Bootle’s Five-Day Salt and Tar Festival Is Nearly Here
Bootle’s Salt and Tar Music Festival returns in 2026 with five days of live music, food and drink at The Lock & Quay. The event runs from Thursday 13 August to Monday 17 August, with gates opening at 4pm each day.
Remaining tickets are available through the Sefton Council website. The festival is aimed at music fans and can welcome up to 4,000 people per day.
Five days of music at The Lock & Quay
The 2026 festival will take place at the temporary Lock & Quay event grounds in Bootle while work continues on the transformation of Bootle Strand. The move gives the event a different setting this year, while retaining its Festival Village and main-stage programme.
The confirmed line-up includes Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Billy Ocean, The Waterboys and The Saw Doctors. The festival will also feature grassroots artists from Scrapyard Studios CIC and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).
Festival Village entertainment and grassroots performances begin from 4pm each day, before the main-stage performances. The programme is expected to cover a range of musical genres across the five-day event.
Food traders and festival stalls
Food and drink are part of the Festival Village offer, with Sefton-based traders including The Bus Yard, Pitamu, TikTaco and 600 Degrees Pizza.
The Crafty Scouse Birds, a Bootle-based business, will return with its festival accessories stall. That gives visitors a mix of food traders and local retail alongside the live performances.
Dates, times and ticket information
| Event detail | Confirmed information |
|---|---|
| Festival | Salt and Tar Music Festival 2026 |
| Dates | Thursday 13 August to Monday 17 August 2026 |
| Venue | The Lock & Quay event grounds, Bootle, Sefton |
| Gates | 4pm each day |
| Cost | Remaining tickets available; no ticket price stated in the supplied event details |
| Booking | Tickets available via the Sefton Council website |
| Audience | Music fans, with up to 4,000 attendees per day |
The source information does not state an end time, detailed transport arrangements or accessibility facilities. Visitors considering the event should use the Sefton Council ticket information for the latest booking details.
A temporary Bootle home during the Strand work
Salt and Tar has become a regular part of Sefton’s summer events programme, attracting visitors from across the borough and beyond. This year’s temporary move is linked to the ongoing redevelopment of Bootle Strand, with The Lock & Quay serving as the festival venue while that work continues.
Councillor Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills, said the Lock & Quay location would allow the festival to continue bringing live music and entertainment to Bootle while the Strand transformation progresses.
With the event now two weeks away, the next practical step for potential attendees is to check ticket availability and the full line-up through Sefton Council’s event information.
Source: Sefton Council
Context & actions About this article
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The event dates, venue, programme details and ticket status were checked against the supplied Sefton Council source.
- Confirmed the 13–17 August 2026 festival dates
- Confirmed The Lock & Quay in Bootle as the temporary venue
- Checked the named headline and grassroots performers
- Checked the 4pm daily gate-opening time and remaining-ticket status
- Source
- Sefton Council
- Scope
- Bootle, Sefton
- Updated
- 2026-07-30 11:30
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