Jackie Kay, Luke Wright, Henry Normal, Anthony Joseph and Joelle Taylor announced to perform at this year’s Push the Boat Out Festival, as we unveil our Festival Nights programme for the very first time.
This autumn, Push the Boat Out is doing things a little differently.
Ahead of our full programme announcement on 1 October, we’re giving audiences their first look at PTBO 2026 with a specially curated series of preview events and Festival Nights – bringing some of the biggest voices in poetry, performance and music to Edinburgh.
Festival Director Emma Collins said:
“We’re delighted to share this first glimpse of what’s to come for Push the Boat Out 2026. The preview event and the Festival Night performances give an early taste of the extraordinary range of voices, ideas and live experiences that shape this year’s festival.”
From an intimate evening aboard the Fingal to Scottish premieres, live music, cabaret and a newly commissioned closing performance, Festival Nights will take poetry beyond the page and into some unforgettable live experiences.
Jackie Kay dockside at Fingal Hotel by Neil Hanna
Our 2026 preview programme begins on 31 October with a very special evening in partnership with Fingal, Edinburgh’s luxury floating hotel and former Northern Lighthouse Board ship.
Award-winning poet Jackie Kay joins us for an intimate evening of readings and conversation celebrating the publication of her new Selected Poems, capturing an extraordinary three decades of poetry.
Against one of Edinburgh’s most distinctive backdrops, it’s a fitting way to begin our journey towards PTBO 2026.
When Push the Boat Out returns to The Pleasance from 12–15 November, the evenings will bring together an eclectic mix of poetry, theatre, music, spoken word and performance.
We kick things off with an Opening Night Cabaret, featuring award-winning poets EmmaClaire Brightlynn and Nick Makoha, alongside special guests, setting the tone for a festival packed with bold voices and unexpected encounters.
Luke Wright brings an explosive set spanning two decades of acclaimed live performance, with highlights from Later Life Letter – his warm, witty and moving exploration of adoption and identity – alongside brand-new material from his forthcoming 2027 show.
Writer, poet and TV producer Henry Normal takes on the considerable challenge of condensing a thousand poems into one unforgettable hour. Celebrating his fourth collected poetry anthology, expect poetry, stories and songs delivered with the warmth and wit of the co-creator of award-winning shows including Mrs Merton and The Royle Family.
We’re also thrilled to bring the Scottish premiere of Joelle Taylor’s Maryville to Push the Boat Out.
Following her T.S. Eliot Prize-winning C+nto & Othered Poems, Taylor’s staged reading is a poetic excavation of fifty years of lesbian counterculture, following the lives of four butch lesbians through five decades of underground queer London history.
Tracing the clubs, culture, resistance and communities that shaped their world, Maryville is directed by acclaimed writer and director Neil Bartlett, with visuals from artist and filmmaker Sweatmother.
On Saturday night, we turn up the volume with award-winning writer and musician Anthony Joseph and his band.
Blending spoken word with jazz, Afrobeat, funk and the rhythms of the Caribbean, Joseph brings his hypnotic live sound to PTBO for a Saturday Night Gig that pushes at the boundaries between poetry and music.
Opening the night is Scottish artist Bee Asha, whose emotionally charged work moves between rap, poetry and song.
Push the Boat Out 2026 will close on 15 November with a striking newly commissioned collaboration bringing together musician Aurora Engine and poets JL Williams, Dean Atta and a special guest.
Combining music, electronica, poetry, voice and live performance, this new work has been created for the festival and promises a powerful finale to four days of poetry in all its forms.
Earlier this year, we launched a new residency in partnership with Little Sparta and the estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay, supporting poet Iain Morrison and visual artist Corin Sworn to develop a collaborative, poetry-led performance inspired by Finlay’s garden and work.
Their new work, pool burn lock and sluice, will first be presented at Little Sparta on 27 September, before a further performance during the main festival.
Tickets for preview and Festival Nights events are now on sale, book yours today!
The full Push the Boat Out 2026 programme will be revealed on 1 October, bringing together poets, writers, performers, artists and audiences for four days exploring this year’s theme, The Space Between. Save the date!