Outfits and empowerment: Lily Allen at Brockwell Park’s Mighty Hoopla 2026
As 25,000 people filled the park for Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ music festival, Allen took to the stage to debut her West End Girl show. BB’s Elise Rothera found elegance, emotion …
Black News 
As 25,000 people filled the park for Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ music festival, Allen took to the stage to debut her West End Girl show. BB’s Elise Rothera found elegance, emotion and a performer reborn.
I attended Mighty Hoopla alone, yet didn’t, for a minute, feel lonely; even as I watched people dancing, hugging, and smiling with their friends, I felt comforted by an air of happiness that swept through Brockwell Park.
I spoke with a few people at the start of the festival who shared their opinion on the West End Girl album.
One lady in her early 40s stated that she was never a massive fan of Lily’s music, but that her new album seemed to resonate with many women in their 40s who have also experienced separation and infidelity in relationships.
I got the sense that women were feeling empowered by West End Girl and that Lily’s new ‘camp’ performances and style were not only drawing in a certain demographic of women but also a crowd of young people who want to find the laughter in disaster.
Lily’s fans could be easily spotted wearing light blue and polka dots that nodded to her West End Girl album cover.
Among the crowd, it was also easy to see her fans by the t-shirts that read “And who the f*ck is Madeline?”, a quote that Lily has become known for, as it demystifies a relationship of disloyalty, something that I saw the crowd at Mighty Hoopla resonating with.
Lily’s performance was a striking change from anything fans would have seen in prior years. Her previous festival performances were fun and joyful but not polished, and thought out like the West End Girl performance.
Lily brought her acting skills to the stage just as elegantly as she brought her iconic London-accented vocals.
She started the show in a yellow two-piece skirt and jacket as she sang “West End Girl”.
As the second song, titled “Ruminating”, played, Lily removed her yellow jacket to reveal a more daring look of a purple, silky top; this marked a shift in tone. Lily had many outfit changes throughout the performance, and every outfit indicated the feeling and story behind each song.
The set of the stage was much like a 70s living room with a Smeg fridge on one side, filled with props and a vape that Lily pulled out and used mid-set. I saw this as a gesture to her performances in the early 2000s, which were known for being rough and ready.
Although Lily’s music and performance have clearly matured, there are glimmers of her rock and roll attitude still apparent. She may have made it feel like you were watching a West End show, but she still managed to keep her lighthearted personality at the heart of the performance.
A standout moment of the performance may have been when singer JADE was brought out to perform the “Beg For Me” remix. The chemistry of Lily and JADE on stage made the Mighty Hoopla crowd cheer with joy.
For me, a moment that struck was when Lily sang her song “Relapse”. “Relapse” is a song about a near loss of sobriety and the intense struggle to stay away from vices during heartbreak.
Lily sang it so eloquently, even through tears, and although the show is advertised as a ‘West End show’, she made the tears of her pain such an emotive and human element to the otherwise rehearsed show.
I would say that Lily’s performance at Mighty Hoopla is one to write home about. Her eccentric clothing choices, paired with the beautiful carpeted set, really made it a performance to remember.
This was female empowerment at full volume – and there was no better stage for it than Mighty Hoopla.
A few more pics from the day
