Special events for a special festival

We knew we had to throw a big one for the 20th anniversary.

We spent a long time working out how to celebrate 20 years of Notts coming together to raise so much dosh for charity. How do you mark the legacy without getting full of yourself? Because the Hustle physically (and mentally) can’t happen without hundreds and thousands of people making it happen. That’s what makes it special. The volunteers. The artists. The charities. The promoters. The venues. The street entertainers. The people. The council. The funders. The printers. The techies. The decor crew. The patient family members.

Anyway. As well as throwing the biggest party we’ve ever done on the day, we’ve added a few wraparound events this year to stretch the partying out as long as possible…

20th Anniversary Exhibition

We wanted a room where we could stick up all the old posters. And the wristband designs. And the photos that make everyone feel so old (or young?!). A room with as many archive videos as we can find on a master loop, and interviews rolling with Hustle veterans and the people who make it happen.

The wonderful Broadway Cinema have let us take over their gallery space (at the back of Broadway, on Heathcote Street) to do exactly that. It’s open 11am–4pm every day from Tuesday 20 October right up to the Hustle itself. Come and get soppy with us about the Hustles of yore.

We’re also throwing a little launch party on Tuesday 20 October at 6pm, with some special guests and maybe even some fancy canapés. Which leads nicely into…

Broadway x Hustle music film programme

Broadway are one of our longest-running collaborators and pretty much Hustle HQ on the day. Lucy and the team asked how they could support us even more this year, so we leaned into what they do best and put together a couple of music film screenings.

First up was The Story of Lovers Rock on 3 October, part of Broadway’s Black History Month programme: a tribute to Menelik Shabazz, presented by DJ and host Delroy Topnotch Young.

Then, very excitingly, we’ve been given the rights to screen Bunch of Kunst, the brilliant Sleaford Mods documentary, on Tuesday 20 October at 7.45pm. It’s an extra fundraiser for the brilliant Emmanuel House.

UFO Orchestra with some VERY special guests at St Mary’s Church

For the past 10 years we’ve worked with the legend that is Ian Burton and his 70-piece UFO Orchestra, alongside some of Notts’ best vocalists from across the years. It’s in loads of people’s top Hustle moments. We’ve had Liam Bailey, Rob Green, Tiger from Divorce, Nina Smith, Harleighblu, Alfie Sharp and many, many more.

It’s one of those spine-tingling, hair-standing-on-end moments in the middle of the chaos. We’re so lucky St Mary’s are letting us use the space again. Get there early to make sure you get in!

Vocalists announced soon…

Step N Groove: R&B line dancing

We met Step N Groove last year. They joined us for the 2025 Hustle and ran R&B line dancing workshops on Broad Street that pulled in hundreds of people dancing in the rain.

Since then they’ve gone viral all over the world with their routine to Donaeo, Lemar and House Gospel Choir’s Nights Like This. Charmaine and the crew have been travelling round the world teaching it to thousands of people, including the artists themselves.

As part of our wraparound projects, they’re running community workshops at the ACNA Centre in St Ann’s, and with Open Wings in Sherwood, working with learning disabled adults. Those groups and the whole of the Hustle are invited to join the R&B line dancing flashmob and performance on Broad Street at 3.45pm, straight after the Can Samba Parade. You don’t even need cowboy boots. But please do bring them.

In our brochure we said we were going for a world record. Then we found out the record for group line dancing is 18,431. We don’t think anyone’s set one for R&B line dancing though, so leave it with us…

Queer Hustle

Last year we launched our first ever Queer Hustle programme, celebrating four brilliant local queer promoters. There was an exhibition from Queer Up Duck, a zine made by Queer Notts Zine, Nottingham’s first ever ballroom event curated by Queerish, and the legends Unnamed Drag bringing their brilliance to The Lord Roberts.

This year we’re supporting even more of Nottingham’s queer community. More on that soon in a blog post from Hustle team member and Queer Hustle lead Cae!

Hustle warm-up: Channel One Sound System x Our Yard at Brickworks

Our Yard (run by Notts legend Nathaniel MIMM) is bringing Channel One Sound System to Brickworks on Saturday 24 October, so we’re teaming up for a lil Hustle warm-up the night before.

We’ve also invited one of our charities, Shifting Your Mindset, to run a stall and hopefully raise a bit more dosh.

Just don’t go too hard on the dance floor. The next day’s a big one…