Independent Venue Week 2026: January 26th - February 1st

09 January 2026 - Press release

IVW Artist Ambassadors’ Nova Twins, Brògeal and Eve Goodman announce exclusive live shows to celebrate the importance of independent venues

• Nova Twins play a hometown gig at London’s Amersham Arms on January 27th

• Brògeal perform two Scottish shows across the week at MacArts in Galashiels (30th January) and The Venue in Dumfries (31st January) 

• Welsh singer-songwriter Eve Goodman plays a solo show at Mold’s Caffi Isa on January 26th 

• Tickets for these Ambassador shows are available to purchase from tomorrow am

• IVW also detail a new initiative with PRS Foundation’s Early Career Promoter Fund

• 236 venues are confirmed to participate in IVW26 (10% more than IVW25) hosting a huge range of music and other live events all around the UK

 

With the 13th edition of Independent Venue Week kicking off in less than three weeks, we are hugely excited to announce details of the exclusive live shows being performed by our 2026 Artist Ambassadors’ Nova Twins, Brògeal (Scotland) and Eve Goodman (Wales).

They will be joining hundreds of other artists - both big and small, and from all different genres - who will take to the stage at 236 authentic, independently-owned venues across the UK between Monday January 26th and Sunday February 1st for one of the UK’s biggest celebrations of live music and independent culture. 

Returning to their South London beginnings, Nova Twins will play a one-off live show on Tuesday January 27th at the 300-capacity Amersham Arms. 

Widely recognised as one the UK’s most exciting live performers, the trailblazing and fiercely independent duo (Amy Love & Georgia South) are currently on the verge of serious international success. With a November 2025 appearance on NPR Music’s iconic Tiny Desk Concert bringing their fresh and futuristic brand of rock to an even wider audience, the band  will play more than 50 live dates this year in support of their third album, Parasites & Butterflies, including a series of US and European arena shows supporting Evanescence.  

Nova Twins’ roots, however, are firmly in the UK, with the Amersham Arms providing a pivotal early influence. A bastion of London’s music scene since the 1960s, the venue has continued to host wave after wave innovative musical talent, from Suede, Gene, Placebo and Cornershop in the 1990s through to Foals, The xx, Skepta, Hudson Mohawke, These New Puritans, Loyle Carner, Public Service Broadcasting, Lambrini Girls, The K’s and Fat Dog. 

This exclusive IVW show is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one of the UK’s greatest contemporary live bands in such an intimate setting. 

General tickets go on sale here at 10am Friday 9th January. 

Nova Twins said:
“We’re SO excited to be playing Amersham Arms on Jan 27th for Independent Venue Week! This is such a special space for us, we cut our teeth on that stage many times in our teen years and have so many fond memories there.

“From our very first bands to forming Nova Twins, it’s been a staple for us, shaping our growth and helping build our community. We can’t wait to put on an intimate show to celebrate independent venues, we must keep protecting them!”

IVW are also announcing shows from our Scottish Ambassadors, the amazing Brògeal, and our Welsh Ambassador, folk singer Eve Goodman. 

On the back of a hugely successful 2025, when they released their acclaimed debut album Tuesday Paper Club and racked up more than 80 live shows, Falkirk five-piece Brògeal will help kickstart IVW26 north of the border with gigs at and MacArts in Galashiels (30th January) and The Venue in Dumfries (31st January). Both are incredibly important venues within the Scottish music scene, bringing live events to regions beyond the buzzing scenes of Glasgow and Edinburgh.  

Brògeal will be supported on both dates by The Rooks. 

Tickets for Galashiels go on sale here at 10am Friday 9th January.  Tickets for Dumfries go on sale here.

Meanwhile, Eve Goodman who already has IVW shows booked at Swansea’sTŷ Tawe on 30th January and Pembroke’s Cwtch Coffee on 1st February as part of a tour with fellow singer-songwriter SERA, will play an additional solo show at Caffi Isa in Mold on 26th January. 

Tickets go on sale here at 10am Friday 9th January.  

Sybil Bell, Founder & CEO, Independent Venue Week:
“I’m so honoured that IVW continues to attract such brilliant artist ambassadors, and these shows really encapsulate what this celebration is all about - whether it’s Nova Twins going back to a formative venue that’s close to their hearts, or Brògeal and Eve veering away from the UK’s major cities to play in music-loving towns such as Galashiels, Dumfries and Mold. That’s such an important aspect of what we’re aiming to achieve, and we can’t wait for the 13th consecutive edition of IVW to kick off on January 26th.”

Initially established in 2013, Independent Venue Week has evolved into one of the most important and celebratory events in the UK music calendar - encouraging fans to start the year by buying a ticket, getting together with friends and having a great night out supporting their local independent venue and discovering amazing music. 

Since launch, more than 1m tickets have been purchased for IVW events - helping fill venues at a traditionally quiet time of year, providing performance and direct fan-building opportunities for artists, and offering cultural engagement and excitement for audiences. 

In 2026, 236 UK venues will participate in the celebration, situated everywhere from Belfast to John O’Groats to Cornwall and in all cities, towns and villages in between. 

Details of all participating IVW venues and the shows they are hosting are available on the IVW website. 

Just some of the amazing artists performing during the week include Dove Ellis, Sorry, The Bug Club, Eliza Carthy, Brown Horse, Shovel Dance Collective, Future Utopia, Annie & The Caldwells, Naima Bock, Buzzcocks, The Clause, Antony Szmierek, Cherise, Corto Alto, Pigs x 7, Dream Wife, Gia Ford, Girlband!, HotWax, She Drew The Gun, The Molotovs, The Orielles, Insecure Men, Ren Harvieu & Romeo Stodart, The Pill , thistle, Will Varley, Silver Gore, Cordelia, Extinction Of Mankind, Mike Joyce, David Rowntree, Walt Disco, Nyah Grace, Stick In The Wheel, Steve Knightley, Kofi Stone, Olugbenga (Metronomy) DJ Set, Tamer Nafar, Hedera, Disgusting Sisters, On Wednesdays We Wear Black, Jah Wobble & Invaders Of the Heart, Heavy Wild, Big Sexy Noise (Lydia Lunch with Gallon Drunk), Lucy Spraggan, Matilda Finn Frances, Skinny Living, James Walsh, Dodgy, Pale Blue Eyes, The Dunwells, Pete Roth Trio ft Bill Bruford, Retrofile, Matt Storm, Scott Lavene, The Dunwells, Oslo Twins, Dylan LeBlanc, Tom Hingley, Nick Harper, 808 State (DJ Set), Chris Hawkins (DJ Set), Mad Professor, The Beat (ft Ranking Jr), Youth Sector, The Gentle Good, Gwenifer Raymond, John Bramwell and many many more. 

This year, IVW is also partnering with PRS Foundation and their Early Career Promoter Fund - supporting five previous ECPF grantees to promote their own shows around the country during the week. 

 

These shows are as follows, with tickets available on the respective venues websites:

• 28th January: Hare & Hounds, Birmingham - Ni Maxine + Some Honey (promoted by Variations, Toni Grehan)

• 28th January: Carlton Club, Manchester - Manchester Improvisation Festival (promoted by Will Tang)

• 29th January: Alphabet, Brighton - FACESOUL + Hutch (promoted by Mines called Basics, JED) 

• 1st February: The Crescent, York - FEET + Bull Gorgeous (promoted by Road Less Travelled, Niamh Bramley)

• 7th February: The Old Blue Last, London - Ottomani Parker / Carre / Aloka + Kincaid (promoted by Seasoning, Fraser Dahdouh)

 

IVW26 is supported by a range of partners, including Arts Council England, Beavertown, BBC 6 Music, the Welsh Government via Creative Wales and by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland and PPL.