A two-day Dolly Parton DollyFest festival is planned for London in 2027
The party that never was gets an upgrade
Dolly Parton's epic legacy will be celebrated with a two-day festival in London next year called, of course, DollyFest.
London is one of two cities announced to stage the commemorative festival, the other being Nashville, the heartland of country music. But we like to think this shows the level of affection the international treasure had for the capital — and vice versa.
Dollyfest was announced by Dolly Parton’s estate recently, following her death on 25th August.
Most of the finer details are yet to be announced. We don’t know when DollyFest will happen beyond some time in 2027, any of the planned acts or what venue will take on this responsibility. So far Parton’s estate has simply said the Nashville and London events will take place on consecutive weekends.
DollyFest London also has a longer history than you might guess. A decade ago in 2016, Dolly reportedly had plans to curate a DollyFest do in Hyde Park — but that was always subject to finding time in her busy schedule. And it never happened.
A similar event was also scheduled to take place in January 2026 too, but was officially postponed thanks to Dolly Parton’s health issues. It was originally to be a Nashville-only festival, so while the upcoming event will now have a sad tenor, at least at points, it will be a larger party.
“We had the venue booked and we had the announcement ready to go. And then, in August 2025, Dolly had to take a step back after her initial health challenges,” says DollyFest organiser Danny Nozell.
“DollyFest will be the party of a lifetime she wanted to share with the world,” reads the event’s announcement.
Dolly Parton last played the UK in 2014, a year in which she performed two concerts at The O2 as well as a set at Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage that year. You can watch BBC footage of that set over at YouTube:
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