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Shoreditch Town Hall will host the third edition of its basement performance festival Summer in The Ditch, running from 9 to 18 July 2026 across seven evenings.
The programme spans ventriloquism, opera, drag, burlesque, live art, immersive tech and clowning, with 14 shows scheduled as double bills across the run. Each performance lasts up to 60 minutes, and audiences booking both shows on the same evening receive £2 off per ticket.
The festival takes place in The Ditch, the basement space of the east London venue, which has operated as a creative hub since 1866.
The Programme
The festival opens on Thursday 9 July with two shows. Lachlan Werner: Sleeper Hit presents what is billed as a ventriloquial hypnotherapy session, with a character called Brew the Witch inviting audience members to “purge your subconscious”. Tickets are priced at £9, or £7 for concessions.
That same evening, House of Trius: Kiki with Cori brings a burlesque cabaret night hosted by Cori Creemz, featuring members of the Black Burlesque School. Tickets are £12, or £10 for concessions.
Friday 10 July features Simone French and TomYumSim: Trainwreck, an interactive comedy in which audience choices shape the narrative as AI disrupts the storyline. Tickets are £12, or £10 for concessions.
Also on Friday 10 July, Kate Newman: A Womb of One’s Own blends clowning, punk and autobiography in a performance about medical misogyny. Tickets are £9, or £7 for concessions.
Saturday 11 July opens with JEAN: Wasted, a surreal drag show exploring themes of rejection and disposal, at £9 or £7 for concessions. It is followed by Booters X Fabio Lezonli: Booted Rivalry, a butch-for-butch jock romance performance priced at £15 or £13 for concessions. Fabio Lezonli is a returning performer from previous editions of the festival.
Mid-Festival Line-Up
Wednesday 15 July brings Razik Darji and Joseph Baugh: “Who Raised You?”: Enter The Manosphere, an immersive show described as a “visceral immersive party” where “self-improvement, performance and power collide”. Tickets are £9, or £7 for concessions.
The same evening features Dilly: On Our Backs, a work-in-progress cabaret performance about queer femme life, at £9 or £7 for concessions.
Thursday 16 July sees the return of Riss Obolensky: Stinky Little Pilgrim, described as “part ritual, part reckoning, part clown show” and exploring meaning in a crisis. Obolensky is another returning performer. Tickets are £9 or £7.
That evening also features Fanny Bleach: The Nearly Naked Show, from the Top of the Slops 2023 winner, at £12 or £10 for concessions. Bleach was previously crowned on the venue’s Assembly Hall stage.
Closing Weekend
Friday 17 July includes Edie Bailey: Pteridomania, a queer love story set during the 19th-century fern hunting craze that reimagines opera as an immersive performance. Tickets are £9, or £7 for concessions.
Also on Friday, Operotica featuring Seayonce: Lovers in Every Lifetime combines classical training with a psychic medium performance concept. Tickets are £12, or £10 for concessions.
The festival closes on Saturday 18 July with two shows. Georgia Tasda: Back in Business sees another returning performer deliver a comedic masterclass, priced at £12 or £10.
The final show is Mirabelle and Tallulah Haddon: Open Your Mouth, It’s Snowing, a multisensory piece by collaborating sisters exploring risk and beauty, at £9 or £7 for concessions.
Open Mic Night
The festival will also host an Open Mic night on Saturday 11 July in the venue’s bar, running from 8.30pm to 9pm. The session is open to musicians, artists, poets and performers wanting to try out material, and will be hosted by Helen Highwater. No booking is required.
About The Venue
Shoreditch Town Hall operates as a charity. The building has been in continuous use since 1866, with a history spanning Victorian reform, Sylvia Pankhurst’s activism, boxing matches and the Whirl-Y-Gig events of the 1990s.
The venue maintains accessibility information on its website, and a 3D tour of the building is available online. Those wishing to support the venue’s upkeep can find donation details on its website.
