Victorious Takes Over Southsea Common Once Again

As we sadly near the end of the summer, and the end of festival season, August Bank Holiday weekend has become an evermore important date in the calendar, which now plays host to some massive weekends across the country. With so many events happening including Notting Hill Carnival and Reading & Leeds Festival there’s stiff competition for festivals to delivery something special. This makes it even more impressive that Victorious Festvial has now cemented its position as one of the big players on the UK festival scene, attracting 50,000 people per day over 3 days. 

As far as urban festivals go, Victorious has to be one of the most unique. Despite being more or less within a city centre, it certainly doesn’t feel like it. Sandwiched between rows of Victorian townhouses on one side and the glimmering Solent on the other, the festival provides a distinct experience, even when the weather isn’t playing ball. On a weekend of slanted rain and strong winds, one most punters had come to forget in a record breaking dry summer, Victorious still delivered on a lineup of impressive artists from across the globe. 

With so many acts to see and stages to visit, we have selected just a few of our most favourite highlights from across the Victorious 2026 weekend. 

FRIDAY

Nearing the end of some high profile European tour and festival dates, New York pop legends Scissor Sisters gave the Common Stage a flamboyant and colourful set to remember. In true Scissor Sisters fashion they performed with huge energy filled with costume changes, crowd interaction and not to forget their trough of pop bangers including ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin”, ‘ Filthy/Gorgeous’ and ‘Let’s Have A Kiki’, as well as a beginning with a cover of ‘Baby I’m Burnin”, a fitting ode to the late Country legend Dolly Parton who passed away just 3 days prior. A festival set to remember!

SATURDAY

Championing another artist from across the pond, Victorious lined up blues/rock outfit The Black Keys as this year’s Saturday night headliners. Despite the blustery conditions and slanted showers, the Ohio duo delivered on some impressive riffs and heavy electric guitar solos to create the perfect headline set. With them the band brought another three live musicians to assist the pair in their flawless performance, the lead guitarist in particular sticking out above the rest with an absolute incredible set and a number of solo pieces that can only be described as insane. Now veterans at the game, The Black Keys proved they’ve still got it in 2026.

SUNDAY

Following The Black Keys’ fantastic headline performance the night before, we decided that Sunday was for exploring more than just the musical offerings at Victorious. As well as the standard fairground rides and stalls, some of Portsmouth’s favourite local organisations also brought their entertainment for the public to enjoy. A free Photo Booth ran by Portsmouth College and a climbing wall brought along by the City of Portsmouth Scouts were fun extras that many happy people were experiencing. Local skatepark Pitt Street had plenty of pairs of skates to loan so you could make use of the popup festival roller rink. And, we can’t forget to mention one of Victorious’ unique selling points; the option to go inside Henry VIII’s very own sixteenth century castle situated right on Southsea’s waterfront, if you’re happy to suffer the one-in-one-out queue. Complete with a bar and plethora of DJ sets happening throughout the weekend the venue offers a unique place to party whilst feeling that you’re not actually even at a festival anymore, something definitely worth waiting for.

After the delights of Southsea Castle we returned to the festival site to settle in for the closing sets of the weekend on the Castle Stage; Kelis and Basement Jaxx. Kelis, like many of the performers of the weekend kept the energy and party vibes up throughout the rainy and windy weather, playing a mixture of more current music mixed in with some of her classics including treating us to ‘Bounce’, her collaboration track with Scottish dance legend Calvin Harris. Dance group Basement Jaxx closed out the Castle stage with plenty of crowd favourites and an atmosphere too match, helping keep the crowd going despite the weather conditions. This made for the perfect closer to a wet but fun weekend on the South Coast.

Experience this jewel of the South Coast summer in 2027. Early bird tickets on sale now at www.victoriousfestival.co.uk.