Victorious Festival parking warning as Portsmouth roads close

Portsmouth drivers face road closures during Victorious Festival

Victorious Festival 2026 brings road closures and parking restrictions to Portsmouth Drivers heading to Southsea this bank holiday weekend are being warned about widespread road closures and parking restrictions as Victorious Festival returns to Portsmouth. The 13th annual festival takes place on Southsea Common from Friday 28 August to Sunday 30 August, with organisers expecting up to 80,000 people per day. Road closures around Southsea Portsmouth City Council and Victorious Festival have announced a series of traffic restrictions across Southsea to support the safe installation and removal of festival infrastructure. Some restrictions began on Wednesday 26 August, while others will remain in place until as late as Friday 4 September. The main closures will affect roads around the festival site during the evenings of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when large numbers of visitors are expected to leave the event. Between 10.30pm and 11.59pm on each festival night, closures will affect Clarence Esplanade, South Parade, Duisburg Way, Pier Road and connecting residential roads. The restrictions are intended to help festival-goers leave the site safely while reducing traffic disruption in the surrounding area. No general festival parking available There will be no general on-site parking available at Victorious Festival this year, meaning drivers cannot simply park at the main festival site. Blue Badge parking will be available, but spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Festival organisers are encouraging visitors to use Portsmouth's public transport network instead of travelling by car where possible. For people who do choose to drive, organisers recommend using Lakeside Car Park and the Lakeside Shuttle Service to reach the festival site. The shuttle option is aimed at helping visitors avoid the restricted roads around Southsea while providing an alternative to trying to find parking close to the festival. With potentially tens of thousands of people travelling to the event each day, drivers living in and around Southsea are also likely to experience increased traffic and changes to normal parking arrangements. The festival opens its gates at 11am on Friday 28 August, with Richard Ashcroft, The Black Keys and Kasabian among the headline acts for this year's event.