Black On The Square is back at Trafalgar Square on Saturday 5 September, free and unticketed, noon to 6pm, and this year it’s built around four birthdays: 60 years of Notting Hill Carnival, 35 of Tomorrow’s Warriors, 30 of the MOBO Awards and 20 of LatinoLife.
The Mayor of London’s annual celebration of Black culture returns for a fourth year under the theme This is our London, and the framing is deliberate. Rather than treating Black London as a strand of the city’s culture, the programme sets it out as foundational to it, past, present and future.
It’s a straightforward proposition: turn up, it’s free, there’s live music, dance, food, wellbeing sessions and family activities across six hours in the middle of town. The music runs from Afrobeats, Amapiano and garage through soul, R&B, reggae and freestyle.
Four anniversaries in one afternoon
The anniversaries are the spine of this year’s bill, and between them they cover most of how Black British music actually got built.
Notting Hill Carnival turns 60 this year, an anniversary the city has just spent a bank holiday weekend marking. Tomorrow’s Warriors hits 35 years of jazz education and artist development, and marks it with a nine-piece band, worth knowing that most of the names in the current UK jazz boom came through that programme. The MOBO Awards reach 30, with a tribute to founder Kanya King CBE, who set the awards up in 1996 to recognise music of Black origin when nobody else was. LatinoLife turns 20, and its flagship LatinoLife in the Park turns 10.
Who’s playing
The first acts announced are Trinidadian soca artist, songwriter and producer Triniboi Joocie, and Dutch-Nigerian-British singer-songwriter FIBI, bringing alternative R&B and neo-soul to the main stage. Nu Establishment play ska and reggae classics, Mandala Productions presents a Black British Theatre showcase hosted by BBTA founder Omar F Okai, and LatinoLife’s Jose Luis closes the day alongside Viva Sound System with a live reggaetón and baile funk set, dancers and percussion included.
Further headliners land in the coming weeks. Capital XTRA hosts the main stage across the day, with breakfast presenters Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie compering and Manny Norte on the decks.
Food, fitness and a family zone
Away from the stage, Ghanaian chef and food creator Chef Abbys runs demonstrations from her stall throughout the day, and personal trainer JustGeen leads fitness sessions. Black-owned traders fill the square with food and crafts, and there’s a dedicated K-BOTS Family Zone and children’s area.
The event is curated by a Community Advisory Group chaired by artist Kojo Marfo, and sits within the Mayor’s wider Trafalgar Square programme alongside Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year, St George’s Day and St Patrick’s Day. Remitly is title sponsor.
This year’s theme, This is our London, celebrates the festivals, events and Black Londoners who have shaped the sound and spirit of our capital, and the new generation bringing fresh ideas for the future.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
The London x London Take: the four anniversaries are what lift this above a good free day out. Carnival at 60, the MOBOs at 30, Tomorrow’s Warriors at 35, and you have a fairly complete account of how Black British music got made and who kept making room for it. Go for Triniboi Joocie and the reggaetón close, but the Tomorrow’s Warriors set is the one people will be citing in twenty years when the nine-piece has scattered into everyone else’s bands.
Need to know
- Where: Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
- When: Saturday 5 September 2026, noon to 6pm
- Price: Free, no ticket needed
- Ages: All ages, with a dedicated children’s area
- More: the full programme on london.gov.uk
After more free days out? Our roundup of free things to do in London has the rest of them.
