Dolly Parton’s estate announces ‘DollyFest London’ event to honour singer

The event will be staged next year across two consecutive weekends.

Dolly Parton’s estate has announced that a two-day festival honouring the late singer will be held in Nashville and London. The country music singer died at the age of 80 on August 25 following a “brief battle” with cancer.

It has now been revealed that the two-day festival, Dollyfest, will be staged next year across two consecutive weekends. According to a press release shared on Monday, the festival was originally scheduled to take place in January 2026 – around Parton’s 80th birthday – and was going to feature her as a performer and host. However, it will now serve as a celebration of her legacy. Performers, ticket information and dates for DollyFest are yet to be announced.

“We had the venue booked and we had the announcement ready to go. And then, in August 2025, Dolly had to take a step back after her initial health challenges. A lot of people always say, WWDD (What Would Dolly Do?), and, well, at this moment, Dollyfest is WDWD (What Dolly Would Do!),” organiser Danny Nozell, founder and chief executive of CTK Enterprises, said in a statement.

Her estate added: “We are not discouraging people from celebrating Dolly in the ways they choose. However, as far as a traditional memorial goes, that is not something Dolly wanted.

“So, instead, it feels more appropriate for us to take a beat, let all the tributes that immediately make sense occur naturally, and then, see through this festival-style concept that was truly dreamed up by Dolly.

“This is something that is authentic to her, something that feels right to me, and something that artists and fans around the world can participate in, while also giving everyone time to grieve, and giving everyone time to plan.”

In May, Parton pulled out of a highly anticipated Las Vegas residency, which was due to begin in September. She had already postponed her six-date run at the Colosseum Theatre at Caesars Palace from December 2025 to deal with “health challenges”.

Born in Tennessee, Parton is best known for hits such as Jolene, 9 To 5 and I Will Always Love You. She was deeply associated with Nashville throughout her career and was inducted into its Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1986.

Over the course of her career, which spanned more than 60 years, Parton sold more than 100 million records worldwide and wrote more than 3,000 songs. Following her death last week, a number of Parton’s records re-entered the UK charts, including Jolene, which featured at number nine in the singles chart on Friday.

Since her death, an airport in Nashville in Tennessee proposed changing its name in honour of the singer. A musical about her life – Dolly: A True Original Musical – will also be launched next year on what would have been her 81st birthday.

A museum called Dolly’s Life Of Many Colours, referencing her 1971 song and album Coat Of Many Colours, is also due to open in Nashville this autumn.

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