Plymouth City Council is ‘actively looking at other potential events’ after it was revealed that the iconic Plymouth Summer Sessions on the Hoe won’t be taking place next year.
The Summer Sessions festivals — which take place in locations across the country — are run by Live Nation alongside promoters Cuffe & Taylor.
A council representative confirmed today that ‘unfortunately, Cuffe & Taylor have decided to scale back on Summer Sessions locations across the UK next year and sadly this means Plymouth won’t be part of the 2026 series’.
Cuffe & Taylor have not yet given a reason as to why — but without their backing it is unlikely there will be a Plymouth Summer Sessions event on the Hoe next year.
This will be seen as a blow to Plymouth City Council as the Summer Sessions were being built as a flagship live music event for the city. There have previously been two Summer Sessions — the first one in 2024 and another earlier this year.
In June last year, Cllr Tudor Evans — the leader of the city council — said that the authority had received ‘phenomenal feedback’ after the inaugural Plymouth Summer Sessions, adding that he had asked the council’s events team to begin a five-year deal with Live Nation. That is unlikely to transpire now.
Following the news, Cllr Sally Haydon, cabinet member for community safety, libraries, events, cemeteries and crematoria, said:
"We had two brilliant years of Summer Sessions which was enjoyed by thousands of music lovers from Plymouth and further afield.
"We heard THE Bryan Adams tell us about visiting his grandparents in Plymstock, watched the peerless Sting perform and Blondie let rip as part of a stellar line up to wow the crowds in the first year.
"Last year it was the legends James who stormed the stage as well as Pendulum and Snow Patrol. These were great, memorable nights and we’d like to thank promoters Cuffe and Taylor for putting these shows on.”
Other headline acts to play the Sessions over the past two years include Tom Jones, Madness and The Corrs.
Cllr Haydon confirmed that Cuffe and Taylor had ‘decided to scale back on Summer Sessions locations across the UK next year’ and ‘sadly this means Plymouth won’t be part of the 2026 series’. She added:
"Like many of the punters, we are disappointed but understand their decision, particularly against a backdrop of increasing costs for music promoters and the music industry in general.
"We want to see live music flourish in Plymouth and are actively looking at other potential events for the future."
It was reported earlier today that an events officer at Plymouth City Council has blamed ‘the current climate around rising costs and rolling of the dice in terms of ticket sales’ for the decision.
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