Van Morrison’s London Residency 2026 at British Airways ARC Olympia

Legendary Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison will headline the very first residency at British Airways ARC, the brand-new purpose-built live music venue inside the massive Olympia redevelopment in West London.

Across five fully seated nights in September 2026, you will be able to see one of the most influential artists in modern music performing inside London’s most talked-about new concert venue. And because this is the ARC’s first-ever residency, these shows are not just another tour stop. They are effectively part of the venue’s opening history.

The residency runs on September 23, 24, 27, 28, and 29, 2026. Tickets go on general sale Friday May 15, at 9am, with pre-sale access available a day earlier through the venue’s official site.

Why This Van Morrison Residency Matters

Even in a city overloaded with concerts, this residency stands out for two reasons.

First, Van Morrisoan remains one of the most respected and enduring live performers in contemporary music. His catalogue stretches from the Belfast R&B scene of the 1960s through soul, jazz, blues, folk, rock, and Celtic influences spanning more than four decades of recordings.

Second, these concerts launch the residency format at the new ARC venue itself.

The ARC is the first London venue of this size to be built from the ground up in more than a decade, and the industry attention around its acoustics, design, and artist-first approach has been significant ever since it was announced.

So if you attend one of these nights, you are effectively seeing:

• A major artist.
• A brand-new venue.
• And the first residency in the building’s history.

That combination rarely happens in London.

Who Is Van Morrison?

Born George Ivan Morrison in Belfast in 1945, Van Morrison built one of the most influential catalogues in modern music.

If you know only a few songs, they are likely:

• ‘Brown Eyed Girl’
• ‘Moondance’
• ‘Into the Mystic’
• ‘Have I Told You Lately’
• ‘Bright Side of the Road’

But his influence runs far deeper than radio hits. Across more than 40 studio albums, Morrison has moved through blues, jazz, soul, folk, country, and spiritual songwriting while maintaining an intensely respected live reputation.

The residency also arrives shortly after:

• His 2026 Jazz FM Lifetime Achievement Award.
• The release of his latest album, ‘Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge.’
• A busy European festival schedule including appearances like Montreux Jazz Festival.

The new album leans heavily into blues reinterpretations and classic influences including songs associated with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Lead Belly.

That likely means these London performances could balance classic crowd favourites with blues-heavy deeper cuts and newer material.

What the British Airways ARC at Olympia Actually Is

The venue itself is a huge part of the appeal.

British Airways ARC sits inside the £1.3 billion transformation of Olympia London in West London.

The new 3,800-capacity music venue was purpose-built specifically for live performance and officially opened in June 2026.

Unlike older retrofitted concert halls, the ARC was designed entirely around:

• Modern concert acoustics.
• Better sightlines.
• Faster audience flow.
• Premium seating experiences.
• Artist-focused backstage infrastructure.

The venue name references Olympia’s historic architectural arches, which have long defined the exhibition complex.

The redevelopment surrounding the ARC is massive in scale and turns Olympia into a full entertainment district. Alongside the concert space, the site now includes:

• Restaurants and bars.
• Hotels.
• Theatre spaces.
• Office developments.
• Rooftop dining concepts.
• Public gathering areas.

The food and drink at Olympia before the show

One of the advantages of this venue compared to older London concert halls is that the surrounding hospitality is integrated directly into the site.

Before or after the residency shows, you can explore venues including:

• Juno — a huge Italian restaurant concept.
• Wolves of Tokyo — a rooftop Japanese restaurant and bar.
• Arbour — a multi-concept food hall.
• Bar Arriba — a Mexican-inspired restaurant and cocktail bar.

That changes the rhythm of the night considerably. Instead of rushing into a venue, grabbing a quick drink, and leaving immediately after the encore, Olympia is trying to create a full-night destination experience.

What the concert experience will feel like

These shows are fully seated. That matters because it changes the atmosphere significantly compared to arena concerts or standing gigs.

With an artist like Van Morrison, the format suits the music particularly well. His performances tend to focus heavily on musicianship, arrangements, improvisation, and vocal phrasing rather than crowd spectacle.

The ARC’s acoustic setup should also complement that style.

Given the five-night residency structure, there is also a realistic chance of meaningful setlist variation between dates. Morrison’s catalogue is large enough that each evening could easily shift between:

• Soul classics.
• Blues material.
• Jazz arrangements.
• Folk-driven songs.
• Deep album cuts.
• Newer tracks.

That is one of the major advantages of a residency compared to a single headline concert.

Quick Details

Venue: British Airways ARC
Dates: September 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 2026.
Format: Fully seated residency.
Capacity: 3,800.
General sale: Friday, May 15, 2026 at 9am.
Pre-sale: Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 9am.
Price: Starts £187
Tickets: British Airways ARC Official Site
Nearest station: Kensington Olympia.

VIP upgrades

The venue is also offering access to the British Airways Wing experience, which includes:

• Front-row seating upgrades.
• Dedicated cocktail bar access.
• Balcony viewing for selected events.

Because this is the ARC’s first residency and the capacity is relatively intimate at 3,800 seats, demand is expected to be high across all five dates.

Five nights inside London’s newest major venue with one of the greatest living songwriters is already a compelling setup.

Add in the ARC’s opening-season buzz and the fact this is the first residency the building has ever hosted, and these concerts start to feel much bigger than a standard tour run.