By Iola Shaw
It’s the biggest volunteer-organised festival in England and been running for over 40 years on the second Saturday of July.
Here are some highlights of this year’s Kirkstall Festival, which is being held at Kirkstall Abbey tomorrow (Saturday, 11 July 2026). Full details are in the programme, which is on sale on the day for £3.
Kicking off the event is the Parade, which returns to the streets this year leaving St Stephen’s Church around 11.15am. It leads to a short road closure on Morris Lane, Abbey Walk and Abbey Road, then circuits the ground before the awards for the poster competition and official opening at noon.
This year Burley Banksy (Andy McVeigh) was the poster judge and was blown away by the quality of the entries.
He said he was ‘awestruck’ by the amount of effort and skill on display. The winner is on the programme cover.
There will be over 20 local artists playing on the day across four stages. Vig Vam Bam will close with their mix of 1970s glam rock classics. LS18 Rocks are hosting bands in the abbey church, and there are more acoustic style sets in the tea tent and on the ruins stage.
KirkFest welcome Wrongsemble back with a retelling of the tale of Rapunzel.
There is a risk of an ancient and future culture clash as both the Ormsheim Vikings and Phoenix Squad are joining the event this year. And, of course, many others including the Pantomime Dames, Implexus Gym Showdown, and the dog show to entertain you.
New this year there is the Library Story bus – great for the under 5s – with story telling and some give aways.
Organisers are very excited to welcome South Asian Arts UK, who will be playing traditional instruments, and a range of ensemble performances from both students and professional artists across the day in the cloisters and on the ruins stage.
It wouldn’t be the festival without the caterers, fairground and our huge array of stalls – more than 120 of these this year. Many are fund raising and promoting local charities and services as well as commercial stands.
Expect to see a vast array of baked goods, clothes, crafts, plants, books and almost anything else you can think of that can be purchased and dropped into your tote bag.
The festival wouldn’t be possible without the various funders, and the Friday night fundraising gig in the Abbey itself.
This year Ultimate ELO and Weetwood Mac headline with support from Pick n Mix. Tickets are sold out for tonight’s event.
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