Lazydays expands to Thursday with Madness at Priory Park in 2027
We’ve been busy behind the scenes getting ready for Lazydays 2027, and next summer we’re adding something new.
For the first time, the Lazydays weekend will begin with a huge Thursday opening concert at Priory Park, taking place on Thursday 22 July 2027.
And we’re starting with our biggest one yet.
We’re incredibly excited to announce that Madness will headline the first Lazydays opening concert, returning to Southend for their first show in the city in more than 18 years.
The Thursday opening concert will be separately ticketed from Lazydays Festival, which runs from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 July 2027.
Sign up for Madness pre-sale access
Tickets go on General Sale at 10am on Friday 16 October 2026, with an exclusive 24-hour pre-sale opening at 10am on Thursday 15 October 2026.
High demand is expected, with Madness’ summer 2027 dates selling extremely quickly and their Rochester Castle concert selling out in just a few hours.
Already got a Lazydays Festival 2027 day or weekend ticket? Make sure you sign up for the Madness pre-sale too. Existing 2027 ticket holders who register will receive a Loyalty Discount Code to use during the exclusive pre-sale, giving access to a limited allocation of reduced-price Loyalty Tickets.
A whole day built around Madness
We’re curating a full supporting line-up around Madness across two stages, creating a whole day of live music before one of Britain’s great live bands takes over Priory Park.
Alongside the music, expect full-scale concert production, pyrotechnics, a brilliant choice of street food and bars showcasing independent drinks producers.
It takes everything we love about putting on events in Priory Park and gives us the chance to build something specifically around one incredible headliner.
The full supporting line-up will be announced in the coming weeks.
Madness return to Southend after more than 18 years
Madness are one of Britain’s most iconic bands, with a career spanning more than four decades and a catalogue packed with songs that have become part of British music history.
With 17 UK Top 10 singles, including Our House, It Must Be Love, Baggy Trousers, House of Fun and One Step Beyond, they remain one of the country’s most celebrated live acts.
Their Priory Park show will mark a long-awaited return to Southend, having last performed in the city at the Cliffs Pavilion in 2009.
Suggs said:
“It is magnificent to be coming back. A mate of mine came to a recent show and said, ‘Suggs, it’s just unbridled joy.’ And he's right. Southend is the perfect canvas for a proper old knees-up by the water. Leave your troubles at the gate and let’s just lose ourselves for a bit. See you down the front!”
We couldn’t put it much better ourselves.
Madness feel made for a huge summer show in Southend, and bringing them back to the city for their first performance here in more than 18 years is a particularly special moment for us.
A big moment for Lazydays
When we started Lazydays in 2024, we were three friends from Southend with some fairly ambitious ideas about what we could create in our home city.
We wanted to build something with personality and imagination, support brilliant independent businesses and create the kind of events we’d want to go to ourselves.
We certainly didn’t imagine that just a few years later we’d be bringing an artist of the scale of Madness to Priory Park.
More than 12,000 people joined us at Lazydays Festival in 2026, with Tinie Tempah, Feeder, Sister Sledge, The Feeling and Natalie Imbruglia among the artists performing across the weekend.
More than 5,000 people are already set to join us in 2027, and adding a major Thursday concert feels like another huge step in what Lazydays is becoming.