This Year's Recessland Was Black Joy in Motion
Fuelled by every facet of Black enjoyment, Recessland shows what's possible when community, culture and sound converge. Here, we dive into Recessland's cultural significance and what it reveals about the state of Black Britain today.
Recessland 2026 at Dreamland in Margate. Image property of Gold Owolabi.
For the Black diaspora, music acts as a golden thread which connects us to our heritage. This thread is woven across the breadth of our perspectives to produce new creations born from our interactions with each other; it is informed consciously and subconsciously by the fusion of our ancestry with our present experiences, reaching across the globe.
From jungle to bouyon to gqom, these genres can root us in an understanding of where we come from, while also suggesting routes for us to follow. This spirit of innovation carries more than just cultural significance—it has a meaningful economic impact as well.
Earlier this year, a report commissioned by UK Music, initiated by its Diversity Taskforce, found that 80% of music revenue in the UK between 1994 and 2023 is from Black music. However, the same report also notes a 20% documented pay gap for Black artists and industry workers.
These numbers raise important questions about ownership of the infrastructure that enables our enjoyment, who profits from Black creativity, and what systems are needed to ensure innovators and trailblazers are adequately compensated for the value they provide.
Born in 2016, Recess was created by brothers Jojo and David Sonubi, equipped with experience in the worlds of design and music, and a track record of successful parties under the 'Jojos' banner. Through Recess, the brothers brought their combined experiences and passion for facilitating enjoyment to create what would soon become a pillar of Black British nightlife.
Recess has consistently pushed the needle, whether that's by hosting events in venues which typically weren't receptive to Black organisers, or through its sister organisation No Signal Radio, which carried listeners through the pandemic with its NS10v10 music battles. Over the past 10 years, the Recess team has hosted over 100 parties, including events from Paris to Accra, bringing people across the diaspora together through sound.
Since its inception in 2023, Recessland has been an extension of Recess's mission to curate spaces where Black people can enjoy their lives. Hosted in Margate's Dreamland (an appropriately named theme park for the liminal space that the venue becomes), Recessland has grown exponentially.
“Since its inception in 2023, Recessland has been an extension of Recess’s mission to curate spaces where Black people can enjoy their lives. Hosted in Margate’s Dreamland (an appropriately named theme park for the liminal space that the venue becomes), Recessland has grown exponentially.”
From a one-day occasion in its first year, primarily headlined by independent artists, Recessland has now expanded to a two-day revelry which has seen global superstars such as Awilo Longomba and JT grace the stage, while also platforming upcoming talent.
For me, Recessland provoked another compelling question: What does it take to provide an experience that captures the best parts of being Black in Britain in 2026? I stepped to Margate for my third Recessland to find out for myself.
For the two days where Dreamland is transformed into Recessland, that section of Margate becomes an ephemeral nation. Partygoers from across the UK and Ireland descend on Margate to make Recessland their home, with some attendees even residing in the seaside town over the weekend.
Once you set foot inside these borders, one is swiftly surrounded by "too many familiar faces" (as I overheard a stunned attendee recount)—cousins, primary school friends, that person from the smoking area who you may not have otherwise seen for years. It's undoubtedly an achievement to get so many people across different pockets of Black Britain into the same space, but what's more impressive is the quality of the experience created.
Across the grounds, from the skate rink to the main stage to the fairground rides, the crowd flows seamlessly to find whichever space aligns with their speed at any given moment. Subtle tweaks to the spatial arrangement of the festival over the years has allowed the grounds to be used at its maximum potential, inviting Recessland citizens to travel across its breadth.
This year, sounds across the diaspora could be found from an assortment of international talents. There was South London DJ Kenny Allstar and French boss Theodora, alongside rap princess JT, R&B and jazz crooner Destin Conrad and the insatiable songster Jeleel all flying the flag for the US. The breadth and depth of the line-up indicates an acknowledgement of the eclectic sonic palette of the audience—there is truly something for everyone.
While the prospect of providing enjoyment may sound sexy, care for those attending can easily be overlooked. Not at Recessland. Water bottles were handed to attendees at the train station, while stalls raised awareness for blood transplants and breast cancer inside the event. With community engagement agency Ourppls also providing support on the ground, it was abundantly clear that holistic enjoyment and consideration of the wider community was a priority.
To contextualise the significance of Recessland's success in producing four successive festivals, we only have to cast our mind back to festivals like Yam Carnival in 2021 and Ends Festival in 2019 which, while also being dedicated to providing memorable experiences for Black audiences, were short-lived.
When you also consider institutional barriers to the gathering of Black people, such as Form 696 which stifled the progression of a generation of grime and UK rap artists, the gravity of the feat that Recessland pulls off becomes more apparent.
Behind the scenes, there's an ecosystem that Recess has cultivated over time. Supported by a dedicated social media team, a crew of talented photographers and videographers, skilled lighting technicians and more, the festival provides a platform for gifted individuals across fields to contribute to this memorable occasion.
That pattern aligns with Recess's role as something of a talent incubator whose members continue to support the institution even after building their own projects. This is evidenced in the roles of both Corteiz and PlayPiem.
Years after its founder had a stint working with the team, Corteiz now collaborates with Recessland to produce merch. And PlayPiem, which caters to the sensibilities of an 'alternative' crowd, had space to spotlight their musical world at the festival following years of its own founder working closely with the Recess team.
The cultural programming around the festival—which included Pilates with Flow Haven, a Pana Run Club run, books from the Freebooks campaign and a live Pullup Pod recording—also demonstrates an awareness of different cultural nodes that contribute to the experience of Black Britain and a desire to situate them within the Recessland world.
This commitment to building sustainable ecosystems with individuals and organisations in the community, along with the backdrop of their repeated success, bodes well for the future of the festival.
As I lost myself in the music at Recessland, I spied a sign which read, 'WERE YOU THERE?' foreshadowing a question that will inevitably be asked by future generations when they get their hands on the photos and videos from the festival.
On the train back to London, observing attendees reliving the day through Instagram stories and videos in their camera roll, it became clear that, in a world where so much is fleeting, spaces like Recessland provide moments with meaning that we can cling onto.
To return to the initial questions around infrastructure, profit and systems, Recessland as a celebration of the spectrum of what it looks like to be Black in Britain provides a strong suggestion: if we can build the (eco)systems, own the infrastructure and distribute the profits of our cultural contributions more equitably, perhaps we'll be on track to enjoy our lives for more than just two special days in May.
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