55pm: Magic Mike Live
- 3.05pm: Now You See Me Live
- 3.10pm: Kimberly Akimbo
- 3.20pm: Liberace And Liza: A Tribute
- 3.30pm: Shantify
- 3.40pm: RepresentAsian: An Evening Of Asian Talent
- 3.45pm: The Last Ship
- 3.50pm: Roles We’ll Never Play
- 4.00pm: In Pieces
- 4.15pm: Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical
- 4.20pm: Here Comes J. Edgar! A Comedy Musical
- 4.30pm: Sirens: The Concert Series
- 4.35pm: Shanay Holmes
- 5.00pm: Event ends
Sunday
- 12.00pm: Disney’s The Lion King
- 12.10pm: Titanique
- 12.15pm: Matilda the Musical
- 12.25pm: My Neighbour Totoro
- 12.30pm: Hot Mess
- 12.40pm: Dark of the Moon
- 12.50pm: Love Never Dies In Concert
- 12.55pm: Waitress
- 1.10pm: Inala
- 1.20pm: Kinky Boots
- 1.25pm: Six
- 1.40pm: The Karate Kid – The Musical
- 1.50pm: The Harder They Come
- 2.00pm: Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage
- 2.05pm: Bliss The Musical
- 2.10pm: Magic Mike Live
- 2.20pm: Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
- 2.35pm: Noël Coward In The West End: Robert Hazle & Helena Northcote
- 2.45pm: Little Shop Of Horrors
- 2.50pm: Surprise show
- 2.55pm: Heathers: The Musical
- 3.00pm: Redcliffe
- 3.10pm: The Jonathan Larson Project
- 3.15pm: Surprise show
- 3.20pm: Jane Eyre
- 3.25pm: G4
- 3.40pm: Ride The Cyclone
- 3.45pm: Jersey Boys
- 4.00pm: Event ends
Do I need tickets for West End Live?
What time should I arrive?
This is the big question. The fact is that for the Saturday people queue from around 4am (and earlier) to get the best spots when the gates finally open at around 10.15am. This is silly and we can’t condone it, but it does happen, and has caused a lot of controversy in recent years.
It’s difficult to see where West End Live could go that was any bigger (Hyde Park gets mooted but realistically it’s too far from the West End). It’s generally accepted that if you’re in the queue by 8.30am-ish you’ll probably get in, though no guarantees.
Sunday is much more relaxed and there is definitely no need to get down at crazy o’clock in times for the 11.15 gate opening, but certainly you’d be advised to expect some queues.
West End Live is at Trafalgar Square, Jun 20 and 21.
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