Nevill Holt Festival announces second wave of programming for 2026 season

Legendary sculptors, BAFTA-winning filmmakers, Cuban jazz and West End royalty join the Festival's most ambitious programme to date.

March 3, 2026: The Nevill Holt Festival has today announced the second wave of programming for its 2026 season. Running from 29 May to 21 June, the Festival – which saw more than 15,000 tickets sold across its 2025 season – returns with a programme 15% larger than last year, spanning art, music, literature, sport, politics, comedy and family entertainment.

Headliners for the second wave include Clare Balding CBE in conversation with Rebecca Adlington OBE, sculptor Andy Goldsworthy OBE in conversation with Dr James Fox, Cuban piano virtuoso Rolando Luna and the Havana Jazz Trio, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Dame Anya Hindmarch, Jonathan Agnew with Jim Carter and Dame Imelda Staunton, and historian and filmmaker David Olusoga.

Sport, conversation and ideas

Sport takes centre stage as Clare Balding CBE sits down with two-time Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington OBE for a headline ‘In Conversation’ event reflecting on Balding’s career at the forefront of British broadcasting – from the Olympics and Paralympics to the Coronation of King Charles III.

Clare Balding CBE said: “I love the variety and the challenge of a festival like Nevill Holt – there's something about the setting that brings out the best in a conversation. Rebecca is wonderful company. I'm really looking forward to meeting the festival goers at the end of May". 

After two consecutive sold-out years, Jonathan ‘Aggers’ Agnew returns by popular demand – this time joined by actors and cricket devotees Jim Carter and Dame Imelda Staunton for a conversation blending tales from the crease with West End glamour. Former Times Chief Football Writer Henry Winter joins FIFA’s official photographer Peter Robinson for an afternoon spanning 13 World Cups.

Arts, culture and literature

Legendary actor of the screen and stage Hugh Bonneville is joined in conversation by acclaimed actress Genevieve Gaunt for an afternoon of insight and wit. The thespian duo will delve into the anecdotes, backstage encounters and the quietly comic misadventures that have populated Hugh’s decades as a working actor. 

Andy Goldsworthy OBE – the internationally renowned sculptor and environmentalist – returns to the Festival for an in-conversation event with Cambridge University’s Dr James Fox, focussing on his career devoted to site-specific works crafted from clay, stone, snow and ice. 

Reportage illustrator and TED Fellow George Butler – described by Michael Morpurgo as “the Paul Nash of our era” and whose work is held by the V&A and the Imperial War Museum– explores how art bears witness to conflict. . Royal Drawing School co-founder Catherine Goodman CBE discusses the four decades she has spent working to ensure drawing remains at the heart of British art education.

Dame Zandra Rhodes celebrates five decades of groundbreaking design, from dressing Freddie Mercury and Princess Diana to founding London’s Fashion and Textile Museum. Dame Anya Hindmarch is joined by journalist Emily Sheffield for a behind-the-scenes look at building a global luxury brand. Local poet Tim Relf leads a poetry workshop for Stanzas Under the Spire.

Biographer Anne de Courcy explores the Cunard family’s deep connections to Nevill Holt, drawing from Five Love Affairs and a Friendship. Also offering an insight into the Cunard family, Cultural historian Siân Evans explores the fascinating life of Lady Cunard charting her meteoric rise and her key role in the Abdication Crisis of 1936.

The festival’s Founder and Chair David Ross of Nevill Holt Hall takes to the festival stage in Guardians of Heritage alongside other guardians of Britain’s great country houses and gardens. David is joined for a special conversation, chaired by Hatta Byng, on the importance of heritage stewardship by the Duke of Buccleuch of Boughton House and Orlando Rock of Burghley House. 

History, politics and current affairs

BAFTA-winning filmmaker and Fellow of the British Academy David Olusoga presents an evening on British history, race and identity. Financial Times deputy political editor Jim Pickard will discuss his reporting on Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and explore what the controversy reveals about the state of British politics.

Former Head of the British Army General Sir Patrick Sanders and political journalist Tom Newton Dunn bring their hit podcast The General and The Journalist to Nevill Holt for its first ever live recording. 

Leading historian Claire Hubbard-Hall will draw on private papers and newly declassified files to uncover the hidden history of how women have been at the heart of Britain’s secret intelligence services for over 100 years. Staying in the murky world of espionage, the University of Nottingham’s Professor Rory Cormac also unpacks the clandestine history of Britain’s Cold War forgery unit.

The University of Leicester’s leading archaeologist Mathew Morris will take audiences on a fascinating journey into one of Leicester’s most enduring myths, the story of King Leir, the city's legendary founder whose tale inspired Shakespeare’s King Lear. 

Music & Opera

Cuban piano virtuoso Rolando Luna brings his Havana Jazz Trio to Nevill Holt – a former pianist with the Grammy award-winning Buena Vista Social Club and double prize-winner at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Multi-talented singer, songwriter, pianist and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson adds her genre-bending sound to the festival’s line-up, offering a vibrant mix of classical, jazz, reggae, soul and R&B that is unlike anything else you’ll hear all summer. Local favourites The LoKeys bring Brit-pop-inflected music to the Spiegeltent. 

On the Community Stage, we have two amazing acts to offer totally free of charge!  Festival favourites the Melton Band return and are joined by the Stamford Stompers Dixieland Jazz Band bringing their unique New Orleans‑style sound. 

Comedy & Cabaret 

After sell-out shows in Edinburgh and London, Underbelly brings its flagship Comedy All Stars to the 1920s Spiegeltent. Previous shows have featured Nina Conti, Phil Wang, Fern Brady and David O’Doherty. Line-up to be announced.

The award-winning comedian, writer and actress Jenny Eclair is a riotously funny addition, joining the festival for a 'sort of conversation', featuring indiscrete gossip, scurrilous anecdotes and ill-advised over sharing. 

Kids & Family 

Waterstones presents Oscar-nominated animation director Mikey Please, celebrating his sequel The Cave Downwind of the Café – the follow-up to Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year 2025.

Multi award-winning author and illustrator Rob Biddulph, the creative star behind the viral and phenomenal #DrawWithRob videos joins the festival for a fun packed event for all the family. Lemon Jelly also returns with a drama workshop designed to build confidence and enhance creativity and communication skills.

Food, Lifestyle and Travel 

Great British Bake Off finalist Dr Josh Smalley and colleagues from the University of Leicester lead an immersive session blending heritage baking and historic beer brewing with archaeological discovery.

Commenting on the second wave of programming, Underbelly Director Ed Bartlam said: “The breadth of this programme is genuinely unlike anything else in the UK festival calendar. From world-class visual artists and political heavyweights to Cuban jazz and local heroes – there really is something for everyone. We’ve built something special at Nevill Holt and we can’t wait to welcome audiences back this summer.”

Tickets are now on sale for Nevill Holt Festival Members. On Thursday, 5 March at 12 noon tickets will go general release. For the full programme, membership information and booking, visit www.nevillholtfestival.com