As well as the Community Centre, there will be lots more music and activities happening across St Denys on the 23rd. Current listings are as follows:

⭐️St Denys Community Centre, Priory Road⭐️
11:00 Jenni Casey
11:30 Tuneless Choir – Solent
12:45 Black Kat Boppers
13:45 Southampton Ukulele Jam
14:30 Angling for Farthings

Free workshops & demonstrations:
11:00 – 13:00 Acroyoga in Southampton (outdoors)
13:00 – 15:00 Acts of Kindness workshop with the John Hansard Gallery (Main Hall)
Time tbc. – Morris Dancing (outdoors)

⭐️The South Western Arms, Adelaide Road⭐️
Compered by Jenni Casey
14:00 Jenni Casey
14:45 9 Lives
15:30 Stephanio
16:00 Roger Chantler
16:30 Guillotine Union Boys

⭐️The Dolphin, Osborne Road South⭐️
15:00-18:00 Open Mic with Monika and Keith
20:00-late: Soul Shoes (DJ)

⭐️New Testament Church of God, Priory Road⭐️
DJ Nite Rider (Soca) (during daytime – times tba)

⭐️St Denys Social Club, St Denys Road⭐️
14:00 S.O.S. Presents
20:30 Dave Lloyd Backbeat Solo

⭐️Woodies at the Junction, Priory Road⭐️
12:00 Sarah Saville
15:00 Halibut Jackson & The Fish Faces
16:00 The Hedgehogs
17:00 Theo Dussek Pirate Troubadour
18:00 Puddleglum
19:30 The Postmen
21:00 The Devil’s Damned String Band

Join us for a family-friendly drop-in session with John Hansard Gallery on 23 May, 1–3 pm, indoors at St Denys Community Centre. Add your Acts of Kindness to our growing expression of shared ideas and words.

Your artistic work could be displayed at the gallery’s Community Takeover Exhibition, featured in an installation devised by book artist Tracey Bush and made by community using paper and poetry, reflecting on care for our surroundings and for each other.

Online Booking is now closed for stalls at the St Denys Community Centre for St Denys Carnival on Saturday 23rd May 2026.

Last-minute cancellations: If you select options marked as ‘Sold Out’ on the form then you will be added to our waiting list for last-minute cancellations. Should you accept, your full pitch fee will be required immediately to secure the Pitch. You will also be given the opportunity to join our mailing list to find out about future event opportunities.

100% of trader fees go towards our event running costs – permits, road closures, printing etc. so we would like to thank all the traders who have booked with us this year for helping to secure the Carnival’s future.

We are open for entries to this year’s St Denys Cake-Off, with bakers competing for the most prestigious prize ever seen in the ‘SO17 2’ postcode area. Submissions must be dropped off at the Community Centre on the evening of Friday 22nd May ready for judging, with the winners being announced at the Carnival on the 23rd.

With the introduction of a new Under-16s category, your kids get the chance to compete too!

Sales on the Carnival day of all cakes entered help to fund the Carnival and future events.

Enter here: https://form.jotform.com/260792713093056

Register for the Parade!

We are also now taking registrations for the Carnival parade. Entry is free but we do ask everyone to register in advance, in order to help us plan.

This year’s route will travel from the Community Centre to St Denys Church via Priory Road, North Road and Dundee Road before returning to Priory Road and diverting down South Road to pass by the South Western Arms and Junction Inn on Adelaide Road before arriving back at the Community Centre for prize judging.

The route is relatively flat and not particularly far but please watch out for potholes and uneven road surfaces, particularly near the railway bridge on Priory Road. Assembly will be from 11:00 in the Community Centre car park, followed by a safety briefing at approximately 11:20.

After a brilliant response from traders this year, we are now down to our last handful of tables inside the Community Centre for the Carnival, priced at £20.

We are operating a waiting list for gazebo pitches and larger indoor tables so if you are interested but haven’t yet enquired then please fill out a request on our online form and we will notify you if we have any cancellations come up.

Just under half of our total running costs for the Carnival are covered by trader fees at the Community Centre, so every paid booking helps to make the event possible.

In addition to the Community Centre, our sister venues St Denys Social Club on St Denys Road and the New Testament Church of God (NTCG) on Priory Road are also offering tables on the day of Carnival. To enquire, please contact the venues directly.

HAVE YOU GOT SKILLS BEHIND A CAMERA?

St Denys Carnival 2026 photo exhibition will be themed ‘Our River’

We are looking for local people who would like to add their favourite photo to the exhibition of The River Itchen or communities that live and work on and around it.

If you would like your photo to be included, please send it to us via messenger on our Facebook Page.

The exhibition will run from carnival day-Saturday 23rd May for 1 week at St Denys Church & Centre.

Photos will be printed for the exhibition and possibly a projection, we may also use a selection for social media promotion of the exhibit.

• Exhibition at St Denys Church

As part of the Carnival this year we have an arts festival at St Denys Church with the theme of ‘The Itchen’, or just general appreciation of our rivers, from Saturday 23rd to Sunday 31st May.

All artists are welcome to apply via the link below 😊 All sizes & media welcome!

Please note the 22nd May is the drop-off day, not the event date.

To find out more and apply, please click here (opens in Google Forms so you may be prompted to sign in using your Google account information, if you have one).

Get your application in soon to avoid disappointment!

We are pleased to announce that we are now taking bookings for St Denys Carnival at the St Denys Community Centre on Saturday 23rd May 2026.

Opening times are 11:00-15:00.

We have spaces suitable for everyone – from small indoor table tops, up to double-sized outdoor plots where you can pitch a 3m x 6m gazebo.

We particularly welcome applications from smaller independent makers and local businesses.

To apply, fill in our online form here.

Additionally, we are keen to work with suppliers of fairground rides/inflatables on a commission basis (subject to holding the relevant safety certification). For further information, please email the Traders team at traders.stdenyscarnival@outlook.com.

St Denys Carnival returns for 2026 as the St Denys Carnival & Arts Festival.

As well as the return of the highly successful Carnival, St Denys Crew are delighted to announce the addition of the Arts Festival to the Carnival family, running from 22nd -30th May 2026.

The Festival of arts and performance will include art exhibitions featuring local artists, workshops, creative spaces, dance, music and more, bringing a whole 9 days of celebration, colour and culture to Southampton.

The Carnival itself will take place on Saturday 23rd May 2026, taking in the streets of St Denys, uniting our community spaces and culminating in after parties at our beloved pubs.

After the joy of last year’s Carnival, we are thrilled to announce that the theme of the 2026 St Denys Carnival is Pirates of the River Itchen. The theme pays homage to the river which gives St Denys peace, rest, activity and fun. Check out the 2026 information page for more!

It’s that time of year when the nights seem to start earlier and the residents of St Denys start to consider whether it really is too early to switch the heating on, after all. Time to sit back with a cup of hot tea or – dare we say it – a pumpkin spiced latte and find out what is going on in Carnival-land.

Horrible Halloween
Priory Road South, and the surrounding streets are an excellent location for trick or treating as many of the local households go the extra mile in their Halloween decorations.

As Halloween falls on a Friday this year, we have decided to join in the fun with a pop-up event outside the Community Centre, near the junction of Priory Road and Horseshoe Bridge. Come and pop by between 5pm and 7pm on the 31st October for games & storytelling, or donate towards next year’s Carnival in return for hot drinks and toffee apples.

St Denys Winter Fayre – 8th November

Our co-founder, James, tends to leave his Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve. Don’t be like James! Last year’s Winter Fayre at the St Denys Community Centre was a massive success and this year they have kindly allowed us to take over the running of it, with all funds raised from stall fees and tea, coffee & cake sales going towards next year’s Carnival.

We have some excellent stallholders lined up, selling gifts and crafty bits as well as some highly delicious food. We will also have a very special guest from the North Pole, taking time out of his very busy toy production schedule to meet the children of St Denys.

Find us at St Denys Community Centre, Priory Road from 11:00-15:00. Entry is free and parking will be available on a first-come-first-served basis.

2026 Carnival

Planning is under way for the next Carnival, in May 2026. We will officially announce the date soon, as well as details of how to apply for indoor and outdoor stalls.

If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for our mailing list in order to be the first to know when we announce the details.

If you are a musician or performing artist and would like to play at the Carnival, or if you are interested in volunteering either on the day, or as a member of one or more of the Carnival Working Groups then please drop us an email at stdenys.crew@outlook.com.