DJ AG headlines a free, day-long festival on the Thames at Barking Riverside this September, with a Riverside Sauna, a new Luke Jerram art installation and Double Dutch and street football rounding out Emerge East’s biggest music programme yet.
Emerge East returns to Barking Riverside on Saturday 12 September, running 11am to 9pm along the Thames. It’s free to attend, with visitors encouraged to register in advance via Eventbrite. Now in its fifth year, organisers are billing 2026 as the festival’s biggest music programme yet, headlined by a name that’s become genuinely hard to avoid this year.
DJ AG headlines, alongside DJ Mak 10, Glade Marie, RAIDAA and Donnie Sunshine
If you haven’t come across him, DJ AG is the Tottenham DJ who built a genuine following by setting up his decks on London street corners and handing the mic to whoever wants a turn, named Time Out’s Londoner of the Year in 2024 for exactly that. His livestreams have racked up surprise appearances from Skepta, Central Cee, Jorja Smith, Craig David and Ed Sheeran, which is the bit that makes a headline slot at a free community festival feel like a genuine coup rather than a routine booking. He’s joined on the bill by DJ Mak 10, Glade Marie, RAIDAA and Donnie Sunshine, with music, dance and performances running throughout the day.
Beyond the music: a sauna, a six-metre art installation and street food
The wellbeing side of the festival gets a dedicated Riverside Sauna, curated by Katie Bracher of Sauna Master UK, with heat, cold-water contrast and steam rituals drawn from bathing traditions around the world. On the art side, Pollenarium, a new six-metre immersive installation from Bristol artist Luke Jerram and the US studio Pneuhaus, commissioned by Creative Barking and Dagenham in partnership with Barking Riverside Limited, makes its debut, joining creative workshops and independent makers’ stalls. Street food comes from Pizza Pazzi and Noodlehub, with English wine spritzers from Vine Street, and the day’s more active corner covers boxing, Double Dutch, roller skating and street football alongside family-friendly craft workshops.
The London x London Take: a free festival headlined by DJ AG is genuinely worth the trip out to Barking Riverside on its own, but the programme around him is what makes the whole day worth blocking out rather than just swinging by for the music. We’d register on Eventbrite ahead of time since free entry tends to fill up fast once a name like this is attached, and we’d get there earlier in the day for the sauna and workshops before the crowds build for the evening sets. Riverside Sauna slots in particular are likely to be limited, so it’s worth checking on arrival rather than leaving it to the end of the day.
Need to know
- Where: Barking Riverside, London IG11
- When: Saturday 12 September 2026, 11am–9pm
- Price: Free to attend
- Booking: Register via Eventbrite
