Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find some frequently asked questions about your visit to VAULT Festival. If you have any questions that aren’t covered in the below, please email us at [email protected], and we’ll be happy to help.

WHAT IS VAULT FESTIVAL?

WHAT IS VAULT FESTIVAL?

VAULT Festival is the UK’s leading independent showcase of live performance and artistic talent. We find the hottest grassroots talent in theatre, comedy, cabaret, and immersive experiences and bring them to you all under one festival right in the heart of London. VAULT Festival is brought to you by VAULT Creative Arts. Find out more about the festival here.

WHAT CAN I SEE?

There are hundreds of shows to choose from including the brightest & boldest in theatre, comedy, cabaret, and immersive experiences. There are shows to see with your friends, partners, colleagues, and family, or on your own! Whoever you are and whatever your taste, there’s a show for you. Tickets start from just £5 and the shows generally last an hour, so there’s plenty of time to see multiple shows in an evening, or just see the one and spend the time in our unique bars eating tasty food instead. You can find out what’s on here.

WHEN IS VAULT FESTIVAL?

In 2023, VAULT Festival runs Tuesday to Sunday from 24th January to 19th March. We’re closed on Mondays and open until late on Fridays & Saturdays! We’re open for 8 weeks only, once it’s gone, it’s gone. So don’t miss out!

WHERE IS VAULT FESTIVAL?

VAULT Festival takes place at venues around Waterloo & the South Bank in central London. The nearest underground and mainline station is Waterloo, which serves the Jubilee, Bakerloo, Northern, Waterloo & City, and mainline trains. Lambeth North (Bakerloo Line) is also close too.

The Vaults is the festival hub, and houses a number of performance spaces, as well as several unique bars, food, and box offices. For more information, visit our Find Us page.

HOW CAN I SUPPORT VAULT FESTIVAL’S ARTISTS?

The best way to support our artists is to come down and see their show! And bring someone with you too! Helping spread word of mouth is also a massive help. If you saw a show you loved, tell someone! You can also follow our artists on their social channels (you’ll find links on their show page) for their announcements about future shows & tours.

I LOVE WHAT YOU DO, WHAT’S THE BEST WAY I CAN SUPPORT VAULT FESTIVAL?

A great way to support VAULT Festival and what we do is to become a VAULT Member. You’ll receive year-round benefits and will be directly supporting the next generation of artists. Become a VAULT Member here for less than the cost of a Netflix subscription! You can also support VAULT festival by donating to us here.

HOW DOES IT WORK

HOW DO TICKETS TO SHOWS WORK?

All shows and events are ticketed separately; they’re all individually created and produced by different grassroots artists – so one ticket gets you into one show – easy. There are deals and combo offers to be found if you want to see more than one show – which we highly recommend to make most of your experience with us.

HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS?

Tickets start from just £5. To keep our tickets affordable to everyone whilst also valuing our artists’ wonderful work, we operates a “Pay More If You Can” model. When you select your ticket, you’ll be given a choice of 3 prices. We recommend going with the standard price ticket, but anyone can opt to go lower or higher. The choice is entirely up to you. For more info on why we have this model and how it works, visit our “Pay More if You Can” page.

HOW LONG ARE THE SHOWS? HOW MANY CAN I SEE IN A NIGHT?

Most shows at VAULT Festival are 60 minutes (or a bit less) which means you can see up to 3 or even 4 shows in an evening! We recommend seeing two in one night to get the best experience of VAULT Festival and the huge variety of shows we have on offer. It’s always recommended to leave a bit of time (say, 20 minutes?) between shows if you’re booking them back-to-back because after all, this is live performance and sometimes things happen that we can’t predict! All show’s have their durations listed on their booking pages.

DO YOU HAVE ANY DISCOUNTS?

Yes! We have a whole host of offers across VAULT Festival which can be found on our Special Offers page. For the best value, we recommend either our Festival Pass which includes 4 free tickets and 4 free drinks across VAULT Festival or our Party Pass which includes four free drinks for those looking to get the most out of their VAULT experience.

WHAT’S A FLEXI-TICKET?

A Flexi-Ticket gives you confidence you’ll be able to exchange your tickets if you’re no longer able to attend the performance date you selected when booking. You can convert your ticket into a flexi-ticket by adding one to your basket during the checkout. Kindly note that Flexi-Tickets are only applicable to changing dates/ times of the same performance.

YOUR BOOKING

DO I NEED TO PRINT MY TICKETS?

Nope! The email you’ll be sent when you book is your unique ticket and can be shown to our team on any smart device.

MY E-TICKETS HAVEN’T ARRIVED

Don’t worry, you can download your tickets from our website after purchase by entering your email address into the account feature on the top right hand corner of the screen. A security code will be sent to your email, once entered you’ll be able to download tickets from the ‘Order History’ tab. You may also need to check your Junk/Spam folder in case they’ve been diverted there.

I BOUGHT TICKETS BUT NOW I CAN’T COME – HELP!

If you can no longer attend, please contact the Box Office as soon as possible. We’ll do our best to swap your ticket to a date you can attend. Kindly note that there’s a £5 exchange fee, unless you’ve purchased a Flexi-Ticket. Otherwise all tickets are finalised when purchased and are non-refundable. You can view our terms & conditions of sale here.

I’M RUNNING LATE, WHAT DO I DO?

To be more accessible to more people, we request all of our artists to have multiple entry points for latecomers. However, kindly note that on some occasions where this is not appropriate or suitable for the safety of the performers, latecomers may not be admitted or may have to wait for an appropriate moment to be admitted. Readmittance is not always guaranteed, although we do encourage all of our artists to have a flexible readmittance policy. If you’re running late and can, get in touch with the Box Office ([email protected]) as soon as you know there’s a problem and we might be able to help. We’ll always do our best!

WHAT DOES AGE GUIDANCE MEAN?

All of our performances have age guidance listed on their info page. These act as a guideline as some performances may contain material or tackle subjects which may not be suitable for a younger audience. For age guidelines of 17 or under, it’s at the discretion of the parent or guardian whether a show is suitable. 18+ age ratings are not subject to guardian discretion and are mandatory. Kindly note, you must be 18+ to attend any of our Lates events.

If you have any questions on the suitability of a show or event, please contact the Box Office ([email protected]) where we’ll be happy to advise.

WHAT DO THE CONTENT WARNINGS MEAN?

Content warnings are available on select shows where the artist feels their might be content or themes in the show which some audience members may find challenging or upsetting. The content warnings can be revealed by clicking on the button and if you have any concerns about the content of a show please contact the Box Office.

YOUR VISIT

HOW DO I GET THERE?

We’ve created info pages for all of our venues, which have directions and travel recommendations. You can find them here.

ACCESSIBILITY

We’re looking forward to welcoming you at VAULT Festival. We’ve gathered all the access information you might need into one place on our Accessibility page here.

WHAT ARE YOUR OPENING TIMES?

We’re open Tuesday-Sunday from Tuesday 24th January to Sunday 19th March 2023, we’re closed on Mondays but open late on Fridays & Saturdays! Below are the opening times for the festival hub at The Vaults (Waterloo) which houses our unique bars and central Box Office as well as several of our performance and event spaces.

Tue 6pm – 11pm
Wed 6pm – 1am
Thu 6pm – 1am
Fri 6pm – 3am
Sat 2pm – 3am
Sun 2pm – 12am

CAN I COME AND LOOK AROUND FOR FREE?

Yes! You can come and visit our bars and explore the venue for free! Come and enjoy a lovely drink, grab a bite to eat, and have a look around! It’s a great way to decide which show to see or just to have a good time with friends, family, or colleagues.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ENSURE THAT VAULT FESTIVAL IS COVID SAFE?

We’re taking steps to ensure that your visit is safe, enjoyable, and fun. You can read our Covid-19 policy here.

WHAT TIME SHOULD I ARRIVE?

We recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before your show’s scheduled start time. Doors to shows will close 1 minute before the scheduled start time to enable performances to start on time. If you arrive after this time, there’s a chance you may be denied entry and, in that instance, your tickets won’t be refunded. So it’s definitely better to be early than late!

CAN I PAY IN CASH?

Afraid not. All VAULT Festival venues and bars have been CASHLESS since 2019. We accept payments via all major debit & credit cards including AMEX, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

DO YOU HAVE A CLOAKROOM?

Our cloakroom will be open on Friday & Saturday nights from 10.30pm. Our cloakroom costs £2 per item (or it’s free with a Party Pass). For family shows, we’ll have space for buggies to be parked too, but please don’t forget to take your child with you!

CAN I TAKE PHOTOS DURING A SHOW?

Not usually, not unless you’ve been explicitly given permission by the performers. Ignoring this can get you removed from the show & venue.

CAN I BOOK A TABLE OR AREA IN THE BAR?

Yes! You can also book a private venue for an event by clicking here.

DO YOU SELL FOOD?

Yes! We’ll have tasty food from local street food market traders so join us for dinner or a pre / post show snack.

I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS

You can contact us at [email protected] or by filling in our contact form here.