Met Gala 2026: How to watch, the price of tickets and this year's theme

Beyoncé, who last attended the Met Gala in 2016, is returning as a co-chair of fashion's biggest night. Met Gala 2026: What's the theme, how to watch and how much does a ticket cost? Rihanna’s baby bump and suits galore - key looks from the 2025 Met Gala Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Beyoncé has not attended the Met Gala since 2016 (pictured) but is returning this year as one of the event's co-chairs Beyoncé Knowles wearing an embellished peach dress and with long blonde-brown hair, standing side-on and smiling off camera against a red backdrop Met Gala 2026: How to watch, the price of tickets and this year's theme The dresses have been sewn, the jewellery has been polished and New York's hairdressers and make-up artists have been fully booked ahead of the Met Gala 2026. Around 450 A-list guests will begin arriving later for fashion's biggest night of the year, which raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams are the co-chairs for this year's gala, which has the dress code: "Fashion is art." Here's everything you need to know about this year's Super Bowl of fashion. Anna Wintour, Colman Domingo and Lewis Hamilton attending the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit Gala 2025 This year's theme is Costume Art, named after the museum's new exhibition, which will see 400 outfits and objects spanning 5,000 years go on display. , named after the museum's new exhibition, which will see 400 outfits and objects spanning 5,000 years go on display. The dress code for the gala is Fashion Is Art, with guests invited to explore their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate depictions of the dressed body throughout art history. , with guests invited to explore their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate depictions of the dressed body throughout art history. Some stars might reference famous artistic movements and styles from over the centuries, as Vogue pointed out with their helpful round-up of some runway looks that could appear on the night. Some stars might reference famous artistic movements and styles from over the centuries, as Vogue pointed out with their helpful Outfits referencing the Baroque, Impressionist or Renaissance movements could show up, and there might even be direct references to specific individual paintings. But, as is often the case with the Met Gala, the theme is suitably wide that it could be interpreted in countless ways, so we can expect to see a wide variety of looks on the red carpet. Sabrina Carpenter, pictured at last year's Met Gala, is on this year's host committee Sabrina Carpenter wears a tailored maroon suit jacket with oversized lapel details and silver buttons, with blond waved hair over her shoulders - a bank of photographers are behind her Met Gala chair Anna Wintour has enlisted Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams to serve as the evening's co-chairs this year. It will mark Beyoncé's first Met Gala since 2016, when she attended wearing a futuristic outfit for the event's memorable technology-themed year. Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Teyana Taylor, Lisa from Blackpink, Elizabeth Debicki and Lena Dunham are among the members of this year's host committee, which is headed up by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz. The event formally opens the Costume Institute's spring exhibition, which serves as the department's primary source of funding and runs until January 2027. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos are co-chairs and sponsors of this year's event. This has led to calls for a boycott in some quarters, with posters popping up near the New York museum alluding to issues like workers' rights. Bezos stood down as Amazon's chief executive four years ago. The release of The Devil Wears Prada 2 was timed to coincide with this year's Met Gala Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and Anne Hathaway on the red carpet - Streep and Tucci wear dark glasses. Streep has long leather gloves and a cape-detail orange-red dress, Blunt wears a strapless pale pink gown with a layered skirt and silver detailing, Tucci is in a velvet suit jacket and Hathaway wears a strapless bright red dress with oversized skirt As is tradition, the Met Gala is taking place on the first Monday in May, with guests arriving from about 18:00 EST (23:00 BST). The guest list isn't published in advance, but you can expect to see a huge number of A-listers on the night. The public don't get to see inside the event itself, where the guests are treated to dinner, cocktails, live music and a look around the museum's new exhibition. But despite the exclusivity of the event and the strict no-selfie rule inside, the lengthy red carpet event beforehand ensures acres of media coverage. Publicity for other events is also often built around the Met Gala. It's no coincidence, for example, that this past weekend was chosen to release The Devil Wears Prada 2. The beloved original film, which affectionately parodied the fashion industry two decades ago, was loosely based on Met Gala chair Anna Wintour's time as editor of Vogue. 2024: Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking 2023: Stars pay tribute to Karl Lagerfeld Note: There was no Met Gala in 2020 due to Covid. Met Gala regular Rihanna confirmed her third pregnancy at last year's event Rihanna wears a black hat with a large brim and a stylised cropped suit jacket over a grey bodysuit emphasising a pregnancy bump Vogue will once again host the livestream from the red carpet. Ashley Graham, Cara Delevigne, and La La Anthony will host this year's coverage, with Emma Chamberlain returning as the magazine's red carpet correspondent. The stream will be broadcast live across Vogue's digital platforms, as well as on YouTube and TikTok. But countless news outlets will be live streaming their own coverage on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. The BBC News website will be covering the event, with a live page running while celebrities are arriving on the red carpet. Every invitation has to be personally signed off by Met Gala chair and former Vogue editor Anna Wintour Anna Wintour, with signature sharp blonde bob and fringe, wears a pale blue outfit with a matching jacket and jewelled brooch - flowers and foliage can be seen behind her The Met Gala is a relatively small event, only open to a small number of invited guests - usually around 450. Tables cost upwards of around $350,000 (£258,000), while individual tickets are reported to go for about $75,000 (£56,000). Very few celebrities actually pay for their own tickets, however. They instead receive invitations from fashion brands, many of whom host celebrities as their guests. If an A-list star wears the brand's clothes and sits at their table, it generates publicity for the company that justifies the price of the table. But despite picking up the bill, fashion houses still need to run every proposed guest past the queen of fashion herself. Anna Wintour, chair of the Met Gala since 1995 and head of content at Vogue publisher Condé Nast, personally has to sign off on every invitation. A composite image of Rihanna, Colman Domingo and Zendaya at the Met Gala 2025 Zendaya attends The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2024 in New York City. 26 of the most eye-catching looks from the Met Gala 2024 Ice Spice attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City The 17 most eye-catching looks at the 2023 Met Gala Fan accounts and celebrity update pages are taking over timelines on platforms such as X and TikTok. More than 40,000 runners pound the streets with celebrities among the participants. Bristol hairdresser Carl Bembridge regularly works with celebrities from all over the world. Sustainable fashion advocates are highlighting the number of outfits that end up being sent to landfill. Prada had faced backlash last year after it showcased similar designs at a fashion show without acknowledging their Indian roots. A new certification scheme assures consumers that their wool comes from Scotland. Some young attendees say the event demonstrated a more inclusive French culture taking shape. The show at the Barbican Music Library celebrates 1996 and includes Mel B's leopard-print catsuit