Last November, it was announced that Christine and the Queens would be curating Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre in June 2023. Chris’ Meltdown is set to be a vibrant celebration of trailblazing artists, with a varied range of activities on offer over the course of the festival, from live cabaret performances to DJ sets to multi-sensory events.

Headlining the festival is, of course, Chris himself, who’ll be performing on both days of the finale weekend. Joining him across the festival are art-rock outfit Django Django, who will be promoting their ambitious four part album project Off Planet, and Warpaint, who are making their Royal Festival Hall debut after 20 years in the game. Bat For Lashes will be taking to the Queen Elizabeth Hall stage on Thursday 15, while the electro-pop styling of Lynks, Let’s Eat Grandma and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs are set to completely transform a brand new performance space in the hall’s foyer.

In his curation, Chris has also cast his net wider with an internationalist approach. African Baddie and Beyoncé collaborator Yemi Alade will take to the stage on Saturday 10, supported by South Africa’s own Moonchild Sanelly, while Oxlade, a powerful new voice on Nigeria’s music scene, will perform on Thursday 15.

Elsewhere, Serpentwithfeet, KOKOROKO and the Jim-Jarmusch fronted Sqürl are all set to perform, plus Sigur Rós will open the European leg of their tour alongside the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Additionally, iconic south-east London queer club the Chateau will be returning for one night only, enlisting the collectives WET, the Spice Boys, UOKHUN? and Let’s Have A Kiki to pack out the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer on Friday, June 9. They’ll be joined by DJs Lagoon Femshayma, Tom Rasmussen, Jay Jay Revlon, Victoria Peckham, Amor Ante, Rabz, Rita Lin and Mo Probs for a night that you’ll not want to miss.

Meanwhile, Pxssy Palace is set to take over the ballroom, hosting the official after-party of Christine and the Queens Saturday headline slot. The event will be a London x Paris head-to-head, featuring DJ sets from Amor Satyr, Cosmic Caz, Syndrome Premenstruel, Sucre Salete, Ryan Lovell, MikeQ, TAAHLIAH and River Moon.

And to cap it all off, Drag Race legend Katya Zamolodchikova sets up shop in the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium on June 17 for afternoon tea, promising “controversy and chaos” for whoever dares to attend her Q&A.

For the full line-up head to the Southbank Centre’s website and for your chance to win a pair of tickets to a show of your choice, sign up below.

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