Waterworks lost its park with a fortnight to go. Rather than cancel, it has turned itself into a 36-hour marathon at The Cause in the Royal Docks, running noon on Saturday 12 September straight through to midnight on Sunday.
This was meant to be a two-day festival at Gunnersbury Park. Planning permission for those dates never came through, and Waterworks took the view that it could not responsibly keep selling tickets to something it had no confirmed permission to stage.
So it moved. The whole thing now happens at The Cause, across seven spaces, and instead of two days with a gap in the middle it runs continuously for a day and a half. Outdoors by day, indoors by night.
Who’s playing
The line-up survived the move intact, which is the impressive part. Bakey, Bradley Zero, Call Super, Christian AB, Craig Richards, Daniel Avery, Darwin, DJ Storm, Djrum, Eris Drew, Erol Alkan, JayaHadADream, Leon Vynehall, Midland, Objekt, Octo Octa, OK Williams, Raresh, Reptant, Skee Mask, Tash LC and Tim Reaper are all on, with more besides.
Around them sit a set of takeovers that are worth planning your hours around. Resident Advisor marks its 25th anniversary with a warehouse takeover. Love International has The Gallery. Sunday brings Keep Hush, Outlook Festival, DaMetalMessiah, EC2A and Rupture.
How to survive 36 hours
You are not meant to do all of it, and almost nobody will. The sensible approach is to pick two windows rather than one long assault: the Saturday afternoon outdoor stretch when it is light and the crowd is fresh, then come back for the Sunday takeovers once you have slept.
Extended set times are the point of the format. Where a normal festival gives a DJ an hour and moves on, this gives them room to build something, which is why the RA and Love International rooms are where the weekend will actually be decided.
If you had tickets for Gunnersbury
They are still valid. Nothing needs doing if you are happy with the new plan. If a warehouse in the Royal Docks is not the festival you bought a ticket for, there is a registration form for full refunds on the Waterworks site, and it is worth acting on that sooner rather than later.
The organisers say they intend to return to Gunnersbury Park in 2027.
The London x London Take: the honest version of this story is that a planning failure forced a festival into a corner, and the interesting version is what it did next. A continuous 36 hours across seven rooms is not a compromise on a two-day park festival, it is a different and in some ways better thing, and London has not really had one before. If you were on the fence about Waterworks in a field, the warehouse version is the one to go to.
Need to know
- Where: The Cause, 60 Dock Road, London E16 1YZ
- When: noon on Saturday 12 September to midnight on Sunday 13 September 2026, continuously
- Spaces: seven, outdoors by day and indoors by night
- Tickets: existing Gunnersbury tickets remain valid, with refunds available on request via waterworksfestival.co.uk
- Nearest stations: Canning Town and Royal Victoria
After more? Our guide to the best clubs in London covers where to go the rest of the year.
