Gazprom Arena, a week after the announcement of two Kanye West concerts, which were scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg on October 10 and 11, 2026, announced that it would not hold this event. Will the show take place and can the organizers hold concerts in Moscow - in the material from RIA Novosti
Details about the status of the show and ticket refunds can be found in a separate RIA Novosti article.
Statement from Gazprom Arena
On August 24, a week after the announcement, Gazprom Arena reported on its Telegram channel that it had not signed any agreements to rent the stadium for concerts by American rapper Kanye West.
“Accordingly, the concert cannot take place at our venue,” the statement said. It is emphasized that the stadium was not and is not the organizer of the event.
According to a RIA Novosti correspondent, information about the concerts was present on the Gazprom Arena website on August 17, but then became unavailable.
Position of the organizers
The organizer of the performance, the Say Agency concert agency, reported that the lease agreement for the Gazprom Arena was planned to be signed on August 27. It is emphasized that the stadium did not notify the agency of its statements.
“At the moment, the YE (Kanye West - ed.) concert has not been cancelled!” — says a message published on the agency’s Telegram channel on August 24.
The owner and CEO of Say Agency, Anna Subcheva, told RIA Novosti that the rapper has already received an advance payment for concerts in Russia. She emphasized that the artist and the agency are not canceling the concert, and it was impossible to contact the venue. As Subcheva noted, a misunderstanding arose and expressed hope that it could be resolved.
On September 3, the CEO of Say Agency announced that if Kanye West's concerts are cancelled, spectators will be refunded for tickets.
When and where was Kanye West scheduled to perform?
Kanye West's concerts in Russia were scheduled for October 10 and 11, 2026. Both shows were supposed to take place in St. Petersburg at the Gazprom Arena. The stadium, which can accommodate 63 thousand spectators, is located at the address: St. Petersburg, Football Alley, building 1. The organizer is the concert agency Say Agency.
The St. Petersburg performances were announced as part of the world Ye Live Concert Tour 2026, in honor of the released album Bully. The venue officially posted the announcement of the two shows on August 17. The age limit for the event is 16+.
Ticket prices
The cost of tickets to the Kanye West concert in St. Petersburg started from 9 thousand rubles and reached 160 thousand rubles for a seat in the VIP box. The price depended on the location of the sector relative to the stage. Sales started on August 17 on a special page for the Russian concert, with Intickets acting as the ticket operator.
Music producer Sergei Dvortsov, in a conversation with RIA Novosti, estimated West’s possible fee for two St. Petersburg concerts at 50 million rubles.
Ye Live Concert Tour 2026: where the artist has already performed and where he was refused
Ye's 2026 world tour turned out to be unusual in geography: along with stadium shows in the USA, Turkey, the Netherlands, Georgia, Spain and other countries, some European concerts were canceled or postponed. The artist still has performances ahead in the USA, Russia and Indonesia.
Why were the concerts cancelled?
A significant part of the decisions were related to the artist’s previous anti-Semitic statements and public statements about Nazism. In the UK, West was denied entry; in Poland, the stadium in Chorzow canceled a concert; in Switzerland, the Basel football club refused to provide its stadium. West himself published a full-length letter of apology for anti-Semitic statements in January 2026.
What the concert in Almaty showed: what the audience can expect
The last Ye show before the Russian announcement took place on August 15, 2026 in Almaty. One of the main elements of the current show was a huge spherical structure depicting the Earth.
Will there be a Kanye West concert in Moscow?
As of August 17, 2026, there are no confirmed Kanye West concerts in Moscow. At the same time, producer Yana Rudkovskaya stated that, according to the information she has, the artist may visit Moscow.
Who is Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, music producer, designer and entrepreneur. In 2021, he officially changed his name to Ye. West has received 24 Grammy Awards with 76 nominations.
Why was this concert considered impossible?
Back in the fall of 2025, representatives of the Russian concert industry considered a full-fledged Kanye West stadium show in Russia technically practically impossible due to logistics and customs difficulties.
