The Weeknd brings his record-breaking After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour to Wembley Stadium for five nights this August, opening on Friday 14 August 2026, with doors from 17:00 and American rapper Playboi Carti supporting across the entire run. The Canadian superstar, born Abel Tesfaye, has turned what began as a two-night London booking into a five-date residency at the national stadium, spanning 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19 August, in what promoters have billed as his most ambitious production to date. Industry observers, including coverage tracked by The WP Times, have pointed to the sheer weight of demand that pushed the London leg from two shows to five inside a matter of days.
For the hundreds of thousands of fans heading to HA9 across those five evenings, this is the definitive, practical rundown: every confirmed date, the on-sale history, the ticket tiers and prices, the stage times, the expected setlist, Wembley's strict bag and entry rules, the age restrictions, the cashless payment policy, accessibility booking, the fastest routes in and out, and where to eat, drink and stay before and after the show. Read it before you travel, because Wembley's curfew is firm, its bag policy is stricter than many first-time visitors expect, and the post-show crush is one of the biggest regular crowd movements in the country.
When Is The Weeknd Playing at Wembley Stadium in 2026
The Weeknd headlines Wembley Stadium on five separate nights in August 2026 as part of the tour's 2026 extension. The dates were confirmed in two waves. The original booking covered two nights, and after that allocation sold out almost immediately, three further shows were added to meet the extraordinary demand from UK fans. That expansion took the London run to a full five nights and made Wembley the centrepiece of the entire European leg.
The Confirmed Wembley Dates
The five Wembley Stadium headline dates are:
- Friday 14 August 2026 — doors 17:00
- Saturday 15 August 2026 — doors 17:00
- Sunday 16 August 2026 — doors from 16:30
- Tuesday 18 August 2026 — doors 17:00
- Wednesday 19 August 2026 — doors 17:00
Note the Sunday show opens its doors half an hour earlier than the others, at 16:30 rather than 17:00. If you have tickets for 16 August, plan your arrival accordingly, because that earlier opening tends to catch people out.
Where Wembley Sits in the UK Run
These five London shows are not the only UK dates on the tour. Ahead of Wembley, The Weeknd plays two nights at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on 11 and 12 June 2026. Those Manchester shows and the five Wembley nights are the only UK stops on the entire 2026 tour, which makes London by far the largest single concentration of UK dates and a magnet for fans travelling in from across the country and beyond.
The Full 2026 UK and European Tour Dates
Wembley is one leg of a sprawling European itinerary that runs through the summer of 2026. Understanding the wider routing is useful if you are considering catching the show in another city, or if you simply want a sense of the scale of the production arriving in London. The European and UK dates around the Wembley run include:
- 11 & 12 June — Etihad Stadium, Manchester
- 10 July — Stade de France, Paris
- 16 July — Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam
- 21 July — Allianz Riviera, Nice
- 24 July — San Siro, Milan
- 30 July — Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt
- 4 August — PGE Narodowy, Warsaw
- 8 August — Strawberry Arena, Stockholm
- 14–19 August — Wembley Stadium, London (five nights)
- 22 August — Croke Park, Dublin
- 28, 29 & 30 August — Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Madrid
- 1 September — Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona
Playboi Carti supports on all UK and European dates. The tour is a genuine world tour, having already rolled through North and South America earlier in the year, with the North American leg alone taking in more than 40 sold-out stadium shows and breaking attendance and sales records across major US and Canadian cities.
How To Buy The Weeknd Wembley Tickets
Tickets for all five Wembley shows went on general sale at 12:00 on Friday 12 September 2025. That general on-sale was preceded by a run of presales between 9 and 11 September through Live Nation, O2 Priority, Nespresso and Ticketmaster, among others. The official sellers for these concerts are Ticketmaster and Wembley Stadium. No other outlet is authorised to sell primary tickets for these shows.
Official Sellers and Safe Resale
The general allocation has, for the most part, sold. But tickets do resurface as plans change, and there are legitimate ways to find them. Your safest routes are:
- Ticketmaster resale. A limited number of presale and general-sale tickets are resold through Ticketmaster's own platform. These are capped and priced at face value plus standard fees, and the transfer is handled digitally through your Ticketmaster account, which keeps the ticket valid.
- Wembley Stadium hospitality. Official premium packages remain available for selected dates and are booked directly through the Wembley Stadium website.
- Authorised fan-to-fan resale. Only ever use resale platforms explicitly authorised by the promoter for this tour.
Why You Should Avoid Touts
Avoid touts and unofficial resellers entirely. Tickets bought from unauthorised sources, whether from a tout outside the ground or a dubious listing online, may be invalid and can result in you being refused entry at the gate. Because these shows use digital, transferable ticketing tied to named accounts, a screenshot or a printout from an unofficial seller is worthless at the turnstile. If a deal looks too good, or the seller wants payment by bank transfer or cash outside the official system, walk away. Losing the money is bad enough; travelling to Wembley and being turned away is worse.
Ticket Prices and Seating Tiers
Wembley offers two core ticket types for these shows — seated and standing on the pitch (general admission) — alongside a range of hospitality options that sit above the standard price bands.
Standard Seated and Standing Prices
Seated tickets started from £60.25, with three seating tiers spread across Level 1, Level 2 and Level 5 within the stadium bowl. Standing places put fans on the pitch, closest to the stage, in a general-admission area with no reserved spot, so early arrival matters if you want to be near the front.
The three seated tiers, broadly, work like this:
- Level 1 is the lowest tier, closest to pitch level, and generally the most sought-after seated option for sightlines onto the stage.
- Level 2 is the middle tier, offering a balance of elevation and value, and is often the sweet spot for a full view of the production design.
- Level 5 is the highest tier and typically the most affordable. It comes with an important warning: it has a steep gradient and may not be suitable for anyone affected by vertigo. If heights bother you, choose a lower tier.
Hospitality and Premium Packages
For those wanting the full experience, Wembley's official hospitality runs across several tiers. At the entry level, the Gold Package offers lounge-style hospitality with complimentary beers, wines, soft drinks and a buffet. At the top, the Diamond Package adds a cocktail reception and a four-course meal served with champagne, spirits, beers, wines and soft drinks. Private boxes are also available for groups who want a self-contained space for the evening. All hospitality and box bookings are made directly through the Wembley Stadium website rather than through the standard ticketing channels. Hospitality is a significant step up in price from a standard ticket, but for a milestone show it removes the queueing, the crush at the bars and the scramble for food, and it usually comes with a premium view. For anniversaries, big-group celebrations or corporate outings, it can be worth the outlay.
Stage Times: When Does The Weeknd Come On
Timings for any live show are always subject to change, and Wembley itself notes that entry times and running orders can shift closer to the event. That said, based on the published schedule and the pattern established across the tour, here is the likely running order for a standard Wembley night.
The Likely Running Order
- 17:00 — Doors open (16:30 on Sunday 16 August)
- 18:00 — Playboi Carti's support set begins (approximately)
- 20:00 — The Weeknd's headline set begins (approximately)
- 22:30 — Curfew and expected finish
The Weeknd's headline set typically runs around two hours. Wembley operates a hard curfew, which means the show must wrap up by roughly 22:30 in line with the stadium's licensing conditions. Because the finish time is fixed, a late start does not usually mean a later finish; it can mean a slightly shorter set. That is another reason to arrive in good time, clear security without a rush, and be in your section well before the headliner.
Why You Should Arrive Early
Getting to Wembley early is not just about catching the support act. With tens of thousands of people funnelling through security on a single night, the queues at the turnstiles build quickly in the hour before doors and immediately after. Arriving early means a calmer entry, time to find your seat or a good standing position, time to sort food and drink before the rush, and no risk of missing the opening of the headline set. If you are in the pitch standing area and want to be near the front, early arrival is essential, because there are no reserved positions and the best spots go to those who get in first.
The Expected Setlist
Setlists shift slightly from night to night, but the core structure of the show stays consistent across the tour. That consistency is deliberate: the production's video, lighting and staging cues are built around a fixed spine of songs, so the main set stays largely the same city to city while a handful of rotational slots allow for variation. The set draws on The Weeknd's album trilogy — After Hours (2020), Dawn FM (2022) and Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025) — alongside career-spanning hits, and recent shows have run between 18 and 24 songs across roughly 90 to 120 minutes.
The Core Set You Can Expect
Based on recent European performances, the set is likely to be built around the following, in a sequence that opens strong, runs through a block of the biggest singles, dips into a more stripped-back middle section and then builds to a hits-heavy finish:
- I Feel It Coming (feat. Daft Punk)
- Stargirl Interlude (feat. Lana Del Rey)
- Wicked Games
- Open Hearts
- After Hours
- The Hills
- Less Than Zero
- Blinding Lights
- Call Out My Name
- Is There Someone Else?
- Starboy (feat. Daft Punk)
- Take My Breath
- Can't Feel My Face
- Die For You
- Timeless (with Playboi Carti)
How Much the Setlist Changes
Treat the list above as a strong guide rather than a guarantee. The Weeknd usually keeps the main set around 80 to 90 per cent identical across tour dates so the production stays in sync, but rotational slots — an acoustic moment, a deep-cut swap, or an occasional surprise — are where the night-to-night variation lives. Exact song counts also flex with the venue curfew. For the precise setlist from a specific Wembley night, the most reliable source is a fan-submitted setlist posted after that particular show. If you are going to more than one of the five nights, expect the backbone to be the same but keep an ear out for the small changes.
Who Is Supporting? Playboi Carti at Wembley
Atlanta rapper Playboi Carti — born Jordan Terrell Carter in Riverdale, Georgia — opens all five Wembley nights. He is one of the more distinctive voices in contemporary rap, known for an eccentric, elastic vocal style, an outsized influence on fashion, and high-energy live shows that have built him a devoted following.
Carti's Rise and Catalogue
Carti began releasing music in the early 2010s and drew early attention online before a mentorship from A$AP Rocky helped open doors. Breakout SoundCloud tracks led to support slots with the likes of Lil Uzi Vert, and his 2017 self-titled mixtape blew up on the back of hits including Magnolia, wokeuplikethis* and Location. His albums Die Lit, Whole Lotta Red and MUSIC cemented him as a headline draw in his own right. He and The Weeknd are also collaborators, having teamed up with Madonna on the single Popular, and the two share the stage on the tour's closing track Timeless.
What To Expect From His Set
Carti's set is a warm-up in name only. His live shows are famously frenetic, drawing a young, energetic crowd that treats the support slot as a main event of its own. If you are the kind of fan who tends to drift in late for openers, this is one worth being inside for. His set is scheduled around the 18:00 mark on a standard night, so factor that into your arrival if you want to catch it in full.
Age Restrictions You Need To Know
Wembley enforces clear age rules for these shows, and they differ depending on whether you are seated or standing. Getting this wrong at the gate can mean being turned away, so check carefully if anyone in your group is young.
The rules for these concerts are:
- No under-5s are admitted to the stadium at all.
- Standing (pitch): over-14s only.
- Seated: under-14s must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over.
- Under-14s are not permitted in the pitch standing area under any circumstances.
If there is any doubt about a young attendee's age, bring identification. Stewards are within their rights to ask, and a birthday that falls close to a threshold is far easier to resolve with proof in hand than with an argument at the turnstile.
Wembley's Restricted Bag Policy
Wembley operates a strict, well-signposted bag policy, and it is one of the most common reasons people get held up at entry. Turning up with the wrong bag can mean being sent away to a paid storage point, if one is available, or simply being refused, so it pays to get this right before you leave home.
The Size Rules
The key rules are:
- One small bag per person, no larger than A4 size. Wembley gives the maximum dimensions as height 297mm (11.7 inches), width 210mm (8.27 inches) and depth 210mm (8.27 inches).
- No briefcases, luggage, large purses or holdalls of any kind.
- Bags that are half-full and folded over to appear smaller than they are will not be accepted. Stewards judge the bag's actual capacity, not just how it looks on the day.
Practical Advice on Bags
The simplest approach is to travel as light as possible. Ideally, bring no bag at all — pockets for your phone, card and keys will cover most people. If you must bring a bag, make sure it genuinely fits within A4 dimensions and is not overstuffed. Do not assume there will be a cloakroom or left-luggage facility; plan as though there is none. The less you carry, the faster you will clear the gates, and on a five-figure crowd night, speed of entry is the difference between a relaxed evening and a stressful scramble to your seat.
Paying Inside: Wembley Is Cashless
Wembley Stadium is entirely cashless. No kiosk inside the ground accepts cash under any circumstances. Every bar, food outlet and merchandise stand takes card and contactless payment only, whether that is a physical card, a phone or a smartwatch.
Before you travel, make sure you have a working contactless method and, ideally, a backup. If you rely on a single phone for payment, a flat battery mid-evening leaves you unable to buy anything, so a physical card as a fallback is sensible. There is no need to carry cash for anything inside the stadium, though you may still want a small amount for transport contingencies or anything you buy outside the ground.
Accessible Tickets and BSL Provision
Wembley runs a dedicated process for guests with access requirements, and it is deliberately handled by phone so that staff can match the right seat to each guest's specific needs.
How To Book Accessible Tickets
Accessible tickets are sold exclusively by Wembley Stadium via a phone-only service on 0800 093 0824. The stadium uses a phone service so it can speak directly with each guest and understand their requirements — whether that is a wheelchair space, a British Sign Language user's needs, or use of the sensory rooms — and ensure the seat allocated is appropriate. Wembley works with Nimbus Disability's Access Card scheme to verify supporting documentation, and you can either use an existing Nimbus Access Card or apply for a free Wembley Digital Access Pass.
BSL and Deaf Access
For Deaf British Sign Language users, Wembley runs a dedicated BSL Ticketing and Helpline, and the stadium provides BSL interpretation for every show it holds. For these concerts, the interpreter is located in Block 123, so fans who want to sit in the interpreted area should follow the accessible booking process to secure seats there. For Deaf guests who do not use BSL, Wembley recommends Text Relay or the Next Generation Text Lite app, available for both Android and Apple devices.
Getting To Wembley Stadium
Wembley is designed as a public-transport destination, and the surrounding rail, Tube, bus and pedestrian routes have been built and upgraded to move very large crowds on major-event days. The stadium address is 2 Wembley Way, HA9 6JJ. Driving and parking on a concert night is strongly discouraged; public transport is almost always faster and less stressful.
By Tube
Wembley Park station, on the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines, is the closest and busiest option. It sits at the top of Olympic Way — the wide pedestrian boulevard, often called Wembley Way, that leads straight down to the stadium — and is the route most concertgoers take. Expect the station and the walkway to be extremely busy both before and after the show.
By Overground and National Rail
Wembley Stadium station, served by Chiltern Railways, is a short walk from the ground and offers direct services towards London Marylebone. Wembley Central, on the Bakerloo line, the London Overground and national rail, is another option a little further from the stadium but useful for spreading the crowd across more than one station.
By Coach
National Express runs Wembley Express coach services direct to the stadium from over 50 locations across the UK, as the official coach supplier to Wembley. For fans travelling in from outside London, this can be the simplest door-to-door option, dropping you close to the ground and taking you home again without the need to navigate the Tube late at night. Coaches are booked through the National Express website.
Planning Your Journey Home
The single most important piece of travel advice for a Wembley show is to plan your return journey before you arrive. When a sold-out crowd leaves at once near the 22:30 curfew, the stations around the stadium experience one of the largest regular crowd surges in the country. Queuing systems are put in place at Wembley Park to manage the flow, which is safe but slow. Before the show, check the last-train and last-Tube times for your line, and have a backup route in mind. If your journey home is tight against the last service, consider heading out a few minutes before the very end of the set, or be prepared to wait out the initial crush. For live travel information on the day, Wembley operates a Travel Information Line.
Where To Eat and Drink Around Wembley Park
One of the advantages of Wembley Park is that the area around the stadium has been developed into a genuine destination, so you do not have to rely solely on the stadium's own kiosks. Arriving early and eating before you go in is often the smarter move, both for choice and to avoid the queues inside.
BOXPARK Wembley
The most popular pre-show option is BOXPARK Wembley, a large street-food and events venue within a short walk of the stadium. It brings together more than 20 independent food traders under one roof alongside bars, gaming spaces and live events, which makes it a natural gathering point on a concert night. The atmosphere before a big show is buzzing, and the range of food means there is something for most tastes and budgets. Be aware it fills up fast before a Wembley event, so get there early if you want a table.
The Wider Wembley Park Food Scene
Beyond BOXPARK, Wembley Park has grown into a district with a large number of eateries — well over 50 across the area — ranging from quick, casual bites to sit-down restaurants. There is also the London Designer Outlet nearby, a shopping centre with its own cluster of restaurants and cafés, useful if you want to combine some early-afternoon browsing with a meal before the show. Because the whole area is geared around event crowds, most places are used to the pre-show rush and turn tables quickly, but the closer you get to doors, the busier everything becomes.
Eating and Drinking Inside the Stadium
If you would rather sort food inside, remember two things: the queues build fast around the support set and the changeover, and everything is cashless. The best window to buy is usually during the support act rather than right before the headliner, when demand peaks. Concourse bars and food stands are plentiful but see enormous throughput on a full night, so patience helps.
Where To Stay Near Wembley
If you are travelling from outside London, or simply want to avoid a late-night journey home, staying near Wembley is worth considering. Wembley Park itself has a growing cluster of hotels within walking distance of the stadium, which is the most convenient option for a concert night because it removes the post-show transport crush from the equation entirely — you can simply walk back to your room.
Staying in Wembley Park Versus Central London
Staying in Wembley Park means the shortest possible walk home and an easy morning departure, but rooms in the immediate area book up well in advance for concert dates and prices rise accordingly. The alternative is to stay in central or west London and travel out on the Tube or rail, which gives you far more choice of accommodation and price, at the cost of joining the post-show journey. If you choose this route, pick somewhere on the Metropolitan, Jubilee or Bakerloo lines, or on the Chiltern route into Marylebone, to keep your return journey as direct as possible. Whichever you choose, book early: five sold-out nights in a row put significant pressure on nearby accommodation across the whole of that August week.
What To Expect From the Show
The After Hours Til Dawn production is a cinematic, concept-driven spectacle rather than a straightforward greatest-hits run-through. The Weeknd's creative team has described the show as a journey through a cosmic cataclysm, and the staging reflects that ambition, pairing a huge set design with dramatic lighting, striking video work and a run time built around the emotional arc of his catalogue.
The Production and Its Scale
This is a tour built for stadiums, with a production designed to fill the vast bowl of Wembley and reach the highest tiers. The show has been billed as The Weeknd's most ambitious to date, and the tour as a whole has become one of the highest-grossing of all time, having broken attendance and sales records across multiple continents. For the fan in the crowd, that translates into a genuinely large-scale experience: expect the visuals to be as central to the night as the music, and expect the biggest singles to land with full stadium force.
The Charitable Element
There is also a charitable dimension to the 2026 tour. A portion of every ticket sold goes towards the XO Humanitarian Fund through partnerships with Global Citizen and the United Nations World Food Programme. For UK shows, £1 from each ticket is donated, supporting education for children globally and the response to the global hunger crisis. It is a small element of the ticket price, but across five sold-out Wembley nights it adds up to a meaningful contribution.
A Quick History of The Weeknd at Wembley
The Weeknd is no stranger to Wembley. The After Hours Til Dawn Tour first began in 2022 and brought him to the national stadium in 2023, where he set a London stadium attendance record over a two-night stand. His return in 2026 for five nights is a significant step up even on that, and it underlines how far his live draw has grown over the life of this tour. For a sense of the wider arc, the tour opened in Philadelphia in July 2022, has since crossed North and South America, Europe and beyond, and is scheduled to run into late 2026. The five Wembley shows sit near the climax of the European leg and represent one of the largest single-artist runs the stadium will host in 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many nights is The Weeknd playing at Wembley in 2026?
Five nights: Friday 14, Saturday 15, Sunday 16, Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 August 2026. The run began as a two-night booking and was expanded to five after the initial allocation sold out.
What time does The Weeknd come on stage?
Doors open at 17:00 on most nights, and at 16:30 on Sunday 16 August. Playboi Carti is expected on stage around 18:00, with The Weeknd following around 20:00. Wembley's curfew means the show should finish by roughly 22:30. All timings are approximate and subject to change.
How much are tickets and where can I buy them?
Seated tickets started from £60.25 across three tiers on Levels 1, 2 and 5, with standing (pitch) tickets and hospitality packages also available. The official sellers are Ticketmaster and Wembley Stadium. Buy only from these official sources or authorised resale to avoid invalid tickets.
Who is the support act?
American rapper Playboi Carti opens all five Wembley nights and also joins The Weeknd on the closing track, Timeless.
Are tickets still available?
The general sale has largely sold out, but face-value tickets do resurface through official Ticketmaster resale as plans change, and hospitality packages remain available for some dates through the Wembley Stadium website.
What bag can I bring?
One small bag per person, no larger than A4 size (297mm × 210mm × 210mm). No briefcases, luggage or large bags. Half-full bags folded over to look smaller will not be accepted. Travelling with no bag at all is the fastest way in.
Is there an age limit?
No under-5s are admitted to the stadium. Pitch standing is for over-14s only. In seated areas, under-14s must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over.
Is Wembley cashless?
Yes. Wembley is entirely cashless, and no kiosk accepts cash. Bring a contactless card, phone or watch, and ideally a backup payment method.
How do I get accessible tickets?
Accessible tickets are booked by phone through Wembley Stadium on 0800 093 0824. BSL interpretation is provided for every show, with the interpreter in Block 123, and Deaf BSL users can also use the dedicated Wembley BSL Ticketing and Helpline.
What is the best way to travel to Wembley?
Public transport is strongly recommended. Wembley Park (Metropolitan and Jubilee lines) is closest, with Wembley Stadium (Chiltern Railways) and Wembley Central (Bakerloo, Overground and national rail) as alternatives. National Express Wembley Express coaches serve over 50 UK locations. Always check last-train times and plan your journey home before you arrive.
Read about the life of Westminster and Pimlico district, London and the world. 24/7 news with fresh and useful updates on culture, business, technology and city life: What Are the Spice Girls Doing for 30 Years of Wannabe? Vinyl, Coin, Free London Exhibition — But No Tour
