The award-winning grassroots festival for emerging music, Humber Street Sesh, is set to return to Hull Marina on Saturday 1 August, after narrowly avoiding closure due to financial pressures affecting festivals across the UK.
Following uncertainty over the festival’s future, driven by rising operational costs, declining sponsorship, and the wider cost-of-living crisis; organisers have launched a new Community Interest Company (CIC). This new structure will hopefully allow the festival to access grant funding and create a more sustainable future, ensuring that sponsorship, funding, and donations are directly reinvested back into the local community.
Thanks to the support of key partners including Hull City Council, Hull Business Angels, and Hull Trains; Humber Street Sesh is moving forward but its long-term future still depends on continued backing from local businesses and the wider community.
Kath Wynne-Hague, Head of Service, Culture, Place and City Centre, Hull City Council, said: “Humber Street Sesh plays a vital role in delivering Hull’s Music Plan. It provides a proven platform for emerging artists to perform, develop audiences, and build professional experience, while strengthening the city’s grassroots music ecology.”
Mark Burley, Social Value and Partnerships Manager, Keepmoat, said: “Humber Street Sesh is a unique opportunity for residents, visitors, businesses, and local artists to come together and have a great day out. As a Business Angel and sponsor of the Sesh, we value the diversity of acts and zones it provides, and we always sponsor the family zone where children and parents can experience music and arts in a safe and fun way and hopefully go away with something they have created as a keepsake. It is crucial businesses get behind and continue to support the Sesh, this is what makes Hull a great place to live, work and play.”
Hull Trains Director of Communications and Partnerships, Richard Salkeld commented: “Hull Trains is proud to continue backing Humber Street Sesh with free travel for attendees. It is a festival that truly reflects the spirit of Hull’s community and showcases some of the outstanding musical talent from across the region.
Rail travel is one of the most environmentally friendly ways for people to get to Humber Street Sesh and this is also part of our ongoing commitment to help reduce carbon emissions across the Humber region.”
Festival Director, Dave Mays said “We’ve had incredible support from key partners to help secure this year’s festival and we’re very grateful, but we still need more businesses and the community to get behind it to ensure its long-term future.
Humber Street Sesh is one of the city’s cultural flagship events. It generates over £1 million in social value and has a huge positive impact on Hull. It is an event that is completely unique to the city—there’s nothing else like it in the country.”
Festival organisers are committed to keeping the event accessible through tiered ticketing. A limited number of Tier 1 tickets at £20.00 (+ booking fee) will be available from 6 May through SeeTickets.com, giving music lovers the chance to be part of Hull’s most vibrant community festival at the best possible price.
This year’s festival promises to be better than ever, with more than 100 acts performing across multiple stages. Community favourites including the BBC Introducing Stage, Silent Disco, and the Residents Association Block Party Stage will return alongside an exciting range of new partnerships designed to champion grassroots music, nurture emerging talent, and create unforgettable experiences for audiences of all ages.
Hull Music Service (Lead Partner for the Humber Music Hub) has formed a new partnership with The Warren and Warren Records, to develop a dedicated emerging-music stage, shining a spotlight on the next generation of young artists from the region. The stage will give festivalgoers the chance to see and hear local future stars from our hugely vibrant music scene.
Stage@TheDock, delivered in partnership with East Riding College’s Music Department, will offer an interactive programme of music masterclasses where the public can get hands-on, try out instruments, and experience music-making first-hand. These sessions will be followed by live performances from the college’s music students, alongside a vibrant art exhibition showcasing creative talent across disciplines.
Adding even more energy to the programme, Hip-Hop Karaoke makes its debut this year as a brand-new crowd-pulling feature. Designed to encourage audience participation, the stage will come alive throughout the day with hip-hop artists performing, inspiring, and guiding festivalgoers to grab the mic and join in.
Festival Director Mark Page said: “It’s great to be back with some exciting new partnerships that will significantly enhance the festival experience, creating more opportunities for grassroots musicians while giving audiences even more chances to participate and discover amazing national emerging music alongside homegrown talent. With headliners to be announced soon, we urge the public to support their Sesh and grab a discounted ticket while they can!”
Humber Street Sesh 2026 – Hull Marina – Saturday, 1st August, 12 midday – 11pm Tier 1 Release – Limited £20.00 + booking fee (available now via humberstreetsesh.co.uk and SeeTickets.com)